These results are quite striking considering that the mothers come from non-professional backgrounds and had no more than 12 years of schooling on average. Another study on low-income mother-child dyads shows that the rate of vocabulary production is also positively influenced by early exposure to diverse words. In particular, children whose mothers consistently used more varied vocabulary had faster and more linear growth in child vocabulary production between 14 and 36 months than children whose mothers consistently used less varied vocabulary (Pan et al., 2005). These findings support the contention that maternal speech quality has powerful benefits in child language acquisition.
A striking feature of the vocabulary development studies recently described is the presence of a loving, supportive environment in which they occur. In other words, the benefits of qualitative and quantitative vocabulary input can be fully realized if they occur in the context of instructive and helpful interaction. For instance, studies show that children who are exposed to sophisticated vocabulary under supportive settings such as book reading or joint attention episodes learn vocabulary faster and better than other children (Feitelson et al., 1993; Tomasello, 1992; and Hayes & Ahrens, 1988 in Weizman and Snow, 2001). Joint attention involves mutual engagement and some mothers pursue this more than others by being responsive to their children's vocalizations prior to and during speech (Hoff, 2006). There is wide evidence that children with responsive mothers begin to talk sooner and reach a landmark vocabulary score earlier than those with less responsive mothers (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 1996 and Bornstein, Baumwell, & Damast, 1996, in Hoff, 2006).
The issues raised above indicate that vocabulary enrichment in children is achievable regardless of socio-economic background and other previously thought of maternal limiting factors.
In fact, an intervention plan aimed at improving child language development (vocabulary, in particular) can be designed by focusing on parental behavior alone. There are simple ways and readily available opportunities for parents to significantly impact their children's vocabulary growth:
First, parents should start veering themselves away from the popular notion, "the simpler, the better"...
Child Demographics CHILD WELFARE IN REVIEW Financial Status of Children in Welfare - a review conducted in 9 trials on 2,000 participants to determine if financial support to poor families would improve children's health and welfare did not yield sufficient evidence on the financial benefits of intervention (Lucas, 2008). A study on the effectiveness of recent reforms on the chronic problems of the child welfare system in the United States (Westat 2002)
If the divorce occurs at an early age, the adverse effects academically are greater. Some researchers have also suggested that teachers may expect less of children who come from one-parent homes. They may have negative attitudes towards these children and expect less of them. It is dangerous for teachers to stereotype children from one-family homes as poor students. Children from divorce need the same kind of education as other children
Child Psychology Music and Brain Development The link is recognized by Georgia Head Start program Recently, the Georgia Head start organization began distributing CD's with classical music on them to every newborn child's mother as part of a program designed to aid in the early childhood development of children's intelligence. Some applaud Governor Zell Miller's push to establish this program as a step in the direction of improving the health and well being
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Figure 1 portrays three of the scenes 20/20 presented March 15, 2010. Figure 1: Heather, Rachel, and Unnamed Girl in 20/20 Program (adapted from Stossel, 2010). Statement of the Problem For any individual, the death of a family member, friend, parent or sibling may often be overwhelming. For adolescents, the death of person close to them may prove much more traumatic as it can disrupt adolescent development. Diana Mahoney (2008), with the
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