33253-P

Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children

by Betty Hart & Todd R. Risley

Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children

Authors: Betty Hart, Todd R. Risley Publisher: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Copyright © 1995 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Authors

Betty Hart, Ph.D., and Todd R. Risley, Ph.D., began their careers in the early 1960s at the Institute for Child Development at the University of Washington. They participated in the original demonstrations of the power of learning principles in influencing young children.

In 1965, Hart and Risley began more than 35 years of collaborative work at The University of Kansas, establishing preschool intervention programs in poverty neighborhoods. Their publications on incidental teaching form the empirical base for contemporary child-centered teaching practices in preschool and special education.

Dr. Hart is now Professor Emeritus of Human Development at The University of Kansas, and Dr. Risley is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Alaska.

Contents

  1. Foreword Lois Bloom
  2. A Preface for 2002
  3. Preface
  4. About the Authors
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Intergenerational Transmission of Competence
  7. Sampling Children's Developmental Experience
  8. 42 American Families
  9. Everyday Parenting
  10. Quality Features of Language and Interaction
  11. The Early Experience of 42 Typical American Children
  12. Accomplishments of the 42 Children at Age 3 and Later
  13. The Importance of the First 3 Years of Family Experience
  14. Intervention to Equalize Early Experience
  15. References
  16. Appendix A: Quality Features
  17. Appendix B: Figures
  18. Index

Intergenerational Transmission of Competence

America in the 1960s found a cause worth committing to: the War on Poverty. The aim was to interrupt the cycle of poverty and provide a boost up through job training and early education. Early education programs such as Head Start were designed to give children isolated in poverty the social and cognitive experiences that underlay the academic success of advantaged children.

Early Intervention Programs

Competence as a social problem is still present, with many children entering school ill-prepared. By the time children are 4 years old, intervention programs may come too late to change their trajectories significantly.

Comparing Language Use

At the Laboratory Preschool at The University of Kansas and the Turner House Preschool, researchers found similarities in the thematic content of speech among children but notable differences in their verbosity. Most professors' children talked more than the Turner House children.

Conclusion

The study underscores the complex interplay between cultural context, educational interventions, and language development. While vocabulary instruction can lead to short-term gains, sustaining growth remains a challenge across generations.