Children at home and in day care /

How is the development of children impacted by the people and places that make up "the contemporary contexts of childhood" today? The highlight of this book is a detailed presentation of an integrated study supported by three foundations. The central question of the study relates to the influence of diverse caregiving environments on the cognitive and social development of preschool children. In addition to parents and home, the environments and caregivers studied include day-care personnel and settings ranging from a single caregiver looking after one child to a team of teachers caring for several hundred children in an institution. The text presents a very comprehensive study with an extensive amount of data. Existing research is augmented through the expanded variability in the children, caregivers, environments, and behaviors studied. Although findings are presented in technical terminology with limited explanation and application, the book makes a major contribution to the field of child development. It advances a realistic understanding of the experiences and needs of children in their "contemporary contexts" of development. Graduate; faculty; professional. M. O. McMahon; East Carolina University