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Journal Article By age 3, children from privileged families have heard 30 million more words than children from underprivileged families. Longitudinal data on 42 families examined what accounted for enormous differences in rates of vocabulary growth. Children turned out to be like their parents in stature, activity level, vocabulary resources, and language and interaction styles. Follow-up data indicated that the 3-year-old measures of accomplishment predicted third grade school achievement.
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Journal Article Using an ecological framework, this study investigated African-American fathers' use of five protective strategies to keep their preschool children safe from community violence. Father, child, and contextual predictors of fathers' protective strategies were also examined. In-depth interviews with 61 African-American Head Start fathers and father figures revealed that participants were most likely to adopt the strategy of monitoring and teaching personal safety, followed by teaching neighborhood survival tactics, reducing exposure to violent media, engaging in community activism, and…
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Journal Article This paper reviews the literature on the similarities and differences in child-directed speech (CDS) employed by fathers and mothers. The contributions that fathers are thought to make to their children's language and communicative development are discussed, and factors influencing the findings and interpretations of empirical studies of fathers' CDS are presented. (Author abstract).
A study investigated the characteristics of fathers whose children are participating in the Early Head Start program, their level of involvement with their families and children, and how and why involvement changes over time. Two interviews and associated observations were conducted with 108 men, identified by mothers as involved in their child's life, within the first 14 months of their children's lives. Findings indicate almost all of the fathers were the biological fathers and most were living with their children. The fathers were involved in multiple ways with their children, including:…
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Journal Article In recent years, researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in father/male involvement in early childhood programs. However, few empirical studies have examined early childhood educators' efforts to involve fathers in such programs. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess early childhood educators' efforts to involve fathers and to determine which efforts lead to greater success at overall father involvement. Surveys were completed by 213 early childhood educators attending regional training events. Findings demonstrate that efforts are being made in a…
