Prevention-Oriented Infant Education Programs

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Abstract
This paper reviews twelve experimentally-designed longitudinal studies of infant education. Without such early intervention, the disadvantaged infants who participated in these programs were predicted to become developmentally delayed. The interventions varied in their form, duration, and content, The major distinctions were between home or center-based programs and parent-oriented or child-oriented curricula. The magnitude of intellectual outcome scores seemed to relate to the intensity of the programs. Interventions that had more hours of contact with children and parents had more positive intellectual effects on the children, parents, and family life circumstances. Modest changes have been found in mother-child interaction patterns and quality of the home environment, although consistent measures have not been used across projects.