Abstract
In a bleak, wood-shingled urban tenement, a teacher works at the kitchen table with a mother and two children-a girl , age six, and a boy, age five. They are learning to bake cookies. Mother's education stopped at sixth grade; she had never considered that she could read instructions, measure ingredients, or teach her children these skills. This island of family activity interrupts a monotonous day during which personal interaction is minimal. Both children are slow learners and withdrawn; the boy has been diagnosed psychotic. They have been attending special preschool classes at a community mental health clinic. Part of the treatment plan includes regular teacher home visits with the family to enable parents to help their children learn to learn and to interact appropriately with others. By actively searching for con tributions mother can make, the teacher builds an alliance with her, using activities as well as words for a medium exchange. Such a role for the early-childhood educator is evolving with the
Published Version
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