The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers and parents are communicating with each other in a foreign area. In case of obstacles in the communication, this study will examine how the preschools create opportunities to solve the problem. This study will also look closely at this relationship from an intercultural communication.This study is based on interviews. My informants are four teachers and four parents, one of the parents is Swedish and the other three have different ethnic and culture backgrounds.This study has reached to several results. The interviews with the teachers have shown that they are unsatisfied with their relationship with the parents because there are two factors that result to their communication difficulties.

In a society where adults set the conditions for children?s play and generate modern and at times technically advanced products, fundamental characteristics like simplicity, opportunities for motor skills training and learning tend to be neglected. Owing to this, the Linköping-based company Time In wants to introduce a new multifunctional product, which differs from other products in shape and function and lives up to the often overlooked, basic characteristics in a toy.With Time In as the assigner, the purpose of this master thesis has been to use simple means to produce a "learning by playing" concept. Since Time In sells toys and products suitable for children in nurseries and preschools, the development of the products has therefore included a study of nursery and preschool environments.The thesis has been carried out within the Product Design subject area at the Department of Management and Engineering at Linköping University. Concept development has been done in three phases: the Preparation phase, the Design phase and the Presentation phase.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how children's librarians in public libraries use non-fiction books in their work to promote reading. My research questions are: What methods do children's librarians use för promoting non-fiction books? Are there children who can gain more from non-fiction books than other children do? Are there any differences in working with fiction and non-fiction books? To answer these questions I have interwieved five children's librarians about their methods, attitudes and thoughts on non-fiction books.The result shows that all of the librarians use non-fiction when it comes to promotion reading but not to the same extent. Some hardly use it at all, mainly because the schools that they are serving demands fiction books when practicing reading skills. while others use it but in less extent than fiction, as a way of separating the library reading from school work either because they want to keep the experience of reading in the library apart from school work or because they find it more efficient to do so.

Statistics regarding children, who are overweight, shows alarming results in many parts of the world. Overweight may cause serious consequences, as for instance heart- and vascular diseases. Research is pointing out that hereditary, social, behavioural and cultural facts may promote developing overweight and it is of great importance to find out how to prevent overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. The purpose of the literature study was to compile primary and secondary preventions against overweight/obesity in children and adolescents. The result showed that prevention through education, recommendations, healthy eating and exercise may be usable in the work to prevent overweight among children and adolescents.

SummaryThe aim with this study is to find which importance the individual pedagogue may have forthe children in the preschool when they create an identity as a girl or a boy. The ownstandards and the values are said lie to shallow for how we as adult chooses to refute girls andboys in the child group. This essay is based on one a narrative study in the form of a life storyinterview. Through interviewing a preschool teacher at two different occasions has I may totake part of her personal experiences of as well working life that private life.If one is paid from the idea about that sex differences not only is something biologicalwithout most also something that is socially constructed over time and rooms, then has ofcourse doubtless the school and the individual pedagogue big importance for how these sexstandard are replicated. I have tried to present the statement on the basis of areas that pursueme come to seem as central.

SWITCH- Swedish Intelligibility test for children, is a test thatmeasures intelligibility of children's speech through repetition of singlewords. The test is computer generated and consists of 1000 word listsrandomly selected for each assessment. The purpose of this study was toexamine the equivalence, reliability and validity in the word lists. Word listswere tested on ten children with typical language development (N group)and ten children with speech deviation (T group). The children were audiorecorded when they repeated two lists.

International studies show that literacy skills have deteriorated among Swedish students. Empirical evidence states that before being able to learn to read it is important to have phonological awareness. From this perspective, an intervention study was launched to examine whether pupils´ phonological awareness could be enhanced through the work of a special model during a limited time. The aim of the study is to investigate whether six pupils in preschool develop phonological awareness based on Bornholmsmodellen during a limited period of time. The control group was made up of the remaining pupils in the preschool class.

Background: It is common that children and adolecsents with Aspergers syndrome have impaired motor skills and are less physically active than neurotypical children and adolecsents. Studies conducted on neurotypical children shows that children and adolecsents who are regular physical active also have a good motor control and a good physical self-esteem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical self-esteem of children and adolescents with Aspergers syndrome. Study Group: 36 children and adolescents aged 9-15 years with a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome was asked to participate in the survey. 18 children, 16 boys and 2 girls, responded to the questionnarie about physical self-esteem which 17 of the answers could be used in the study.

The discussion on whether the aesthetics or the pedagogy of children´s literature is the most important trait of the genre has been going on for quite some time. As children´s literature rose from a will to educate it is argued that pedagogy is forever imbued in the literature that addresses the child as its main reader. Literary scholars voices concern that the discussions about aesthetic expressions are being shunned in favor of that of educational values but does one exclude the other?In this essay I focus on two of Swedens most prominent authors of children´s literature, Lennart Hellsing and Ulf Stark. They are both part of the aesthetics/pedagogy debate, in their fictional works for children as well as with articles and essays on the subject.

The educational underachievement of children in foster care has been known for a long time. This study aimed to compile and analyze the current knowledge about interventions, intended to improve foster children?s school achievements. The method used was a systematically undertaken narrative review. Despite a comprehensive searching strategy, only ten relevant studies were found, indicating that little has been done to improve the educational outcomes for children in public care.

The thoughts of a common school for all children have been around since the 1800?s but was something that was introduced in Sweden first in 1962. When the curriculum for primary school came in 1980 there was a new concept, a school for all. With a school for all it was aimed that all children should have the right to participation and a common education no matter what needs they could have.During my education I have come across the concept a school for all and that is something that interested me. Today?s curricula and school laws aim to ensure that all children have the right to equal education and inclusion whatever needs you have.The purpose of this study is to find out some pedagogues? thoughts and work around the concept a school for all.

The main aim of this study is to analyse the grotesque characterization of adults in four novels by Roald Dahl, from Michail Bachtin?s definition of the carnival-grotesque in Rabelais and his world. From this view I have examined how the conflict between children and adults is described in these books, and to what extent the grotesque motifs have a function in this conflict.For this purpose I have applied theories of the literature-grotesque by Michail Bachtin, and of the meaning and function and ? in this context ? the necessity of fright and horror in children?s fiction, in particular by Bruno Bettelheim and J.A. Appleyard.

The aim of this study has been to create an understanding for the situation of an often forgotten group in foster care, the carers? own children. Our main focus has been the experience this group has of foster care, their experience of participation in caring for the foster children and their possible need of support and help. Our chosen method has been qualitative interviews with six adult children of foster carers, two men and four women. The theory used in this study has been Sense of Coherence.Our interviewees gave mainly a positive description of being part of a foster family even though they could give examples of difficult situation and of loss.

This thesis examines which function the information technology may have in thechildren's library, with the example from two library computer programmes. One is anexpert system, Hedvig, which will help children to choose and to find books, and theother is a computer game, The mysterious signs, that will teach children library user education.The main question is: What conceptions do the project-leaders, the children'slibrarians and the children have concerning the function of these two programmes in thechildren's library?The study is based upon qualitative interviews with two projects-leaders, fourlibrarians, three computer programmers and twenty-eight children.The theoretical material consists of examples on other library computer programmesfor children developed in Denmark and USA, some American studies in children'sabilities to use computerized information retrieval systems, and studies concerningchildren's relations to computers.The adult's conceptions of the computer programmes are divided into categories asfollows: Democracy, aspect of sex, complement, marketing, reading promotion,development of competence, information technology development, pedagogics, adulteducational activities, compensation and armusement, pedagogics, usefulness,effectiveness and information. These categories shall be seen as the conclusions of the thesis..

The purpose of this study was to examine how girls and boys are described by social workersin psycho-social assessments in child and adolescent psychiatry. The questions at issue wereif girls and boys are described in different ways and if gender related patterns could be found.The study was both qualitative and quantitative. I used textual analysis as a method anddiscourse analysis as theory.Results: Sexes were generally described differently. Girls are depicted from how they are andhow they look and boys are described by what they do and their behaviour. The mother isdescribed as the person who is most responsible for children of both sexes.