Preschoolers Acquiring Language Skills--Center-Based Activities With Parents and Partners . (2000). By Carol Liddiard Buteau & Kathryn Kohnert. Thinking Publications, 424 Gallaway St., Eau Claire, WI 54703. 463 pages, 2 audio CDs; $75. Reviewed by Traci W. Ingram, St. Louis, MO.

The Preschoolers Acquiring Language Skills (PALS) program is a three-ring binder filled with 15 thematic units, two audio CDs, materials to conduct a parent-education class, and ideas for activities and crafts to improve phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. This program is appropriate for children ages 2-5 who have been identified with a language delay or who are "at-risk" for language difficulties. It facilitates both receptive and expressive language through a child-centered, theme-based approach. Parents are encouraged to attend each preschool class with their child. The sessions are set up 1-5 times a week for 1-3 hours (as determined by the educator in charge of program). Six is the recommended maximum number of children per class.

Each class discusses and experiences a theme familiar to young children. The children learn language through a series of developmentally appropriate activities, songs, and crafts. This program includes two music CDs with more than 80 songs. The songs are organized on the CD to correspond with each thematic unit. These songs are sung in pleasant voices, and use familiar tunes with simple, repetitive lyrics.

PALS can be appropriately used by speech-language pathologists, early childhood educators, special educators, and preschool teachers. It is an easy, ready-to-use format. The main goal of the program is "to assist young children in gaining control over the pre-and co-requisite skills related to language content, form, and use and then to have them begin using specific linguistic form-function mapping for successful communicative interactions" as suggested by Lahey (1998). PALS is a wonderful addition to the library of any educator who works with preschool children. It is a well-designed program that gives the educator the materials needed to begin or restructure a preschool language program. This program is a resource filled with great ideas for bulletin boards, circle time, crafts, stories, snacks, and phonological activities. Each of the 15 thematic units is age-appropriate and very engaging to children ages 2-5. The program is well-organized and contains everything needed to conduct an effective preschool language class. The routine of the program combined with the music, activities, and language modeling that correspond with each theme help to elicit speech production and target vocabulary and essential concepts.

The parent education section is very useful in conducting the parents-only classes, teaching parents how to participate in a child-based language class, and providing milestone information about speech and language development, play development, and learning in general. This information helps to educate the parent and carries over into classroom and home activities. Parents are pleased to be a part of their child's language learning.

In summary, this program is a very comprehensive program containing 15 thematic units. These units contain everything needed to construct a fun, effective language-learning preschool environment. It is easy to use and prevents going from resource to resource trying to pull together an effective language lesson. It is all there at your fingertips in this well-organized three-ring binder. This program does a great job incorporating parents into their child's learning process. Though this is a very comprehensive set of materials, PALS is meant to be expanded upon. It is appropriate to add different themes to the program under the general format present.