To help with writing clear and simple language, there are many resource books available. Some favorites include:

Exploring Art: A Student Guide to Viewing Museum Exhibitions, published by the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Art Speak: A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1945
to the Present and Art Spoke: A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords (1848-1944) by Robert Atkins and published by Abbeville Press

A Pronunciation Dictionary of Artists’ Names, revised and edited by Debra Edelstein, published by the Art Institute of Chicago

Key Terms in Art Craft and Design by John Skull and published by Elbrook Press

Any book from the Dorling Kindersley series for clear and simple explanations on many topics
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (www.gardnermuseum.org) has recommended readings about learning in museums on their website, related to their Thinking Through Art project. Go to their education page and click on Thinking Through Art. Then, click on Resources and you will find a Reading List.

There are many places to find information on childhood developmental levels; a very clear explanation can be found in an article called A Guide to Childhood Development by Marla Shoemaker that was published in The Docent Educator. You can find it in Understanding Audiences, Volume 2, Number 1, Autumn 1992. For information on ordering back issues, go to http://www.museum-ed.org/materials/docents/docenteducator/.

Minda Borun, Museum Solutions and Director of Research & Evaluation, The Franklin Institute, has done a lot of work on family learning within exhibitions at science museums and many of her findings relate to family learning in all museums. The publication Family Learning in Museums: The PISEC Perspective by Minda Borun is available through the Association of Science-Technology Centers (www.astc.org).