In this article, the author talks about the importance of play in the lives of children and describes how games and imaginative play contribute to the development of children. From her decades-old collection of countless incidents demonstrating children's love for self-directed, informal, imaginative play, the author shares three incidents that…

Discusses how one's conception of intelligence and its development profoundly affects the formulation of educational objectives. A mechanistic conception of intelligence leads to the definition of objectives as a collection of fragmented "cognitive skills", while a Piagetian conception attempts to develop children's intelligence as an…

Describes the work and organization of the Center, which focuses on strengthening the capacity of child care and Head Start programs to improve social and emotional outcomes for young children. Specifically examines two main activities: creation of a series of What Works Briefs and development of a set of comprehensive training modules. (SD)

Discusses the importance of a sense of wonder in young children's social and emotional development. Offers ideas for ways in which parents and teachers can help create, nourish, and sustain a sense of wonder in children. (GLR)

Examines ways to enhance children's spiritual development in a broader sense than religious beliefs. Describes a quiet corner, a silence game, guided meditation, questions to evoke wonder, and other techniques for fostering spirituality. Asserts that teachers have a responsibility to help children broaden the spiritual aspect of their human…

Awareness of the important roles dispositions play in the teaching process and in young children's education is growing. With the inclusion of disposition in the revised National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards, education for preservice teachers must increase its focus on the nature of dispositions. This…

Conversations play a significant role in early childhood antibias and multicultural education because they enable children to connect with others and to begin to see the implications of certain assumptions. However, engaging children in these conversations is not always easy. No matter what the question, children frequently resist answering…

Reviews theory and research on various aspects of prosocial development, discusses curricula designed to increase the ability of young children to behave in prosocial ways, and lists six factors that can be used to facilitate children's prosocial development. (RH)

Describes a program developed to help parents become effective playmates. Suggests that interactive play between infants and adults has numerous benefits, although these benefits will not occur automatically; they require parents to develop the appropriate skills. Proposes methods to facilitate play and make an important contribution to the…

Explores the importance of play in the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of young children. Functional, constructive, and dramatic play, and games with rules, are examined. Suggests that play is a powerful curricular tool for the kindergarten and primary classroom. Investigates ways to integrate play into the curriculum and to…

Offers practical suggestions for a non-sexist preschool curriculum, with emphasis on developing classroom materials, such as puzzles, flannel board figures, block accessories, etc., which can help to eliminate sex-role stereotyping. Examples of changes which occurred due to the experimental curriculum are given. (ED)

Problems of integrating children from early education programs (3-to-5-year-olds) into the structure and curriculum of kindergarten are discussed in relation to the changing roles of both kindergarten and early education teachers. (BRT)

This study focused on the kinds of cognitive behaviors preschool and kindergarten children engage in while playing in a solitary, parallel, associative or cooperative manner. The effects of socio-economic status, developmental level, and the use of specific materials on social and cognitive levels of play are discussed. (BD)

Maintains that parents and teachers of toddlers need to see "toddlerhood" as a special and distinct stage of development with its own set of tasks and behaviors, when creating age-appropriate activity programs in home or group settings. Gives eleven ways that such programs can be made to fit toddlers. (BB)

Recommends that, instead of focusing on cognitive and educational issues, early childhood education focus more on the emotional and social characteristics of young children and on how these characteristics interact with cognition and learning. (AS)