Refers to classification skills as preludes" to concept attainment. (Author)

Discusses the special quality of the relationships teachers, caregivers, and parents have with young children, focusing on aspects of the relationship which help the adult develop as much as they help the child grow. (CM)

Provides evidence on the adaptive significance of peer interaction in child development, described as underutilized in formal education today. Peer role in sexual socialization and moral and social development, peer modeling, reinforcement and tutoring are discussed. Studies described involved preschoolers and children in grades 1-3. (BF)

Discusses elements of high-quality play related to time, space, experiences, and materials. Also discusses effective methods of adult-child interaction in the play setting and the importance of adults being very conscious of their role in the endeavor. (JW)

Describes development of the nonprofit Hug-a Book program to provide preschool sites in impoverished areas of Chicago with quality children's literature. The program assists teachers in planning curricula and literacy-rich environments and helps parents in making books a part of their homes. Suggests appropriate books and criteria for their…

Describes Erikson's theory of developmentally appropriate curriculum and the eight stages of the life cycle. Provides brief descriptions of these stages and some possible professional applications that early childhood educators can use in pursuing professional development. (MOK)

Through play children develop the basic skills needed to make choices in life and to tolerate ambiguity and the unexpected in a fast-changing world. To teach young children effective play skills, teachers must be skillful co-players and observers, not mere implementers of standardized curricula. Vignettes illustrate children's learning through…

Play is children's work. Alice Honig enumerates from the heart 10 ways in which children learn through play, including building dexterity; social skills; cognitive and language skills; number and time concepts; spatial understanding; reasoning of cause and effect; clarification of pretend versus real; sensory and aesthetic appreciation; extended…

Summarizes three recent studies which found relationships between the quality of day care centers and children's development. Also describes the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and its effects when used by centers for self-evaluation. Discusses similar benefits of self-study resulting from the accreditation program of the National…

Describes an educational project from which was derived a theory of development, a theory of curriculum and a theory of teaching, designed to create an educational system that would be unique in its power to release human potential. (Author/RK)

Summarizes major points of NAEYC's revised position, describing how the revision builds on and expands the previous document through the growing knowledge base and the input of practitioners who used the original publication. Discusses the historical context within which the position statement was written, and summarizes the revisions. Discusses…

Describes purpose of private speech and stages of development of private speech from birth to age 8. Details ways teachers can support children's gradual internalization of private speech. Outlines procedures for assessing private speech progress. Notes classroom implications related to anticipating children's thinking, asking children to answer…

Presents an annotated bibliography on child development and early childhood education for beginners in the field and parents of young children. (CM)

In Kathleen Loomis's preschool classroom at the Bennington College Early Childhood Center, the goal for children is not to produce beautiful and expressive artworks or to learn specific methods of working with art media--although those things do happen. Here, the curriculum is built around the philosophy that learning to think and create with art…

Presents a brief discussion of several current theoretical and methodological trends in early childhood education, which include: (1) child development perspectives; (2) the purpose of early education; (3) the educational responsibilities of parents and teachers; (4) program evaluation; and (5) the challenges and future direction of early…