In this essay, I reflect on my lived experiences as a girl child growing up in my home country of Botswana, and also as a mother in a foreign country, Canada. I am experimenting with my personal essay and making connections with academic articles that will help me understand my behaviors, attitudes, and responses to challenging situations that…

The experiences of children's play have a profound impact on all areas of their growth and development. Memories of play can be vivid and detailed. These memories often have a treasured place in our hearts and minds. Educators and parents have a special opportunity to ask themselves, "What kind of memories of play do I hope for the children…

Preschool boys' pretense and coconstruction of shared meanings during two play sessions (superhero and generic toys) were investigated with 58 middle-class boys ("M" age = 54.95 mos.). The frequency of dyadic pretense and the coconstruction of shared meanings in the play were coded. The frequency of pretense did not vary across the two…

This revised Early Learning Framework is the culmination of a collaborative process that included early childhood educators, primary teachers, academics, Indigenous organizations, Elders, government, and other professionals. The first Early Learning Framework published in 2008 changed the landscape of early years practice in British Columbia. It…

The transition from kindergarten to Grade 1 is marked by a sudden decrease in children's play time (Brostrom, 2005; Hartmann & Rollett, 1994). This study sought to examine 69 Montreal-area Grade 1 children's beliefs about out of school play, as well as their parents' (N = 56) perceptions of their play. Findings indicate that parents value play…

Investigated North American children's and adults' familiarity with, and liking for, fairy tales. Results support the hypotheses that children's liking for fairy tales relates significantly to their involvement in imagining activities and that more general imagining involvements are likely to be associated with, or to mediate differences in, the…

This document, British Columbia's Early Learning Framework, is intended to guide and support early childhood educators, StrongStart BC facilitators, early years professionals, service providers, communities and governments in providing rich early learning experiences for children from birth to kindergarten. The document may also be of interest for…