Children's involvement in home literacy and numeracy activities has been linked to school achievement, but the subtleties in the home environment responsible for these gains have yet to be thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine how children's interests and collaborative parent-child interactions affect exposure to home…

The influences of child participation in interest-based learning activities on the development of 17 preschoolers with autism was the focus of this brief report. The children's mothers identified their children's interests and the everyday family and community activities that provided opportunities for interest-based learning. Parents then…

This second of a series of papers evaluating the Parent/Child Program describes the procedure used to decide whether the nine toys and their accompanying learning episodes are appropriate for use by young children in the Parent/Child context. Parents in four courses (Preliminary and Performance Test Situations) were given instructions on how to…

Noting that when planning a program for 2-year-olds, it is important for the teacher to consider the developmental levels and interests of the children, this book offers teachers a practical guide for working with 2-year-olds in a child care setting. The 15 chapters focus on the following areas: (1) designing a flexible and responsive environment…

SINCE SYMBOLS ARE SEEN AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THINGS, ACTION, RELATIONSHIPS, AND FEELINGS, YOUNG CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN TO PROCESS SYMBOLS. THE QUALITY OF A CHILD'S EDUCATION IN MANAGING AND UTILIZING SYMBOLS WILL AFFECT HIS ABILITY TO WORK, LOVE, AND GROW. SOME MAJOR IDEAS IN OUR CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF MAN AND HIS DEVELOPMENT HAVE BEEN UPROOTED IN…

The impact of informal learning on young children in the course of their play activities is discussed. A major objective is to emphasize that informal learning can help lay the base for multiculturalism in elementary education. It enables children from different cultural backgrounds to relate to and understand each other through play activities…

Recognizing the importance of teaching based on young children's interests, this book describes the High Scope Demonstration Preschool approach to helping teachers plan early childhood education learning activities, based on specific observations of children, rather than a predetermined set of topics. Each chapter includes the following sections:…