Japanese teachers consider clean-up time to be the group's responsibility, and they rely on the use of music and encouragement to make clean-up time an appealing activity. The children's positive feelings also may be partially explained by the fact that teachers consider clean-up time to be an extension of play, saving toys and activities for the…

Efforts to improve education should not neglect to provide the rich play opportunities that benefit children in so many ways. In Tanzania, the pre-primary curriculum, for example, guides teachers to use play as the primary method of teaching and learning. Despite this policy mandate for play, however, abundant evidence indicates that Tanzanian…

Play and learning in the outdoors have been long-standing features of early years care and education. Unfortunately, children around the world no longer have sufficient opportunities for outdoor play for a variety of reasons. In the United Arab Emirates, climatic constraints limit outdoor play for 6 months of the year. One group of preservice…

Play is a natural and significant aspect of children's learning and development. Adults can be important to children's play, as they act as "play agents." Their involvement significantly influences the quality of the play activities in which children engage. The author briefly reviews the theoretical assumptions about adults' role in…

Sharing classroom practices across international borders can add new dimensions to teaching methods, no matter where one calls home. With this idea in mind, the authors (two U.S. early childhood teacher educators and a Kenyan-born U.S. early childhood teacher) have corresponded for several years through e-mail with a small group of early childhood…

Describes one educator's research journey to Friedrich Froebel's homeland of Germany to study the beginnings of the early childhood profession and to celebrate Froebel's important contributions. Offers descriptions of early Froebel schools and Froebel artifacts to illustrate his educational philosophy and practice. (KB)

Discusses the ambivalence felt by early-childhood teachers about young children's sexual behaviors. Focuses on the importance of context in understanding normal sexual development in young children and specific behaviors that might signal an underlying problem. Presents a continuum of young children's sexual behaviors, ranging from normal to…

Draws on examples from Australia to illustrate ways early childhood professionals can contribute to meeting the challenges of resettling young refugee children. Describes a repatriation program to help rebuild nations, a program establishing play centers inside refugee centers, and using preschools/child care centers to support refugee families…

Offers strategies which preschool teachers can use to facilitate children's problem-solving skills through play in the context of the Play and Problem-Solving Model. Discusses the clues children give teachers when they need help and what kind of help children need to solve problems. (BB)