Farm- and nature-based early childhood education programs have a unique potential to provide young children with skills and experiences that build a strong foundation for future learning and environmental stewardship, but can also to extend positive impacts to families. In this paper, we work to bridge the gap between research and practice by…

The article seeks to explore the relationship between the researcher and children aged from one to three years old. The findings are drawn from a research project in an Icelandic preschool where video recordings were used as the main method. The aim of the research project was to understand children's lived experiences when creating their…

Teachers of very young children have the awesome task of providing rich information and experiences that build skills and understanding in the context of every day routines and within intentionally-designed play opportunities that capture children's interests, wonder and curiosity so they want to know more. Pennsylvania's learning standards join…

The 18 preschool teachers in the study tended to agree that preschool education for 4-year-olds should foremost be fun and engaging, not stressful. Teachers should develop curricula based on children's interests and everyday lives, and allow children to choose their activities and to direct their own play and exploration at their own pace. The…

What children do in play is simultaneously influenced by the properties of the play object and the skills of the child. Properties of objects lend themselves to re-engagement in investigative play or support for shared action. Repeated play with particular objects increases the number of actions possible with these objects. The process of…

The Preschool Interest Inventory (PSII) has been developed to meet the need for an informal measure of the interests, play behaviors, and communication skills of young children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, particularly those exhibiting delays in language development. The first step in the Inventory process is the Caregiver Interview. In the…

To help parents address those aspects of their child's development which may need special encouragement, support, or intervention, this digest delineates 11 categories of behavior for assessment. Parents should not be alarmed if their children are having difficulty in only a few categories, and they should not judge their children's permanent…

Examined the effect of observation of gender-related information in the peer group on preschoolers' attention to toys that were not clearly delineated as appropriate for one sex or the other. Contemporaneous peer involvement was significantly associated with children's toy adoption, but cumulative peer involvement was not. (Author/BB)

Presents results of study of 32 children (under five and over five) enrolled in preschool program in midwestern university which investigated when children should be introduced to computers and whether or not computer is perceived as sex-stereotyped activity by young children. Background, procedures, and results are discussed. Twenty-one sources…

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:…