Reviews three articles in this journal on pretend play and focuses on the communicative activity through which social pretending is created. Suggests that, despite recent advances toward understanding techniques by which children construct make-believe, further examination of conversational exchanges and sequences of this complex activity is…

An account of how the author's son began writing as a play activity, issuing tickets to neighbors, attempting to read and interpret signs, and participating in making shopping and duty lists in the household. Includes observational recommendations. (CRH)

Summarizes three studies that have revolutionized child psychology by teaching us that children are biologically programmed to learn language; children's language development is orderly and pragmatic, but grammatically mysterious; and children's linguistic self-expression reveals some disturbing ways in which they have been socialized. Presents…

Isolated examples of creative adaptation show that Jean Piaget's theories of childhood development provide the conscientious teacher with a veritable warehouse of innovative and thought-provoking principles with which to construct a meaningful foundation of language arts experimentation. The elementary Piagetian principles for evoking creativity…

The infant's impressions of his environment are viewed by several philosophers, including Jean Piaget. There has been some past tendency to suppose that, prior to the acquisition of language, the infant has no real impressions about his environment. More recent understandings consider that the infant is capable of conceptualization and can express…

Examines the case of two five-year-old twin boys with delayed language development, yet judged to be articulate and successful students in kindergarten. Suggests that the delay appeared because most of their interaction had been with each other. However, through their family they became acquainted with the discourse activities that are valued at…

Evidence from the language use of young children is used to question accepted notions of language development and instruction in the three papers in this compilation. The first paper, "Young Children Challenge the Belief That Language Needs to be Taught Sequentially," challenges the notion of sequential development in which oral language…

Compares findings from the six studies in this special journal issue, focusing on the role of Mexican-descent family conversations in young children's social, emotional, and conceptual development and on patterns of maternal teaching behaviors across socioeconomic backgrounds. Discusses the need for further research that represents the diversity…

This set of four research reports is a product of the Mathemagenic Activities Program (MAP) for early childhood education of the University of Georgia Follow Through Program. Based on Piagetian theory, the MAP provides sequentially structured sets of curriculum materials and processes that are designed to continually challenge children in…

Reviews recent research on the nature of teachers' and students' talk in the classroom, specifically addressing the teachers' expectations of student talk and behavior. (SRT)

Stressing the importance of understanding child development, this paper first describes the writing of several children in a kindergarten class who represent various levels of emerging literacy. Based on the descriptions of classroom activities, the paper argues that with a developmental perspective the teacher can build instruction on what the…