Derived from the first phase of a research study entitled "The Cognitive and Social Development of Pre-School Children in Singapore" (the IE-BvLF study), the essays in this collection focus on the language, numeracy, cognitive, and social development of approximately 3,000 Singapore children between 1983 and 1986. Following a prologue…

A preschool program in rural Bangladesh was evaluated in terms of cognitive and social outcomes of children. The preschools provided a half-day program, 6 days a week, with free play, stories, and instruction in literacy and math. Four hundred children between 4.5 and 6.5 years were assessed, half in preschools and half in villages where there…

Several factors are eroding children's right to play. The first is continuing poverty throughout the world. This factor is evident in underdeveloped countries and the inner cities of industrialized countries. Changing cultural values are a second factor in developed societies where indifference toward the importance of play is prevalent. The many…