This article draws on current literature leading to the development of a holistic framework to support practitioners in observation and assessment of childrens evolving inquiry skills. Evidence from the 2011 Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) in England identifies a decline of year five student achievement in science. A…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face pervasive challenges in symbolic and social play development. The Integrated Play Groups (IPG) model provides intensive guidance for children with ASD to participate with typical peers in mutually engaging experiences in natural settings. This study examined the effects of a 12-week IPG…

This paper describes a nature-based social-emotional approach to supporting young children's holistic development that can be applied in a range of early childhood settings from forest kindergartens and nature-based preschools to more traditional center-based early childhood programs. "The Social-Emotional and Environmental Education…

Clinical interventions have been effective at increasing social skills of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, generalization of those skills to non-clinical environments is often low. To reduce this generalization gap, community-based programs have been designed to help youth develop social skills in naturalistic settings. This…

Social skills are prerequisite to academic performance and success in school. Training of these skills is particularly important for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) who have social deficits and struggle maintaining appropriate and accepted behavior in and outside of the classroom. Educating through the "physical" model is a…

Studying short-term dynamic processes and change mechanisms in interaction yields important knowledge that contributes to understanding long-term social development of children. In order to get a grip on this short-term dynamics of interaction processes, the authors made a dynamic systems model of dyadic interaction of children during one play…

Presents the Twin Earth model, proposing specific relations between pretend play and understanding minds, from ontogenesis of pretense to later emergence of role play and representational understandings of pretense. Central to the model is supposition that pretend play functions for children much as Twin Earth functions for philosophers, by…

This article describes the development of adaptive experience from passivity through the internalization of social limits and compares it to the ritualistic defensive behavior of children from economically deprived homes. Demonstrates how teachers may use creative materials and activities along a structured-to-fluid continuum to affect a program…

The purpose of this review was to establish what is currently known about the effect of the Sport Education (SE) curriculum model (Siedentop, 1994a) on various indices of student learning in physical education. A total of 62 peer-reviewed journal articles pertaining to the SE model were collected and separated into two broad categories of…

A multifaceted model to promote peer play was implemented with play groups including 3 children (ages 6-8) with autism, resulting in decreased isolate play and collateral gains in social play, and decreased stereotyped object play and collateral gains in functional object play. Advances in play behaviors were generalized and were accompanied by…

In this study, preferences for activities with people vs. objects were examined in preschool children and related to two kinds of intellectual abilities. Children with high object orientation were expected to be relatively advanced in organizing and classifying physical objects. In contrast, children with high people orientation were expected to…

This paper discusses the effects of a technological society on the growth and development of children. There is a feeling among preschool and elementary teachers that many children today are excitable, unable to commit themselves to an activity, unable to concentrate well, and speak glibly without understanding. These teachers speculate that…

Focusing on the preconversational child who has yet to develop a stable or generalized habit of spontaneous conversation, this book presents ECO (Ecological Communication Model), a new intervention model for social and communicative development of developmentally delayed children. The model is based on two perspectives: the literature on the…

This volume reflects some of the disciplinary and interdisciplinary diversity found in the study of programs for young children, and its chapters cover a number of matters central to early childhood development and practice, including preparation for practice. The book has 11 chapters divided into 4 parts that cover family and community, adults…

Examined 2-year-olds' language acquisition with an emphasis on the agency and intentionality of the child. Concluded that development depends on the child's expression of intentionality by actions (performance), the essential tension between the child's engagement and effort, and the integration of linguistic, cognitive, and social aspects of the…