Questions the efficiency, economy, and learning benefits of formal instructional programs at the preschool level, particularly for middle class children. Concludes that academic preschool for this group is undesirable. (DR)

Some ways in which a young child becomes involved in exploratory activities, seeking to become acquainted with his world, and how these experiences involve science concepts are presented. Piaget's philosophy of learning is discussed with emphasis on the child's need for interaction for an open learning environment. (EB)

Presents exploratory activities for preschool children as they seek to become acquainted with the world about them. Some of the ways in which these experiences involve science concepts are discussed. (Author/EB)

Discusses the theories of Piaget, Bruner, Lifschitz and Langford, Vygotsky and others. (SB)

Presents a rationale for providing preschool children with experiences related to classification, seriation, and pattern recognition because they are means by which a child can organize the world around him. These are considered to be the early steps in the long developmental sequence leading to logical thinking and reflective observation. (GS)

The main purpose of this study was to trace the development of children's awareness that they can learn and to describe the forms of their ideas of learning. A complementary aim was to account for the extent to which such conceptions can be found at different levels of development. The investigation consisted of two observational studies and a…

The efficacy of small group instructional programs in classificatory, seriation, and combined class/series skills was evaluated for a sample of 60 urban, middle-class, 4- to 5-year-old children in a transfer of training design. Significant curriculum-specific transfer effects were found for the seriation instructional condition, whereas little…

Twenty-four nursery school children ranging from 3.11 years to 5.11 years were tested in counting objects that varied in similarity and contiguity. Objects were presented in three arrangements: arrangements composed of subgroups of contiguous identical objects; arrangements without subgroups; and arrangements composed of subgroups of discontiguous…

This interpretative study explored the view of how children construct knowledge as proposed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in its position paper "Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, Expanded Edition" (DAP-DOC) (Bredekamp,…

Examining the effects of sociodramatic play and sex differences on mathematical learning and adult-observed playfulness in young children, several preliminary analyses were run of pre-test scores. Tests used were the Kindergarten Keys Mathematics Test and the Lieberman Playfulness Scale. The results of three 2(treatment) x 2(sex) analyses of…

New conceptions of learning, analogy, and capacity have fundamentally changed scientists' view of cognitive development. New conceptions of learning help to explain how representations of the world are acquired. New models of analogical reasoning have suggested that logical inferences are often made by mapping a problem into a mental model, or…

This report explores the possibility of constructing a conceptual framework to account for variations in learning styles observed among preschool disadvantaged children. It begins with a review of the literature on preschool intervention programs relating to ways disadvantaged children approach new experiences; gather, organize, and process…

A research project of environmental learning in children is discussed. Most of the studies conducted during the research involved observation of children aged 3-12, in mapping and free environmental behavior, and in curricular experiments using perceptual surrogates for map-learning and macro-environmental conceptualization in the lower elementary…

This book presents 16 papers on programs and approaches that have been developed around the world to enhance learning and thinking skills for children and adults. Papers are divided among three main sections focussing respectively on issues and applications, specific applications to school content, and assessment and evaluation. Papers have the…