Summarizes three studies on the effects of physical environment on preschool children's play and cognitive development, and discusses implications for classroom design. Notes that size of play area, and the extent to which the size of structures in that area was proportional to children's size, affected the rate at which children entered complex…

Highlights Paley's contributions, particularly her work in developing the vision of the narrative classroom. This vision includes using a combination of acting, writing, and directing to get children to work together and develop ideas in small settings. Paley's methods and insights illustrate these concepts and classroom life in an important way…

Examined variations in mother and father involvement in 100 families whose oldest children were between 3 and 5 years of age. Found that mothers participated in childrearing activities at a significantly higher rate than fathers in both single-earner and dual-earner families. Mothers spent a high proportion of their interaction time in functional…

The relations among specific aspects of language (comprehension, production, semantics, and utterance length), relations between language and symbolic play, and maternal influences were evaluated in mother-toddler dyads when the children were 13 and 20 months of age. Found toddler language ability did not generally predict toddler play and that…

Comparison of 40 children with Down's syndrome and typically developing children (matched for mental age) found that the children with Down's syndrome appeared less engaged in a task, as indicated by shorter sequences of goal directed behavior and higher rates of toy rejection. They also displayed less causality pleasure with object exploration…

Presents preschool and kindergarten teachers with ideas and guidelines for teaching mathematics, focusing on the processes of classifying, comparing, matching, adding, and subtracting in relation to number sets, especially as children encounter sets in play settings. (BB)

Play and well-designed motor activities may be ideal media to facilitate young children's learning. Last year, the Council on Physical Education for Children produced a position statement contrasting developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practices in 25 program components, including curriculum, teaching strategies, motor skills…

Object play and communication development were studied with four infants with cerebral palsy, involving time spent with objects, types of object play, and object selection. As coordinated looking between object and adult emerged, children demonstrated increased interest in objects and sophistication in their play behaviors. (SW)

A naturalistic study of toddler playgroups examined factors that might encourage gender segregation. Results revealed that play in same-sex contexts facilitates social interaction, whereas in mixed-sex contexts, play leads to passive social relations. Toddlers who segregated were more behaviorally sex-typed. Preferences for sex-typed toys did not…

Probes some of the conceptual meanings people attach to gardens, based on memories and meanings of childhood gardens. The results of interviews with gardeners in California and Norway are used to illustrate different meanings people attach to childhood gardens. Concludes with some of the design, planning, and management issues facing childhood…

Examined 30 Indonesian toddlers' play with their mothers and siblings. Found that the level of object play and mutual involvement in cooperative social pretend play increased with age. Findings suggest that older siblings can be effective facilitators of pretend play with younger children. (MDM)

Briefly reviews current knowledge about the nature of limits of intersubjectivity (ability to acquire and manage representations of self and other through social experience) in autistic children. Describes an observational study of verbal autistic children indicating the presence of intersubjectivity, but with little of the verbal social…

Provides a typology of power strategies used by young children, based on observations of early childhood classrooms. Distinguishes between violent and nonviolent strategies; within nonviolent strategies, between physical and discursive strategies; within discursive strategies, between the use of rules and other strategies; and within the use of…

Notes the importance of outdoor play to the early childhood curriculum. Explores the purpose and nature of playgrounds, and presents a staff development model based on playground contents, safety, and functions. Also notes some playground problems teachers can avoid with close observation. (HTH)

Two studies examined preschoolers' conflict behavior in peer and sibling dyads. Found that conflicts were quickly resolved in nonaggressive ways, and they occurred within the context of ongoing, coordinated play. Most conflicts occurred between same-gender dyads. Age was also found to influence conflict behavior. (HTH)