Investigates the psychometric properties of a Spanish and English version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS) when employed with Spanish- and English-speaking teachers and students. The independent emergence of comparable Spanish and English PIPPS factor structures provides initial support for use of this measure in research with…

Discusses how child caregivers can work with child life specialists to provide appropriate support for children with special health needs in early childhood settings. Describes the impact of chronic illness and hospitalization on infants and toddlers, offers suggestions for helping infants/toddlers and their families cope, focuses on play as a way…

Explores music education within Zimbabwe focusing on the Shona children. Discusses educational research related to cognition. Highlights seven singing games used with Shona children and relates each game to cognitive research. Explains that the research is based upon videotaped sessions of children participating in the games. (CMK)

In this interview with a Florida kindergarten teacher, the whole language philosophy is used to help elementary students learn skills through ongoing reading and writing activities. Thematic units are used to encourage teacher facilitation and peer teaching. (DG)

Six preschool children with moderate mental retardation were placed in dyads to study their reciprocal interactions. Following a teacher-mediated intervention procedure, children displayed noticeable increases in the number and length of interactions during instruction, but generalization to free play varied among participants. (Author/JDD)

Discusses ways to motivate students to learn through the use of textbooks. Suggests several activities designed to increase student motivation and interest. These include presenting textbook topics in the form of games, group work, and performing plays and puppet shows. Emphasizes the importance of coaching and praise. (RW)

Illustrates with one play example, from a five-year study of mentally retarded persons in a state school setting, that the prevailing nature of educational and therapeutic practice needs to be questioned. Identifies the different levels of interpretation and form of analysis in this setting and how each influences the other. (Author/JS)

The child's psychosocial and physiological development are discussed in terms of a limiting environment and program expectations. Some factors to consider are (1) heredity and heritage; (2) experience; (3) maturation; (4) social transmission; and (5) equilibration. Sensitive educators must prepare the environment for the child, not for the…

Examines the level of imaginative and social play of children in relation to family structure (single parent household versus dual parent household), maternal level of stress, and mothers' beliefs and attitudes about play. (BB)

Examines effects of age on play in which 36 low-socioeconomic Black children aged three and five coordinated their attention to objects and peers. The five-year-olds did not differ from the three-year-olds in amount of dual focus play or proportion of object play. (RJC)

The cognitive play of 12 mainstreamed mentally retarded preschool boys was examined during group free play at school and in an independent play situation at home. Children played more, played in a more sophisticated way, and developed longer and more complex sequenced play activities at home than at school. (Author/JDD)

Described is a curriculum project developed in Germany. The importance of playing and gaming for the acquisition of cognitive and social capacities, the relationships among acting, reasoning, and learning in physics instruction, and the spheres of subjective experience are discussed. The framework and evaluation of the curriculum are outlined. (YP)

It is important for caregivers and teachers to attach a sense of ownership and permanency to all types of childrens' play in the preschool and kindergarten classroom. Six suggestions that teachers can use to accomplish this goal are offered. Two examples illustrate the topic. (BB)

Female and male three- to five-year-olds were presented with six story starts and were asked to finish the stories. Analysis of these narratives showed boys to be more concerned with coping with aggressive drives and channeling them into attempts at mastery and girls with caretaking and responding to the needs of others. (Author)

Findings indicated that children who received group play sessions outperformed those in the control group on the self-control and free play rating scales. Boys in the experimental treatment outperformed girls in the experimental treatment and all children in the control group on the sociometric measure. (RH)