Effectance, defined as the child's independent, effective interaction with people and things, is studied through observation of the play of 36 preschool low income black children. The children were observed and filmed in semi-structured play sessions, primarily with family dolls, doll furniture, and small baby bottle. Instruments used were: (1)…

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of peers in reducing the isolation of preschool children who exhibited very little or no interaction with peers. Selection of subjects was made on the basis of quantity of verbal behavior and amount and quality of classroom play. In a 15-minute dyad play situation which maximized the…

The Soviets have long been devoting educational and institutional energies to the field of early childhood education. This book stresses what Russian preschool education does rather than what its theorists claim it does for children aged 2 months to 6 years who are in group care. Children, teachers and parents tell their own stories. Obviously…

A report for Preparatory School and Elementary School in German, compiled by the Institute for Course Design and Educational Reports is presented. The contents are: (1) Conceptual and Structural Problems. (2) Social Education and Superintendence of Play. (3) Language and Language Cultivation, and (4) Modeling, Art, Music and Rhythm Education,…

Seventeen sets of opposite sex twins, 13 to 14 months old, were observed in a playroom situation with their mothers. Attachment behaviors, toy preference, style of play, and activity level were recorded. Analysis of four attachment behaviors indicated that girls looked at, vocalized to, and maintained proximity with their mothers significantly…

This study was designed to examine the nature of nonverbal social interaction between mothers and infants and to compare various situational effects. A total of ten 3-month-old twin infants (five male and five female) and their mothers were videotaped in their homes during free play, bottle feeding and spoon feeding situations. A repeated measures…

A one-day workshop on drug education program development combined didactic features with innovative group techniques to generate a practical list of needs, resources and possible programs for use in public schools. Participants discovered that by using inservice training and paraprofessional personnel, many of the needs of their schools might be…

Social interactions between preschool behaviorally handicapped children were measured under three experimental conditions during free-play: (a) active teacher involvement; (b) no teacher involvement; and (c) teacher structured free-play. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for ameliorating social interaction deficits among…

Games and dramatic activities can help students explore their personal responses to literary works.

Preschool children interacted with an adult model who was either low or highly rewarding to the child. Later the model displayed either a high or low degree of positive affect as he played with a nonpreferred toy. The model's affect influenced both the children's ratings of and imitative play with the toy. (Author/RD)

Discusses guidelines for using various teaching methods: (1) lecture, (2) discussion, (3) demonstration-performance, (4) dramatization, (5) role-play, and (6) problem situation or case studies. Reviews the strengths and weaknesses of each method. Also suggests determinants for the selection of methods. (CSS)

Recently a group of Newcastle teachers spent a week inside some London schools teaching classes they had never seen before. They worked with local teachers and children under the eagle eye of Dorothy Heathcote. Here is a report on the way that the week developed. (Editor/RK)

The purpose of leisure education for the handicapped is to develop awareness of leisure values and attitudes, social interaction skills, leisure activity skills, and knowledge of leisure resources. (JD)

Describes a role-play exercise in which several groups, of varying ability and of six members each, acted out a crime story, with the help of written information. Preparation included vocabulary and pronunciation exercises. After performance, errors were corrected and the play performed again, with roles re-distributed. (IFS/WGA)

Defines "creative rehersal" as a semi-structured playing of a narrative thread in a spontaneous manner by a child or group of children and an adult in order to practive problem solving abilities and describes the interaction of a child and an adult in such a situation. (MH)