A Piagetian preschool emphasizes the child's active construction of mental images rather than passive association of words and pictures with real objects. The role of the teacher is neither to dictate good behavior nor to transmit ready-made predigested knowledge. Her role is to help the child to control his own behavior and to find things out as…

This report comprises transcripts of tape recordings of (1) a short improvisation session conducted by a drama coach and (2) the subsequent seminar (edited) in which the 28 participants explore the relationship of improvisation to teaching literature. Topics discussed are the objectives of literature instruction, emotional experience as an…

The Children's Learning Center in Providence, Rhode Island, is a prototypical teaching/learning environment for preschool children aged 3-5. The center represents the first prototypical application of the Multi-Activity Zones for Education (MAZE) system. This study attempts to demonstrate and test the physical and operational performances of the…

This document described Project CHILD, a program of educational change and curriculum development for disadvantaged prekindergarten and kindergarten children. The historical part of this report indicates that the project began in 1966 with a small-scale study of teacher behavior and children's responses in a few classrooms in a Harlem school…

The Open Field Test was used to assess variables that might not be manifested in a more standard testing situation. In this test, the child was shown 10 standard play objects in the room, and was told to do anything he wished with the toys. The tester initiated no interaction with the child and responded minimally to any overture made by the…

This reference work lists approximately 900 games, covering almost all subject matter fields, which have sufficient intellectual content to be used for educational purposes by students ranging from the elementary grades to the university, government or business level. Arranged alphabetically by the name of the game, each entry provides information…

The present study examined the effect of preceding activities upon the attending behavior of preschool children while listening to a story in a large group situation. Attending in the group subsequent to active play was compared with attending in the group subsequent to a quiet activity. The four subjects of this research ranged in age from 3 to 4…

This paper explores similarities and differences between Kohlberg's Piagetian or cognitive-developmental view of edcuation and Bruno Bettelheim's psychoanalytic view which stresses the motivational qualities of children's thought. Based on observations of his son, Kohlberg suggests that children's playful attitudes, like their serious ones,…

Considers the culturally patterned set of analogic renamings found in Huli baby talk, nursery rhymes, and children's verbal games. An analysis of socialization activities shows a marked concern with body motifs and appellations and inter-adult behavior involving talk about the body, and showing that such language sensitizes children to cultural…

Game playing between a mother and father and their handicapped infant/toddler twin sons was studied over a three-year period. Findings included: (1) the parents spent almost 30 percent of their interaction time in games; and (2) the father's style was faster-paced, with more abrupt beginnings/endings than the mother's style. (Author/JDD)

Presents results of study of 32 children (under five and over five) enrolled in preschool program in midwestern university which investigated when children should be introduced to computers and whether or not computer is perceived as sex-stereotyped activity by young children. Background, procedures, and results are discussed. Twenty-one sources…

Describes a field study of kindergarteners which found 1,006 pupils conserved identity up to 8 months, and 693 pupils conserved identity and equivalence. Follow-up studies showed no relationship between kindergarten conservation abilities and grade 1 math skills, although grade 6 math performance correlated significantly with kindergarten…

Describes the pioneering work in England of Susan and Nathan Isaacs in child development and educational psychology and argues that their work provides a remarkably contemporary analysis of the origin and function of human language. (Author/RDN)

The author examines the psychological attraction of stories for children, psychological mechanisms involved in the reception of story literature, and effects this literature has on personality development. (MS)

This study examined the relationship between a mother's childrearing history, perceived social support, and maternal empathy and the quality of engagement with her child during play. The study also focused on the roles of social support as a moderating variable and maternal empathy as a mediating variable in the relationship. Participants were 77…