Formal programs covering the time young people are not in school (only 20 percent of the time) have burgeoned rapidly in the past few decades as a result of profound societal changes. Although the need of all children for out-of-school-time programs has not been met, millions of youngsters do participate in out-of-school-time programs sponsored by…

Efficacy research on video modeling as an instructional approach for individuals with autism has been found to be a promising area for teachers and researchers. Over the last three decades the literature has shown successful use of video modeling for teaching a variety of social, academic, and functional skills. The purpose of this literature…

This article reports on parents' perceptions of the way music CDs and DVDs were used with children under the age of five in the home environment. This was part of a study that explored the musical practices of parents with children at home. A survey was sent to parents in three preschools, asking about parental music background, young children's…

A graduate student in early childhood education discusses observations of his children during and after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. He relates his use of responsive parenting and provides examples of his children's learning and play that emerged after the storms. He reflects upon how aspects of developmentally appropriate…

This article begins by identifying that children have a spontaneous predilection for playing with language, engaging in poetic discourse even before their first poetry lesson. Although children's language play is relatively unresearched in the classroom, in a case study of two groups of pupils aged between 10 and 11, it was observed that children…

This study examined the effects of a work system on the independent work and play skills of students with autism. Work systems, an element of structured teaching developed by Division TEACCH, are organized sets of visual information that inform a student about participation in work or play areas. A single subject withdrawal of treatment design,…

This study describes a longitudinal design (following subjects described in Rutherford & Rogers [2003, "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder", 33, 289-302]) to test for predictors of pretend play competence in a group of children with autism. We tested the hypothesis that developmental change in pretend play performance can be predicted by…

Four doctoral students and their professor contemplate the value of play in their high school and college classrooms. They discuss their experiences teaching children's books, student illustrations, and excerpts from magazines and newspapers that convey the intricacies of the English language through homonyms, homophones, homographs, and polysemy.…

Children's exposure to mind-related talk has been shown to foster young children's metacognitive understanding and to orient them to the patterns of literate language long before they commence formal literacy instruction at school. In this paper, we report on a longitudinal study of the mind-related talk of 22 mothers when their infants were aged…

The relationship between symbolic play and other domains, such as degree of autistic symptomatology, nonverbal cognitive ability, receptive language, expressive language, and social development, was investigated. The assessment files of 101 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder were studied. Nonverbal cognitive ability and expressive language…

Through a joint research committee sponsored by the Association for Play Therapy (APT) and the American Counseling Association (ACA), The National Play Therapy in Counseling Practices Project conducted the first phase of investigation. Findings offered a snapshot of mental health providers of play therapy, regarding the nature of who they are and…

How do children from different cultural backgrounds who are learning to speak English respond to the Reggio Emilia approach? This article builds on the author's research into Reggio Emilia and children from diverse cultural backgrounds. She describes the strategies the teachers used to enable the children to express their ideas verbally and…

The role of sociodramatic play in children's cognitive, social, and physical development is discussed, drawing on observations of work with parents and their children ages 3-5. The paper focuses on the way the teachers guided and facilitated play taking cues from the children. A training session was provided to the parents on ways to play with…

Theoretical correspondences between the language and play development of young children and developmental aspects of play and speech are discussed prior to a report of a study comparing categories of cognitive complexity nested within social categories of solitary play and self speech. Participants were 36 preschool boys and girls approximately…

This book provides practical, everyday activities to weave language development and early literacy activities into the daily schedule in an early childhood education program. The chapters are organized by areas common in most early childhood environments: (1) circle time; (2) snack time; (3) dramatic play; (4) outdoor play; (5) art; (6) sand and…