This practicum developed a workshop to educate staff and parents on identifying preschool stress, behavioral indicators of stress in children, and exploring effective stress coping techniques for use in the classroom and at home. A 3-phase solution strategy was implemented over 10 weeks. Phase I, the implementation process, included a staff…

This study gathered information on the extent to which children participate in the mature routines of their community, and the extent to which elders participate in child-centered activities. Subjects were children ranging in age from 30 to 45 months from the four societies of: (1) Mayan Indians living in a rural Guatemalan town; (2) the Efe…

This collection was gathered from a seminar entitled "Education and Leisure in North European Urban Spaces," which was the result of cooperation between the Sports, Leisure, and Tourism Work Group of the International Union of Architects and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Papers were given…

Case studies of three children who participated in the play program at Auckland Hospital in New Zealand are presented. About a third of the children admitted to the hospital have access to the play program, but only a few are able to participate in individual sessions with a hospital play specialist. The first case study described in this report…

Combining developmentally appropriate early childhood practice with current views of emergent literacy and whole language instruction, this book is designed to help pre-service and in-service teachers incorporate new views of literacy into their classrooms. The book includes extensive examples from actual classrooms to assist readers in…

Over the past several years, teachers at the West Virginia University Child Development Laboratory have used the language experience approach to develop the literacy skills of young children. To increase child involvement, a scrapbook project for 4-year-olds was conducted each Wednesday for 1 academic year. Each child received a scrapbook and…

A translation of parts of a Swedish study conducted in 73 full-day and 42 part-day Swedish preschools is presented. Although official Swedish policy maintains that the two types of preschool should have the same social and educational goals, Swedish public opinion holds that full-time preschools are mainly caretaking schools, and part-time…

Designed for use by parents to further the emotional, social, and intellectual development of their 2- to 6-year old children, this book describes the Montessori method of early childhood education and provides sample activities and games to develop children's skills in the home, the neighborhood, and the world. Following introductory sections…

This paper focuses on several prescribed interventions used to elicit and meet the needs of children with autism. Three intervention strategies that affect behavior modification of children with autism are discussed: (1) early intensive behavioral treatment; (2) social interaction between children with a disability and their typical peers; and (3)…

This study used checklist and interview methods to assess the normative development of children's social function skills. Participants included a large, cross-sectional sample of parents of normal children ranging in age from 6 months to 7.5 years. Parents completed the checklist portion of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disabilities Inventory, a…

Several factors are eroding children's right to play. The first is continuing poverty throughout the world. This factor is evident in underdeveloped countries and the inner cities of industrialized countries. Changing cultural values are a second factor in developed societies where indifference toward the importance of play is prevalent. The many…

This book illuminates play as a universal and culture-specific activity. It provides needed information about the behavior of children in diverse cultural contexts as well as about the play of children in unassimilated cultural or subcultural contexts. It offers readers the opportunity to develop greater sensitivity to and better understanding of…

As part of a larger project which attempted to integrate students with severe disabilities into regular recreational and leisure activities, this study used a peer interest survey to identify popular recreation activities (and thus appropriate possibilities for the target population) across a variety of age groups. The survey was completed by 619…

A premise of this book for teachers of young children is that all learning should be challenging, interesting, and enjoyable. Chapters include: (1) A Philosophy for Early Education (concerning the nature of young children, learning contexts, societal expectations); (2) Child Development (concerning independence, self-esteem, cooperative…

Information, guidelines, and activities for jumping rope are given. A short history of jumping rope explains how it evolved from a spring ritual for men to a play activity involving mostly young girls. Physical and cultural reasons are given as to why jumping rope has been more a sport for girls than for boys. Research studies are noted which show…