Pretend play is often hypothesized in a global sense to be an effective context for young children's learning, but there is much still to learn about whether all types of information can be learned equally and whether all types of pretend play are equally beneficial. The present study tests whether preschoolers can learn a simple, novel causal…

Federal attention is focused currently on investing and improving the quality of early childhood education, so that children's potential and talent development can be used as a natural resource for the future of our country. This article engages readers in transitioning their thinking about early childhood gifted education from a traditional…

The article describes the Chapel Hill Gifted Handicapped Project (housed at the University of North Carolina) designed to develop a model and field tested curricula for gifted and handicapped preschoolers. (SBH)

Presents a rationale for providing preschool children with experiences related to classification, seriation, and pattern recognition because they are means by which a child can organize the world around him. These are considered to be the early steps in the long developmental sequence leading to logical thinking and reflective observation. (GS)

CHILDREN FROM LOW SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS ARE HANDICAPPED BY THE LACK OF MANY EXPERIENCES FOUND TO BE CONDUCIVE TO SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING SCHOOL SKILLS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COGNITIVE SKILLS AND SCHOOL BEHAVIOR PATTERNS DEEMED TO BE NORMAL FOR CHILDREN OF THEIR AGE. THE FOLLOWING SKILLS ARE TO BE…

The original task of this project, the development of a preschool curriculum based on Piagetian theory, was broadened to include the development of a teacher training program supporting the curriculum. During the first year of the project the following has been accomplished: (1) a coded card file of approximately 100 curriculum-specific…

This 3-year program has three goals: (1) to devise a curriculum for disadvantaged 4-year-olds, (2) to develop a model for introducing new curriculums into a school setting, and (3) to develop parent group-work programs to foster achievement, inner control, and cognitive development in the child. The sample consists of 50 Negro and 50 white…

Piaget's concepts of knowledge seen as a result of active interaction between the child and his environment, and motivation, seen as intrinsic to intellectual functioning, have implications for the development of preschool programs. A preschool program must be action-oriented if the child is to learn to "know" and must offer an…

This interpretative study explored the view of how children construct knowledge as proposed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in its position paper "Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, Expanded Edition" (DAP-DOC) (Bredekamp,…

This study attempted to develop, implement, and evaluate an experimental preschool education program based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development. A further goal was to examine Piaget's theoretical assumptions and postulated cognitive developmental trends for a 2-year period of the preoperational substage. A total of 48 3- to 5-year-olds…

This study assesses: (1) immediate and long term academic and personal adjustment effects of the Bereiter-Engelmann preschool program and of the traditional enrichment preschool program, as well as the effects of no preschool experience; (2) effects of the above programs on children at the kindergarten level; (3) interactive effects of each type…

The educational objective of the Russian "Development" curriculum for children ages 3-7 is the development of creative and intellectual abilities. Theoretical foundations for the curriculum include the works of Vygotsky, Venger, Leontev, and Zaporozhets, which offer ideas such as: (1) child development is the unity of affective and…

The value of developmental baseline information is examined from an educational point of view. Data from studies on preschool children and primary and secondary school students that were carried out in Singapore are focal to the discussion. Sections of the paper concern: (1) assumptions about the value of baseline data on human development and…

Educators today have a renewed perspective: when schools attend systematically to students' social and emotional skills, the academic achievement of children increases, the incidence of problem behaviors decreases, the quality of the relationships surrounding each child improves. The challenge of raising knowledgeable, responsible, and caring…

"A Preschool Training Program" is Volume 6 in a series of 7 guides prepared by the Southeastern Education Laboratory to assist rural school districts, especially in the Southern States, in writing acceptable Title III proposals under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The document presents a planning proposal which was funded, along with…