Experiential practitioners have the opportunity to help groups move to a higher level of functioning, getting beyond unresolved emotional issues and becoming more truthful, immediate, involved, and collaborative. This critical process takes place along a continuum from "staying safe and shallow" at one end to "going deep and…

Based on the premise that the brain is a highly plastic, constantly changing entity that is powerfully shaped by experiences in childhood and throughout life, this book presents information on enriching childhood brain development. Each stage of childhood development is profiled, with the changes in the brain described and their implications for…

Combining emotional intelligence (EQ) with academic intelligence (IQ) is the essential key to developing knowledgeable, caring, healthy, and successful students in today's troubled world. Educational leaders offer their best ideas in this book for building safe, smart, caring, successful, and emotionally intelligent school communities in 15…

Noting that the process of playing with blocks supports the groundwork for learning in every area of a child's growth, this paper discusses specific uses of building blocks in the early childhood curriculum to develop a child's physical, social, emotional, artistic, language, scientific and mathematics growth. The paper outlines the contributions…

This article describes how the author's infant son enthusiastically played with buttons from the age of 5 months to his first birthday. The article details his play routines and how they changed over time. It draws on recent neurological research about how the brain grows to argue that this play provided the foundation for her son's cognitive and…

This Social Policy Report considers the importance of young children's emotional development for their school readiness, suggesting that social scientists can provide policy makers with concrete ways to conceptualize, measure and target young children's emotional adjustment in early educational and child care settings. This Report then reviews a…

A discussion of the strong emphasis on cognitive development in preschool education of disadvantaged children which may be inappropriate to the broader learning process. Suggests that a different approach may be needed to foster maturation in youngsters deprived physically and emotionally. (ST)

Author believes that "every instructional sequence should have as its number one objective the intent to send the student away with approach tendencies toward the subject matter equal to or greater than those with which he arrived." (Author)

Despite evidence of many research studies supporting early school admission for mentally advanced children, attitudes and practice in the majority of schools have prevented its institution. This article discusses the major questions raised about early admission, examines teacher attitudes, and concludes that teachers need to be reeducated on this…

Paper presented at 18th Annual Meeting of the National Association for Gifted Children, Chicago, Illinois, May 3-5, 1971. (CB)

Discussion of feelings and emotions can become a regular part of the classroom curriculum to help children accept and understand their feelings and to become more aware of their environment. (NH)