ERIC ED343699: Play's Place in Public Education for Young Children. NEA Early Childhood Education Series.

162 Pages·1992·6.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 343 699
PS 020 423
AUTHOR
Dinddjian, Victoria Jean, Ed.
TITLE
Play's Place in Public Education for Young Children.
NEA Early Childhood Education Series.
INSTITUTION
National Education Association, Washington, D.C.
REPORT NO
ISBN-0-8106-0364-0
PUB DATE
92
NOTE
162p.
AVAILABLE FROM
NEA Professional Library, P.O. Box 509, West Haven,
CT 06516 (Stock No. 0364-0-00, $15.95).
PUB TYPE
Collected Works - General (020)
-- Books (010)
EDRS PRICE
14F01 Plus Postage. PC Not Avail/able from EDRS.
DESCRIPTORS
Arithmetic; Check Lists; *Child Development;
*Curriculum Development; *Early Childhood Education;
Educational Research; Elementary School Curriculum;
*Experiential Learning; Literacy Education;
Multicultural Education; *Play; Public Education;
Research and Development; Student Adjustment; Teacher
Education; *Tneory Practice Relationship; Young
Children
IDENTIFIERS
Developmentally Appropriate Programs; *Play
Learning
ABSTRACT
The first part of this two-part book on play in
public education, contains chapters authored by 23
educators, most of
whom had been colleagues or students of Professor
Earga,:et B.
McFarland to whose memory thc book is dedicated, addresses
the need
to integrate child developmtnt research with classroom
practice in
order to provide developmentally appropriate play and
learnirg
opportunities. Topics addressed in this iection include:
the
importance of play in child development; the role of children's
play
for three age groups; and the role of pia/ in
a second grade
classroom. The second section examines the early childhood
curriculum
and the use of play as a vehicle of children's
learning. Chapters in
this section address: (1) the efficacy of activity-based
learning in
mathematics, multicultural education, and literature; (2)
a checklist
procedure for determining the capacity of students
in a primary class
to use play in the learning process; (3) intervention
techniques that
help young children adjust to school; (4)
a play intervention case
study; and (5) the broad implications of play in
public education and
in early childhood teacher education
programs. Most chapters in the
book contain a list of references relevant to the
topic discussed. A
16- item bibliography of resources relating
to play in public
education is provided, and a brief description
of the professional
affiliations of the contributors is appended. (BC)
***********************************************************************
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from the original document.
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2
NEA
EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION SERIES
Plars Plate hi
Public Education
for Young Children
Vidoda
Editor
1
3
ONNI
Copyright © 1992
National Education Association of the United StateS
Printing History
First Printing: February 1992
Note
The opinions expressed in this publication should not be consttued as
representing the policy or position of the National Education Association.
Materials published by the NEA Professional Library are intended to be
discussion documents for teachers who are concerned with specialized
interests of the profession.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Play's place in public education for young children / Vi Gloria Jean
Dimidjian, editor
cm.(NEA early childhood education series)
p.
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN 0-8106-0364-0
I. PlayUnited States. 2. Early childhood educationUnited
States.
1. Dimidjian, Victoria Jean. 11, Series: Early childhood
education StriCS (Washington, D.C.)
LB1137.P558
1992
372.21dc20
91-27420
4044 20
4
CONTENTS
Preface
by Victoria Jean Dimidjian
7
PART L Conneccing Theory
on Play's Place in Early Education
to Today's Classrooms for Young Children
Introduction
by Viaoria Jean Dimidjian
I I
Chapter I.
Play in School? Yes, We're Serious
by Anthony D. Pellegrini
and Jana Dressden
19
Chapter 2.
Play and Development
by Greta G. Fein
27
Chapter 3.
Four- and Five-Year-Olds:
Intuitive, Imaginative Players
by Nancy E. Curry
37
Chapter 4.
In the Best Interest of Children:
Returning Play to Its Place
by Mary Ellen Sapp
49
Chapter 5.
Play Themes and Processes
in Seven- and Eight-Year-Olds
by Sara H. Arnaud
63
Chapter 6.
Play-Filled Learning
in One Second Grade
by Karen West
69
Chapter 7.
Some Thoughts about Play
Sy Fred Rogers
with Hedda Bluestone Sharapan
73
PART II. Curriculum and the Place of Play
in Educating Young Children
Introduction
by Victoria Jean Dimidjian
81
Chapter 8.
Primary Arithmetic:
The Superiority of Games over Worksheets
by Constance Kamii
and Barbara A. Lewis
85
Chapter 9.
Education Today for a Multicultural World
by Beatrice S. Fennimore
and Edwina B. Vold
95
Chapter 10. Play, Risk-Taking,
and the Emergence of Literacy
by Ann E. Fordham
and William W. Anderson
105
Chapter 11. The Checklist Challenge
for Primary Classrooms
by Alicia Mendoza and Joyce Rubin
115
.
Chapter 12. Helping the Young Child
with School Adjustment Problems
by Auks H. Wolfgang
125
Chapter 13. Facilitating Play
with Young Children at Risk:
A Case Study
by Nancy Trevorrow Carbonara
and Paula Scanlon
141
Chapter 14. Getting Serious about Play
by Thomas Schultz
145
Chapter 15. Play's Place in Teacher Education
by Stephanie Feeney
155
f;
Conclusion:
Securing Play's Place in Public Education
Today
by Victoria Jean Dimidjian
167
Bibliography
171
The Contributors
173
PREFACE
To encounter a "true teacher" is a transforming experi-
ence. Any student who has been lucky enough to work under the
thoughtful and stimulating guidance of a wise educator never
forgets the impact of such a privilege. This book is dedicated to
the memory of Margaret B. McFarland, Professor Emerita of the
University of Pittsburgh, a teacher who touched my mind and
my life with her quietly stated, incisive wisdom.
met her at eight o'clock one Friday morning. I came into
her office for a graduate school interview and left with the
conviction that I had found someone who could teach me about
children and who also understood and could teach me more
about myself. As I worked with Margaretfirst a., a student, then
as a staff member at the university, then as a colleague (but one
who never found it comfortable to call her anything other than
"Dr. McFarland" to her peering eyes)-1 never stopped learning
from her querie. and her gentle insistence on exploring each
complex facet of children's growth. She was the most giving,
understanding, responsive, and yet intensely private teacher/
mentor I could imagine. Her passing in 1988 still leaves an
emptiness, although her memoryand sometimes even the
phrases and stories she used in her teachingstill comes to mind
often.
But her legacy lives on. This book contains many
contributions by individuals who were her colleagues, students,
or both, reflecting her understanding and compassion for
children that were a part of the Pittsburgh
professional
community for deaides. Shcwho could speak so empathically
to a three-year-old at the sand table or to a seminar of 30-year-old
psychiatric residents reviewing records of children's playnever
seemed to miss an opportunity to deepen the life process by truly
engaging with all her intellect and heart simultaneously. And just
at the moment of insight, just when you saw a new possibility or
grasped a new idea, the quick drift of her smile and playful flicker
of her eyes told you she knew just the leap that you had made
7
and, oh, she liked that
new step so very much. So this book is
dedicated to her and
to those like her, the few-times-in-a-lifetime
"true teachers" that
we all need so vely much.
Victoria Jean Dimidjian
i
9
8
Part I
Connecting
Theory
on
Play's Place
in Early Education
to Today's Classrooms
for Young
Children
10