Playing to Get Smart

Front Cover
Teachers College Press, 2006 - Education - 125 pages
Practicing what it preaches, Playing to Get Smart will be a playful reading experience for teachers and parents alike. With jokes, riddles, and stories sprinkled throughout, the authors show how important play is for children of all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, from birth to age 8. This provocative challenge to teachers and parents of young children demonstrates why play is the most effective way for children to develop critical life skills such as thinking creatively and social problem solving. It explains why teachers need to provide opportunities for quality play and why parents need to understand the benefits of play for their children.
 

Contents

Enjoying Complexity
10
Choosing Ones Play and Work
19
The Democratic Vision
29
Bicultural Competence
39
Letting Children in on the Secrets
52
Good Guys Bad Guys
64
Letting the Bad Guys Go
77
Play Across the Generations
89
Whats Wrong with This Picture?
103
References
113
About the Authors 125
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Elizabeth Jones is a member of the faculty in Human Development at Pacific Oaks College and Children's School in Pasadena, California. Her books include The Play's the Thing and Master Players. Renatta M. Cooper is the Education Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care, and a Commissioner for First 5 LA.

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