Supporting Play: Birth Through Age Eight - Softcover

Sluss, Dorothy Justus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401851436 ISBN 13: 9781401851439

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

Why and how to teach children through play is the focus of this text, aimed at educating current and future teachers of children from birth through age eight. The text reviews current research about play in young children and examines how play benefits their social/emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Students will come to understand how they can implement a play-based program for infants and toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarten children and primary-age children, including specifics for setting up a classroom to encourage play. Recommendations for facilitating play with special needs children are included throughout the text, and a special section is dedicated to this subject.

About this title

About the Author:

Dorothy Louise Justus Sluss is a Professor in the Department of Early, Elementary, and Reading Education housed in the College of Education at James Madison University. She is also Director of James Madison University's Early Education Master's of Art in Teaching Program. She has been involved in early childhood education for over three decades, and has served as an advocate for young children through her work in numerous professional organizations. As a public school classroom teacher, she taught kindergarten, primary grades, and started a program for four-year-olds in public schools. Later, working in higher education, she served on the faculties of East Tennessee State University, Clemson University, and the College of William and Mary. She was co-PI on the grant for Project TIES, Towards Inclusion in Early Childhood, and started the Mountain View Elementary Professional Development School. She initiated and chaired the research forum for the NAEYC Play, Practice, and Policy Interest Group at NAEYC for ten years. She has written numerous book chapters and articles that have been published in Childhood Education, Young Children, Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, and other journals. She recently received the Brian Sutton Smith Award for lifetime achievements at the 2013 meeting of The Association for the Study of Play (TASP), and was also elected President of the International Play Association, USA.

Review:

I was very impressed by the coverage of the classical theories of play. Usually, this content is dry at best. This author, however, breathes life into each theorist.

I like the way the chapters develop a flow, mentioning infant/toddler programs, followed by preschool and primary grades. For my students that consistency is needed.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1401851436
• ISBN 13: 9781401851439
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384