Includes bibliographical references and index.

Play in the early education curriculum : four interpretations / Rheta DeVries -- What is constructivist education? Definition and principles of teaching / Rheta DeVries -- Assessing and documenting learning in constructivist classrooms / Rebecca Edmiaston -- Casting shadows / Rheta DeVries, Betty Zan, Rebecca Edmiaston, and Karen Wohlwend -- Exploring the art and science of musical sounds / Carolyn Hildebrandt and Betty Zan -- Cooking transformations / Betty Zan, Rebecca Edmiaston, and Christina Sales.

Experimenting with draining and movement of water in tubes / Rheta DeVries, Hyang Lim Kwak, and Christina Sales -- Developing geometric reasoning using pattern blocks / Christina Sales and Carolyn Hildebrandt -- Using group games to teach mathematics / Carolyn Hildebrandt and Betty Zan -- Variations on a checkers theme / Betty Zan.

Provides a constructivist interpretation of developmentally appropriate curriculum in early childhood education. Rheta DeVries, one of the founders of constructivist early education, and her colleagues provide the theoretical rationale and practical advice for conducting specific activities in the classroom. Descriptive vignettes are used to show how children's reasoning and teacher interventions are transformed in the course of extended experience with a physical phenomenon or group game. Throughout the book, constructivist teaching is illustrated and contrasted with the approaches found in three other classroom types.