Nanci Weinberger

Early Competitive Game Playing in Same- and Mixed-Gender Peer Groups

Sixty-four kindergarten children participated in a bead-collecting game. Their competitive, noncompetitive, and other moves were measured. Gender and gender composition of the group affected competition in the context of playing this game with known peers. The boys were more competitive than the girls. Girls in the same-gender groups, but not mixed-gender groups, had low levels of competitive moves overall. Similar rates of strategic moves and game understanding suggest that the noted gender differences were not due to lack of game skill. However, the experience of playing the game can differ for boys and girls, and this difference may be emphasized when girls are playing exclusively with other girls.

Children's Use of Retreats in Family Child Care Homes.

The use of retreat spaces by 65 children in 9 family child care homes was assessed in this study. Family child care providers used daily diaries to collect information about childrens retreat frequency and associated behavior. The findings revealed that nearly half of the children used informal, readily available retreats during the research period. Playing with toys was the most frequent and stable retreat activity across age groups. Yet the number of passive and engaged behaviors varied based on child characteristics such as age, gender, and childs mood for the day. Retreat use can be viewed as a potentially adaptive environmental strategy that children apply as their needs change in a given day and from one developmental period to the next. Thus, it is recommended that child care professionals provide access to retreats and support childrens varied use of retreat space.

Day Care Room Transitions for Toddlers: Recommendations for a Supportive Physical Environment

The physical setting can be used to facilitate room transitions for toddlers in day care centers. A case study approach is taken to provide specific examples of supportive physical features for toddler transitions. Recommendations that support the transition process are provided.

Young children's access and use of computers in family child care and child care centers

Forty eight family child care providers and 37 center-based providers completed surveys about the availability and use of computers for children in their care. In addition, the providers were asked about their attitudes towards technology and their own computer skills. The impact of setting type on computer placement and rules about their use did not differ very much by setting type. Several factors were associated with the amount of time children were reported to use the computers. Overall, it appears that child care providers had developmentally sensitive guidelines for fostering computer use in both child care settings.

Listening to life's lessons: Using music lyrics and poetry to face issues of aging in the classroom

The use of poetry and music in college courses on aging is discussed. The format can help instructors reach their students in new ways. Poetry and music can be used to engage students in material that may be emotionally charged. In addition, poetry and music can be used to help students confront stereotypes about the elderly.

Assessing Object Mastery in the Home

In this study, the causal relationship between introduced noise and object clutter on infant performance was tested empirically. The infants were studied in their own homes and they actively engaged with the test materials, demonstrating object mastery. Surprisingly, however, the noise and object clutter did not interfere with the quality of object mastery for these twelve month olds. The differences between home and laboratory testing, as well as the implications of such testing, are discussed in-depth.