Table Of ContentPurposeful Play
with Your
Preschooler
A Learning-Based
Activity Book
Purposeful Play
with Your
Preschooler
A Learning-Based
Activity Book
Anthony C. Maffei, Ph.D.
and
Teresa M. Hauck
With a Foreword by
Patricia Buckley, M.A.
~.
INSIGHT BOOKS
~,
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Llbrary of Congress Cataloglng-ln-Publlcatlon Data
Maffei, Anthony C.
Purposeful play with your preschooler a learning-based actlvity
book I Anthony C. Maffei and Teresa M. Hauek ; with a foreword by
Patrieia Buekley.
p. em.
Ineludes blbllographleal referenees <p. ) and Index.
1. Early ehlldhood educatlon--United States. I. Hauek, Teresa M.
Ir. Title.
LB1139.25.M34 1992
372.21'0973--dc20 92-20896
CIP
ISBN 978-0-306-44325-1 ISBN 978-1-4899-6385-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6385-7
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1992.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1992
An Insigbt Book
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microftlming,
recording, or otherwise, without writteri permission from the Publisher
With love to our families -
To Doris, James, Tom, Ashley, Lesley, and Kim
-ACM
To Ed and Melissa
-TMH
Foreword
This book is intended for adults involved with preschool children. If
born now, these youngsters will enter the work force during the early
part of the twenty-first century, 2010 to 2020. Would anyone be fool
hardy enough to predict the skills that will be necessary for gainful
employment during this time or even a future time-a time whose
dates look even stranger to us? We can no longer teach children rote
solutions to routine problems since we cannot even venture to guess
what the problems will be 20, 30, or 40 years from now. But one skill
is absolutely certain: each child must develop his or her ability to think to the
optimum qf his or her potential.
How can caring adults foster this development? Certainly, it would
help us to understand the stages of child development so that the time
spent with aur children is enjoyable, both for the adults who see the
child's face light up as he gains new knowledge and the youngster who
views the activities as interesting rather than frustrating experiences.
Someone said that time is money and, like money, time is some
thing none of us has enough of. The activities suggested in this book
will help you make the most of the time you spend with your child.
Don't waste the precious early stages of your child's development drill
ing the youngster in unnecessary or incorrect skills. Don't waste those
minutes in tasks inappropriate to the age and ability of your child. This
book will show you how to make these tim es happy and productive.
PATRICIABuCKLEY
Butler, NJ
vii
Acknowledgments
Many bodies of work, as in the case of a book, a piece of music, or a
painting, have their start as an idea which then goes through the long
journey leading to a completed product. Potentially good ideas some
times remain abstractions, for they fail to gain the necessary support
from a variety of people. Without key people who gave us inspiration,
made comments, and offered encouragement, this book would still be
just that-an abstraction.
Consequently, we would like to first recognize Norma Fox, our
contact person and Executive Editor at Insight Books, for guiding and
shaping our idea into its proper form. Also, Patricia Buckley, now a
retired college professor and fellow author, not only let us use the math
activities from her Teaching Preschool: Foundations and Activities in Part 11
of our book, but also critiqued our work. Her words of wisdom and
years of experience are also reflected in the Foreword. Yvette Pond and
Bridget Lockett put their creative minds and talented hands to work and
produced all of the professional-looking drawings in the book and on
the front cover. Carol Adams gave us help and suggestions for turning
our individual drafts into a clearly and correctly written whole. Doris
Barlow Maffei, mother of five, provided the ideas that formed the
outline for Part 11.
Kathy Douglas not only provided wonderful ideas for activities in
Part 11 but, as a friend and assistant to Teresa M. Hauck, gave much
ix
x Acknowledgments
support and encouragement. Thanks also go to Edward Hauck and
Francine P. McQuaide Obrero for contributing the adorable photo
graphs and to the children and adults in them. Shucilah Kalliappan,
Mary June "MiMi" and Jim "Paw Paw" Hauck, Kim Griffiths, and
Jennifer and Amie Whippie were wonderful assistants for caring for and
entertaining Melissa, the daughter ofTeresa M. Hauck, while Mommy
was working on this book. Thanks to Melanie "Pete" Norris, Joni Kelly,
Karol Rockey, Jim Hauck, and Velma McQuaide for contributing an
activity to Part 11, as weil as to Aissatou "Mama" Bah and Bridget Lynch
for each of their activities and also caring for and enteraining Melissa.
Dr. Nancy Kimmons, Director for Family Life Services at Florida State
University, gave support and encouragement as did Alison Iglehart of
Tallahassee Community College. Thanks to our spouses, Doris and Ed,
for their patience, understanding, encouragement, and ideas; without
them we would never have completed our task.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) must be mentioned as one of the first to
elaborate on theories ofhow children acquire knowledge. Without hirn
there would be no idea. Anthony C. Maffei was first introduced to
Piaget many years ago when he was a graduate student in mathematics
education, studying with Jack M. Ott at the University ofSouth Caro
hna. Then later, while teaching the mathematical apphcations of Pia
get's theory to future preschool teachers, Anthony developed an idea
that culminated in the above-mentioned book written with Pat. Norma
also contributed to that idea when she was editor of Human Sciences
Press (now part ofPlenum). About four years ago, that same book led
to another idea that eventually developed into the work before you now.
It is hoped this book will be of value to all those who are fortunate
enough to be involved in the excitement and joy of watching and
participating in the learning process with preschoolers.
Finally, thanks to the following who have given us permission to
quote from their books:
Excerpts from The Essential Piaget, edited by H. Gruber and]. Voneche. Copy
right © 1977 by Basic Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Acknowledgments xi
Piaget,Jean, and Inhelder, Barbel. The Psychology ojthe Child. Translated from
the French by Helen Weaver. New York: Basic Books, 1969.
Pulaski, Mary Ann Spencer. Understanding Piaget. New York: Harper & Row,
1971.
Pulaski, Mary Ann Spencer. Your Baby's Mind and How lt Grows. New York:
Harper & Row, 1978.
A. C. M.
T. M. H.
Contents
I • FOUNDATIONS
1. Introduction 3
Surviving 3
A Growing Trend 3
The Presehool Years 4
Strueture versus Unstruetured 5
About This Book 6
2. Beginning Intellectual Development 7
Introduetion 7
Assimilation and Aeeommodation 7
Faetors Meeting the Balance 8
From Birth to 2 Years Old 9
3. The Years from Two to Five . 13
Faetors Meeting Logieal Thinking 13
xiii
