development is tied to socialization, the ways in which the personal becomes integrated with the social. This is an especially important idea in education, since the purpose of learning is not merely to develop the child's individual skills and mastery of the world but also, maybe more importantly, to develop the child's ability to fit into and interact with his or her society.
In their book, Helping Young Children Learn, Evelyn G. Pitcher, Sylvia G. Feinburg, and David A. Alexander, advocate an approach to teaching very young children that emphasizes an understanding of developmental stages, an acknowledgment of the unique progress of each individual child, and a recognition of the socialization process that education serves in helping the individual to become an active member of society. They provide a definition of their central concept:
Developmental education means that the way adults set up a classroom for young children and the kinds of activities they provide rest on what is known and understood about childhood development . . . A developmental approach presumes knowledgeable and sensitive observation of children, honest commitment to individual differences, and an understanding that young children learn best when learning is meaningful to them and is based on live and vibrant firsthand experiences.
They outline a series of specific curricular approaches which are most effective at addressing these issues, from art and music to social and cognitive activities. All of these approaches derive from the spirit of play, the fundamental concept behind every aspect of early childhood education. As they note, "Optimal learning in young children occurs when they play." T. Berry Brazelton agrees: "Play is the powerful way children learn their most important tasks . . . how to play with other children, how to handle other adults, and how to learn about themselves as social people." Play is an essential aspect of early...