Supporting Play in Early Childhood: Environment, Curriculum, Assessment

:"This text is about purposeful play in the life of the young child and how to implement it, support it, and assess it. It is chocked full of theoretical supports that are best practices, and it shows how to implement them. Check it out. . . . You'll appreciate what you find inside, and our students need it."

Dorothy Louise Justus Sluss is a Professor at James Madison University, where she teaches and studies play, creativity, and inquiry. She discovered the power of play for young children when she started her career in a kindergarten classroom. This experience inspired her to devote the rest of her life trying to understand how children think, learn, and play. To this end, she spent 15 years teaching in public schools and 15 years teaching in higher education. Professor Sluss has had a variety of experiences in inclusion, private and public preschool, and elementary education. Since entering higher education, she has been active in publishing, teaching, and providing professional development. She has also served as a national leader of several professional groups and has received numerous awards for research and scholarship.