Children in child care centers spend many hours doing activities that may not have an obvious academic component. A parent, for example, might observe his child learning to dance to different tempos and ask the teacher, "Don't you do anything educational?" Many time-tested activities that teachers intuitively know help children learn may be perceived by parents and even by some administrators as fluff. Years of research support teachers' insight: these activities are important learning tools that promote children's social and emotional development. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Dave Riley, PhD, is a professor and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Introduction	1
Chapter 1 Why We Hold a Crying Baby: Attachment and Exploration	5
Chapter 2 Why We Talk about How the Bunny Feels: Friendship and Prosocial Behavior	35
Chapter 3 Why We Play Simon Says: Learning Self-Regulation	66
Chapter 4 Why We Keep a Pot of Coffee: Family-Centered Care and Education	94
Chapter 5 Why We Do What We Do for Children's Social Development: Explaining Your Program Practices in Terms of State Early Learning Standards	131
Notes	139
Index	155

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.