ABSTRACT
Children like to play, to listen, and to mimic. They play in many ways-with things, situations, roles, behaviors, and also with ideas. They listen to and observe and then “try out” the behaviors, speech patterns, and interactions they see within their worlds. They think about and integrate what they see and hear into their play and give those around them opportunities to view their emerging hypotheses about the environment, their thinking patterns, and their efforts to construct meaningful explanations of their surroundings. Doing so, they manipulate ideas and concepts, form hypotheses, and alter existing constructs to accommodate new learning.
