ABSTRACT

This book aims to facilitate the understandings of nursery age children, that is, children around three, four and five years, and their parents. Children of these ages are particularly fascinating. The wealth of their growing minds is apparent in their play and in their widening capacity to express themselves in words. It is a time of much discovery and experimentation, accompanied often by excitement and anxiety. There is something open-minded and open-hearted about children of these years. The author's views on nursery age children have been based on observing and working with them over the past twenty years, in various settings, including their homes, nursery schools and hospitals, and as a psychologist and child psychotherapist, in assessments and individual psychotherapy. She has also learnt much in working with families and with groups of parents .The book is influenced and informed by the writings of Sigmund Freud, Donald and Clare Winnicott, Anna Freud, Selma Fraiberg, and Jean Piaget.

chapter One|5 pages

The child’s view of himself

chapter Two|3 pages

The child’s view of the world around him

chapter Three|7 pages

Discoveries and discovering

chapter Four|6 pages

Separation

chapter Five|7 pages

Sleep and its complexities

chapter Six|7 pages

Additions: relationships with siblings

chapter Seven|8 pages

Words and thinking

chapter Eight|6 pages

The imaginary and the real

chapter Nine|6 pages

The sense of “I” and self-esteem

chapter Ten|6 pages

The world of relationships

chapter Eleven|4 pages

Big school