DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Time to Reflect When you look over your self-assessment, do you have questions or thoughts? What would you like to learn more about? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Using This Book The book is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 asks you to consider your own childhood play experiences and how they influence your reactions to chil- dren’s play. Chapters 2 and 3 review how children’s play skills develop and, given that, how you can design and facilitate exciting and engaging dramatic play areas. Chapter 4 delves into how you approach problems and outlines a problem-solving approach that you can apply to your work. Chapters 5 through chapter 8 examine various group play challenges, such as violent or repetitive play, that keep children from experiencing the richness of group play. Each chapter contains suggestions as well as reflection questions to help you find workable strategies. This book is designed to be interactive and is meant to encourage thought, reflection, and discussion. As you reflect on and then plan and implement new play strategies, you become a more intentional teacher providing children with rich play experiences. 8 | Introduction COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL