The Block Book / Edition 3

by Elisabeth S. Hirsch

Overview

For engaging children's hands, minds, and imaginations, no tool surpasses blocks. 

Engrossed in building with blocks, the child is a mathematician, scientist, architect. stage designer, and storyteller. And as children build together, they stretch and grow as problem solvers and collaborators.

The Block Book was the first comprehensive book to explore the values and uses of unit blocks for extending children's growth and development. Using blocks builds self-confidence, enhances social skill, facilitates vocabulary development, and it stimulates eye-hand-body coordination, which are so important for the development of reading skills. As they build with blocks, children discover, invent, imagine, and construct a fuller understanding of their world. 

This book, a classic in early childhood education, has been expanded and updated so that teachers and parents can discover exciting possibilities for the effective use of blocks. The time-tested understandings that have made The Block Book a classic are still here, refined and extended with new material that makes the third edition better than ever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780935989762
Publisher:	National Association for the Education of Young Children
Publication date:	07/01/1996
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Elisabeth S. Hirsch, Ph.D., was a teacher of preschoolers in independent private schools and parent cooperatives for many years. She was director of a parent cooperative and a day care center.

Read an Excerpt

As illustrated by the chart at the front of this book, block building challenges the whole child. It builds self-confidence; it enhances social skills; it facilitates vocabulary development ; and it stimulates eyehand-body coordination, so important for the development of reading skills. In addition, it enriches the traditional subjects of the curriculum—mathematics, science, and social studies. As they build with blocks, children discover, invent, imagine, and construct a fuller understanding of their world.

Table of Contents

• About the Editor
• Contributors
• Preface
• Elisabeth S. Hirsch
• Potential Contributions of Blocks for Early Childhood Curriculum (Chart)
• Adapted from Charlotte and Milton Brody
• Introduction to the Third Edition
• Elisabeth S. Hirsch
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Blocks as a Material for Learning through Play
• Charlotte B. Winsor
• Chapter 2. The Art of Block Building
• Harriet M. Johnson with an introduction by Lucy Sprague Mitchell
• Chapter 3. Children Learn about Science through Block Building
• Mary W. Moffitt
• Chapter 4. The Block Builder Mathematician
• Kristina Leeb-Lundberg
• Chapter 5. Social Studies through Block Building
• Charlotte Brody and Elisabeth S. Hirsch
• Chapter 6. Dramatic Play: The Experience of Block Building
• Harriet K. Cuffaro
• Chapter 7. Blocks in the Elementary School
• Elizabeth Dreier
• Chapter 8. Block Building: Practical Considerations for the Classroom Teacher
• Elisabeth S. Hirsch
• Chapter 9. Learning with Large Blocks
• Sally Cartwright
• Appendix 1. Stages of Block Building
• Maja Apelman/Harriet M. Johnson
• Appendix 2. Suggested Equipment for Block Building
• Jessie Stanton and Alma Weisberg/Maja Apelman
• Bibliography
• Subject Index
• Author Index