Includes bibliographical references (pages [339]-364) and index.

Little learners : the classroom called childhood -- Goldilocks goes to daycare : finding the right zone for learning -- Natural born artists : the creative powers of childhood -- Search for intelligent life : un-standard learning -- Just kidding : the fragmented generation -- Played out : habitat loss and the extinction of play -- Stuffed : navigating the material world -- Secret lives of children : fear, fantasy, and the emotional appetite -- Use your words : hearing the language of childhood -- Well connected : the roles grownups play -- Hiding in plain sight : early learning and the American Dream.

To a four-year-old watching bulldozers or chasing butterflies in a field, the world is awash with promise. Children come hardwired to learn in virtually any setting and about anything. Yet in today's preschools and kindergartens, learning has been reduced to scripted lessons and suspect metrics that undervalue children's intelligence while overtaxing their growing brains.