The everyday livres of young children : culture, class, and child rearing in diverse societies

Where do young children spend their time? What activities are they involved in and who do they interact with? How do these activities and interactions vary across different societies and cultural groups? This book provides answers to these questions, by describing the lives of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, South Korea, Kenya and Brazil. Each child was followed for the equivalent of one complete waking day, whether at home, in childcare, on the streets or at the shops. Graphic displays and verbal descriptions of the children's everyday activities and interactions reveal both the ways in which culture influences children's lives and the ways in which children play a role in changing the cultural groups of which they are a part. This book also has a clear theoretical rationale and illustrates why and how to do cultural-ecological research. Where do young children spend their time? What activities are they involved in, and who do they interact with? How do these activities and interactions vary across different societies and cultural groups? This book provides unique answers to these questions, by describing the lives of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, South Korea, Kenya, and Brazil. Each child was followed for the equivalent of one complete waking day, whether at home, in childcare, on the streets, at the shops, etc. Graphic displays and verbal descriptions of the children's everyday activities and interactions reveal both the ways in which culture influences children's lives and the ways in which children play a role in changing the cultural groups of which they are a part. This book also has a clear theoretical rationale and illustrates why and how to do cultural-ecological research. "This book is based on lengthy observations of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Korea, Kenya, and Brazil. The focus is on how children spend their time, and who they are with, at an age when they are learning what it means to be a part of their culture. The book provides unique insight into variations in young children's lives in different societies and from different social-class groups. This book also has a clear theoretical rationale and illustrates how the observational methods were based on the theory."--Publisher's description "This book is based on lengthy observations of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Korea, Kenya, and Brazil. The focus is on how and where children spend their time, and who they are with, at an age when they are learning what it means to be a part of their culture. The book provides unique insight into variations in young children's lives in different societies and from different social-class groups. This book also has a clear theoretical rationale and illustrates how the observational methods were based on the theory."--BOOK JACKET "This book is based on lengthy observations of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Korea, Kenya, and Brazil. The focus is on how children spend their time, and who they are with, at an age when they are learning what it means to be a part of their culture. The book provides unique insight into variations in young children's lives in different societies and from different social-class groups. This book also has a clear theoretical rationale and illustrates how the observational methods were based on the theory."-- Résumé de l'éditeur This book is based on lengthy observations of three-year-olds in the United States, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Korea, Kenya, and Brazil. The focus is on how and where children spend their time, and who they are with, at an age when they are learning what it means to be a part of their culture. The book provides unique insight into variations in young children's lives in different societies and from different social class groups. Introduction and stage-setting The daily lives of toddlers Cultural-ecological theory and its implications for research Methods Life in the cities Everyday activities Settings and partners Everyday lives The cultural ecology of young children.