In Mrs. Tully's Room

Watching two-year-old Alex and his toddler classmates act out his one-word "Mama" story, and hearing their teacher muse, "It seems the best reason to tell stories when you are little is to keep Mama in mind," Vivian Paley found herself drawn into a remarkable childcare centre. "In Mrs. Tully's Room" tells the story of the comforting and compelling community created by the centre's gifted director. In joining Paley on her many visits to this centre, readers see how childcare providers combine teaching ability and emotional responsiveness to help even the smallest children learn words, concepts, stories, and the management of their emotions. Mrs. Tully's memories of her own childhood enrich her ability to understand her two-, three-, four-, and five-year-olds, and to draw them into the world of expressive storytelling. "In Mrs. Tully's Room" makes a case for the pedagogical skill and psychological insight that childcare providers - so often underpaid and undervalued - can bring to their work. It also emphasizes how warm, quasi-familial, even mentoring relationships can develop between childcare providers and their preschool families. The book aims to offer hope to parents and practical guidelines for daycare providers on how to use their imaginations, and those of their charges, to enrich the children's minds and hearts.