The purpose of this paper is to show the concrete environment of the Kindergarten education enhancing the educational continuation to the elementary school. First we clarify the necessity of the Kindergarten education to connect with the Life Environment Studies in elementary school, by showing the coordination and the relationships between the guidelines of the Kindergarten and the course of study of the elementary school. Secondly, we show the environment of the picture books, in which children can have the general ideas of the Life Environment Studies. We check the picture books whose pictures and words are similar to those in the textbooks of the Life Environment Studies and are suited to the aim (1)and (2) of the first and second grades of the course of study. In this paper, we deal with the picture books which are in accord with the aim (3) of the first and second grades of the course of study.

Key words:
kindergarten education, elementary school education, the Life Environment Studies, picture book

　The purpuse of this study is to clarify how an infant aged 15〜18 months tries to perform and what she learns musically.
　The writer observed her daughter's behavior in daily life from15〜18 months,and recorded it in writing and on video tape and cassette tape. The writer selected three items for analysis.
　As a result,the following items were clarified.

1. The infant tried to make musical ballanced sounds,communicating with her mother and persons she trusts.
2. The infant learned intuitively to synchronize her breathing  with that of the other persons through interactions.
3. The musical performances of the infant are developing in relation with expressions of babble and language closely.

Key words:
musical performances,interaction,language learuning period,changes in development

In the United Kingdom successive governments have avoided to be involved in the provision of day care for employed parents since the end of the Second World War. The responsibility for nursery education was put under the each local education　authority. 
Consequently there has been a quite diversity in availabilities for childcare all over the country ,which is called muddle or fragmental. Recently, due to the increasing number of maternal employment and growing interest in nursery education, the government boosts childcare and provides huge public fund for it under the national project titled National Childcare Strategy. The strategy is characterized by the social partnership among social services, voluntary organizations, training organizations, companies, nursery institutions, and the community. It aims to provide seamless services for all children as well. In this paper I examine some childcare policies in the UK and take some implication for Japan's counterpart in which market policy is ongoing.

Key Words: 
United Kingdom, Childcare Strategy, social partnership, market policy

This paper probes the process of establishment of Asagaya Kindergarten(1925) by Yoshiki Takasaki in a suburb of Tokyo, examining its education for mothers and infants at the kindergarten. Takasaki who was born at Tanegashima in 1884, graduated from divinity of Meijigakuin and became a Christian. Asagaya Kindergarten is a type of kindergartens in suburbs with the following three points. First, it educated personalities and sentiments of children attributed to new middle class. Teachers particularly observed, viewed and taught children. Asagaya Kindergarten satisfied parents desiring for good education and high states of educational background. Second, Takasaki taught mothers the idea of ‘motherhood’, and proved the ideal type of mother and home. He presented Holy Mother as the ideal and spread the image of Christians' Home. Third, utilizing his journal for nurturing, he anew defined a kindergarten as a place which educated infants and mothers. Kodomo-no Kyoyo Company issued “Kodomo-no Kyoyo (culture of children)”(1929) and Asagaya Kindergarten ran mothers' meeting and mothers' school. However, with World War �U, his idea of ‘motherhood’ became be hazardous.

Key words:
Kindergartens in suburbs, children of new middle class, education of personality and sentiments, motherhood, educational medium for nurturing.

　There has been an increasing use of computers in early childhood education classrooms ever since computers became indispensable tools used for adults in a variety of ways at home and work. The purpose of this study is to investigate some fundamental issues regarding the use of computers based on periodic observations of kindergarten classrooms and to analyze such issues in the context of early childhood education classrooms. To achieve this purpose, ethnographic research was carried out in a private kindergarten in Hiroshima Prefecture. The research revealed that some conflicts existed between teachers and young children over the use of computer drawing software functions. The main outcomes were as follows: l) While the teacher expects the children to focus on completing the assigned computer drawing task, the children are often more interested in experimenting with the various functions of the software. 2) Furthermore, contrary to the teachers' objective that the children learn through trial and error computer usage skills and draw a unique picture, the children are simply satisfied with the convenience and high quality that the computer provides.

Key words:
early childhood education,computers,early childhood teachers,young children,ethnographic research

It is important to take home into consideration when we study on the education of young children, because it is mainly at home that most Japanese people form the base of their character. In this study we gave a consideration to the educational function of home in the period of remarkable economic growth in Japan. Most of the parents who are bringing up their young children have been born in or after that period. We think the way they were brought up affects the way they bring up their children. In the period of remarkable economic growth in Japan, the structure of industry changed and many young people moved to big cities for work. That increased the number of the nuclear families and it became more difficult to hand down home culture. We think this may be a cause of many present problems in education. Therefore, in this study, we argue that it is important to consider the way of handing down home culture in order to solve many problems in education.

Key words:
the educational function of home,the period of remarkable economic growth,the nuclear family,handing down home culture

　　The purpose of this study clarified relationship social function of language and play in infants. This study was used the way of time-sampling techniques (how to take the sample of 1/0) in kindergarten. On that occasion it used the category due to the social functions of language by Halliday,M.A.K.and the social participation among pre-school children by Parten,M.B.
　As a result of the multiple regression analysis relations between the category of play and the social functions of language became distinct as follows.

1. "Unoccupied behavior" correlates with "instrumental function".
2. "Solitary play" correlates with "imaginative function" and "representational function".
3. "On looker behavior"correlates with "instrumental function" and "interactional function".
4. "Parallel play" correlates with "regulatory function" and "personal function".

Key words:
infant,play,verbal communication,social functions of language,social participation among pre-school children，time-sampling techniques

　　The purpose of this article is to consider the relationship between Kindergartens and day nurseries in Japan by referrring to the current situations and efforts made in England, and draw lessons from their examples. Kindergartens and day nurseries in Japan have their own objectives and functions, and are controlled by two ministries, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Since 1963, however, efforts have been made to bring consistency throughout institutions in Japan in educating three year olds and older. In addition, kindergartens have started providing after-kindergarten-care and other services,. and the functions of the kindergartens and day nurseries are becoming similar.
　　In this study, efforts to improve the quality of nursing education made in England between 1970 to 2000 have been examined. During the period in England, integration of early years education and day care, and partnership formation among institutions have been promoted by concentrating the control power to one authority with a great emphasis on fulfilling the needs of children as well as parents. The ways in which the efforts have been carried out may be useful and instructive in considering the future relationships and roles played by the kindergartens and day nurseries in Japan.

Key words;
Relationships between Kindergartens and Day Nurseries, Quality of Education and Care, Partnerships in Early Years Education and Care, Needs of Children, England,