178 OMEP's PRESENT STATUS

Exhibitions

By MARGARET McALLISTER and RONNE GORDON

There were two distinct exhibits - one of chil­dren's art and photographs of children, and one ofthe educational materials used by children andmanufactured by commercial firms in America.

Opening the first exhibit, Mme. S. Herbeniere­Lebert (France) suggested that it was thoroughlyfitting that something of the children be with usat this meeting - not just the talk that wouldcontinue for days about children. The art workof children is a particularly appropriate symbolof both the sameness and uniqueness of childrenfrom different parts of the world. The subjectmatter was of the child's interest in himself, hisfriends and his physical environment - his world.This common bond of ideation took on, ofcourse, the individuality of the customs and thecostumes and the geography of the nation ofwhich each child was a part. We will all rememberthe vibrant colors from Hawaii and the SouthAmerican countries, the delicacy of some of thedrawings, the exciting designs of masks fromFrance and so many others - it would be difficultto mention them all.

Another facet of this exhibit was concernedwith the growing interest in the architectural design- innovative' planning for indoor and outdoorspaces for children. While there has been consider­able agreement among nations about areas ofcurriculum, this portion of the art exhibit demon­strated profoundly that there are and there willbe more ways to enchance a good learning en­vironment - to create a facilitating climate for achild's play and, concurrently, a child's work andlearning. This was a unique section of the exhibit,

where designs from Japan caused tremendous in­terest.

The second exhibit was prepared by fifteendistributors and manufacturers of educational ma­terials.

Madame Jervolino (Italy) formally opened thesecond portion of the exhibition. She underlinedthe need to involve the producers and distributorsof toys in the actual sessions and workshops ofthe World Assembly. There is just as much a needto have a continuous dialogue between the pro­ducers of the tools of learning used in earlychildhood and the teachers of children, as thereis a need to have an exchange of ideas and prob­lems among teachers and other disciplines con­cerned with young children from different partsof the world. It is not acceptable and productiveto be critical of innovative approaches to ma­terials to stimulate learning. The basis for criti­cism must be clearly defined and articulated andcare must be taken that the rejection of newideas is not based on a passive familiarity andcontentment with old methods. We believe wehave a receptive audience and willing participantsin this type of alliance in many manufacturers ofour educational materials.

The United States Committee also presented abrief development exhibit of table manipulativeand perceptually oriented tasks in a sequentialpattern based on the skills that children developfrom birth to five years of age.

The exhibition hall was thronged and busy,and the people who were involved in making thisa successful display had an opportunity to jointhe delegates in general session and businessmeetings.

Professional Visits

By HELEN L. WEDMYER

On Monday, August 5, 1968, some 600 participantsdeparted by bus or taxi to visit a specific profes­sional center located in Washington, D.C. in oneof the counties located in Virginia or Maryland.

The centers were chosen with the purpose ofsatisfying the interest in early childhood as ex­pressed by conference participants representingmany varied disciplines in education, health, so-

cial services, medicine, etc. Those centers includedwere: Green Acres Day Camp, Takoma Park DayCare Center, The Therapeutic Nursery School ofthe Child Center of Catholic University, The Chil­dren's Diagnostic and Study Branch of the Na­tional Institute of Health, certain new buildings inthe Montgomery County Public School System,The Agnes Bruce Greig School for DisturbedChildren, playgrounds conducted by The Depart­ment of Recreation of the District, Head Start