The early childhood years are a crucial time for the development of self-regulation — an array of complex mental capacities that includes impulse and emotion control, self-guidance of thought and behavior, planning, self-reliance, and socially responsible behavior. Self-regulation is also essential for children to meet the academic and social requirements of school. The human need for complex, flexible regulatory systems that can cope with a wide array of environmental conditions means that the development of self- regulation begins early, takes place over an extended time period, and requires substantial external support. Early childhood is also the “high season” of imaginative play, when make-believe evolves from simple imitative acts into elaborate plots involving complex coordination of roles. This chapter presents wide-ranging evidence that pretense is pivotal in children's advancing mastery over their own thinking, emotions, and behavior. The data are based on the sociocultural theory of Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who viewed social experiences such as make-believe play as prime catalysts of development.

ABSTRACT-The current study specified the extent to which hot and cool aspects of executive functioning predicted academic and social-emotional indicators of school readiness. It was unique in focusing on positive aspects of social-emotional readiness, rather than problem behaviors. One hundred four 3-5-year-old children completed tasks measuring executive functioning, social-emotional readiness, academic readiness, and vocabulary. As expected, age predicted executive functioning components and social-emotional readiness. Moreover, working memory and inhibitory control directly predicted academic readiness, whereas delay of gratification predicted social-emotional readiness. Working memory and inhibitory control predicted delay of gratification, consistent with the notion that simpler executive functions may set the stage for more complex executive functions. Interestingly, social-emotional readiness predicted academic readiness. These findings confirm that hot and cool aspects of executive functioning are related to social-emotional and academic school readiness.Early childhood is characterized by impressive gains in children's cognitive and social development that set the stage for school readiness and success. The importance of this period for later success has received increasing attention from educators, researchers, and policymakers in recent years. Early school success provides a firm foundation for later school success. Therefore, it is imperative to

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