摘要：This study compared children`s daily activities in the preschools of middle-and lower-income communities. 22 children,evenly divided by community and children`s gender,were observed for 3 hours on 5 consecutive days. The observers followed the target child,gathering data during 30-second "windows" every 4 1/2 minutes. A total of 750 observations were used in the analyses. The findings show the variation in children`s activities as a function of community differences. In the case of academic activities,children of middle-income community were more exposed to and engaged in play with academic objects more than children of the of low-income community. A reverse tendency,however,was found in academic lessons. Children of low-income community were more exposed to work than their counterparts. Children of middle-income community were engaged in child-adult conversation more than those of low-income community. In addition,children of the middle-income community initiated their involvement in play and conversation more than their counterparts,though no difference was found in children`s initiation of activities.
