Dear readers,

I am happy to introduce to you this fifth issue which due to a Russian tradition can be considered a jubilee one. Since “five” as a number reminds us more of a child than of a mature adult, we have picked a corresponding theme for the special section of the journal, that of early childhood education. This is just a joke, of course, though every joke has a hint of truth in it. Besides, we have a triple jubilee since both of my colleagues who stood behind the creation of this journal are celebrating their 70th birthday this summer (I wonder if they knew each other before and agreed on these dates earlier).

But now back to the journal. I have invited a famous academic in the field of preschool education, Dr. Lubov M. Klarina, to be a guest editor of the special section. Due to her efforts we are able to present to you quite a number of interesting and exceptional teachers from different Moscow preschools who share their thoughts and ideas on how to educate children in close connection with nature and Russian culture, how to create children-parents’ clubs, and how to arrange other challenging projects.

In general, I am always tempted to ask questions and share the answers with my readers. This is one of the primary reasons for a virtual interview on early childhood education that pulls together the thoughts of wonderful preschool teachers, administrators, academics, and leaders of municipal school departments from different Russian cities. Don’t miss their answers; I am sure you will find fascinating ideas and new approaches there. I would also recommend a theoretical article by Dr. Tatyana Boguslavskaya, a former principal of a famous preschool in Izhevsk, who talks about the development of preschool education theory during the second part of the 20th century.

As usual, we have received numerous materials from the city of Perm. I never tire to stress how enthusiastic and ready for cooperation are the municipal leaders and the administration of Prikamsky Social Institute. Because of this, we are able to present to you thoughtful ideas of Perm educators on different problems of preschool education and an innovative model of a preschool education reform. In addition, Prikamsky Social Institute introduces an interesting project of their international preschool, “Town of Childhood.”

I am always tempted to remind our readers of a new essay written by a famous educational historian Mikhail Boguslavsky whose publications have become a good tradition. Another emerging tradition is to present ideas and thoughts from one of the best Russian schools — the Moscow School of Self-Determination #734; this time the readers will meet with the administration and teachers of its preschool. An American experience is presented by only one but very challenging article that describes the work of an independent Quaker preschool from Virginia. 

And, finally, I want to reiterate my request to every reader again and again. Please write to us and post your comments online immediately after any article that has attracted your attention. They will be posted at once, and I will be sincerely grateful for your thoughts and ideas.

Always yours,
Dr. Tatyana Tsyrlina-Spady
Editor-in-Chief