eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Educational Research 2327-6150 2016-07-15 4 11 777 784 10.12691/education-4-11-1 EDUCATION20164111 article Dušan Kostrub 1 Eva Severini 1 Katarína Mahrer-Milovčíková milovcikova1@fedu.uniba.sk 1 Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Education, Department of Pre-primary and Primary Education, Bratislava, Slovakia Number of studies reports how the quality of childcare during the first three years affects children. They show the affect on a child's academic readiness for entering school as well as the long-term impact on child development. Valuable data is being missed that would help to ascertain the quality of childcare for children age 6-36 months in Slovakia. Slovakia also lacks curriculums geared towards infants and toddlers. The project is aimed at developing the concept of early childhood education and the creation of an educational program that takes into account the specifics of the development of children at an early age in Slovakia. In this paper we focus on autonomous play as one of the specifics of an educare curriculum. The project has significant methodological nature: qualitative methodology will be applied, which is desirable when examining subjects and their social activities. The project is based on the realization of research and development since the research will find subject elements and will develop the educational program. We will use observation and focus groups as a method for data collection. The authors will draft a curriculum for children of early age using action research conducted in the educational context. http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/4/11/1/education-4-11-1.pdf autonomy play curriculum models