In "Creating a Reggio-Inspired STEM Environment for Young Children," the newest addition in the Redleaf Press Quick Guide series, award-winning educator Vicki Carper Bartolini offers practical suggestions and resources for rethinking your early learning environment with a focus on STEM, using the Reggio Emilia approach lens honoring a…

Assessment can be challenging for professionals in the early childhood setting, given the variety of ways that young children show what they know. Early childhood professionals who work with children with exceptionalities take into consideration individual needs when planning for assessments. Authentic assessment provides a more complete picture…

Children's Approaches to Learning (AtL) represents how children seek learning opportunities in their classrooms. It can include children's persistence, attention, and initiative. It has often been studied using a composite of a teacher-rated scale. However, person-centered approaches may account for heterogeneity in children's learning approaches,…

Nothing captures children's attention more than a living animal, and the more exotic its appearance, the greater the effect. Some of the most exotic-looking creatures, such as toads, frogs, and turtles, can be found near schools, and even in cities, reptiles and amphibians (commonly known as "herps") usually aren't far. Teachers may also…

This article describes how one preschool teacher turned a luau celebrating moving on to elementary school as a springboard for a lesson on pollution. Over the course of one hour, this teacher introduced and provided a whole group lesson on pollution, and the responsibilities people share to protect the environment.

For more than a decade, the widely used "Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children" has been helping early educators use research-based practices to boost social-emotional development. Now there's a practical guide that makes it easier than ever to implement this highly effective framework in…

This article provides practitioners with a guide to (1) understand the developmental emergence of play skills in young children to inform developmentally appropriate instructional decisions (e.g., toy choices); (2) set up the play space to support social play; and (3) use key strategies from an evidence-based intervention for young children with…

It is imperative that teachers have the knowledge and resources to support children who are deaf and use a cochlear implant in general education classrooms. The recommendations presented in this article provide teachers with the information necessary to promote a child's academic progress, communication needs, and social development. In order to…

School communities in both urban and rural settings need trauma-informed (TI) supports; however, the adversities experienced and access to student supports may be unique to rural school communities. In addition, the contextual challenges experienced by rural schools and communities, as well as the strengths that can be drawn from them, will…

This reader-friendly text examines the key foundational studies in early literacy. It addresses such essential questions as how research informs current practices and where the field still needs to go to provide the best learning opportunities for all children. Each chapter describes the methods and findings of one to five seminal studies,…

Art, drama, music, dance and literature activities are part of the basic components of an early childhood curriculum. They do not rely heavily on oral language or English proficiency, and this makes them accessible to all children regardless of language differences or language abilities. Teachers can use creative expression and art to practice…

Preschool classrooms were investigated to determine the extent to which quality is related to children's literacy development. The study included 24 classrooms of 428 prekindergarten children in a large, urban Midwestern school district. Results suggest that global classroom quality and literacy environment quality are strongly related. Literacy…

Research shows that when children do not transition successfully to kindergarten, their academic and social-emotional progress can be hindered, whereas children who transition successfully actively engage in learning and adapt to the new setting (Harbin et al. 2007). It is important for early childhood educators to consider the stress for children…

It is human nature to be resistant when someone tells a person no. Children are no exception. Nevertheless, when teachers are frustrated with children's behavior, they may resort to saying no. Often the child responds, "Why?" or resists. What teachers really seek are strategies to help children in preschool and the early primary grades learn how…

Adult support of 12 specific friendship dyads involving 3- to 5-year-old children with and without developmental delays was investigated through semi-structured interviews with the children's parents and teachers. Most respondents described these friendships as harmonious and important for the emotional benefits that these relationships provided…