Intergenerational (IG) programming creates a means for meaningful and relevant experiences and interactions between participants. Focusing on child participants and art programming, this article describes an accordion book project. Vignettes highlight some of the project's learning opportunities and interactions for elders and young children.

The visual arts can be an important and rich domain of learning for young children. In PreK education, The Task Force on Children's Learning and the Arts: Birth to Age Eight ("Young children and the arts: Making creative connections", Washington, DC: Arts Education Partnership, 1998) recommends that art experiences for young children…

This visual arts project was initiated at the West Virginia University Laboratory School (Nursery School) several years ago and has assisted children in reproducing prints of famous artists. Using the principles of behaviorism in conjunction with developmentally appropriate practice has helped young children to extend their knowledge in the visual…

The purpose of this study was to investigate methods of enhancing kindergarteners' artistic creative thinking and expressive drawing through an activity that involved appreciation of picture books. The study was conducted in a public kindergarten in southern Taiwan, with 27 children aged between 4 and 5. The researcher conducted the study in 16…

This is a case study of drama education curriculum for young children taught by a drama specialist. Specifically, to understand unique drama teaching practices employed by a drama specialist, 9-week-long drama programs for one kindergarten and two 1st-grade classes were observed and the drama specialist was interviewed. Regular classroom…

This paper reports on a recent action research project: "Enhancing environmental awareness through the arts". This project involved working with two early childhood professionals and 28 children in a long day care centre in the Sydney CBD at the end of 2006. Its aim was to assess the outcomes for the early childhood professionals, and…

This study investigates learning outcomes of four-year-old children at a preschool in P. R. China. The children are educated in a school ecology designed to address cognitive, social, linguistic and psychological development, where an instructional technique, "Integrating Thinking, Art and Language" (ITAL), is applied to support them in…

Despite the enactment of No Child Left Behind (2002), many urban school districts continue to battle the achievement gap and struggle with low literacy rates. Authentic writing instruction, a main component of literacy, is being cut in those districts that struggle most to accommodate other demands made by the nation and state. The primary purpose…

Our purpose is to offer children tasks so they can make drawings as diverse and different from each other whilst trying to avoid imitation. Achieving this goal involves the increase of children's creativity. The paper is theoretically based on the consideration of creativity as the ability to create "something new, original, and in accordance…

"Early Childhood Curriculum" addresses current approaches to curriculum for infants, toddlers and young children, ages birth to eight. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the curriculum issues that student teachers and emerging practitioners will face and equips them with the decision-making tools that will ultimately enhance and promote…

The Elementary Integrated Curriculum (EIC) Framework is the guiding curriculum document for the Elementary Integrated Curriculum and represents the elementary portion of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) Pre-K-12 Curriculum Frameworks. The EIC Framework contains the detailed indicators and objectives that describe what…

This naturalistic study reports the language and literacy-learning opportunities, and the conditions necessary to bring them about, in the art component of an innovative intergenerational programme. The focus is on the children in the programme (median age 4), their interaction with adult participants (median age 85) and facilitators, and the ways…

This article investigates how instructors can utilize the integration of early literacy skills and the arts to cultivate the appreciation and celebration of cultures in early childhood classrooms. The theoretical framework is developed through three personal accounts establishing a rationale for the importance of a viable home to school connection…

This paper reports part of a phenomenographic inquiry into arts education in early childhood. Research studies into how young children understand and conceive their early arts experiences are limited. In documenting children's views, this study contributes to an understanding of arts education in a preschool context, and raises possibilities for…

When working with very young children and/or students with special needs, it is beneficial for teachers to think "outside the box" in order to preserve and enhance a child's natural curiosity. In an effort to teach young children to control their drawing tools, they are often presented with coloring book-type pages and instructed to "stay inside…