This article explores the preschool teachers' use of concrete and abstract comments and questions within the classroom contexts of storybook reading and guided play to promote classroom conversations. Early childhood educators promote oral language development by creating a language-rich environment in which children become active participants in…

Kindergarten teachers use a variety of strategies that focus on vocabulary development. A common and effective practice to introduce new vocabulary to kindergarteners is reading storybooks to children, what is commonly known as "read-alouds" (Bus, van Ijzendoorn, & Pelligrini, 1995; Christ & Wang, 2010; Newton, Padak &…

This work describes a survey conducted in Syros Island in Greece. The intention was to ascertain kindergarten teachers' perceptions about early literacy and the skills and knowledge they consider as important for pre-school aged children. The participants were all the kindergarten teachers of the island (N = 19) and the data were collected during…

This paper introduces the Young Learners' Project, which is a large scale longitudinal study that aims to identify a number of factors associated with positive outcomes in literacy in the first year of school: the role of the preschool teacher, home life and child characteristics. In particular, it presents the design of one sub-study within the…

A small change in how teachers and parents read aloud to preschoolers may provide a big boost to their reading skills later on, a new study found. That change involves making specific references to print in books while reading--such as pointing out letters and words on the pages, showing capital letters, and showing how they read from left to…

Universal preschool has the potential to close the knowledge gap--but only if we consider how to best teach preschoolers. Unbridled enthusiasm for universal preschool must be balanced with thoughtful consideration of what goes on in these classrooms, and what activities will most support children's learning. Content-centered classrooms help…

This article provides an overview of the Australian Federal Government initiatives in the area of early childhood with regard to the provision of early childhood education and care. These changes have influenced a Western Australian university to develop an innovative birth to 8 years preservice educator education curriculum. Using an ecological…

This article provides practical strategies and techniques that early childhood educators can implement in their classrooms to effectively manage challenging behaviors. The specific strategies addressed fall under the following categories: (a) classroom management, (b) reinforcement, and (c) communication. Suggestions are made for how parents can…

Over the past decade, educators and policymakers have sought to increase the number of students pursuing and completing postsecondary credentials. Community colleges play an important role in efforts to increase the percentage of Americans with postsecondary education. Community colleges play an important role in educating the early childhood…

The International Step by Step Association (ISSA) is an association that believes in learning from each other across cultures and borders, building on each other's strengths, and tapping into the power of a network. Building on the strong legacy of the Open Society Foundations' Step by Step program, ISSA has nurtured a culture of belonging to a…

Early childhood educators have a responsibility to foster healthy relationships as well as appreciation and acceptance for diversity through culturally relevant teaching in their classrooms. Culturally relevant teaching, a term that has been written about extensively (e.g., Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2009; Nieto, 2010) involves intentionally…

Children are natural scientists. They do what professional scientists do, but for slightly different and less conscious reasons--whether observing water flowing down a pipe, investigating how to make different colors with paints, or reasoning through a series of problems in relation to building a bridge. A kindergarten teacher wanted to expand and…

Research shows that children accrue vocabulary knowledge by understanding relationships between new words and their connected concepts. This article describes three research-based principles that preschool teachers can use to design shared book reading lessons that accelerate content vocabulary knowledge by helping young children to talk about…

The purpose of this article is to provide tools for preschool professionals to plan for transitions between daily routines, to identify challenging transitions during the day, and to offer strategies to support transitions in classrooms to prevent challenging behaviors from occurring due to frequent changes. Specifically, the authors answer three…

Considering the increased influence of digital technologies on daily life (Fallows, 2004) and young children's increased use of interactive technologies (Children Now, 2007), early childhood educators are beginning to think about the role of technology in their classrooms. Many preschool programs are beginning to purchase iPads, or similar…