This practical resource explains brain development from prenatal to age 8 with suggestions for activities educators and caregivers can use to foster children's cognitive growth. The authors begin with the basics of brain development, and the issues that affect it, and then provide information specific to infant, toddler, preschool, and…

This book brings together a collection of work from around the world in order to consider effective STEM, robotics, mobile apps education from a range of perspectives. It presents valuable perspectives--both practical and theoretical--that enrich the current STEM, robotics, mobile apps education agenda. As such, the book makes a substantial…

Emergent literacy skills are important for children's academic achievement. Many preschool children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds have limited access to experiences that allow them to acquire emergent literacy skills such as letter knowledge, concepts of print, and phonological awareness. This article describes purposeful and age-appropriate…

Designed for parents of preschoolers, this monthly bilingual (English/Spanish) newsletter contains information on local library programs, games and activities to play at home, reading readiness, and recommended books for preschoolers. A feature on disabled children includes a description of the library's special needs collection and a letter to…

High-quality preschool programs are essential to improving children's outcomes in reading achievement and leveling language and literacy disparities among students from diverse backgrounds. Grounded in state-of-the-art research evidence, this practice-oriented book demonstrates how preschool professionals can create, evaluate, and sustain…

Describes and provides a list of materials for sensorimotor, symbolic, and construction play. Benefits of arranging the playground with a variety of materials are also discussed. (AS)

Elaborates classroom work skills and the play curriculum. Reviews play's relationship to learning and to the role of the adult. The implications of the American work ethic for play curricula and play training for teachers are discussed. (AS)

Describes materials mastery and symbolic development as two discrete but related processes that preschool children learn. Uses the preschool setting to identify the developmental stages of construction play. (AS)

Reviews literature about play to examine the use of language to facilitate play, play with language as an object, and egocentric speech in play situations. Finds a definite link between language and play. (Author/AS)

The first of three interactive staff development units on discipline in early childhood classrooms, this multi-media pack explores how to evaluate the attitudes teachers take into the classroom, and how to "reframe" those attitudes so teachers can effectively manage--rather than try to eliminate--conflict. The 25-minute teaching videotape examines…

The second of three interactive staff development units on discipline in early childhood classrooms, this multi-media pack explores the importance of the relationship between the teacher and child to discipline. The 25-minute teaching videotape notes the need to build a relationship with a child by interacting at times other than when the child is…

This book seeks to enable professionals who work in group settings with children ages birth to 5 years to develop a flexible and individualized approach to behavior management that is grounded in a full appreciation of a child's developmental stages and limited moral understanding. Young children's behavior is frequently a source of frustration…

Written for education students and early childhood practitioners who are implementing the Desirable Outcomes in programs in England and Wales, this book is a guide to planning the curriculum in the early years. The book is designed to be used in a range of settings, including playgroups, nurseries, and reception classes. The book considers several…

Intended as an aid for students on their way to becoming professional teachers and caregivers, This book encourages the student to contemplate his or her own ideas regarding play, including the concept of play and specific memories of play in their own past, and then use these thoughts to reshape the student's ideas about play. This book deals…

Written for a variety of audiences, this volume describes the University of Western Ontario Preschool Project in sufficient detail to permit its replication; findings of formative and summative program evaluations are reported along with research developing new criterion measures of social competence. Begun in 1973, the program was primarily…