As a literacy educator, the author's interest in how students conceptualize writing is one that she devotes a significant amount of time and interest. Understanding how students make sense of reading and writing at an early age can assist educators in designing and implementing literacy engagements that are both high quality and effective. To…

This article examines kindergarten children's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to understand the children's thoughts, emotions, and coping strategies regarding the presence of the COVID-19 virus in their daily lives, using the salutogenic approach to study their sense of coherence and promote relevant professional instruction.…

Background/Context: Over the last two decades, policymakers' standards-based accountability reforms in the United States have fundamentally changed public schooling in general and kindergarten specifically. As this has occurred, little has been learned about how the children themselves make sense of these changes in schooling.…

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education system in Palestine in all respects, with perhaps the most important change being the need for a rapid transition away from in-person instruction to digital e-learning, which resulted in a months-long closure of physical schools in Palestine. While this rapid pivot to online learning had…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between how thoroughly School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) is implemented in elementary classrooms, junior kindergarten through fifth grade, and students' and teachers' perceptions of safety. An additional purpose was to investigate whether child…

According to the national guidelines for kindergarten teacher education in Norway, university campus-based teaching and practical training in in-service kindergartens are two mutually complementary learning arenas that facilitate student professional learning and development. This paper "gives voice" to first-year students regarding…

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore the experiences of two students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a full-inclusion music education context and how those experiences aligned with stakeholder perspectives regarding the role of music education for this population. Three themes emerged from the data: The Not-So-Atypical…

Globally competent people are aware of world issues, take perspective, are engaged and know how to communicate to different people. This article portraits a story of two kindergarten classrooms, one in the United States and the other in Greece, both working with culturally diverse children and, in the case of the American classroom, English…

Research evidence for the benefits of arts integration is mounting. The purpose of this study was to determine if integration of the arts was an effective strategy for teaching the water cycle to kindergarten students. The study included lessons that supported both a science and an engineering standard of the Next Generation Science Standards and…

The purpose of this study is to consider how mothers of kindergartners navigate their families' experiences within a community and how their children's school experiences affect their interactions and investment in a place. The questions this research asks is: How do mothers define and describe their neighborhood? What role does the school play as…

All too frequently the process of starting school is viewed through the eyes of teachers and parents alone. What is often overlooked is that the children, who live this experience, and their interpretation of events, may be vastly different from that of their parents and teachers. The use of drawings in conjunction with oral retellings is an…

This article reports on a retrospective study of Finnish pre-service elementary teachers' assessments of their musical experiences in nursery school and elementary and secondary school and real-time study of their experiences in teacher training. The participants (N = 590) had received musical instruction in five age groups (4-6 years, 7-12 years,…