Substantial evidence exists suggesting that access to articulatory gestures during instruction improves students' phonological awareness skills, but researchers have yet to explore the role of articulatory gestures in initial phonics instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine if visual access to articulatory gestures (i.e., mouth cues)…

Many early childhood educators use the evidenced-based practice of interactive shared book reading (ISBR) to promote the development of important communication and literacy skills. ISBR for preschoolers has been shown to build both vocabulary and conceptual knowledge, which in turn contributes to later language and reading comprehension…

Interest has grown internationally in the concept of physical literacy [Dudley, D. 2015. "A Conceptual Model of Observed Physical Literacy." "The Physical Educator" 72: 236-260; Edwards, L., A. Bryant, R. Keegan, K. Morgan, and A. Jones. 2017. "Definitions, Foundations and Associations of Physical Literacy: A systematic…

The Preschool Life Skills program is an intervention package designed to teach functional skills to prevent problem behavior in typically developing children. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the instructional package (renamed "Life Skills") with children with developmental disabilities. The program…

Dance teachers use a wide range of methods to communicate effectively with students. Amongst the many possibilities, movement demonstration is often a salient, even expected, tool in dance classes. But when the teacher's body undergoes an injury or other significant physical change, what effect does the altered physical experience have on…

Visual supports are concrete cues that are paired with, or used in place of, a verbal cue to provide the learner with information about a routine, activity, behavioral expectation, or skill demonstration. Visual supports might include: "pictures," "written words," "objects," "arrangement of the environment,"…

Students who are slow to respond to traditional instruction and intervention require intensified intervention. Visual Activity Schedules (VAS) are an evidence-based type of visual support that provide sequential organization of the steps for an activity or skill. VAS can be aligned with individual student needs, including behavioral support. VAS…

In this study, we examined the effects of training and coaching via video and email feedback on preservice teachers' use of recommended practices. Two preservice teachers in an early childhood special education program developed action plans for implementing recommended practices and videotaped their interactions with children in a blended…

In Romanian preschool settings, there is a tendency to use abstract strategies in language-learning activities. The present study explored if strategies based on an embodied cognition approach facilitate learning more than traditional strategies that progress from concrete to abstract. Twenty-five children between 4 and 5 years of age listened to…

Joseph Tobin made an impact on the field of comparative education in 2009 when he used a unique form of ethnography to illuminate the effects of world-wide forces, such as modernization, on schools in specific countries. Earlier, in 1989, he published "Preschool in Three Cultures" with co-authors David Wu and Dana Davidson. The…

The authors describe an intervention for 3 preschoolers with disabilities who had low peer-related social competence. The intervention taught academic skills tailored to the need of each target student in small groups (triads) with two typically developing peers, using a progressive time delay procedure. Prior to instruction and separate from the…

A multiple probe across skills, single-subject research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a simultaneous prompting procedure with a physical guidance controlling prompt to teach three dressing skills to two preschoolers with disabilities. Both students maintained skills with 90% accuracy up to six weeks following acquisition.…

Preschool children were presented with conflicting cues in order to assess the importance of pointing, verbalizing, and looking by adults in directing the attention of children. The study involved two procedures: first, the experimenter indicated by pointing, verbalizing, or looking whether a big or little bead was to be put on a string by the…

Two time-delay conditions for teaching complex visual discriminations to 14 normal preschoolers, 12 with mild mental retardation, and 11 with moderate mental retardation were compared. Results indicated that for all populations and stimuli, time delay of multiple dynamic distinctive-feature prompts produced learning, while time delay of the single…

Begins with a review of research on learning style differences associated with autism, then examines instructional strategies of both behavioral and incidental teaching methods. Using an illustrative case study, it describes how visually cued instruction can be applied with autistic children who are visual learners. (DB)