Teaching Early Years

This textbook focuses on the main areas of teaching young children, covering the 3-7 years age range that spans the early years and primary phases. The majority of chapters are written by both an academic and practitioner, reflecting a genuine theory and practice approach, and this helps the reader to set theoretical discussion in the context of real practice. Key themes explored within the book include: - Play and playfulness in the curriculum - Child development in practice - Literacy development and subject pedagogy - Creativity and outdoor learning Packed full of learning features such as case studies, reflective questions and lesson plans, Teaching Early Years is an essential resource for both students and practitioners, and will enhance your knowledge of how young children think and learn.

This best-selling text book provides a broad-ranging and up-to-date review of thinking and best practice within nursery and infant education. Written around the basic truth that an effective early years curriculum must start with the children, their needs and their potential, the contributors to this classic text acknowledge that learning must have a strong element of fun, wonder and excitement. Fully revised and updated in light of recent changes to the Early Years curriculum, with brand new chapters on assessment, communication, writing, creativity and diversity, the contributors address a range of fundamental issues and principles, including: an analysis of research into how children learn; discussions of issues such as classroom organisation, curriculum management, and assessment; a detailed section on play and language; chapters covering individual curriculum areas, including new chapters on music and PSHE. Each chapter combines a review of important principles with practical and inspiring classroom examples throughout. It is essential reading for all Foundations Stage and KS1 trainee teachers, their tutors and mentors, and serving teachers working in the 3-7 age range who wish to reflect upon and develop their practice.

A Co-Publication of Routledge and NAEYC Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years offers early childhood teacher educators, professional development providers, and early childhood educators in pre-service, in-service, and continuing education settings a thought-provoking guide to effective, appropriate, and intentional use of technology with young children. This book provides strategies, theoretical frameworks, links to research evidence, descriptions of best practice, and resources to develop essential digital literacy knowledge, skills and experiences for early childhood educators in the digital age. Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years puts educators right at the intersections of child development, early learning, developmentally appropriate practice, early childhood teaching practices, children’s media research, teacher education, and professional development practices. The book is based on current research, promising programs and practices, and a set of best practices for teaching with technology in early childhood education that are based on the NAEYC/FRC Position Statement on Technology and Interactive Media and the Fred Rogers Center Framework for Quality in Children’s Digital Media. Pedagogical principles, classroom practices, and teaching strategies are presented in a practical, straightforward way informed by child development theory, developmentally appropriate practice, and research on effective, appropriate, and intentional use of technology in early childhood settings. A companion website (http://teccenter.erikson.edu/tech-in-the-early-years/) provides additional resources and links to further illustrate principles and best practices for teaching and learning in the digital age.

Learning and Teaching in the Early Years provides a comprehensive, practical introduction to early childhood teaching in Australia.

Make learning visible in the early years Early childhood is a uniquely sensitive time, when young learners are rapidly developing across multiple domains, including language and literacy, mathematics, and motor skills. Knowing which teaching strategies work best and when can have a significant impact on a child’s development and future success. Visible Learning in Early Childhood investigates the critical years between ages 3 and 6 and, backed by evidence from the Visible Learning® research, explores seven core strategies for learning success: working together as evaluators, setting high expectations, measuring learning with explicit success criteria, establishing developmentally appropriate levels of learning, viewing mistakes as opportunities, continually seeking feedback, and balancing surface, deep, and transfer learning. The authors unpack the symbiotic relationship between these seven tenets through Authentic examples of diverse learners and settings Voices of master teachers from the US, UK, and Australia Multiple assessment and differentiation strategies Multidisciplinary approaches depicting mathematics, literacy, art and music, social-emotional learning, and more Using the Visible Learning research, teachers partner with children to encourage high expectations, developmentally appropriate practices, the right level of challenge, and a focus on explicit success criteria. Get started today and watch your young learners thrive!

This accessible and enaging work introduces current and future teachers, child care providers, and others interested in early childhood education to the importance for the early years in children's well-being and success. It summarizes their research on the value of high-quality services for young children, families, and society, showing why early education matters both today and into the future. Emphasizing the need to understand and respect young children's strengths and unique characteristics, the authors offer inspiration for working in the field, as well as addressing the realistic challenges of implementing developmentally appropriate care and education.

This open access book develops a theoretical concept of teaching that is relevant to early childhood education, and based on children’s learning and development through play. It discusses theoretical premises and research on playing and learning, and proposes the development of play-responsive didaktik. It examines the processes and products of learning and development, teaching and its phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, as well as the ‘what’ of learning and didaktik. Next, it explores the actions, objects and meaning of play and provides insight into the diversity of beliefs about the practices of play. The book presents ideas on how combined research and development projects can be carried out, providing incentive and a model for practice development and research. The second part of the book consists of empirical studies on teacher’s playing skills and examples of play with very young as well as older children.

The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987, it has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.

The foundation for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education begins in the early years. This book provides more than ninety activities and learning center ideas that seamlessly integrate STEM throughout early childhood classrooms. These hands-on STEM experiences enhance cooking, art, and music activities, block play and sensory table exploration, and field trips and outdoor time. Information on assessment and early learning standards is also provided. Sally Moomaw, EdD, has spent much of her career researching and teaching STEM education. She is an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati and the author of several early education books.

Presenting a range of exciting activities that support the development of creative English lessons within the existing structures of the Foundation Curriculum and the National Curriculum, this book: is packed full of interactive and creative teaching strategies provides guidance on assessing creative work highlights opportunities for creative literacy activities across the curriculum covers ages 3-11.