Many early childhood practitioners in the U.S. are experiencing tension between their desire to offer students developmentally appropriate learning experiences and their obligation to teach the academic knowledge and skills mandated by their states. However, careful examination of the DAP guidelines' definition of culturally appropriate practice…

The increasing availability and use of technology applications for teaching emergent literacy skills in early childhood education settings nationwide requires that early childhood education professionals develop skills with readily available software programs. This paper provides general recommendations in using Microsoft[R] "PowerPoint"[TM] to…

Integrating experiences with music in the early childhood classroom supports English language learners' literacy development (Peregoy and Boyle, "Reading, writing, and learning in ESL." Pearson, Boston, 2008; Saricoban and Metin, "Songs, verse and games for teaching grammar." Internet "TESL J," 2000). This article describes the benefits of…

This article addresses the value of teachers establishing rituals and traditions in early childhood classrooms. Using the lens of a particular preschool classroom, where one of the co-authors taught for many years, the article describes specific traditions that have been established over the years and how these rituals, activities, and events…

During early childhood, children adopt a design-based conception of books with increasing consistency. It is not clear if or how young children spontaneously identify the myriad of commercially produced, book-related props, toys, and other materials as support for their early literacy activities. Guidelines for evaluating these supplementary…

The number of children who experience parental incarceration continues to rise with the United States. In 1999, an estimated 1.5 million minor children had a parent in a United States prison. One-fifth of these children are under 5 years of age (Mumola, Incarcerated parents and their children, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, 2000). A…

This paper describes a "crazy about crocheting class" and shows how crocheting became a literacy event that promoted student empowerment and classroom community while engaging second grade students in authentic literacy practices. We document how crocheting evolved from a classroom management activity that also encouraged fine motor skills to a…

In this article a university professor, former student, and father describe the father's interactions with his toddler-age son within a parent-child playgroup. The authors discuss the important role of fathers, what they learned from observing the father interact with his son, and implications for teachers and other professionals.

Teachers report that teaching young children who exhibit defiant and challenging behavior is the most difficult component of their work. This article explores four decades of textbook and research literature recommendations and 4 years of teacher reflections. Common themes of control, power, and anger were identified. A significant finding was…

A commonly accepted belief is that the violence depicted in television programs, particularly cartoons, has a negative impact on young children's behavior. However, young children may be less inclined to emulate violent actions seen on television than currently thought. Research indicates that young children have limited comprehension of…

High quality parent-child relations are essential to healthy development and learning in children. Homeless families experience many barriers to realizing the needed bonding and nurturance for having healthy relationships. This article explores the obstacles to the development of nurturing parent-child relations and offers strategies for…

There is growing concern regarding the amount and type of violence that young children are exposed to on a daily basis. Through media, popular toys and video games violent images are consistently present in children's lives starting at a very young age. This paper discusses (a) the growing presence of young children's exposure to media violence,…

Increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking preschool children require attention to improve the likelihood of success in school. This study, part of a larger 2-year ethnographic study of a Head Start classroom, elaborates the role of teachers' interactions with students who were learning English. Using an interactional ethnography approach, the authors…

Lately the interest to develop a gender-perspective in preschool has grown in Sweden. The aim of this study is to focus on Swedish preschool work teams understanding of gender and gender-sensitive pedagogy and their descriptions of what they actually do to be gender-sensitive preschools. Studies of gender and children often focus construction of…

It has been argued that intervention strategies designed to reduce racial prejudice in young children have been based on weak theoretical models of racial stereotyping and prejudice with little effect on the reduction of racial bias. This paper examines the social-cognitive and intergroup scholarship post-Bigler ("J Soc Issues 55"(4), 687-705,…