Reading, writing, and communicating, also known as literacy, are important cognitive skills to teach within society. Early literacy is knowledge about reading and writing before actually being able to read and write and is the foundation to future reading and writing skills (Ghoting & Martin-Diaz, 2006). The role of families in developing early…

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, yet the United States has failed to ratify it, despite the efforts of countless supporters. Opponents of ratification in the United States have been effective at preventing ratification by asserting that the CRC will damage family…

Initially, the author began her teacher inquiry project by focusing on the superhero play she had been observing in her classroom and on her concerns about how it might be impacting the classroom community. Through an ongoing process of self-reflection and reading research, she was able to open herself up to interacting and engaging with the…

Language is the essence of humanity and the backbone of early childhood education. Academic content clusters on it. Math, science, and social studies, for instance, are best taught through "content area language." Critical thinking and other key math, listening, and reading comprehension skills are mirrored in language. Not surprisingly, spoken…

Beth attends a New York City K-8, dual-language (Spanish/English) public school where 96% of the students qualify as low-income, based on participation in the federally funded lunch program. Early in Beth's 1st-grade year, she was classified as a struggling reader, based on district-wide assessments that identified academic deficits in such skill…

This article is based on a larger study that examined the expectations and experiences of Estonian parents related to preparation for school, factors influencing the choice of the school, and school troubles and joys. This article focuses on the part of the study concerning the families' expectations for schools and teachers, and on the real…

The author first learned about the Shared Journal approach as a doctoral student in the mid-1980s, and she implemented it in her own kindergarten class with great success. Two decades later, she was listening as her own graduate students introduced themselves and described their experiences with teaching writing. A young kindergarten teacher…

This article presents a selective review of the literature on cross-cultural art studies, with the aim of identifying their commonalities. The article includes a specific cross-cultural case study, the Art Lunch Project, which the author attended as a representative of Turkey, that aims to exchange practical teaching experiences. The participants…

Defining intelligence is a puzzle that has challenged educators and researchers for years. More recently, professionals are acknowledging that individuals possess many facets of intelligence and that learning is a complex combination of genetic factors, environmental influences, and life experiences that affect learning in unique ways (Salvia,…

Children's participation in cultural activities within the community, and the particular cognitive and socioemotional skills that they gain as a result of their participation, have been thoroughly studied (Cole, 1990; Gallimore & Tharp, 1990; Moll et al., 2005; Scribner & Cole, 1981). However, the connection of these skills to school learning or…

Sustainability is a core 21st-century movement that stresses keeping interrelationships among the environment, human cultures, and economic systems healthy now--and for future generations--across local, regional, national, and global levels. The ideal sustainable community is able to maintain this balance among the social, environmental, and…

In China, the Central People's Government (2010) recently promulgated the "Compendium for China's Mid- and Long-Term Education Development," which declared that 95% of Chinese children should receive at least one year of preschool education, while 75% of children should receive a three-year preschool education by 2020. Subsequently, The State…

The author's personal experiences indicate that, unfortunately, Appalachian culture in particular has been overlooked in many areas of literature and life. Major bookstores located in the Appalachian region frequently lack sections featuring Appalachian picturebooks. Her experiences with schools also indicate that living in Appalachia does not…

Tolerance connotes patience, forbearance, and impartiality, as well as open-mindedness. In early childhood, possessing tolerance would refer to children's burgeoning awareness of themselves in relation to others, and the capability to accept appearance and behavior different from one's own. But is teaching tolerance, additionally considered the…

When her director first asked her to teach an art class in the infant room, the author must admit that she thought her director was crazy. She nodded and smiled, pretending confidence, all the while thinking, "Teach art to infants? What does that even mean?" But when a teacher is trying to get a job at one of the best early childhood centers in…