Children experience demanding changes during the transition from early childhood programs to primary school. Research shows that children's initial academic and social success at school can affect their long-term adjustment, achievement, and success. The authors, both early childhood teachers in Singapore, undertook an action research project that…

This article describes a collaborative action research project that followed two teachers and their students in a primary school in the Paro valley of Bhutan as they began to implement the Project Approach and promote children's use of visual representation. The article begins with a description of the primary education system and teacher…

A group of children 18 months to 3 years old and their parents studied lights in a preschool program at the Astrid Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development in Poland. The goal of the preschool program is to help children gain positive social experience through safe and interesting contact with a new group of children and adults in the…

This reflective paper discusses findings about differences and similarities in perspectives on play among early childhood educators in Japan, the United States, and Sweden. Analysis of survey data collected from educators in those nations yielded six themes regarding the meanings and uses of play: (1) process of learning, (2) source of…

This article describes the Dim Sum and Chinese Restaurant Project undertaken by 6-year-old kindergarten children in Hong Kong. The article discusses the importance of listening, observing, and documenting children's actions to meet their needs and interests. The kindergarten program that participated in this project is a nonprofit kindergarten…

The young child's exposure to disaster and trauma through the media or in the social milieu poses a challenge for the early childhood educator who is faced with responding and educating in a developmentally appropriate manner. In the case of public commemoration of a national disaster, the classroom implications are seemingly unavoidable. This…

Some features of project work are of value for toddlers, while others are best left until children are older. This article shares the process through which teachers and administrators at a private school in Mexico City gained awareness of the importance of listening, observing, and documenting children's activities to determine how to adapt…

This study examined how demographic and psychological factors shape the involvement of Japanese mothers in their children's education. The five demographic variables studied were family income, maternal education, family size, mothers' employment status, and sex of the child. Three forms of parental cognition were also studied: mothers'…

Appreciation of diversity begins in our classrooms with the children we know and interact with on a daily basis. Each child has a unique history--a story that gives us insights when we interact, plan our classroom community, and design our instruction. Children who have a primary language other than English have stories that they can communicate…

This article examines early childhood curriculum in England. Traditional early childhood education in England has been child centered, in contrast to approaches that are subject centered and teacher directed, emphasizing individual children's interests, free play, firsthand experience, and integrated learning. However, recently, the government…

This paper focuses on effective transition-to-school programs. Using a framework of 10 guidelines developed through the Starting School Research Project, the paper provides examples of effective strategies and transition programs. In this context, the nature of some current transition programs is questioned, and the curriculum of transition is…

This paper challenges traditional perspectives of professional development through a reconceptualization of early childhood professional growth. A review of the early childhood professional development literature reveals the problematic nature of the linear perspectives and deficit models of staff development prevalent in the early childhood…

Early Childhood Research and Practice (ECRP), a peer-reviewed, Internet-only journal sponsored by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE), covers topics related to the development, care, and education of children from birth to approximately age 8. ECRP emphasizes articles reporting on practice-related…

Early Childhood Research and Practice (ECRP), a peer-reviewed, Internet-only journal sponsored by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE), covers topics related to the development, care, and education of children from birth to approximately age 8. ECRP emphasizes articles reporting on practice-related…

This article discusses the characteristics of three schools and considers what lessons modern educators might learn from them. The first school described is the Malting House school, where Susan Isaacs taught for several years. The Malting House school, which existed from 1924 to 1929 in Cambridge, England, teaches the lesson of looking, with…