This article describes a project related to babies undertaken by preschoolers in a university-affiliated child care center in the Midwest. Following a description of the class, the author discusses the three phases of the project. Photographs taken during the project are included throughout the article. The article concludes with the author's…

A class of 3- to 5-year-old children in a child care center in the midwestern United States chose to study a car wash as a group project. This article discusses how the project evolved, describes the three phases of the project, and provides the teachers' reflections on the project. Photos taken during the project and children's sketches are…

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…

This project report describes how five children (an infant, three toddlers, and a preschooler) enrolled at a private day care home engaged in their first journey into project work through a study of Canada geese living on a nearby body of water. Prior to the experience described in this paper, the author had used the Project Approach only with…

A class of 3- to 5-year-old children in a midwestern child care center chose to study pizza restaurants as a group project. This article discusses how the project evolved, describes the three phases of the project, and provides the teachers' reflections on the project. Photos taken during the project and children's sketches are included. (Contains…

This study provides preliminary insight into teachers' perspectives on ways that the Project Approach can help to support instruction of learners with a range of strengths and needs, and learners from a variety of cultural, economic, and linguistic backgrounds. Pre- and post-training interviews were conducted with seven preschool teachers who…

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…

When the children at Western Illinois University Preschool Center embarked on a study of human bodies, they decided to build a life-size model of a body, organ by organ from the inside out, to represent some of the things they were learning. This article describes the building of "Bob," the human body model, highlighting the children's problem…

A view of construction from the window of a first-grade classroom was the catalyst for a multi-grade, multidisciplinary curriculum project at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, DC. This article provides background information on the school and the project, and details the students' work. The project description includes how the…

Four kindergarten classes in an Ohio elementary school chose to study apples as a group project. Documenting the kindergartners' first experience with project work, this article discusses how the project evolved, and describes the three phases of the projectdiscussions of prior knowledge, fieldwork and visits from experts, and the culminating…

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. This issue of ECRP contains the following major articles: (1)…

This article describes a project on water undertaken by kindergartners. The article first lists criteria that help determine the merit of a topic for study, followed by a discussion of how the water project emerged. Preliminary work by the teachers, the formation of groups to explore specific aspects of water, and the results of each group's work…

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 paper explores the use of the long-term project as an educational tool in early childhood classrooms. In particular, it focuses on the way in which long-term projects can reflect John Dewey's notion of the "dynamic aim" as a primary force in education. In "Democracy and Education," Dewey suggests that when teaching is dominated by specific…

This paper suggests that when engaged in project work, children apply most of the skills identified in the age-appropriate state learning standards. To illustrate how good-quality project work addresses the Illinois state learning standards, this paper describes a project conducted by a second-grade class on their community--Grafton, Illinois. The…