This article documents home and community visits by early childhood pioneers during the Reform Era (1870-1920). The home-community visitors promoted the development of young children by addressing needs of poor and vulnerable children, their families, and their communities. As the rationale for focusing on the Reform Era, this article identifies…

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…

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…

Early childhood educators are increasingly concerned about the trend toward national standards and national testing. This article addresses issues of assessment in the early years of schooling, prekindergarten through third grade--a period when active, engaged, hands-on learning is most appropriate. Documentation of a kindergarten project on a…

This paper discusses two pitfalls in designing project work. The first is a tendency to design projects with little emphasis on how the subject matter might connect to future studies. The second involves processes and goals of project work: all too often the processes proposed for project work serve goals that are nonexistent, weak, or unrelated…

This paper explores both the benefits and the difficulties of using the Project Approach in part-time early childhood education programs. Teachers of 3 different types of part-time programs share their experiences 1 year after taking a one-credit course in the Project Approach. The teachers' responses are organized by topic as follows: (1)…

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…

Although the creation of new models of higher education is revolutionizing the way colleges compete for students, distance education has a long history, with correspondence courses as the earliest examples. Presently, distance learning through multimedia technology and the Internet is the newest solution for delivering instruction to personnel who…

Collaborations between universities and schools can yield many benefits for both partners, but even in the best collaborations, some problems cannot be resolved easily. This paper describes the experiences over several years of one university-school collaboration, exploring the nature of collaborations that attempt to both restructure schools and…

Research has shown that close ties between early childhood teachers and parents are helpful for children, but many teachers have mixed feelings about, or feel unprepared for, such relationships. This study, drawn from a larger study of preservice and beginning teachers, used narrative inquiry to trace the development of an early childhood…

This article asserts that young children and their teachers benefit when they learn a work style that includes successive approximations before reaching a final product. These successive attempts can be thought of as editing, and the article describes how the Reggio Emilia approach offers patterns to help children achieve this style of work. The…

Working with early childhood colleagues in other countries can be enlightening and enriching. This paper offers seven insights gained from the international experience: (1) "What It Feels Like To Be a Teacher" discusses observations of student and teacher behavior and attitudes in classrooms in China, a Caribbean island, and India; (2)…

Electronic journals in scholarly or professional fields provide publishers and readers an opportunity for wider dissemination of scientific and other knowledge than was previously possible through print publications. Besides this overriding benefit, electronic journals can incorporate features that improve on or go beyond the features that have…

Many teachers who begin to implement the Project Approach are already familiar with a learning center or theme approach to teaching, but there are some important differences of which to be aware. Noting that projects are especially valuable for children in undertaking in-depth study of real-world topics, this paper presents the reflections of…