In early childhood teacher education programs, the reality of educational systems must be understood and teacher candidates must be ready to deal with the current challenges schools face. The rationale and application of the principles of practice based teacher education are presented in this article. Practice-based teacher education programs…

The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the idea that every child has at least, "one hundred languages" available for expressing perspectives of the world, and one of those languages is music. While all of the arts (visual, music, dance, drama) are considered equally important in Reggio schools, the visual arts have been particularly…

This naturalistic, qualitative study examines the nature of child- and adult-led interactions in a children's museum. Using dialogic learning as a theoretical framework, the study examines how children and adults engage in interactions while learning at a museum. Findings suggest that children and adults are almost equally likely to lead…

Visual arts, such as drawings, are attractive to most young children. Marks left on paper by young children contain meaning. Although it is known that children's oral language could be enhanced through communication with adults, rarely is there a series of dialogues between adults and young children about their drawings. Often heard instead…

Although a plethora of research focuses on economically at-risk preschool children in general across the United States, little can be found that investigates methods for improving rural children's academic outcomes. This review of research is intended to provide a contextual understanding of the background and current conditions that exist…

The dramatic growth in the number of children learning English as a second language in our country has led to a corresponding increase in the need to understand how teachers and schools can effectively teach children who are learning English as a second language. Many teachers report not feeling prepared to meet the needs of these children…

Early childhood teacher educators frequently enhance their teaching by reading children's books to their adult students. It is not unusual for faculty outside of early childhood to question devoting precious class time to read-alouds which they may consider a curious, if not frivolous, instructional strategy. Quality children's literature can,…

Giving students a purpose and a passion for sharing their thinking through authentic learning experiences and giving them tools for writing through which they can risk new vocabulary, new language, and new thought is critical for the linguistic and cognitive development of students. Furthermore, students develop a deep understanding of content…

Prior research indicates that pre-kindergarten programs have not fully closed the gap between low-income and middle-income children regarding phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge, two key predictors of later reading success. The current study examined Head Start teachers' views of and challenges in implementing instruction to improve…

Sometimes students will exhibit various aggressive behaviors in the preschool classroom. Early childhood educators need to have behavior management strategies to manage the students' negative behaviors within the classroom setting. This article will provide a rationale for embedding literacy instruction within behavior management strategies to…

Small group instruction is important yet it is one of the most underused strategies in early childhood classrooms. This paper presents guidelines based on research-based best practices for using small groups in early childhood. In addition, the benefits of small group instruction for both children and teachers are described. Specific suggestions…

This article describes the power of goal-setting in order to help children become self-motivated and responsible for their actions. It also provides a road-map for a successful process by describing the following strategies: changing negative thoughts into positives, creating affirmations, designing action plans and utilizing visualization. This…

This article offers an overview and analysis of recent early childhood education reforms in Great Britain. It examines the national mandates to grant Universal Preschool Education to all three and four year olds as well as recent strides to provide for infants and toddlers in model centers throughout the country. Attention is given to British…

The purpose of this paper is to make the case for organising teaching and learning in early childhood education around concepts and generalisations rather than inert facts. It is now widely accepted that facts alone are not enough to help children discern patterns and relationships, group things together, see big ideas and solve problems. Facts…

Writing Workshop is an interactive approach to teaching writing as students learn and practice the importance of rehearsal, drafting/revising, and editing their pieces of writing (Calkins, 1986; Graves, 1983). This study implemented a mixed methodology design incorporating qualitative and quantitative analysis (Mills, 2007) by administering a pre…