More than 30 highly respected experts contribute cutting-edge information to give readers a comprehensive look at early education and kindergarten transition.;;
Today's kindergarten is the onset of formal schooling for children--the first time families, schools, teachers, and communities come together to form an educational partnership. In this thought-provoking, issues-focused book, the experts explore the research on early schooling and give you a starting point with which to reexamine your beliefs, policies, and practices regarding the first years of school. Scholars, researchers, and other professionals will discover why early school transitions need to be improved and how these critical transitions affect children's future educational success. You'll learn about readiness assessment entrance ages grade retention classroom structure family-school-community partnerships cultural diversity children with disabilities children in poverty This book is part of a series edited by Donald B. Bailey, Jr., Ph.D., and developed in conjunction with the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL). Visit NCEDL's website for information on the center's research, upcoming meetings, and free online publications..
This book presents a comprehensive overview of children’s transitions to kindergarten as well as proven strategies that promote their readiness. It presents theories and research to help understand children’s development during the early childhood years. It describes evidence-based interventions that support children in developmental areas essential to school success, including cognitive, social-emotional, and self-regulatory skills. Chapters review prekindergarten readiness programs designed to promote continuity of learning in anticipation of the higher grades and discuss transitional concerns of special populations, such as non-native speakers, children with visual and other disabilities, and children with common temperamental issues. The volume concludes with examples of larger-scale systemic approaches to supporting children’s development during the transition to kindergarten, describing a coherent system of early childhood education that promotes long-term development. Featured topics include: Consistency in children’s classroom experiences and implications for early childhood development. Changes in school readiness in U.S. kindergarteners. Effective transitions to kindergarten for low-income children. The transition into kindergarten for English language learners. The role of close teacher-child relationships during the transition into kindergarten. Children’s temperament and its effect on their kindergarten transitions. Kindergarten Transition and Readiness is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and graduate students in child and school psychology, educational psychology, social work, special education, and early childhood education.
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
This book challenges traditional conceptions of readiness in early childhood education by sharing concrete examples of practice, policy and histories that rethink readiness. This book seeks to reimagine possible new educational worlds for young children.
This book provides a framework for all kindergarten teachers to use to support young children in their transition to kindergarten. It offers an overview of the importance of this transition for young children, and shows how their success can be supported through the use of specific supports. The topics covered here include the various ways to involve children and their families, use assessment information, and use a collection of strategies for children based on their needs. The book is comprehensive in covering a multitude of needs children and their families may have, from basic support needs to creative and tailored ways to involve families, and to using specific social skills templates to teach and support social skills for young children. The final chapter of the book also addresses the need to determine children who need more focused supports, and provides concrete strategies to use for children with more intensive needs.
How children’s development is shaped by Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) classrooms and especially by teacher–child interactions in those settings is a major issue in research and politics, which has been researched for several decades. This book investigates this important topic by raising three overarching questions: (1) What are ‘good’ teacher–child interactions and how they can be measured? (2) Which individual and/or contextual aspects are associated with teacher–child interactions? (3) What is the impact of teacher–child interactions on the development of children's competencies? The book ties in these fundamental questions with educational research by bringing together international studies from interdisciplinary backgrounds and presenting current research on the characteristics, predictivity, dependency, and methodological issues of teacher–child interactions in ECEC classrooms. The considered studies conducted in Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece and Portugal each aim to enrich the scientific discourse and provide fruitful implications for policy and practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Research Papers in Education journal.
Education, according to John Dewey, should be viewed as dynamic and ongoing with direct teaching of integrated content knowledge. This volume offers readers an examination of the content areas in early childhood curriculum that honor Dewey's belief in active, integrated learning.