This book responds to a growing interest among early childhood professionals and scholars for more nature and sustainability focused programs. Doing so rewards the reader with opportunities to critically reflect on their own practice and explore new pedagogical pathways. It will be essential reading for practitioners and scholars alike.
Connecting Children to the Wonder of Nature There's a whole world outdoors waiting to embrace young children--with their curiosity, imagination, and enthusiasm--and to impart its treasures. Experiencing Nature With Young Children invites you to explore this world with children from birth to age 8 in ways that will - Awaken their enjoyment and appreciation of nature - Nurture their emotional development - Enhance their cognitive growth - Spark their creativity - Help them discover how we all--people, animals, plants--are connected - Engage families and communities in preserving nature Along the way, children will learn to love nature and its inhabitants. And in learning to love, they will learn to care--helping to ensure that our natural environment will be well looked-after by the next generation. Part ballad to nature, part irresistible invitation to teachers, this book will awaken and renew your own joy in nature--and move you to experience it with young children.
G is for Genes shows how a dialogue between geneticists and educationalists can have beneficial results for the education of all children—and can also benefit schools, teachers, and society at large. Draws on behavioral genetic research from around the world, including the UK-based Twins’ Early Development Study (TEDS), one of the largest twin studies in the world Offers a unique viewpoint by bringing together genetics and education, disciplines with a historically difficult relationship Shows that genetic influence is not the same as genetic determinism and that the environment matters at least as much as genes Designed to spark a public debate about what naturally-occurring individual differences mean for education and equality
This book, at the intersection of early childhood and reconceptualizing practice, looks at how practitioners, theorists, and teachers are supporting young children to care about the environment differently. Despite the current popularity of post-human perspectives, in social science more broadly and in early childhood studies more specifically, this is one of few to make visible international practices and perspectives that emerge at the intersection of early childhood education, environmental justice, sustainability, and intergenerational/interspecies communities. The book provides an innovative exploration of the links between children, elders, and nature. With contributions from established scholars, practitioners, and newcomers this book reframes educating for social justice within an ecological landscape; one in which young children and their elders are mobilized to understand, reconceptualize and even undo negative environmental impact, whilst grappling with the ways in which the earthly forces are acting upon them. Specific theoretical chapters (spirituality, nature, critical and post-human/materiality, pragmatics, and constructivism approaches) are blended with applications of pedagogic strategies from across the globe. This book responds to a growing interest among early childhood professionals and scholars for sustainably focused and ethically reimagined programs. This collection rewards the reader with opportunities to critically reflect on their own practice, delves into new terrestrial collectives, and explores new pedagogical pathways. It will be essential reading for practitioners and scholars alike.
How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.
This book provides an indispensable account of current understandings of children’s emotional development. Integrating the latest research findings from areas such as attachment theory, neuroscience and developmental psychology, it weaves these into a readable and easy-to-digest text. It provides a tour of the most significant influences on the developing child, always bearing in mind the family and social context. It looks at key developmental stages, from life in the womb to the pre-school years and right up until adolescence, whilst also examining how we develop key capacities such as language, play and memory. Issues of nature and nurture are addressed and the effects of different kinds of early experiences are unpicked, looking at both individual children and larger-scale longitudinal studies. Psychological ideas and research are carefully integrated with those from neurobiology and understandings from other cultures to create a coherent and balanced view of the developing child in context. Nurturing Natures integrates a wide array of complex academic research from different disciplines to create a book that is not only highly readable but also scientifically trustworthy. Full of fascinating findings, it provides answers to many of the questions people really want to ask about the human journey from conception into adulthood. Visit Graham Music's personal site at http://www.nurturingminds.co.uk/.
The classroom environment is an essential component for maximizing learning experiences for young children. "Inspiring Spaces for Young Children "invites teachers to enhance children's educational environment in a beautiful way by emphasizing aesthetic environmental qualities that are often overlooked in early childhood classrooms, such as nature, color, furnishings, textures, displays, lighting, and focal points. Step-by-step instructions and lush photographs take educators through the process of transforming ordinary classrooms into creative, beautiful learning spaces, providing children with an environment where they can learn and grow. With easy-to-implement ideas that incorporate nature, children's artwork, and everyday classroom materials, the photographs and ideas in this book promote creativity, learning, and simple beauty.
Harris takes on the "experts" and boldly questions conventional wisdom of parents' role in their children's lives, asserting that it's not the home environment that shapes children, but the environment they share with their peers.
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.