This book is an exploration of story and its importance in early childhood. It provides a thorough theoretical foundation, and considers how to practically implement the use of stories to aid children's wellbeing and holistic development. The chapters cover topics including cognitive and emotional development, creativity, play, mathematics,…

This practical resource explains brain development from prenatal to age 8 with suggestions for activities educators and caregivers can use to foster children's cognitive growth. The authors begin with the basics of brain development, and the issues that affect it, and then provide information specific to infant, toddler, preschool, and…

Grounded in current research and theory, this practical book guides program leaders and staff developers to design and implement engaging professional development and coaching approaches. It focuses on early educator competencies essential for high-quality learning and teaching--executive functions, emotion regulation, relationship skills, and…

"The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education" aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale up and improve the quality of early childhood education by bringing together relevant insights from emerging research to provide guidance for this critical, fledgling field. It reflects the growing recognition that early childhood…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) involves the processes through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.…

This article provides early childhood practitioners a way to develop a common understanding of the importance of play in the early learning experience of young children. Meaningful discussion among teachers, parents, administrators, and teacher candidates regarding play in early childhood education programs is critical to ensure the growth and…

This book makes explicit connections between young children's spontaneous repeated actions and their representations of their emotional worlds. Drawing on the literature on schemas, attachment theory and family contexts, the author takes schema theory into the territory of the emotions, making it relevant to the social and emotional development…

This compendium, a deliverable for "Assessments for Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning with Preschool/Elementary-School Children," focuses on tools to assess the social and emotional learning (SEL) of preschool and elementary school students (i.e., five- to ten-year-olds), along with aspects of the contexts in which they learn and…

This second edition of "Learning in the Early Years 3-7" has been written to help early years practitioners understand and implement the U.K.'s new curriculum guidance document "The Foundation Stage". The author explains how to meet the requirements of the new Foundation Stage document and how these relate to the U.K.'s…

Presents a set of guidelines for selecting hardware to promote students' sensory, cognitive, emotional, and social development. (MP)

A psychotherapist recounts her personal and professional development in concepts of self-esteem. The article considers core conditions for development of healthy self-esteem, the powerful effects wrought by teachers who create healthy emotional environments, emotional intelligence and emotional literacy, current initiatives to develop emotional…

Describes the development of coping behavior in children and the role of coping behavior in dealing with conflict and anxiety. Defines various coping mechanisms including rationalization, projection, displacement, denial of reality, compensation, regression, and intellectualization. Outlines suggestions for helping children and parents understand…

The second edition of this best-selling textbook provides students and practitioners with a broad introduction to, and critical analysis of, the main theories and issues within the field of early childhood studies. The book adopts a multi-disciplinary approach and pulls together all the key themes involved in the study of young children and…

This project was inspired by a belief that too little attention is paid by the academic structure to its responsibility within the school experience of developing "caring" individuals. The project's goal was to test the idea that "Caring Quality" could be "taught". (Author/RK)

Family-school partnerships are increasingly touted as a means of improving both student and school improvement. This recognition has led to an increase in policies and initiatives that offer the following benefits: improved communication between parents and educators; home and school goals that are mutually supportive and shared; better…