Instructional materials are essential tools in the English language arts classroom. They allow students to interact with words, images, and ideas in ways that develop their abilities in multiple literacies such as reading, listening, viewing, thinking, speaking, writing, and technology. Because selection policies should reflect local interests and…

Kindergarten has changed significantly in the last two decades: children now spend more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. Many kindergartens use highly prescriptive curricula geared to new state standards and linked to…

Providing guidance to teachers of young children in schools and early childhood programs, this paper presents a position statement that summarizes the current issues in learning to read and write and reviews what is known from research on young children's literacy development. This review of research (divided into sections birth through preschool,…

At Bank Street College of Education, the Children's Book Committee annually reviews approximately 3,000 books to select the 600 or so considered the best books for children published that year. In selecting books, high priority is given to a book's appropriateness to a child's stage of emotional, social, and cognitive development. Since individual…

Various components of quality early childhood programs are detailed in the papers contained in this book. In the opening chapter, Mildred Dickerson and Martha Ross assess the current status of child care in the United States. Milly Cowles, in a chapter on curriculum, outlines the essential components of effective early childhood programs. Mac…