Purpose: Being "literate" is well established as key to active civic participation, right from the earliest years of life. Young children's natural curiosity and motivation to understand the world and their places within it through playful explorations offers rich opportunities for learning. Reported here are findings from a STEAM…

Italian makerspace is based on the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach founded by Loris Malaguzzi, in which the environment plays a critical role in children's development. Malaguzzi believed that the makerspace is the third teacher (joining family and classroom teachers), and children express themselves through a "hundred…

This article explores the perspective that well-being and creativity can be nurtured in children through understanding and addressing the diverse ways in which children learn, communicate, and develop (inner diversity). In particular, our working hypothesis is that focusing children's and young people's learning towards the realization of their…

This dissertation looks at the nature of creativity and what it takes to create a creative environment between the home environment and the elementary classrooms. Children make meaning best through play, creativity and problem-solving; this theory is built on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (1978) alongside schema theory and Sternberg…

Based on the observations of teachers and other adults in the framework of our school concept, this study follows the development of a young boy during his first three school years. Jerry is gifted in many fields and shows a complex range of interests. Although he was among the youngest in his class coming into the school, Jerry was more…

In this article, jazz music is used as a lens through which early childhood music pedagogy is viewed, specifically thinking about swing and improvisation--the listening and responding to what is heard and seen, and the openness to possibility. These two concepts are defined by prominent jazz musicians and are traced in the child development…

Article describes the planning of an interrelated arts' class with the emphasis on the child's understanding of what he is portraying. (Author/RK)

Author proposed a different way of thinking about art in the curriculum, an aesthetic view of life that begins with affection, care and attention. (Author/RK)

This brochure, developed by a manufacturer of wooden blocks and trains, offers advice on the selection and use of toy blocks with children. The guide asserts that blocks, while often thought of as the most simple of toys, have great strength as creativity builders. Topics discussed in the brochure include: "Why We Want Our Children to…

This essay is concerned with the revolutionary changes, both conscious and otherwise, in art values and functions that have been generated by the democratization of art education. The development of art education is considered from this perspective with particular focus on the areas of conflict. (Editor/RK)

A study of 74 female campers aged 10-13, primarily from middle to upper income families, determined if creativity of campers changed during a seven-week residential summer camp. Findings indicated camp environment and counselor abilities nurtured creativity. Ten ways camp directors can establish a camping environment to support creative growth…