This article draws out the implications for school and classroom practices of an emerging consensus about the science of learning and development, outlined in a recent synthesis of the research. Situating the review in a developmental systems framework, we synthesize evidence from the learning sciences and several branches of educational research…

Both of these toddlers struggle with communication. Parents and practitioners working with very young children often struggle to find ways to enhance their toddlers' communication skills. They may question: When do I teach? What should I teach? Where do I teach? How do I teach? This article will provide suggestions and techniques to support the…

The authors share how to develop active, stimulating learning environments with a focus on culturally relevant music for young Latin@ children. They provide a backdrop for this article by sharing the role of música (music) in their own lives as children, educators, and for one of them as an artist and the other as a parent of a now five-year-old.…

The authors reveal an innovative approach to training and education of preschool children. This approach is called "GARDEN OF CHILDHOOD". It is based on the idea that the development of the preschool child's personality should be joyous and free "cultural self-creation" in terms of the collective co-creation, where adults and…

The aim of the present study is to provide information and suggest ways to improve and evaluate metacognition in early childhood. Metacognition is important to learning and knowledge transfer and preparing students to become lifelong learners is a main aim of schooling. The engagement of young students in metacognitive thinking is considered…

Elective Home Education is a legal, minority approach to the compulsory education of children. I review the potential contribution of the historical analysis of "domestic pedagogies", presented in this Special Issue, for home education practice in the UK. By drawing on narratives of a period at the cusp of the perceived normalcy of…

My paper situates literacy in the pre-symbolic implications of the maternal relation. Turning to child psychoanalysis, particularly Melanie Klein's theories of infancy and symbolization, my paper discusses the role the child's inner life plays in her engagements with literacy. Citing cases of second language learning, I pose literacy as…

The field of K-12 deaf education today continues to be fractured by ideological camps. A newcomer to the field quickly learns that the controversies related to language, communication, and instructional approaches continue to rage after almost 200 years of contentious debate. Much attention is given to auditory and speech development as well as…

The authors present a positive outlook for deaf and hard of hearing children in meeting the high expectations set before them. Like all children, deaf and hard of hearing children thrive in environments that support and promote healthy ways of thinking. When individuals have healthy ways of thinking, they have what researchers call a "growth…

Decades of evidence demonstrates that high-quality, well-implemented early education can positively impact the learning trajectories of vulnerable, high-needs young children. Yet, the majority of publicly-funded programs nationwide struggle to implement to quality standards with fidelity and fail to significantly advance children's early…

This article reports results from a study investigating the impact of a sustained, comprehensive early algebra intervention in third grade. Participants included 106 students; 39 received the early algebra intervention, and 67 received their district's regularly planned mathematics instruction. We share and discuss students' responses to a written…

Early childhood is a critically formative stage of human development and the educational experiences of children at this young age impact their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical competencies. In the U.S., early childhood education has grown dramatically since the 1960s, both in federal and state dollars invested and in terms of overall…

In spring 2012, Sherry Kaufman, a consultant at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, was asked to support kindergarten teachers in deepening their practice of constructivism and exploring the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Central to such an approach is the belief that all learning is socially constructed through interaction…

The study investigated a relationship between National Board certification and perceived use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). A self-developed survey, the Early-childhood Teacher Inventory of Practices, was e-mailed to participants. Participants included 246 non-National Board-certified (non-NBCT) and 135 National Board-certified…

Many studies have shown that higher-quality early care and education (ECE) predicts positive developmental gains for the children who experience it. However, much ECE in the United States is not of sufficiently high quality to produce these benefits. Quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) attempt to improve practice and care quality in ECE…