In the Fall of 2018, the author embarked on her dissertation research, focusing on the critical issue of enhancing early childhood programs through the lens of early literacy development facilitated by play. At that time, many districts' early childhood curricula were heavily skewed towards academics, such as English/Language Arts (ELA) and Math,…

With the rise of nature-based early childhood education (NBECE) and emphasis on the importance of risky play, it is prudent to investigate a different approach to fire safety, through experimenting with fire and following necessary safety precautions within NBECE and other settings. This study explored fire as a loose part, safety considerations,…

Play occupies a critical role in the kindergarten classroom, and the expansion of formal play-based learning programmes have brought connections between play and learning to the forefront. With respect to social and emotional learning (SEL), child-directed play has been viewed as critical, while teacher direction has been framed as a potential…

Despite evidence that play supports learning and development across a range of domains in early childhood, play time has been decreasing for many young children in recent years. Early care and education (ECE) teachers are in a unique position to promote developmentally appropriate play as a way to help young children learn, and ECE teachers'…

Caribbean nations have leaned on and undergirded their early childhood programmes with Developmentally Appropriate Practices promulgated by the NAEYC. For many years the guidance provided by DAP has been used in both the development of standards of practice for early childhood professionals as well as curriculum development. In recent years…

In early childhood education, the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) are advocated as contemporary educational goals. However, integration of STEAM is not defined in the early childhood context. We claim to 'integrate' and 'devise integration pedagogies', but there is still no clear-cut message on what…

The study examined conceptualisation and implementation of play-based curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education in preschools in Oromia Regional State. The study employed mixed research method with concurrent triangulation design. A researcher selected the samples of the study by using purposive, availability, stratified and simple…

This study aim was to determine whether a structured age-appropriate playing programme with involvement of parents could promote healthy motor skills in preschool children. In this two group randomization pre-posttest quasi-experimental study, 160 children 3-5 years-old with their mothers were selected and equally allocated in two groups. For…

The water station in The Pond Room had always been a popular option especially since in this region the summer heat is extremely intense. The Master Teacher noticed that Zach, a 3-year-old with special needs and an IEP from the local school district, returned to the water station over and over again and was very focused on his activities. His…

Anti-bias in early education is gaining importance, especially given the volatile social climate amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, Singapore preschools lack focus on anti-bias education despite being a multi-ethnic society. Set in the COVID-19 context, this teacher research developed and examined a curriculum to educate young children on…

This study aims to introduce inquiry-based play activities and to examine their effectiveness on young children's conceptual understanding of the shape of the Earth and the day-night cycle. The inquiry-based play activities for preschool children were designed to support children to learn the concepts of the shape of the Earth and the day-night…

Different approaches to implementing 'learning through play' exist in many countries due to different understandings of the concept of play. In Indonesia, teachers implement play in a structured way following certain play developmental stages, where the focus is on children's academic outcomes, rather than the development of concepts as part of…

Background: Children's holistic development includes physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, moral and affective development and lies in early childhood development education (ECDE). According to research, children learn through different age-appropriate teaching and learning pedagogies. Therefore, the importance of implementing a play-based…

Human development theories identify child-initiated play as the primary source of early learning. Accordingly, the role of early childhood educators is to utilise the natural medium of play as a context for learning; an educational approach known as play-based learning. Recently, Western Australia (WA) has experienced an erosion of play-based…

Existing data describe the positive relationships across children's play/physical activity, mental wellness, physical health, and intellectual success (Carter, 2016; Crnic & Kondo, 2019; English 2019; Tomporowski, Davis, Miller, & Naglieri, 2007). This current mixed-method study identifies ways in which classroom teachers describe…