When screening potential physical education teachers, principals should be aware of curriculum changes. Today's curriculum encompasses a balance of skills, concepts, games, educational gymnastics, rhythms, and dance experiences designed to enhance the cognitive, motor, affective, and physical-fitness development of every child. Teamwork and…

Describes practices and issues related to providing services for preschoolers with disabilities in inclusive early childhood classrooms. Identifies findings from research on developmentally appropriate practices. Discusses ways to integrate specialized services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language therapy into…

This article presents a model for describing the range of types of support and instruction necessary to make inclusion successful for young children with disabilities. The building blocks include a high quality early childhood program, modifications and adaptations, embedded learning opportunities, and explicit child-directed instruction.…

Discusses developmentally appropriate career guidance for young children to prepare them to make later life career decisions. Outlines objectives for working with young children, including increasing occupational awareness and exploration, enhancing their knowledge of self and others, and continuing their development of academic and work- related…

This article offers an alternative to the term "natural environment" in which delivery of individualized services consistent with family needs and values is of first-order importance. It is argued that the use of authentic intervention activities will produce better outcomes than focusing on placements that must include chronologically aged peers.…

Asserts that educators should not teach about the Holocaust to K-4 students. Addresses the purpose of teaching the Holocaust and whether it can be taught to young children; questions the use of the term "Holocaust education"; and discusses the future of Holocaust education at the K-4 level. (CMK)

Examines changes in teachers' understandings of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education after attending a two-week summer institute that used a teaching case as an assessment tool. Finds that the institute impacted all attendees in a positive and statistically significant manner. (RS)

Recent findings in brain research suggest the implementation of contemporary instructional practices is in order for base practices. Incorporating best practice research is critical for students to be competitive in a global market. This article provides a brief overview of educational philosophy, recent findings on brain research and language…

Explores practices in a Yamaha Music School to determine in what ways these practices were congruent or incongruent with the National Association for the Education of Young Children Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines. Includes children, ages four to six, their teachers, and parents in the setting. (CMK)

Describes how one teacher helped preschool children draw. Shows how she guided a 4-year-old to use stencils to draw fish independently, helped children use their knowledge of shapes to guide their drawing of animals, and guided children to draw what was important to them. Asserts that helping children to express their ideas independently in…

Observations in 100 congregated community and institutional day-program sites for individuals with severe disabilities indicated that approximately half of consumer time was spent in purposeful activity, 75 percent of which was age-appropriate. In 20 percent of the sites most activity was age-inappropriate. Recommended program evaluation and…

The purpose of this study was to examine what, if anything, caregivers and teachers of 3- to 5-year-old children from the U.S. (n = 412), China (n = 244), Taiwan (n = 222), Korea (n = 574), and Turkey (n = 214), had in common in terms of self-reported beliefs and self-reported practices related to the National Association for the Education of…

Over-the-Line is a striking/fielding game designed from the perspective of the Games for Understanding tactical model to serve as an alternative to traditional kickball, softball, and baseball. Over-the-Line can be modified for developmental appropriateness and tasks can increase in complexity as tactical awareness is attained. This article shares…

This paper examines the educational and epistemological implications for early childhood practitioners who work in non-Western environments. Predominantly, early childhood knowledge is strongly driven by the metanarrative of child development, which can prove problematic for practitioners working in non-Western settings. Practitioners who draw…

These are typical scenarios of children with hearing loss who are being included increasingly in early childhood settings. Recent federal legislation encourages states to develop programs to screen the hearing of all infants before they leave the hospital, and currently 39 states have adopted newborn infant hearing screening mandates (ASHA 2005).…