Combining literacy lessons with wellbeing, this accessible guide, full of practical lesson plans and photocopiable activities is the ideal resource for the busy primary school teacher. The book is divided into five chapters, each one focused on an area that creates positive foundations for mental health and wellbeing: relationships, emotional literacy, sense of self, skills for learning and understanding how our brain effects our learning and our behaviour. Popular children's books are used to develop a series of lesson plans that link to the literacy curriculum and include activities that focus on wellbeing to compliment the literacy work being undertaken. Using a range of teaching techniques that develop the key areas that impact mental health and wellbeing, this is the perfect resource for KS2 teachers looking to incorporate wellbeing into the literacy curriculum.

Providing a deeper understanding of how two-year-old children learn, Understanding Schematic Learning at Two highlights how a schematic pedagogy can be used to recognise and support two-year-old children's thinking and understanding of the world around them. Over a 16-week period four children's individual experiences and stories are constructed, providing detailed written and photographic evidence of the unfolding schematic learning journeys of each. Following the children from nursery setting to their home environments, readers gain a greater understanding of how, even at such a young age, children are intrinsically motivated to select resources from the environment to support their schematic pursuits. The book focuses on the importance of an appropriate environment and informed pedagogy to support two-year-old children's schematic explorations and the significant role adults play in developing these. Beginning by highlighting the important links between learning opportunities, environment and the role of the adults, Brierley and Nutbrown briefly trace the origins of schema and provide an overview of some definitions and characteristics of schemas. This leads to an exploration of how the early years landscape has been influenced through a research, practice and government policy initiatives, concluding that future focus must foreground how children learn. Understanding Schematic Learning at Two highlights how recognising and valuing young children's schemas can provide their supportive adults with the opportunity and ability to acknowledge two-year-old children's capability to actively construct and develop an understanding of the world they live in.

Managers in child-centred settings need to be able to draw on a wide range of personal and professional skills to ensure that they are providing the best possible service. Now in its third edition, Essential Skills for Managers of Child-Centred Settings looks at how you can develop the key leadership skills needed to manage people to achieve excellent settings for children. The authors outline ten 'essential skills' for leading and supporting those around you in your child-centred settings and offer sound advice so you can build your personal and professional skills and become a confident and assertive manager. With a balance of both accessible theory and practical application from a wide range of settings, this book explains management theory and will help you to develop the skills to: become a confident leader set clear aims and objectives for your setting manage your time effectively make decisions and implement change build and develop a team reflect on and develop practice deal with difficult situations and people. This book also contains case studies and 'real-life' scenarios from managers undertaking training with the authors which will ensure you provide an excellent service in your setting. No manager or leader should be without this user-friendly guide!

Challenging the normative paradigm that school readiness is a positive and necessary objective for all young children, this book asserts that the concept is a deficit-based practice that fosters the continuation of discriminatory classifications. Tager draws on findings of a qualitative study to reveal how the neoliberal agenda of school reform based on high-stakes testing sorts and labels children as non-ready, affecting their overall schooling careers. Tager reflects critically on the relationship between race and school readiness, showing how the resulting exclusionary measures perpetuate the marginalization of low-income Black children from an early age. Disrupting expected notions of readiness is imperative to ending practices of structural classism and racism in early childhood education.

The conceptualisation and practice of play is considered core to early childhood pedagogy. In this essential text, contributors from a range of countries and cultures explore how play might be defined, encouraged and interpreted in early childhood settings and practice. Rethinking Play as Pedagogy provides a fresh perspective of play as a purposeful pedagogy offering multi-layered opportunities for learning and development. Written to provoke group discussion and extend thinking, opportunities for international comparison, points for reflection and editorial provocations, this volume will help students engage critically with a variety of understandings of play, and diverse approaches to harnessing children's natural propensity to play. Considering the role of the learning environment, the practitioner, the wider community, and policy, chapters are divided into four key sections which reflect major influences on practice and pedagogy: Being alongside children Those who educate Embedding families and communities Working with systems Offering in-depth discussion of diverse perceptions, potentials and practicalities of early childhood play, this text will enhance understanding, support self-directed learning, and provoke and transform thinking at both graduate and postgraduate levels, particularly in the field of early childhood education and care, for students, educators, integrated service providers and policy makers.

This book brings together key authors from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) to discuss theoretical and empirical research on families and children. Sharing the Nordic perspective from each of the five countries, the book highlights key ideas within and across the countries. The chapters provide an understanding of the history of the Nordic perspectives of family and children, present current innovative research on solutions to complex issues, and explore contemporary issues. Nordic countries continually attain high scores in lifestyle measures, quality of life and children's outcomes. Much of this has to do with the specific culture and policy of the Nordic countries. Written by academics within the region who are well regarded for contributing to academic and public debate, this book will appeal to an international audience interested in the Nordic perspective and social policy around family and children.

Although Chinese societies have generally become striking as the classic over-achievers in international measures of academic performance, there has been no specialised publication exploring early childhood curriculum in Chinese contexts. Through this book, readers will learn more about how the Chinese context and culture collide with educators' beliefs about the right activities for children and educators in early childhood settings. This book will be the first one of its kind to focus on early childhood curriculum in Chinese societies - from social context and culture to reforms and practices, and finally to the lessons that researchers, policymakers and practitioners could learn, as well as future directions. Is play valued? Are young children schooled earlier in Chinese societies? How do Chinese children learn in kindergartens? What is valued by Chinese educators when they implement early childhood curricula? How do Chinese teachers deliver early childhood curricula for their young children? Why were Chinese early childhood curricula implemented in these ways? Answers to these questions and more will be provided in this pioneering book.

Play is critical to children's well-being and development. All students should have access to and adequate time for positive play experiences every day. Learning and Connecting in School Playgrounds invites parents, teachers, principals and education administrators to take another look at their school playgrounds as spaces crucial to learning, well-being and development. This book combines research findings, commentary and the authors' personal experiences and observations together with the views of teachers, principals, parents and students related to play and play spaces. Key content includes consideration of the role of adults in the school playground, the influence of technology on play, the challenges experienced by children transitioning to new school environments and consideration of strategies to support students' access and participation in the playground. Cases are presented to illustrate the use of an audit tool to enhance school playgrounds. The future of school playgrounds is also considered through the reported hopes and dreams of adults and students and a range of recommendations are made for the review and development of schools' outdoor play spaces. Learning and Connecting in School Playgrounds is written with a sense of urgency, calling for the recognition of positive play experiences as invaluable to children's education. It includes important and challenging insights to inform and guide decision-making and will be an essential resource for all stakeholders who share responsibility for children's participation and learning during school break-times.

Learning for the Age of Artificial Intelligence is a richly informed argument for curricular change to educate people towards achievement and success as intelligent machine systems proliferate. Describing eight key competences, this comprehensive volume prepares educational leaders, designers, researchers, and policymakers to effectively rethink the knowledge, skills, and environments that students need to thrive and avoid displacement in today's technology-enhanced culture and workforce. Essential insights into school operations, machine learning, complex training and assessment, and economic challenges round out this cogent, relatable discussion about the imminent evolution of the education sector.

How do parenting styles differ globally? How do different, international, parenting practices impact on children's development? Can we bring together and hybridise different international parenting styles? Intercultural Parenting explores the relationship between family, culture and parenting by reviewing established and evolving Western and Eastern parenting styles and their impact on children's development. Authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and neglecting approaches, as well as newer techniques such as helicopter parenting, are compared with filial, tiger and training approaches, and mixed parenting styles. Practical application sections show how cultural understanding can help demonstrate how professionals might use the information and ideas in their clinical work, whilst parental questionnaires encourage self-assessment and reflection. Dr. Foo Koong Hean brings together the traditional and evolving approaches to the art of parenting practices and also showcases relatively neglected research on Eastern parenting practices. This book is important reading for childcare professionals such as health visitors, early years' teachers and those in mental health, as well as students in family studies and developmental psychology.

The Inclusive Classroom: Creating a Cherished Experience through Montessori brings together experts in Montessori Education and Special Education for the 3- to 6-year-old child in Montessori school. This book will be used by Montessori professionals in teacher training programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, by Montessori teachers in classrooms including public, private, sectarian, and nonsectarian schools for classrooms ages 3 to 6, and by Montessori administrators in all types of schools. The Montessori chapters (Introduction, Practical Life, Sensorial, Math/Geometry, Language, and Conclusion) describe and include examples of how to modify or re-present Montessori lessons for children with learning challenges. These lessons are supported by the principles of Universal Design for Learning AND specific standards from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Researchers from different disciplines (e.g., physiological, psychological, philosophical) have investigated motivation using multiple approaches. For example, in physiology (the scientific study of the normal function in living systems such as biology), researchers may use "electrical and chemical stimulation of the brain, the recording of electrical brain-wave activity with the electroencephalograph, and lesion techniques, where a portion of the brain (usually of a laboratory animal) is destroyed and subsequent changes in motivation are noted" (Petri & Cofer, 2017). Physiological studies mainly conducted with animals, other than humans, have revealed the significance of particular brain structures in the control of fundamental motives such as hunger, thirst, sex, aggression, and fear. In psychology, researchers may study the individuals' behaviors to understand their actions. In sociology, researchers may examine how individuals' interactions influence their behavior. For instance, in the classroom students and teachers behave in expected ways, which may differ when they are outside the classroom. Saracho (2003) examined the students' academic achievement when they matched or mismatched their teachers' way of thinking. She identified both the teachers and students individual differences and defined consistencies in their cognitive processes. In philosophy, researchers can study the individuals' theoretical position such as supporting Maslow's (1943) concept that motivation can create behaviors that augments motivation in the future. Abraham H. Maslow's theory of self-actualization supports this theoretical position (Petri & Cofer, 2017). These areas and others are represented in this volume. This volume is devoted to understanding mutual and contemporary themes in the individuals' motivation and its relationship to cognition. The current literature covers several methods to the multifaceted relationships between motivational and cognitive processes. Comprehensive reviews of the literature focus on prominent cognitive perspectives on motivation with young children, which includes ages from birth to eight years of age. The chapters in this special volume review and critically analyze the literature on several aspects of the relationships between motivational and cognitive processes and demonstrates the breadth and theoretical effectiveness of this domain. This brief introduction acknowledges the valuable contributions of these chapters to the study of human motivation. This volume can be a valuable tool to researchers who are conducting studies in the motivation field. It focuses on important contemporary issues on motivation in early childhood education (ages 0 to 8) to provide the information necessary to make judgments about these issues. It also motivates and guides researchers to explore gaps in the motivation literature.

This book, at the intersection of early childhood and reconceptualizing practice, looks at how practitioners, theorists, and teachers are supporting young children to care about the environment differently. Despite the current popularity of post-human perspectives, in social science more broadly and in early childhood studies more specifically, this is one of few to make visible international practices and perspectives that emerge at the intersection of early childhood education, environmental justice, sustainability, and intergenerational/interspecies communities. The book provides an innovative exploration of the links between children, elders, and nature. With contributions from established scholars, practitioners, and newcomers this book reframes educating for social justice within an ecological landscape; one in which young children and their elders are mobilized to understand, reconceptualize and even undo negative environmental impact, whilst grappling with the ways in which the earthly forces are acting upon them. Specific theoretical chapters (spirituality, nature, critical and post-human/materiality, pragmatics, and constructivism approaches) are blended with applications of pedagogic strategies from across the globe. This book responds to a growing interest among early childhood professionals and scholars for sustainably focused and ethically reimagined programs. This collection rewards the reader with opportunities to critically reflect on their own practice, delves into new terrestrial collectives, and explores new pedagogical pathways. It will be essential reading for practitioners and scholars alike.

Reflecting the importance of drawing on children's perspectives to shape professional practice, this book offers a nuanced approach to understanding the aims, implications and practicalities of accessing and incorporating children's perspectives in pedagogial practices relating to transitions. Listening to Children's Advice about Starting School and School Age Care: emphasises the importance of listening to and respecting children's perspectives at the time of their transitions to school and school age care; shares children's perspectives of the transition to school and school age care in ways that are both authentic and provocative; explores implications for practice as a consequence of children's input; provokes a deep level of critical reflection and practice/policy development that is informed by a dialogue between research and practice. Chapters report research conducted in seven different countries to highlight approaches that acknowledge and respect children's input, and use this as a basis for critical reflection on practice, with a view to improving the children's transition experiences. Using examples of practice and offering practical and theoretical insights, the book illustrates the multiplicity of children's perspectives, and prompts educators to reflect on and critique practice. This book will be invaluable reading for researchers, students, educators and practitioners involved in young children's transitions to school and school-age care.

Internationalizing Early Childhood Curriculum empowers teachers and directors to internationalize their curriculums around the world in their own unique and culturally specific ways. Serving as a guide and catalyst for thinking about curriculum in our interconnected world, this book explores how young children learn about the world and describes how children develop intercultural understanding, including how their teachers transform to expand their own global awareness and citizenship. Stories from actual classroom curriculum projects are featured, as well as suggested strategies and stages for the process of implementation. Exploring the implications for teacher education and professional development, this book gives readers the tools they need to bring internationalization into their own programs. Designed to apply to formal and informal early childhood centers across the spectrum, Internationalizing Early Childhood Curriculum is essential reading for professional developers and trainers, as well as classroom teachers, directors, policy-makers and NGO professionals providing early childhood services in the U.S. and around the world.

When it's time for a game change, you need a guide to the new rules. Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices provides a play-by-play understanding of the practices strand of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Written in clear, nontechnical language, this book provides a wealth of real-world examples to show you what's different about practice-centered teaching and learning at all grade levels. The book addresses three important questions: 1. How will engaging students in science and engineering practices help improve science education? 2. What do the eight practices look like in the classroom? 3. How can educators engage students in practices to bring the NGSS to life? Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices was developed for K-12 science teachers, curriculum developers, teacher educators, and administrators. Many of its authors contributed to the Framework's initial vision and tested their ideas in actual science classrooms. If you want a fresh game plan to help students work together to generate and revise knowledge-not just receive and repeat information-this book is for you.

Drawing from first-hand discussions and interviews, this essential guide offers an in-depth, realistic overview of bringing up a child with complex and specific needs to enhance current practice and collaborative work with parents. The book supports the development of effective child-centred planning and family-centred approaches, by using the expert voices and lived experiences of parents to inform critical discussion and build the skills of professionals. Chapters provide strategies, guidance, and suggestions to strengthen effective partnership work with parents, children, and young people. Scenarios, key takeaways, and questions for discussion are also woven throughout, offering a greater understanding of the barriers faced by parents of children with SEND and encouraging the reader to consider how they can more effectively co-produce with families. True Partnerships in SEND uses the voice of the parent and their lived experiences as the basis for narrative, research and discussion and includes wider concepts that can inform positive parent-professional interactions globally. It will be essential reading for SENCOs, teachers, and other education professionals working with children with SEND and their families.

All About Autism is an accessible and informative guide for primary school teachers, designed to increase their knowledge and understanding of autism and enhance their toolkit with practical, adaptable strategies to support autistic children in their care. The book initially explores key traits and terminology, debunks myths and misconceptions, and shines a light on the strengths and abilities of autistic learners. It then introduces readers to a range of easy-to-implement ideas for practice and concrete solutions to provide further support, all with the child at the heart. All About Autism includes: Practical strategies tailored to the primary key stages with current research broken down into easily digestible chunks. Guidance on a range of topics, from the importance of play for developing communication and supporting sensory needs, to building peer relationships and social awareness for all. Strategies to create an autistic-friendly environment and teach in a way that caters to students with different ways of learning. Advice for helping autistic learners with problem solving, managing demands, tests, and bridging the gap between primary and secondary school. Easy to dip-in-and-out of chapters with signposting to further research, resources, and support. Taking a celebratory approach, the guide focuses on difference rather than deficit and weaves together the voices of autistic children and parents alongside practical examples of what high-quality and adapted teaching should look like. It will be essential reading for all primary school educators, SENCOs and parents who are supporting autistic learners, aged 4-11.

3-System Theory of the Cognitive Brain: A Post-Piagetian Approach to Cognitive Development puts forward Olivier Houde's 3-System theory of the cognitive brain, based on numerous post-Piagetian psychological and brain imaging data acquired from children and adults. This ground-breaking theory simultaneously anchors itself in a deep understanding of the history of psychology and fuels current debates on thinking, reasoning and cognitive development. Spanning the long-term history of psychology, from Plato and Aristotle to more current experimental psychology, this pioneering work goes beyond the approaches of Kahneman (i.e. System 1 theory) and Piaget (i.e. System 2 theory) to put forward a theory in which the inhibitory-control system (i.e. System 3) takes precedence. Houde argues that the brain contains a third control system located in the prefrontal cortex which is dedicated to inhibiting Kahneman's intuitive heuristics system and activating Piaget's logical algorithms system anywhere in the brain on a case-by-case basis, depending on the goal and context of the task. 3-System Theory of the Cognitive Brain simultaneously explains the early logical abilities discovered in babies, the dynamic, strategic and non-linear process of cognitive development in children, and the fast heuristics and biases observed in adults. Houde considers the exciting implications of this theory on neuro-education using examples from the classroom. This book is essential reading for students and researchers in cognitive development and education, child psychology, reasoning and neurosciences.

3-System Theory of the Cognitive Brain: A Post-Piagetian Approach to Cognitive Development puts forward Olivier Houde's 3-System theory of the cognitive brain, based on numerous post-Piagetian psychological and brain imaging data acquired from children and adults. This ground-breaking theory simultaneously anchors itself in a deep understanding of the history of psychology and fuels current debates on thinking, reasoning and cognitive development. Spanning the long-term history of psychology, from Plato and Aristotle to more current experimental psychology, this pioneering work goes beyond the approaches of Kahneman (i.e. System 1 theory) and Piaget (i.e. System 2 theory) to put forward a theory in which the inhibitory-control system (i.e. System 3) takes precedence. Houde argues that the brain contains a third control system located in the prefrontal cortex which is dedicated to inhibiting Kahneman's intuitive heuristics system and activating Piaget's logical algorithms system anywhere in the brain on a case-by-case basis, depending on the goal and context of the task. 3-System Theory of the Cognitive Brain simultaneously explains the early logical abilities discovered in babies, the dynamic, strategic and non-linear process of cognitive development in children, and the fast heuristics and biases observed in adults. Houde considers the exciting implications of this theory on neuro-education using examples from the classroom. This book is essential reading for students and researchers in cognitive development and education, child psychology, reasoning and neurosciences.

Troubling the Changing Paradigms is the fourth volume in the Educational Philosophy and Theory: Editor's Choice series and represents a collection of texts that were selected as representations of the philosophy and pedagogy of early years, childhood and early childhood education. The philosophy of the early years is complex, and this book demonstrates how this fascinating subject can be interlinked with both the philosophy and history of education as being instrumental in shaping the child subject, childhoods and children's educational futures. This book demonstrates the application of philosophical and theoretical perspectives that provide us with global and local narratives and understandings of children as subjects, and their subjectivities. The philosophical traditions offer new spaces in which to think about alternative childhoods, and contribute to an important analysis in which philosophy has the capacity to shape children's lives and education, and to elevate the multiplicity of discourses around very young children and their education and care. Through the texts in this volume, the authors aim to find creative philosophical forms that are capable of interrupting, if not disrupting, traditional and, in some settings, perhaps more conventional discourses about children and their childhoods. These philosophical forms present productive ways that allow fresh conceptions of what is all too often an assumed set of subjectivities and experiences about very young children. Troubling the Changing Paradigms will be key reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of philosophy of education, philosophy, education, educational theory, post-structural theory, the policy and politics of education, and the pedagogy of education.

"Appropriate assessment of young children involves parents, teachers, and the children themselves. Kingore takes the portfolio method even further and makes a case for the involvement of early childhood educators and school administrators as well." -Sue Javid, Early Childhood Consultant Macomb Intermediate School District, Clinton Township, MI "This book will contribute a great deal to the knowledge and skills teachers must have to successfully implement authentic assessment in pre-primary and primary grades. Provides the knowledge, insight, and compelling arguments on why portfolio assessment is needed in early childhood education." -Susan Belgrad, Associate Professor, California State University, Northridge Author, The Portfolio Connection, Third Edition A streamlined process for assessing children in the early grades! Written for early childhood educators, this invaluable handbook demonstrates how to use portfolios for assessment and offers techniques for combining portfolios with traditional measurements to design effective instruction and curricula for young children. Reflecting current research on how children learn, this practical resource features an insightful discussion on authentic assessment goals and ways to make the portfolio process fun for learners while using developmentally appropriate teaching practices. Educators will find: Concise, easy-to-understand instructions for developing portfolios Guidelines for involving children in portfolio development Methods for gathering data and documenting students' learning Rubrics, sample portfolios, and abundant reproducibles Additional materials and procedures to help integrate assessment and instruction Developing Portfolios for Authentic Assessment, PreK-3 offers preschool and primary grade teachers efficient, user-friendly tools for assessing the children in their classrooms.

Young Children's Civic Mindedness provides a well-grounded understanding of children's civic thought and action by inviting readers to look and listen carefully to the voices of young children themselves. Grounded in research on children's evolving civic identities and drawn from extended case studies and rich narrative vignettes, this book shows the many ways even the youngest children can be civic-minded and political. The book engages readers in thinking about the many ways children reason about and approach civic problems; how children's experience in various local and larger contexts shapes their thinking and action; and the environmental factors that delimit what children see as possible in civic spaces. Written for early childhood, elementary and civic educators, this book encourages readers to go beyond mere rhetoric on the importance of civic education, to develop improved ways of teaching for children's civic development.

Originally published in 1989, this book differed from others on the topic of microcomputers and education at the time, in that it focuses on the influence that microcomputer technology has on children in their early years, specially pre-school and elementary ages. Microcomputers have the capacity to do great harm as well as good and a full explanation of the technical and philosophical issues involved will be of interest to a number of disciplines. Other topics explored are - the potential uses of microcomputer-technology in early childhood education and current research and theory building on microcomputers and early education. This book should be read by teachers, sociologists, psychologists and researchers in education.

Originally published in 1931, this title looks at the education received by children working in industry in England between 1833 and 1876. The industrial revolution created more demand for child labour than ever before, but there were few laws to protect the children involved. School was not compulsory for children until the 1880s, but there were new laws brought in and enforced to reduce the numbers of hours they were allowed to work in industry in 1833 and subsequently in 1844. This title deals with the education of children during that time and the implications of the laws introduced.