Clearly babies come into the world remarkably receptive to its wonders. Their alertness to sights, sounds, and even abstract concepts makes them inquisitive explorers?and learners?every waking minute. Well before formal schooling begins, children's early experiences lay the foundations for their later social behavior, emotional regulation, and literacy. Yet, for a variety of reasons, far too little attention is given to the quality of these crucial years. Outmoded theories, outdated facts, and undersized budgets all play a part in the uneven quality of early childhood programs throughout our country. What will it take to provide better early education and care for our children between the ages of two and five? Eager to Learn explores this crucial question, synthesizing the newest research findings on how young children learn and the impact of early learning. Key discoveries in how young children learn are reviewed in language accessible to parents as well as educators: findings about the interplay of biology and environment, variations in learning among individuals and children from different social and economic groups, and the importance of health, safety, nutrition and interpersonal warmth to early learning. Perhaps most significant, the book documents how very early in life learning really begins. Valuable conclusions and recommendations are presented in the areas of the teacher-child relationship, the organization and content of curriculum, meeting the needs of those children most at risk of school failure, teacher preparation, assessment of teaching and learning, and more. The book discusses: Evidence for competing theories, models, and approaches in the field and a hard look at some day-to-day practices and activities generally used in preschool. The role of the teacher, the importance of peer interactions, and other relationships in the child's life. Learning needs of minority children, children with disabilities, and other special groups. Approaches to assessing young children's learning for the purposes of policy decisions, diagnosis of educational difficulties, and instructional planning. Preparation and continuing development of teachers. Eager to Learn presents a comprehensive, coherent picture of early childhood learning, along with a clear path toward improving this important stage of life for all children. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 What Does the Science of Learning Contribute to Early Childhood Pedagogy? 3 The Importance of Individual and Cultural Variations 4 Preschool Program Quality 5 Curriculum and Pedagogy: The What and the How of Early Childhood Education 6 Assessment in Early Childhood Education 7 The Preparation of Early Childhood Professionals 8 Program and Practice Standards 9 Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations Appendix: Scientific Evidence References Biographical Sketches Index

Join the authors of this book in starting a movement of hope and possibility for an antiracist child care and early childhood education system. This volume disrupts mental models regarding where the work of early care and education began-with enslaved African women-and how the stigma of that beginning relegates present-day child care workers to a low-status, low-wage field of practice. Expert authors contribute their wisdom, experience, research, and practical knowledge on issues related to equity and social justice. They examine the oppressive historical, political, economic, educational, and cultural systems that continue to oppress early care educators and, by extension, racialized children and children in poverty. The interrogation and litigation of past and current issues and grievances of injustice and inequities in the field are addressed, while threading the needle of social justice and critical consciousness throughout the chapters. Child Care Justice calls on educators, activists, and their allies to rethink, reimagine, and reconstruct a more equitable and just system for all who receive and provide care to our nation's youngest of children. When historically marginalized child care workers are held in high esteem, then, and only then, will America live up to its promise of liberty and justice for all.Book Features: Centers the historic and current oppression of Black people in the United States as foundational to the disregard for childcare workers today. Uses Paulo Freire's critical consciousness framework to guide readers to see, analyze, and act. Calls for a multiracial coalition of activists for racial justice, gender justice, and economic justice.