'Powerful Children' describes projects in a school that successfully adopted the Reggio Approach with Head Start-eligible children. The book explains how to use the Reggio Approach to address current concerns in early education, including helping children become self-disciplined and laying a foundation for literacy.

This book contains a wealth of practical and specific activities and materials to use with infants and toddlers to enhance growth and development. Writing in the accessible style that her readers appreciate, Ann Lewin-Benham looks at current research from the neurosciences to show what teachers and childcare providers can do with very young children. For each material or activity presented, the text examines its relation to the rapid brain growth that characterizes the zero to three years, including sensory reception, movement, language, cognition, memory, vision, and motivation. Materials,...

This book contains a wealth of practical and specific activities and materials to use with infants and toddlers to enhance growth and development. Writing in the accessible style that her readers appreciate, Ann Lewin-Benham looks at current research from the neurosciences to show what teachers and childcare providers can do with very young children. For each material or activity presented, the text examines its relation to the rapid brain growth that characterizes the zero to three years, including sensory reception, movement, language, cognition, memory, vision, and motivation. Materials,...

The most pressing challenge in early childhood education today is to find a way to meet the standards within a developmentally appropriate approach. In this book, two active early childhood educators provide teachers with resources to bring content alive in the daily, action-based pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms, and ways to document it. The book includes lists of key content ideas - coordinated with learning standards in science, mathematics, social studies, and in the communication arts - to guide teacher observations of, and interactions with, young children. Chapters focus on ways to...

It is well known that the number of non-English speakers is on the rise in the United States. What is less well known is that the largest proportion of this population is children under the age of 5. These young English language learners (ELLs) often demonstrate achievement gaps in basic math and reading skills when they start school. How best to educate this important and growing preschool population is a pressing concern for policymakers and practitioners. The chapters in this important book provide up-to-date syntheses of the research base for young ELLs on critical topics such as...

Using examples from a Reggio-inspired school with children from ages 6 weeks to 6 years, the authors emphasize the importance of childrens rights and our responsibility as adults to hear their voices. Seen and Heard summarizes research and theory pertaining to young childrens rights in the United States, and offers strategies educators can use to ensure the inclusion of childrens perspectives in everyday decisions. Real-life classroom vignettes illustrate how young children perceive the idea of rights through observation and discussion. The authors work is based on these essential ideas: (1)...

Strong evidence from recent brain research shows that the intentional teaching of science is crucial in early childhood. Big Science for Growing Minds describes a groundbreaking curriculum that invites readers to rethink science education through a set of unifying concepts or big ideas. Using an integrated learning approach, the author shows teachers how to use readily available, low-cost items to create a safe classroom setting that fosters hands-on learning and exploration of real-life problems. The text includes classroom activities that connect science learning to mathematics, technology,...

Popular author Ann Lewin-Benham draws on her experience with the Reggio Approach to present 12 "best practices" inspired not only by Reggio, but also by play-based and Montessori approaches to early childhood education. These practices are demonstrated, one per chapter, with scenarios from classrooms, dialogues of children and teachers, and work samples showing the outcome of using each practice. This resource includes a self-assessment tool to assist you in examining your practices and those of your school.

Popular author Ann Lewin-Benham draws on her experience with the Reggio Approach to present 12 "best practices" inspired not only by Reggio, but also by play-based and Montessori approaches to early childhood education. These practices are demonstrated, one per chapter, with scenarios from classrooms, dialogues of children and teachers, and work samples showing the outcome of using each practice. This resource includes a self-assessment tool to assist you in examining your practices and those of your school.