""The ideas in this book will seem familiar and nonthreatening???yes, teachers can indeed use what they already know and what their children love, but they can also enhance and expand favorite activities, enriching the educational benefits of everyday experiences.""???From the Foreword by Marilou Hyson

"Stimulate children??'s love of learning while meeting standards and benchmarks!"

Teachers today are often challenged by and concerned about the expectations in states' early learning standards. They have questions about their appropriateness, implementation, and tendency to overlook the...

The authors help readers create well-planned projects and activities that capture children's interest and develop the critical social and pre-academic skills identified in state standards.

Providing studies of example programmes in culturally, economically and linguistically diverse settings, this book helps early childhood professionals implement strategies to support positive approaches to learning in young children.

Indonesia has begun to emerge into middle-income status, yet persistent poverty and stark inequalities continue to affect young children's development. This book tells the story of Indonesia's efforts to change the trajectory of development for poor children. Many countries have similar aims, but several aspects of what is reported here are especially valuable and perhaps unique. The study offers data on all aspects of health and development in a sample of rural young children, collected with internationally-validated measures, as well as household information, information about parenting...

This accessible and engaging work introduces current and future teachers child care providers and others interested in early childhood education to the importance of the early years in childrena's well-being and success. It summarizes the research on the value of high-quality services for young children families and society showing why early education matters both today and into the future. Emphasizing the need to understand and respect young childrena's strengths and unique characteristics the authors offer inspiration for working in the field as well as addressing the realistic challenges...