Helps providers implement proven child-centered curricular practices while meeting early learning standards.

Develop a curriculum inspired by children's emerging interests. Create an environment where children learn through play, inquiry, and exploration. This book explores the components of emergent curriculum and how its practices can improve the educational culture of early childhood programs. The updated edition includes new information on exploration of inquiry-based practice; reexamination of circle time and scripts for routines; expansion of invitations, including invitations for children learning a second language; new photos and documentation, and inclusion of Reggio Emilia. Susan Stacey has worked in the field of early childhood for over thirty-five years, as an early childhood educator, director, and practicum advisor. She obtained her Master's degree at Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena, California. Stacey frequently presents across North America about emergent curriculum, reflective and responsive practices, inquiry, documentation, and the role of the arts in early childhood education. She teaches adult early childhood education students at the Nova Scotia College of Early Childhood Education, and belongs to several professional organizations such as National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Canadian Childcare Federation. Stacey has presented frequently at NAEYC conferences, and has been published in Young Children, Young Exceptional Children, and Exchange. Her books with Redleaf include Emergent Curriculum in Early Childhood Settings, The Unscripted Classroom, and Pedagogical Documentation in Early Childhood.

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 and document it in every-day, action-based pre–K and Kindergarten classrooms. The book includes lists of key content ideas—coordinated with learning standards in science, mathematics, social studies, and the communication arts—to guide teacher observations of, and interactions with, young children. Chapters focus on ways to extend children’s emerging use of content in the block, manipulative, sand and water, drama, expressive arts, and literacy centers, as well as link to the development of themes. Book features include: Lists of key ideas in the content areas. Examples of conversations that nurture children’s emerging content understandings. Vignettes from the field illustrating teachers’ experiences of embedding content into center activities, along with photographs. Sample forms for documenting children’s learning as they meet the standards in a variety of contexts. Sydney L. Schwartzis a Professor Emerita of Queens College of the City University of New York.Sherry M. Copelandis an experienced early childhood teacher, teacher trainer, advocate, and director of early childhood programs.

Emergent curriculum in early childhood education refers to the process of using the spontaneity generated in the daily life of the children and adults in the program, along with teacher planning, to develop the curriculum. This book presents a story about a year in the life of a fictional child care center as a context for the discussion of emergent curriculum in 22 chapters arranged to cover events sequentially throughout the school year. Chapter 1 introduces the fictional child care setting. Chapters 2 through 21 alternately provide staff meeting topics, ideas, and examples of guided discussions; and ideas and discussions of class activities, field trips, and visits to various sites. Chapter 22, "Epilogue: Talking It Over," contains reflections on the activities and learning during the year by staff and students. Contains a section of notes for each chapter and 23 suggestions for further reading. (DR)

Vignettes focusing on emergent curriculum

Inspires early childhood educators to use innovative practices through stories from real teachers who use emergent curriculum in their classrooms.

What does it mean to inquire? Grownups would say it means to question, to search for information, or to finding out about a topic of interest. For children in an early childhood classroom, the definition is no different. From the time of their birth, children want to know how the world works and actively seek out information. How educators respond to their quest is what this book is all about. Inquiry-Based Early Learning Environment takes an in-depth look at children’s inquiry. What does inquiry look like in early childhood settings? How does the environment affect children’s inquiries and teachers’ thought processes? Inquiry-Based Early Learning Environment examines inquiry in all its facets, including environments that support relationships, that create a culture of risk-taking in our thinking, that support teachers as well as children, that include families, that use documentation as a way of thinking about our work, and of course, the physical environment and all the objects and spaces within it. Throughout, stories about environments and approaches to inquiry from around the world are included as examples.

How is a compelling, exemplary curriculum created in schools in spite of the pressures to implement a standardized one? In this book, teachers and principals share their experiences with emergent curriculum, and with the creative practices they’ve developed in urban classrooms kindergarten to 3rd grade. We learn what they were trying to do, how they began the process, the challenges they faced, the decisions they made, and what happened to the children. All chapters are written by teachers who have found ways of interpreting the Reggio approach to enrich their teaching within the confines of traditional schools. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand emergent curriculum and for all who hope to nurture an enlivening, energizing way to learn in classrooms. The inspiring stories presented here illustrate: Ways that early childhood values and practices have been sustained and promoted in elementary schools. Exemplary teaching practice, where children want to learn and teachers want to teach. How the influence of the Reggio Emilia approach is reaching into urban public school environments with diverse populations. Democratic participatory teaching that offers visions of responsible citizenship for children. “This book is a treasure trove of useful frameworks, wonderful teacher stories, and memorable insights. It demonstrates the remarkable potential of children and teachers, and it clarifies how North American elementary school educators can take hold of ideas from Reggio Emilia and integrate them with their own ideals and standards.” —Carolyn Pope Edwards, University of Nebraska–Lincoln “Carol Anne Wien demonstrates again that she can illustrate complex ideas—this time the theories underlying the Reggio Emilia approach—in innovative ways for a broad audience.” —Celia Genishi, Teachers College, Columbia University “A must read for educators seeking an antidote to prescriptive curricular practice that respects neither children nor teachers.” —Curt Dudley-Marling, Lynch School of Education, Boston College “This book provides long overdue and compelling pathways for extending Reggio Emilia principles into the primary grades. It will encourage readers to feel their way into the spirit and substance of emergent curricula and come away rejuvenated.” —Daniel Scheinfeld, Erikson Institute, Chicago, Illinois

Introducing an emergent curriculum to a toddler classroom.

Clearly babies come into the world remarkably receptive to its wonders. Their alertness to sights, sounds, and even abstract concepts makes them inquisitive explorersâ€"and learnersâ€"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.