Around the world, on every continent, and in every country, children play. Though culturally contextualized, play is a global common childhood experience. There are cultural variations in children's play activities, and though play looks and sounds different across the world, there are also commonalities. Though scholars find it difficult to…

Writing is an important part of learning across all content areas of school (Graham & Harris, 2011). Even very young children experience the symbols of written language all around them. Soon they begin to notice that written symbols stand for people, ideas, things, or events, and attempt their own marks (Aram & Levin, 2011). However,…

Early childhood programs strive to provide good-quality care and education as young children develop their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills. In order to provide children with positive, developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, educators ensure the safety and security of children, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…

Discusses the many uses of rebuses in the preschool environment. Describes how the use of rebuses streamlines routine activities and enables many different activities to be offered without chaos in a busy environment. Teacher-planned activities become child directed, the children get reading and writing practice, and independence and appropriate…

Provides an overview of outdoor learning environments, discusses types of children's play that promote their learning and growth, examines the role of outdoor play on children's development, and lists several indoor activities which can also be used as outdoor activities. (BC)

Discusses the tactile and kinesthetic areas of learning children experience when using clay. Includes practical tips for using and storing clay for preschool use and notes the differences between potters' clay and play dough. (HTH)