All children have the right to creative expression through the arts. The creation of art cultivates critical thinking, reflection, and problem-solving skills. It also encourages systems thinking; the color choices, individual brushstrokes, and materials all contribute to a greater whole. Infusing art-making and arts education throughout the…

The Early Learning Guidelines: Nebraska's Birth to Five Learning and Development Standards (hereafter referred to as the Guidelines) is a resource to provide information about young children's learning and development. The Guidelines are intended to assist adults in planning and providing meaningful learning experiences and environments for…

To address arts education disparities in middle level schools, this paper explores evidence that infusing the visual and performing arts into language arts, math, science, and history/social studies courses is a pedagogical approach that meets the developmental needs of early adolescents and fosters a relevant, challenging, integrative, and…

One of the biggest present challenges for teachers, especially in primary classrooms, is the need to address the content standards in all subject areas with the same amount of instructional time. While curriculum integration continues to be a powerful strategy to meet this challenge, teachers often find it difficult to bridge the gap between…

Based on teacher questionnaires and close ethnographic observation of 40 first-grade students, this article explores the learning possibilities the arts present for teaching young children and fostering developmentally appropriate practice. Its aim is to reinforce the value of the arts already being used in early childhood classrooms and to…

Explores art education for young children, emphasizing developmentally appropriate programs that integrate art activities with children's daily experiences rather than impose adult notions about art. Recognizes school and home environment's influence on developing children's visual activity and skill. Advocates that classroom teachers take more…

A holistic approach to early childhood education requires attention not only to what we know about child development and its implications for teaching, but also to the content of the curriculum. This collection of chapters on research and practice on developmentally appropriate integrated curricula is combined in a manner to assist theorists,…