Social-emotional competence--it is a critical part of every child's school success, and just like any academic subject, children need instruction in it. Developed by a top expert, these proven curricula will help promote the social-emotional competence and resilience of children and adolescents. Divided into four age levels from kindergarten…

Talking about religion in public middle schools has moved from taboo to necessity during the past few years. Although some middle schoolers hold knowledge of their own religion, most remain uninformed about any of the world's religions, including, for many, their own. The purpose of this article is to make the case for religious literacy--the…

This policy brief explores kindergarten readiness observation and its benefits to local and state level stakeholders; highlights efforts by California counties and other states to measure school readiness; and makes recommendations for moving toward statewide use of kindergarten readiness observation tools. Key points include: (1) Early efforts to…

This practicum paper describes a fantasy play program designed for 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers with Barbie dolls that could be used as a tool in regularly scheduled center play activity. Because of strong biases held by teachers against commercial toys, children were not afforded the ability to experiment with these tools, or discover the role…

Interest in assessment of young children increased after readiness testing abuses in the 1980s. The pressure of demonstrating educational accountability through children's standardized test performance increased the use of skills-driven curricula. It also created an inappropriate learning environment in which readiness tests were used to remove…

Using as a framework concerns and problems which two early childhood educators encountered in connection with curriculum in programs for infants and toddlers, this guide focuses on common questions about child developmental needs shared by caregivers and parents. The chapters consider the following questions: (1) "What Is Curriculum?"…

Although bound by tradition and physical location to elementary schooling, the primary grades are also considered the capstone experience of early childhood education. Primary grade teachers are required to bridge these two disparate worlds, constantly mediating, negotiating, translating, and compromising. This paper describes the experience of…

A collaborative study examined early childhood teachers' philosophies and practices as they pertained to developmentally appropriate practices and their influence on inner-city early childhood settings. Data were collected by recording conversations among five teachers. Excerpts indicate agreement over interrelated developmental areas, curriculum,…

A university early childhood laboratory school was making a transition from an academic orientation to one focusing on developmentally appropriate practices. This practicum was implemented to improve parents' awareness of developmentally appropriate programs by means of workshop sessions. The goal was to increase their knowledge of what is…

Based on the belief that all children have a right to quality care and education, early childhood best practices, and trained staff/providers, this guide details quality standards for early care and education programs in West Virginia, developed through the Early Education Quality Improvement Project (EQUIP). The standards are voluntary and not…

This primary education curriculum guide was developed jointly by the Iowa and Nebraska Departments of Education to provide educators with a coherent framework to guide local planning for reform of educational programs for children at the kindergarten and primary level. Adapted from the British Columbia Primary Program, it stresses developmentally…

This paper provides a detailed unit plan format for use by teacher trainers in early childhood education classes to teach students how to write integrated thematic unit plans for developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children. The paper first provides the outline for the thematic unit plan, and then explains each of the plan's 16…

This booklet provides a variety of ideas for preschool and kindergarten teachers and administrators interested in working cooperatively to establish linkages and ease the transition between educational settings for young children and their families. Benefits of facilitating transition for children, parents, and teachers and keys to successful…

A survey of 27 principals, 45 kindergarten teachers, 86 primary teachers, and 57 preservice teachers was designed to determine whether teachers instruct kindergarten children and elementary school students differently. Subjects were asked about benefits of free exploration of materials, child-selected activities, use of props in play, social…

Many Web sites include a "kids page" or similar domain. Frequently, these domains combine content and applications for an unreasonably wide range of youth, sometimes lumping together everything from K-12. Usability testing confirms common sense; this one-room school house approach to Web site design results in a compromise that…