About the Book
This reader brings together over 40 selections of enduring intellectual value - classic articles, book excerpts, and research studies - that have shaped the study of early childhood education and our contemporary understanding of it. Selections are organized topically around major areas of study such as teaching, development, exceptional and culturally diverse students, learning and instruction, motivation and classroom management, and assessment.
Table of Contents:
Part 1. Development of Young ChildrenCHAPTER 1. Growth and Learning1.1. Jean Piaget, from "The Stages of the Intellectual Development of the Child," Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic""Thus, I shall distinguish four great stages, or four great periods, in the development of intelligence."1.2. L. S. Vygotsky, from Thought and Language," eds. and trans. Eugenia Hanfmann and Gertrude Vakar"The discrepancy between a child's actual mental age and the level he reaches in solving problems with assistance indicates the zone of his proximal development."1.3. Erik H. Erikson, from "Erik H. Erikson's 'A Healthy Personality for Every Child,'" in Robert H. Anderson and Harold G. Shane, eds., As the Twig Is Bent""In each stage of child development... there is a central problem that has to be solved... if the child is to proceed with vigor and confidence to the next stage."1.4. David Elkind, from "The Hurried Child: Is Our Impatient Society Depriving Kids of Their Right to Be Children?" Instructor""We must see childhood as a stage of life, not just the anteroom to life."CHAPTER 2. Children in Crisis2.1. Anna Freud and Dorothy T. Burlingham, from War and Children""An individual is afraid quite naturally and sensibly when there is some real danger present in the outside world which threatens either his safety or his whole existence."2.2. Edward Zigler and Nancy W. Hall, from "Physical Child Abuse in America: Past, Present, and Future," in Dante Cicchetti and Vicki Carlson, eds., Child Maltreatment: Theory and Research on the Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect""Most of the evidence we have today indicates that child abuse is on the rise. If we take a broader, historical perspective, however, it would appear that there has been a marked improvement in the treatment of children over the ages."Part 2. Programs for Young ChildrenCHAPTER 3. Day Nurseries/Nursery Schools3.1. Abigail Adams Eliot, from "Report of the Ruggles Street Nursery School and Training Center," in Samuel J. Braun and Esther P. Edwards, eds., History and Theory of Early Childhood Education""With a little wise guidance perhaps, each child selects what he wants from a special closet containing a variety of material... In this work he is guided as little as possible and is limited only in two ways: he must make a genuine attempt to use what he has taken, and he must put away one thing before taking another."3.2. Susan Isaacs, from Childhood and After: Some Essays and Clinical Studies""The child can only attain independence of the grown-ups and confidence in himself and in his own gifts if he has the chance of active play with other children."3.3. Alice Sterling Honig, from "Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving: Are There Magic Recipes?" Young Children""Metamorphosed through adult sensibilities, skills, and creativity, daily care situations can be turned into prime opportunities to further the early learning careers of infants and toddlers."CHAPTER 4. Kindergarten4.1. Elizabeth P. Peabody, from Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class," rev. ed."Let a child himself hammer out some substance with a mallet, and he will never forget the meaning of malleable."4.2. Patty Smith Hill, from "Kindergarten," in The American Educator Encyclopedia""The unification in training, supervision and organization of teachers of early childhood has produced whole-hearted cooperation and good will on the part of kindergarten and primary teachers, creating curricula so closely integrated that the child passes from one to the other undisturbed by the normal differences which legitimately survive as the child matures."4.3. Anne Hoppock, from "What Are Kindergartens For?" The Compass""How illogical it is to hope that eager minds, lacking challenge, will be served by studying the little pictures, coloring in the spaces, drawing connecting lines between the objects in a workbook. Bright children aren't being stimulated to think by passively following directions for work like this which... is not really worth doing."4.4. Bernard Spodek, from "The Kindergarten: A Retrospective and Contemporary View," in Lilian G. Katz, ed., Current Topics in Early Childhood Education, vol. 4""The difference between the concerns of kindergartens of 30 years ago and those of today is with the intensity of academic instruction in the kindergarten."Part 3. Practice With Young ChildrenCHAPTER 5. Play5.1. Friedrich Froebel, from The Education of Man," trans. W. N. Hailmann"[T]o learn a thing in life and through doing is much more developing, cultivating, and strengthening, than to learn it merely through the verbal communication of ideas."5.2. Mildred B. Parten, from "Social Participation Among Pre-School Children," The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology""One child suggests that they are all making supper. Soon the various family roles are assigned or adopted and the children speak about their shares in preparing the meal."5.3. Millie Almy, from "Spontaneous Play: An Avenue for Intellectual Development," The Bulletin of the Institute of Child Study""Teachers might well watch and listen to spontaneous play not only for evidence as to what information the children have, but also how it is organized and categorized."CHAPTER 6. Learning Environments6.1. Maria Montessori, from The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in "The Children's Houses," trans. Anne E. George"The lessons, then, are individual, and brevity" must be one of the chief characteristics."6.2. Harriet M. Johnson, from Children in the Nursery School""An urban situation must be faced as an urban situation and attacked and developed for what it is worth, not as a poor substitute for the country. The country environment must be treated in the same way."6.3. Sybil Kritchevsky, Elizabeth Prescott, and Lee Walling, from Planning Environments for Young Children: Physical Space""Just as adults behave in one way at a table set for a formal dinner, and in a very different way at the same table set for a poker game, children tend to behave in ways suggested by spatial contents and arrangements."CHAPTER 7. Sound Practice7.1. John Dewey, from "Three Years of the University Elementary School," Stenographic Report of a Speech Prepared for a Meeting of the Parents' Association of the University Elementary School"The various kinds of work, carpentry, cooking, sewing, and weaving, are selected as involving different kinds of skill, and demanding different types of intellectual attitude on the part of the child, and because they represent some of the most important activities of the everyday outside world."7.2. Samuel Chester Parker and Alice Temple, from Unified Kindergarten and First-Grade Teaching""Strange to say, arithmetic, in the form of counting and measuring, has been more highly developed in some kindergartens than in many first grades."7.3. Ellis D. Evans, from Contemporary Influences in Early Childhood Education""It is in the criterion of variety in materials suitable for the children's 'natural learning environment' that is important."Part 4. Teaching Young ChildrenCHAPTER 8. Teacher Preparation and Development8.1. Susan E. Blow, from "Kindergarten Education," in Nicholas Murray Butler, ed., Education in the United States""The power of kindergarten over the minds of its students arises from the fact that it connects the ideal of self-culture with the ideal of child-nurture."8.2. Margaret McMillan, from The Nursery School""The teacher of little children is not merely giving lessons. She is helping to make a brain and nervous system, and this work which is going to determine all that comes after, requires a finer perception and a wider training and outlook than is needed by any other kind of teacher."8.3. Lilian G. Katz, from "Developmental Stages of Preschool Teachers," The Elementary School Journal""It is useful to think of the growth of teachers as occuring in stages, linked very generally to experience gained over time."CHAPTER 9. Observation and Assessment9.1. Dorothy H. Cohen and Virginia Stern, from Observing and Recording the Behavior of Young Children""If we tend to see play materials as a means of keeping idle hands busy, or if we evaluate their use in terms of work, we are likely to miss the special role they do play."9.2. Arnold Gesell, from "Early Mental Growth," in Arnold Gesell et al., The First Five Years of Life: A Guide to the Study of the Preschool Child""[T]he demands of society and the findings of science are compelling us to see a new significance in the preschool years."9.3. Vivian Gussin Paley, from "On Listening to What the Children Say," Harvard Educational Review""[N]o matter what the age of the student; someone must be there to listen, respond, and add a dab of glue to the important words that burst forth."9.4. Lorrie A. Shepard and Mary Lee Smith, from "Synthesis of Research on Grade Retention," Educational Leadership""Remedial help, before- and after-school programs, summer school, instructional aides to work with target children in the regular classroom, and no-cost peer tutoring are all more effective than retention."CHAPTER 10. Parenting10.1. Bettye M. Caldwell, from "What Is the Optimal Learning Environment for the Young Child?" American Journal of Orthopsychiatry""[T]he optimal environment for the young child is one in which the child is cared for in his own home in the context of a warm, continuous emotional relationship with his own mother under conditions of varied sensory input."10.2. Ira J. Gordon, from "Parent Education and Parent Involvement: Retrospect and Prospect," Childhood Education""We need to tie, where possible, parent education efforts to work, family income, and housing and zoning programs, medicare and medicaid, teacher education, professional education of social workers, psychologists, etc."10.3. Greta G. Fein, from "The Informed Parent," in Sally Kilmer, ed., Advances in Early Education and Day Care, vol. 1""To the degree that parents who initiate child care arrangements are naive, unassertive, or uninformed, their children are vulnerable. As the distance between the parent and the care providing situation increases, the parent becomes less able to exercise control over the child's well-being in the situation."Part 5. Educational Systems for Young ChildrenCHAPTER 11. Employer-Sponsored11.1. Robert Owen, from The Life of Robert Owen""These children, to be well trained and educated, should never hear from their teacher an angry word, or see a cross or threatening expression of countenance."11.2. James L. Hymes, from "Industrial Day Care's Roots in America," Proceedings of the Conference on Industry and Day Care""I am taken with how costly good services to children and families have to be. I am taken with how costly bad services always are."11.3. Mary Salkever and Janet Singerman, "The Origins and Significance of Employer-Supported Child Care in America," in Carol Seefeldt, ed., Continuing Issues in Early Childhood Education""[A] wide array of employer-assisted child care options have evolved that can be classified in four categories: flexible personnel policies, informational programs, financial assistance, and direct services."CHAPTER 12. Federal Involvement in Early Childhood12.1. Doak S. Campbell, Frederick H. Bair, and Oswald L. Harvey, from Educational Activities of the Works Progress Administration""The emergency nursery school is not intended as a convenience for the relief of parents; it is not a creche but an educational institution."12.2. Keith Osborn, from "Project Head Start: An Assessment," Educational Leadership""[F]or me--as well as many teachers, physicians, social workers and others who worked actively in the program--the day to day, here and now experience which the children received made the program a success."12.3. Ruby Takanishi, from "Federal Involvement in Early Education (1933-1973): The Need for Historical Perspectives," in Lilian G. Katz, ed., Current Topics in Early Childhood Education, vol. 1""During the twentieth century, the federal government was involved in at least three national programs of early education... In examining these three programs, several identical themes reappear."12.4. Harry Morgan, from Historical Perspectives on the Education of Black Children""Head Start seemed to provide new energy for the thousands of advocates for poor families and their children."CHAPTER 13. Research13.1. G. Stanley Hall, from "The Contents of Children's Minds on Entering School," in Theodate L. Smith, ed., Aspects of Child Life and Education by G. Stanley Hall and Some of His Pupils""Many children half believe the doll feels cold or blows, that it pains flowers to tear or burn them, or that in summer when the tree is alive it makes it ache to pound or chop it."13.2. Viktor Lowenfeld, from Creative and Mental Growth," rev. ed."No child must ever be interrupted in his scribbling."13.3. Greta G. Fein and Alison Clarke-Stewart, from Day Care in Context""Day care that focuses on the child becomes unavoidably future-oriented, for within a developmental framework the present and the future are interlocked."13.4. Lawrence J. Schweinhart and David P. Weikart, from "Changed Lives, Significant Benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project to Date," High/Scope Resource""The results are in. High-quality, active learning preschool programs can help young children in poverty... to become economically self-sufficient, socially responsible adults."CHAPTER 14. Reform/Policy14.1. Dorothy W. Baruch, from "When the Need for Wartime Services for Children Is Past--What of the Future?" Journal of Consulting Psychology""[The child care centers] have shown themselves worthy of continuing to serve children and parents in the postwar world... as a well-integrated and cohesive part of what all the schools of the nation must eventually undertake."14.2. Sharon Lynn Kagan, from "The New Advocacy in Early Childhood Education," Teachers College Record""We must put ambivalence aside, muster our energy, and stay informed and active. The profession needs all its members, practitioners and advocates, now as never before."14.3. Constance Kamii and Mieko Kamii, from "Why Achievement Testing Should Stop," in Constance Kamii, ed., Achievement Testing in the Early Grades: The Games Grown-ups Play""Attitudes and motivation greatly influence learning."
