For Your Binder
How Children’s Social Skills Impact Success in Adulthood: Findings from a 20-Year Study on the Outcomes of Children Screened in Kindergarten
Social competence in kindergarten was a significant indicator (in adulthood) of both positive and negative outcomes across all domains: education, employment, criminal justice, substance abuse & mental health. This link will take you to a summary of the study. There's a link to the complete study here. #DAP #teaching #learning #play
The New Preschool is Crushing Kids: Young children are working more, but learning less
Kindergarten now serves as a gatekeeper, not a welcome mat, to elementary school. #play #pushdown #teaching
PreK Expulsion Study: Policy Brief
This brief was compiled by The Foundation for Child Development and summarizes the first study ever conducted (Gilliam, 2005) on the rate of expulsion in prekindergarten programs. #teaching #learning #equity #expulsion #implicitbias
On children who “don’t know how to play”
When we think we meet children who “don’t know how to play”, is our assessment accurate? Is play a skill or an instinct? Or both? #play #playwork #teaching #learning
Let the Playing Commence! A Tribute to Bev Bos
The author shares 14 key "Bev" phrases that will forever be burned in her brain! #play #teaching #learning
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiage Classrooms in the Era of NCLB Accountability
How can we reap the benefits of The Mix when 8 out of 10 teachers report being opposed to differentiated instruction? #teaching #learning #mixedages
The Defining Characteristics of Play
Most of this essay is about defining the characteristics of play, but before listing them, author Peter Gray offers three general points that are worth keeping in mind. #play #teaching #learning
In The News: It All Takes Time! Developing Essential Lifelong Skills Through Play
In 2021 Rhonda Johnson from Community Playthings published highlights from my Being Child Centered Book in their email newsletter, Community Playthings Connect. Needless to say, I was beyond surprised and very honored! #play #teaching #learning #inthenews
Teacher Memories: Support or Hindrance to Good Practice?
Are our elementary school memories influencing how we are doing early childhood even though (we know) many of those practices are not developmentally appropriate? #DAP #teaching #learning
The Many Modes of Experience and Learning: The grandmasters of ECE
A brief peek into Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Steiner, Montessori, Freud, Erickson and Piaget. Bringing together the WHAT the WHY and the HOW. #learning #teaching #theorists
Sensory-Motor Reading Readiness for School
Dr. Johnson has seen children diagnosed with AD/HD or learning disabilities “miraculously” improve when they are taken out of “academic” kindergartens or given an extra year in a developmental kindergarten that emphasizes movement, play, and the integration of their sensory-motor systems. #DAP #play #teaching #learning #movement #reading #writing
The conflict within: Resistance to inclusion and other paradoxes in special education
This article explores resistance to the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream classes and the solidification of special education as an institutionalized practice. #DAP #specialed #teaching #learning