Overview

Sparking Learning in Young Children: Classroom Best Practices provides a streamlined yet comprehensive overview of everything you need to kickstart your preschool, transitional kindergarten, or pre-K classroom to help ensure the best possible teaching and learning environment. Dive into relevant topics, offering insights from contemporary research, expert-defined best practices, and real-world examples from the author’s twenty-plus years of experience. Whether a seasoned teacher or a dedicated aide, this guide is your roadmap to creating a vibrant, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate early childhood learning experience. This concise yet comprehensive resource equips you with the essential tools to create an engaging learning environment by focusing on key areas such as child development, planning and reflection, room design and materials, family engagement, and more! 

Full Product Details

9798765971956

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Chris Amirault has deep experience working with young children, their families, and preschool teachers and administrators. In this book he shares wisdom, insights, and knowledge based on 20+ years of practical experience blended with current research and recommended best practices. The author covers essential topics including foundational child development concepts; the importance of planning and reflection; thoughtful selection of materials and room design; the powerful cycles of curriculum, assessment, and instruction; and strategies for cultivating meaningful family engagement. Each chapter is punctuated with boxes that highlight core concepts and provide ample professional resources, and each chapter ends with reflection prompts. These features spark the continuing learning and development of preschool teachers and serve to support and encourage those new to the field and inspire seasoned colleagues."" --Diane Horm, Ph.D., George Kaiser Family Foundation?Endowed Chair, Director of the Early Childhood Education Institute, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa ""This accessible text provides a perfect combination of research-based best practices, principle-based reflective practices, and the day-to-day realities of working in preschool classrooms. Through storytelling, the exploration of topics, the sharing of?resources, the reflective questions, and providing classroom-ready tools, this book proves to be engaging, informative, and necessary for any teacher getting started in early education."" --Robyn Lopez Melton, Director, The Research Institute, Western Oregon University ""This book is perfect for anyone working with young children. Dr. Amirault weaves together child development theory, research and best practices while reminding the reader to keep equity at the forefront. The author describes best practices, provides the resources, and guides you through how to implement them. There are many opportunities to reflect on best practices as reflection is the core of sparking learning for children as well as adults. It is evident that the author has intentionally spent time with children and teachers in real classrooms."" --Emisha Maytubby, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Family & Consumer Science, Langston University, Oklahoma"

Author Information

Chris Amirault, Ph.D., served for two decades as the director of NAEYC-accredited Early Head Start, preschool, and state PK programs in RI and OK. He was president for several years of the Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children and has also served in many national leadership capacities, including as Chair of the Council for NAEYC Accreditation, a member of the NAEYC Affiliate Advisory Council, a founding facilitator of NAEYC's Diversity & Equity Interest Forum, and on the NAEYC working groups for developmentally appropriate practice and equity. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood education at Brown University, the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Oklahoma, and elsewhere, and he served as Director of the Institute for Elementary and Secondary Education at Brown. Chris is the author of Sparking Learning in Young Children and coauthor of Finding Your Way Through Conflict, and he has published articles in several early childhood journals and presented many times at state and national early childhood conferences. He has a Ph.D. in cultural studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and lives in Salem, OR.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available