Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Guidance Matters. Swearing and Words That Hurt

http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200711/pdf/BTJGuidance.pdf
Dan Gartrell does a great job talking about one of those "sticky" situations that we have ALL been in....We don't want to discourage the communication taking place, but geez does it have to be that/those word(s).

Parents-isn't it funny that they always seem to pick up those words of all things?

Gartrell gives us some great examples of children's use of and response to these words and both's impact on children...

Share your experiences and how you've responded in the past to inappropriate language use in the classroom or at home.

New NAEYC Publication: Teaching Young Children

http://tyc.naeyc.org/

If you attended NAEYC's national conference in Chicago, you might have picked up a free copy of this new publication.

What are your thoughts? Is it all you wanted it to be?

Definetly not to go unnoticed, Nancy P. Jones' article, "Big Jobs" highlighted some the great opportunities that children often miss out on (to be able to do larger projects, chores or tasks) because the adults/teachers don't either think the children can handle the situation or they don't want to be bothered in the mess or management of such a task. She offers great direction on how to provide children with large tasks such as using real tools, doing chores in the classroom, etc. These opportunities allow children to build leadership skills, confidence and take ownership in classroom activities/projects.

Other sections of the magazine were great, but I felt it was too "watered down" for my use. I often wondered as I read the magazine if it was tailored more towards the newer or less experience teacher.

By no means am I worried that NAEYC is leaving teachers with a "mailbox" magazine....but I'm looking forward to seeing how TYC matures into a more thorough resource providing teachers with ideas tying theory and research to classroom activities and featuring those who are doing a great job demonstrating this.

-M.

Top 10 Pre-K Questions: What Families Need to Know about High Quality Preschool

http://nieer.org/docs/index.php?DocID=189

What else do you think should be on this list? Or...what do you think can be removed?
I have my own thoughts--share yours!

-M.

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B)

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED498793

For those of you interested, I have posted a link to the first findings of the ECLS-B as published by the National Center for Education Statistics. I can't wait to hear your responses/reactions!

-M.