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Identifying and Organizing Big Ideas In choosing ideas for social studies themes, teachers should guide children toward questions that promote sustained investigation, with many opportunities to integrate other areas of the curriculum. Remember from Chapter 6 (Planning) that activities can be preplanned and also emerge as work progresses to change the direction of an original […]

Social Studies Standards Today, a high-quality and developmentally appropriate approach to social studies in early childhood is one that is integrated with other areas of the curriculum and includes experiences that are meaningful to children’s lives and understanding and are highly engaging (Seefeldt, 2001). The national standards focus not just on content knowledge but also

Social Studies A large piece of the development of the whole child involves helping each child acquire a sense of self in the world. The content area of social studies focuses on how children learn about themselves and groups of people in relation to others (National Council for the Social Studies [NCSS], 2010). The integrated

The Class Meeting An extension of the time-honored custom of “circle time” (which traditionally includes group activities or routines planned by the teacher) is the class meeting, a forum for informal and intentional discussions including those that help foster self-regulation (Gartrell, 2012; Pawlina & Stanford, 2011; Vance & Weaver, 2002) Like its adult counterpart, a

Rules vs. Guidelines As early educators work to help children develop self-regulation, they need to identify socially acceptable behaviors as goals for them to achieve. Traditionally this has meant establishing a set of classroom rules for children to follow. However, research has shown that rules for young children tend not to be helpful because they:

Sarah and Maria Solve a Problem The problem, part 1 Sarah found a small black volcanic-looking rock on the playground; it looked very interesting.She loves science and loves to collect interesting natural things, and she thought that the rock was exceptionally “cool.” She showed it to her good friend Maria who also liked it a

Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution iStockphoto / Thinkstock Teachers help children learn how to solve problems by modeling and coaching them through the necessary steps in a calm and reasoned process. As children begin to identify, acknowledge, and express their feelings, they also need practice to learn how to solve problems and resolve conflicts. Key

Modeling Talking about Feelings Teachers can model how to talk about feelings as a natural part of conversation and to let children know that experiencing a range of feelings is normal. For instance, you might describe how pleased you are that you will be going out to dinner with friends for your birthday, that you

Acknowledging and Expressing Feelings Suppressing or denying emotions teaches children that certain feelings are not permitted, or bad, and damages the self-esteem a child needs to make difficult decisions with confidence. Children are also sometimes frightened by the intensity of their feelings. Therefore three of the most helpful skills you can develop as a teacher

Acknowledging and Expressing Feelings Suppressing or denying emotions teaches children that certain feelings are not permitted, or bad, and damages the self-esteem a child needs to make difficult decisions with confidence. Children are also sometimes frightened by the intensity of their feelings. Therefore three of the most helpful skills you can develop as a teacher