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Building a Secure Foundation for Learning | |
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The Purpose of Curriculum | |
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What Is the Purpose of Early Education? | |
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What Should Curriculum for Young Children Include? | |
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What Is Competence? | |
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How Is Competence Acquired? | |
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What Does Research on the Brain Reveal About the Value of Early Education? | |
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Educational Philosophies | |
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Philosophy of This Book | |
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Putting It Into Practice | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: A Summary of Findings and Educational Implications Related to Recent Brain Research | |
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Emergent Curriculum in Action: Toddlers' Investigation of Light and Shadow | |
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Including Families in the Life of the School | |
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Letting Families Know We Care About Them and Their Children | |
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Accepting Help from Families to Enrich the Lives of Children at the Center | |
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Offering Help to Families to Strengthen Family Life | |
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Weaving All Three Strands Together | |
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Helping Families in Nontraditional Settings | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: the Parent-Resource Strand in the Preprimary Schools of Reggio Emilia | |
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Chapter Spotlight: the Parent-Resource Strand in the Parent Child Workshops of Santa Barbara, California | |
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Play: the Integrative Force in Learning | |
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But What Is Play? | |
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Practical Ways to Encourage Freely Chosen Pretend Play | |
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Additional Benefits of Play | |
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Helping Children with Disabilities Join in the Play | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Surefire Pretend Play Activities | |
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Planning for Total Learning | |
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Designing the Supportive Environment | |
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Some Yardstick Questions to Ask | |
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Planning the Indoor Environment | |
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Planning the Outdoor Environment | |
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Maintaining the Total Environment in Good Order | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Providing Comfortable Environments for the Emotional Self | |
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Creating Supportive Curriculum Plans and Schedules | |
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The Basic Ingredients: What Should Be Included in the Curriculum? | |
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Planning What Will Happen: Devising the Curriculum Plan | |
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Planning When It Will Happen: Devising the Daily Schedule | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: How a Potential Pathway Might Develop with 4-Year-Olds: Planning a Larger Pen for Funny Bunny | |
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Getting to Know the Children by Keeping Track of What They're Learning | |
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Is Keeping Systematic Track of the Children's Development Really Worth the Time and Effort It Requires? | |
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Important Principles to Remember | |
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Some Informal Ways to Keep Track of the Children's Development | |
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Using More Formal Methods to Keep Track of the Children's Development | |
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Putting the Collected Information to Good Use | |
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Summary | |
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Planning with Individual Children in Mind: Using Behavioral Objectives in the School | |
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Pros and Cons of Using Behavioral Objectives | |
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Definition of Formal Behavioral Objectives | |
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Steps in Writing Behavioral Objectives | |
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Creating Informal Objectives | |
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Carrying the Objectives Through: Final Comments | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Just What Is an IEP and Why Do Teachers Have to Care About It? | |
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Helping Young Children Relish Life and Develop Healthy Bodies | |
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Keeping Children Safe and Well Fed | |
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Keeping Children Safe | |
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Keeping Children Healthy | |
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Feeding Children Well | |
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Including Cooking in the Curriculum | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children | |
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Chapter Spotlight: MyPyramid for Kids | |
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Developing Physical Competence | |
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The Great Outdoors | |
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Physical Activity Benefits All the Selves | |
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Identifying Levels of Development | |
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Equipment for Physical Development | |
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Make a Plan for Comprehensive Physical Development | |
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Recommendations for Presenting the Activities | |
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Summary | |
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Helping Children Understand and Value Life | |
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Teaching Reverence for Life | |
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Helping Children Learn to Cherish Their Bodies | |
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Answering Questions About Reproduction | |
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Answering Questions About Death | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Helping Children Understand and Appreciate the Wonder of Animals | |
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Emergent Curriculum in Action: How Does the Gosling Get in the Egg? | |
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Chapter Spotlight: the Death of the Chief | |
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Fostering Emotional Health in Young Children | |
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Achieving Emotional Competence | |
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Competence One: Foster Basic Attitudes of Trust, Autonomy, Initiative, and Industry | |
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Competence Two: Help the Child Learn to Separate from the Family | |
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Competence Three: Help Children Learn to Control What They Do About Their Feelings | |
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Competence Four: Help Children Use Play and Creative Materials to Resolve Emotional Problems | |
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Competence Five: Help Children Learn to Face Reality | |
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Competence Six: Help Children Cope with Crisis Situations | |
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Competence Seven: Help Children Build Empathy for Other People | |
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Summary | |
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Emergent Curriculum in Action: the World Trade Center Memorial Park for Children | |
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Developing Social Competence and Healthy Self-Identities | |
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Getting Along Together: Achieving Competence in Interpersonal Relations | |
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Help Children Learn Impulse Control | |
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Short-Term Methods for Controlling Undesirable Behaviors and Building Inner Controls in Children | |
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Longer-Term Methods of Building Inner Controls: Using Prevention Rather than Cure | |
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Teach Children Socially Acceptable Ways of Getting What They Want | |
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Help Children Make Friends | |
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Increase the Child's Ability to Function Successfully as Part of a Group | |
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Encourage Children to Be Kind to Each Other, Help Each Other, and Help the Group | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: What's Wrong with Time Out? | |
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Who Am I? Who Are You?: Coming to Terms with Multicultural, Gender, and Disability Issues | |
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How Do Young Children See Themselves? | |
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How Do Children Develop a Sense of Self? | |
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Practical Ways to Enhance Children's Feelings of Self-Esteem | |
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Strengthen Children's Positive Body Images | |
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Cultivate Positive Feelings About Sexual Identities, Ethnic and Racial Heritages, and Children with Disabilities | |
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Foster Positive Attitudes Toward Racial and Cultural Backgrounds | |
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Foster Positive Attitudes Toward Gender Roles | |
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Foster Acceptance and Understanding of Children Who Have Disabilities | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: You Mean You're Black All Over? A Student Teacher's Lab Experiences with "Isabella" | |
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Encouraging Children to Be Creative | |
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Freeing Children to Be Creative | |
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What Is Creativity? | |
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Some General Principles for Fostering Creativity | |
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Some New Ideas About Creativity from Reggio Emilia | |
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Using Pretend Play to Foster Creativity | |
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Using Blocks to Express Creative Ideas | |
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Using Self-Expressive Materials to Foster Creativity | |
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Summary | |
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Fostering the Use of Language | |
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Developing Verbal Competence | |
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How Do Children Learn to Talk? | |
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Practical Ways to Encourage Children to Use Their Expressive Language Skills | |
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Practical Ways to Encourage Children to Use Their Receptive Listening Skills | |
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Black English and Bilingualism | |
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The Child Who Is Not Fluent in Any Language | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Language and the Brain | |
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Taking the First Steps on the Road to Literacy | |
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Three Important Principles About Literacy | |
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What Kinds of Literacy-Related Behaviors Can Reasonably Be Expected from Young Children? | |
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Practical Ways to Enhance Emergent Literacy Skills | |
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Using Group Time to Develop Literacy Skills | |
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Some Additional Suggestions for Enhancing Literacy with Primary School Children | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: Why Do Some Children Dislike Group Time So Much? | |
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Emergent Curriculum in Action: Our Birds | |
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Supporting Children's Cognitive Development | |
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Helping Children Learn to Think for Themselves: Using the Emergent Approach | |
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Three Approaches to Fostering Mental Abilities | |
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Contributions of Lev Vygotsky | |
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Using the Emergent Approach: An Example from Reggio Emilia | |
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Using the Emergent Approach in U.S. Schools: Some Recommendations | |
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Summary | |
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Helping Children Develop Mental Abilities and Academic Competence: Using the Conventional Approach | |
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Contributions of Jean Piaget | |
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A Brief Comparison of Piaget's and Vygotsky's Points of View | |
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Which Mental Abilities Are Particularly Important? | |
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Fostering Mental Abilities to Develop Children's Literacy, Mathematical Understanding, and Scientific Inquiry Skills | |
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Activities That Provide Practice for General Mental Abilities | |
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Opportunities to Learn Mathematical Skills | |
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Practical Ways to Include Mental Abilities in the Everyday Curriculum | |
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Summary | |
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Chapter Spotlight: An Example of How Mid-Level Mental Abilities Could Be Included in the Topic of Gardening for a Group of 4-Year-Olds | |