How best to teach English Language Learners

Hello Friends,


There's lots of current research about how to best teach young English Language Learners. I'm most taken with the recommendation to support their language learning in the home language.  In today’s preschool programs, teachers are working with an increasingly diverse population of young students, including many who come from homes where English is not spoken at all. Teachers in preschool  programs all over the country may have English Language Learners in their classrooms. The article below describes the results of a recent study on this topic.

How do you address the needs of English Language Learners in your classroom? Let's talk!

Dual Language in Early Education Best for Youngest ELLs, Report Says

Playing with Blocks Seen as Key to Math Learning

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Research gives credence to playing with blocks as linked to an academic skill development. Spatial skills, the ability to envision what something will look like once it is arranged, are enhanced through block play. This is what artists, engineers, and architects do--see something in their mind and then reproduce it. Higher math achievement has its roots in the informal play of young children, and as children play with blocks they experience and learn many math skills, such as classification, measurement, order, patterning, counting, symmetry, balance, problem solving and planning.

Current research shows that young children’s strong math skills can predict later success in school. In addition to math skills, block play offers other learning opportunities. Through their play, children are developing language and literacy skills in addition to math skills. As children build, balance, correct, enlarge and refine their structures, they develop motor skills, using small and large muscles, and eye-hand coordination.

The EdWeek article below looks at spatial skills in young children and the relationship to mathematics skills.

Children's Spatial Skills Seen as Key to Math Learning

Tell us about block play in your classroom. Let's talk.

Benefits of Preschool

Hello Friends,

We frequently talk about the benefits of preschool programs. EducationNews has a wonderful graphic that shows the benefits in pictoral form. You can see the graphic here,

What do you think about our field in pictures? Let's talk. 

     

Teach for America Attracts Men to Early-Childhood Education

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Traditionally, child-rearing has been the responsibility of mothers and, by extension, female caregivers. Our society has been mistakenly led to believe that mothers know best how to interact with children, but men/fathers do not. There isn’t very much data on informal babysitters, but it's likely that the overwhelming majority of them are female. Teach for America is trying to change this paradigm.

What do you think about men in early childhood settings? Let's talk!


Teach for America Attracts Men to Early-Childhood Education

Are The Children Ready for Kindergarten?

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Birth to age five is the most important learning time in a child's life. Ninety percent of a child's brain growth occurs during these five years.  Children being "ready for school" when starting kindergarten really matters. Children who enter kindergarten "ready for school" are more likely to do well all the way through high school and beyond.

Both teachers and parents play a pivotal role in a child's readiness for school. Social emotional development is really an import key to school readiness. Social emotional development refers to the child's ability to get along with others; to handle emotions and strong feelings; to follow directions; and to stay involved with a task.

Here are some ways that teachers and parents cann build social emotional skills in young children.

• Praise positive behavior--Praise leads to healthy self-esteem and understanding how to behave. When children behave--use words of praise and admiration. Be sure to tell children what they can do; not just what is done wrong or what they cannot do. Every time children are praised; they feel terrific about behaving in that way.
• Keep rules simple and clear--Children are more confident about doing the right thing when they know the rules--simple and clear ones. Give young children  three to five simple rules to follow: "Hold my hand when we walk on the parking lot." "Say please and thank you." "Let me answer the door if the doorbell rings."
• Lead by example--Children watch adults closely and that is one way they learn how to behave. If you express anger or displeasure calmly, children learn to do the same. Positive role models in the early years provide guidance in kindergarten and throughout life.
• Be sure to give choices--Let children make choices--which books to read, which snack to pick, etc. Children learn to follow guidance and to make decisions when given choices between things. Making these choices builds strong social emotional skills in young children.

What do you think about building social emotional skills in young children? How do you encourage parents to build these skills? Let's talk!

     

Technology in Pre-K

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As we know, young children perceive the importance of technology in our lives, and this is not a recent development. What is new is the the rate of change in our technlogical capabilities. Because computer technology has become ubiquitous in our society, it seems like a natural progression to introduce it at a very early age. Educators need to look at this impulse very carefully, though. Not every important development that society embraces can be accessible to the very young child.

There are few experiences a young child can have through a computer which would not be more meaningful in real life. Counting monkeys on a screen is not superior to actually counting a concrete set of objects the child can manipulate with his hands. The early childhood years are an important formative period and one of the greatest dangers is that tasks and ideas which are better suited to the elementary years may get pushed into the early childhood curriculum in the name of preparation.

Young child are having a real and very important life right now, they are not living in preparation for kindergarten. If teachers focus on tasks that are developmentally appropriate, there should be no need to concern ourselves with children's readiness, they will be ready for much more than just kindergarten, they will be on the road to becoming life-long learners.

But if we allow the tasks and tools of the elementary years to occupy the hands and minds of young children, they may fail to develop the abilities to interact with the environment (and the people in it)in meaningful ways. What are your thoughts about using technology with the youngest learners? We would not encourage families to plop their child in front of the TV. What's so different about an i-Pad? Here's an article in EdWeek--check out their thoughts on this topic.  Let's talk.

Proper Role of Ed-Tech in Pre-K a Rising Issue

How Can I Coach A Resistant Teacher? (Part 2)

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Current research regarding professional development for preschool teachers indicates that coaches can have a positive impact on helping preschool teachers address the challenges they face. Specifically, coaches can provide timely and focused feedback, enable teachers to develop skills to self-regulate their learning, and support teachers to become more intentional practitioners. In these roles, coaches can facilitate a shift in teachers' practice to accommodate current accountability expectations. Here is the second part of the article on coaching folks who don't want to be coached. It is interesting!

How Can I Coach A Resistant Teacher? (Part 2)

What do you think about coaching in early childhood programs? Have you been a coach or have you been coached? Let's talk!

"How Can I Coach a Resistant Teacher?" (Part 1)

Hello Friends,

Coaching in education is a change from traditional roles. The primaryfocus of the coach is to ask questions that are open-ended and promote thinking. Listening, probing for deeper meaning, and being non-judgmental are critical skills. Good coaching is built on a foundation of trust. It occurs when the coach creates a open, respectful and inviting setting. Coaching cannot be forced.

This two part article addresesses how to work with a resistent teacher. Part 2 will come tomorrow.

What are your thoughts about coaching in education? Can it help teachers? Let's talk.

"How Can I Coach a Resistant Teacher?" (Part 1)

To Close the Opportunity Gap, We Need to Close the Vocabulary Gap - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Hello Friends,

What is the achievement gap? It has been defined as the gap  in achievement that separates poor children and students of color from their more affluent peers. The achievement gap has been the focus of discussion, research and controversy for nearly 40 years. The good news is that the gap narrowed considerably through the late 1980s, particularly between blacks and whites; however, progress since then has been marginal — and the lack of achievement of minority students remains one of the most pressing problems in education.

Today, the average black or Hispanic high school student currently achieves at about the same level as the average white student in the lowest quartile of white achievement. Black and Hispanic students are much more likely than white students to fall behind in school and drop out, and much less likely to graduate from high school, acquire a college or advanced degree, or earn a middle-class living.

Are you asking the question "What does this have to do with preschool?" Well, studies report that three and four-year old children who are exposed to preschool have a greater chance of academic success throughout their schooling.
 Here are some interesting thoughts on the cause of the gap and how to close it.


To Close the 'Opportunity Gap,' We Need to Close the Vocabulary Gap - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Secretary Arne Duncan at the National Head Start Assoc. Conference

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Secretary Arne Duncan gave remarks at the National Head Start Association conference held last week National Harbor, MD. This is evidence of the administration's interest in coordinated preschool programming. You can access the text of his remarks here:

Play Can Be an Effective Strategy for Assessment

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There is an extensive body of research about play and the positive effects on early childhood learning and development. In general, research shows strong links between creative play and language, physical, cognitive, and social development. Play is a healthy, essential part of childhood. Infants explore their world through their senses while adults in their world foster their development and learning through playing games with them. Toddlers engage in pretend play when they imitate actions and events they have experienced in their family life. As they grow into four and five year olds, young children engage more and more in play activities that expand their knowledge of the world around them, develop their motor skills, and focus on their peers.

The link below connects you to some information on using play in observation and assessment. What do you think about play as an assessment measure? Do you use it for your observations?
Let's talk!

Play Can Be an Effective Strategy for Assessment

More Pre School? Yes! Let’s do it Right.

More Pre School? Yes! Let’s do it Right.

States Spending Less Money on Pre-K Education

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State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to the National Institute for released Monday. The State of Preschool 2012 report is compiled by  National Institute for Early Education Research. The  2012 State Preschool Yearbook is the newest edition of the annual report profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. The report also found that more than a half million of those preschool students are in programs that don't even meet standards suggested by industry experts that would qualify for federal dollars. Those findings — combined with Congress' reluctance to spend new dollars — may complicate President Barack Obama's effort to expand pre-K programs across the country. You can access the NIEER report below.

  The State of Preschool 2012 | nieer.org
 

After you read the report, let's talk! How is your state doing in regard to preschool spending?