Search results for ""redleaf press""

All children deserve the tools to fight off whatever dragons they encounter and move happily through life.In Happily Ever Resilient Dr. Stephanie Goloway uses current trauma research and beloved multicultural variants of classic children's fairytales to create joyful, playful learning experiences for young children.Part one of the book covers why using fairytales in early childhood classrooms supports resilience and literacy in all children, especially important for children who have experienced trauma and toxic stress. Part two covers how to do this. Each chapter includes: Story Magic: information about the fairytale and its multicultural variants, how the story connects with the protective factors of resilience, and suggestions for storytelling and storyacting. Caring Magic: activities that help children make connections with each other and adults in their lives, related to the story. Doing Magic: suggestions for adapting classroom learning centers to support children's engagement with both the fairytale and resilience, along with projects that promote initiative and executive functions. Superpower Magic: activities, songs, and games related to the story that foster self-regulation as well as ways the story can be used to support calm, integrated transitions and routines. By tapping into the extraordinary magic of fairytales early childhood educators can create the ordinary magic of resilience.

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Havens of Hope shares the hopeful energy and positive transformation that is emerging through the early childhood education field in this historic time of pandemic, economic uncertainty, and protests for racial equity. It brings readers on a journey into the possibility for new approaches in education to learning emerging in response to the momentous challenges of our times. Deemed essential in most US states and many countries throughout the world, a substantial number of early childhood centers remained open throughout the worst days of pandemic, economic uncertainty, and protests for racial equity. Dr. Shira Leibowitz's center, Discovery Village Child Care and Preschool, located in downstate, New York, was one of the first COVID hotspots in the country. Seeking connection and companionship, she and other early childhood educators globally joined together during the worst of times for support and reflection. Havens of Hope shares the stories of resilience, creativity, and growth of schools and educators across the country.Inspiring approaches to early childhood learning of the 20th century—Montessori, Waldorf, and especially Reggio, were born out of crisis. Could this be a founding moment? Might we be witnessing, and even participating in, the birth of new approaches to learning and care, resonating with the needs of our own times?

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As the field of early learning continues to grow and evolve, we must consider the impact of our approaches to working with adults and children. Early childhood professionals and leaders need to reconcile the responsibility between never-ending administrative tasks, ensuring program quality and supporting the growth of others. Creating a Culture of Respective Practice: The Role of Pedagogical Leadership in Early Child Programs is a comprehensive practical look at creating systems, structures and protocols for supporting people in?large and small organizations, individuals working as mentors, coaches or pedagogical leaders to invite educators into a thinking and learning process about their work. Readers will develop the skills and mindsets that can enhance their performance and effect organizational change. Creating a Culture of Respective Practice: The Role of Pedagogical Leadership in Early Child Programs offers stories and structures connected to four principles of pedagogical leadership with specific ideas to enhance the work of educational leaders: Working from a place of values and vision Building strong relationships Seeing and supporting strengths and competencies Supporting professional learning in multiple ways

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Emergent Curriculum with Toddlers addresses and defines the practice of emergent curriculum and its specialization and integration into toddler programs. Toddlers are at a unique and important stage of development, so educators require resources that are specifically written for this crucial time of life. Emergent curriculum for a toddler class can look quite different from a preschool class in terms of the children’s developing themes, the teacher’s observational skills, and the emotional and social climate in the program.?

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The benefits of an optimistic thinking style have slowly been seeping into early childhood teaching practice through research on resiliency, leadership, health, and what has been termed “grit.” Yet there remains a large vacuum in teacher education on both the importance and mechanics of teaching young children to become optimistic thinkers. Explanatory style is how we explain events that happen to us— either optimistically or pessimistically. Children develop an explanatory style by age eight. However, the roots of this explanatory style appear during the preschool years, when children start seeing themselves as either successes or failures. Making Lemonade is the first-to-market book on the topic of learned optimism in young children and provides practical, hands-on exercises and activities teachers and families can use to positively affect children’s explanatory styles and turn them into optimistic thinkers and learners. All activities have been field-tested in a diverse group of early childhood programs including Head Start and the military’s overseas program Sure Start. The concept of learned optimism, while well established in research, is relatively unknown in teacher education and in classroom and family child care practice. It is a straightforward, easy-to-do approach that will equip children to be more successful learners and healthier individuals.

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Keep Spanish-speaking families up-to-date on your family child care curriculum with this newly translated and easy to understand guide. This take-home booklet will help families follow developmental milestones and learning domains. Ten individual booklets, 12 pages each.

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Design in Mind outlines a framework for a design thinking process that helps educators tackle complex challenges in their educational ecosystems step by step to quickly find fresh ideas and solutions. It invites readers to simultaneously think like educators and designers while centering inquiry, equity, equality and inclusion, supporting creative tension, and encouraging collaborative innovation.

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When children build with blocks, they are both literally and figuratively constructing their knowledge of the world. When we see children's construction play through the lens of architecture, we are able to support and extend children's learning on all four STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math. Young Architects at Play is a guide for both teachers and parents and includes a diverse variety of activities and resources. More than 20 projects involve both traditional classroom materials like unit blocks as well as natural materials, found objects, cardboard, and authentic woodworking materials.Throughout the book, Ann Gadzikowski makes meaningful connections between STEM learning and the power of stories, both the children's own narratives as well as the rich diversity of stories and illustrations from children's literature.

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Lisa Murphy on Being Child Centered provides an in-depth exploration of the author’s approach to working with children. Lisa Murphy outlines nine characteristics programs need to build an environment that’s child-centered, where play, developmentally appropriate practice, and academic standards all come together under one roof.Nine characteristics of a child-centered environment: Children are provided long periods of uninterrupted free time to explore their environment Children are provided lots of time outdoors Children are able to explore the environment with few restrictions Adults control the environment, not the children Adults serve as facilitators within the space Adults articulate the intention behind their words and actions Adults are familiar with current research and the key contributions of historical child development theorists Adults are aware of the importance of keeping it real Children are provided time and opportunity to create, move, sing, discuss, observe, read, and play every day Using true-to-life examples, anecdotes, and her signature conversational style, this book presents and explores the true identifying characteristics of a hands-on, play-based, child-centered environment.*Finalist in the Midwest Book Awards 2020 (Education category)

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This is a user-friendly book that speaks to the realities, challenges, and needs of daily life with rambunctious, enthusiastic, unpredictable toddlers in group settings, thus increasing the quality of toddler care. This book highlights informative and real-life examples, with immediate takeaway action steps that detail solutions and resources for practice.

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Collective leadership is based on shared decision-making, transparency, and involving the people affected by change in the process. It’s a model in which everyone at times can lead, and at other times follow. Current research shows that a collective approach to leadership is advantageous to organizations and this book will help early childhood leaders incorporate collective leadership into their programs.

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Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens is the latest from environmental education expert David Sobel. Joined by a variety of colleagues to share their experiences and steps for creating a successful forest kindergarten program, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens walks you through the European roots of the concept to the recent resurgence of these kinds of programs in North America. Going well beyond a history lesson, these experts provide the framework to understand the concepts and build a learning community that stimulates curiosity and inquisitiveness in a natural environment. This helpful guide provides the curriculum ideas and guidance needed to foster special gifts in children. It also gives you the nuts and bolts of running a successful nature preschool business: Potential obstacles and concerns Staff and curriculum design Best practices for success Site and facility assessment Business planning and how to successfully market your program Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens provides the mentorship and guidance to become a leader in nature-based education.

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Discover how to support high-functioning and collaborative teacher teams in early childhood programs by developing healthy and confident team leaders. This manual covers topics of dynamic team teaching including: how to create unified teams, how to become teacher leaders, how to give and receive feedback, and how to build and assess differentiated curriculum.

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Improve parent engagement for better communication and an environment of partnership.This second edition of Parent-Friendly Early Learning brings to life real scenarios that care providers face in today’s world. We know parent engagement is important for a child’s success, but how do you turn parent-provider relationships into partnerships? Learn how to improve parent-teacher communication, deal with family issues and special complications, and how to work with the modern family.

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Creative Block Play covers everything you need to encourage a child's development in a variety of domains through block play. This book is full of photos that illustrate block play in real classrooms and stories from teachers who have successfully used block play to encourage children's development in a variety of domains.

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Operating a family child care program can be both difficult and rewarding. Few people give as much of themselves or accept more responsibility than you do as a family child care provider. And few are more deserving of the satisfaction that comes from helping children learn and grow. However, there are other challenges that are equally important—taking care of your business by tracking your expenses, doing your taxes, and meeting government requirements.This resource covers everything you need to keep accurate business records and save money on your taxes. If you pay close attention to the recommendations in this book, you will be able to claim the maximum allowable deductions and pay the lowest possible federal taxes.This latest edition of Family Child Care Record-Keeping Guide includes descriptions of two new IRS depreciation rules that make it much easier to deduct items you previously had to depreciate. It also explains why you should avoid using a new Simplified Method to claim house expenses that benefits other home-based businesses, but not family child care providers. New clarifications on bartering, claiming hours as part of the Time-Space percentage, non-deductible expenses, bundled utility expenses, travel expenses, gifts, conducting a household inventory, business meals, and red flags are provided, as well as new links to outside resources where the latest tax information can be accessed. The information in this book applies to child care providers in every state, regardless of local regulations.

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Let children experience the learning power of play—together! Let's All Play provides all-new adventures that support children's social skill development through thoughtful group play, interaction, and conversation. These play experiences help children engage with each other and the world around them, all of which leads to rich learning. This book also encourages adults to reflect on the value of children's play through deep thinking activities.Let's All Play builds on the early learning principles presented in Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger's first book together, Let Them Play, and the open-ended learning adventures in their second book, Let's Play.

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Maurice Sykes has made advocating for and advancing high-quality early childhood education his life's work. Through mentorships, presentations, and personal example, Maurice challenges and inspires educators to become effective leaders who make a difference in children's lives. He does the same in this book as he shares stories of the hills and valleys of his personal and professional journeys throughout the presentation of eight core leadership values: human potential, knowledge, social justice, competence, fun and enjoyment, personal renewal, perseverance, and courage.Use this book to develop the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind you need to be a successful leader—and do the right thing for children, whether you serve at the individual, organizational, or classroom level.

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Play can be fun, but sometimes, it can be painful or discouraging. Children might fight over toys, friends, or rules. Children might feel left out, or they may not fit into the group.This workbook will broaden your knowledge about the important topic of play, and it will help you explore common challenges children might experience in play. Hands-on techniques, assessments, reflection questions, and exercises are included to help you more effectively support and strengthen children's play.

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Play is vital to children's overall healthy development. When they have difficulty joining play or participating in group play, it's important to pinpoint the challenges that are occurring. This workbook focuses on the reasons why play might not be easy for children—due to language delays, shyness, special needs, or trauma, for example—and provides specific language and activities to facilitate play and help children improve their play skills. It also presents self-assessments, reflection questions, exercises, and specific ways you can help children develop deeper, more meaningful play experiences.

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These activity ideas will help you support all of the skill areas a one-year-old is learning, including language, cognitive, social-emotional, and physical skills. Information on how these attentive and fun interactions help a child's brain develop is also included. Brain Insights activity cards are compact and portable, making it easy to jumpstart interactive play anywhere throughout the day.

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Technology is rapidly changing the ways we live our lives and interact with the world. It also provides new ways to help children learn. Educators can use technology tools to create and capture meaningful experiences, support inquiry, and expand classroom walls. This CD-ROM contains eight PowerPoint presentations that support your staff development workshops, college courses, or in-service trainings and provide information to help pre-service and practicing educators explore and reflect on the possibilities of various technologies.The CD-ROM includes An overview of using technology tools in the classroom A two-part presentation on supporting children’s learning with technology A two-part presentation on using technology to share learning A two-part presentation on using technology to support documentation and assessment A presentation on curriculum mapping Facilitator’s guide and printable journaling worksheet for each presentation

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Enhance the quality of your teaching with collaborative, critical, and reflective thinking Teaching young children is complex work. While you manage the day-to-day events that unfold in your classroom, you also have to keep up with the demands of assessment and documentation. With all of these challenges, how can you maintain the equally important tasks of encouraging children’s curiosity and supporting their joy of learning? How can you sustain your own curious mind and joyful spirit in your work? Reflecting with other teachers in a community of practice can strengthen your ability to respond to the children in your classroom and share meaningful experiences with them. This workbook is designed to be used with a group—a community of practice—but it can also be a self-study tool. The exercises help you understand and practice the key elements of reflective teaching. Ten study sessions provide opportunities to engage with peers as you collaborate and connect theory and best practices in your classrooms. These experiences will help you Evaluate and grow your reflective teaching skills Use the Thinking Lens™ protocol to align your daily work with your larger goals, values, and vision Gain a heightened sense of self-awareness and a stronger image of children Examine the details of your environment Challenge yourself with new perspectives

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Understand the complex yet amazing toddler years as you help children develop new skills One- and two-year-olds are in the midst of developing and exploring their skills to communicate, move purposely, and assert their independence and individuality. As their teacher, you have great patience, energy, and creativity as you work with their on the go approach to life. Use this professional development workbook to help navigate the complex toddler years and gain a better understanding of their growth and development. You will improve your interactions with them by responding to their individual needs, find out how to create a routine and environment that keeps toddlers safe as they explore and learn, and assist them as they develop self-help skills such as toileting, dressing, and eating. This is a great educational and training tool whether you are a veteran educator, new teacher, college student, or career seeker. You ll learn fascinating facts, and you ll be reminded of how important your job as an early childhood professional truly is. This book is sold in a 3-pack.

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Gardens are where children's imaginations engage nature, and the result is joyful learning. Use this book to explore the unique and expansive learning opportunities offered by gardening with children—green thumb or the perfect plot of land not required. Packed with colourful photographs and updated to address many childhood issues and gardening trends that have erupted in recent years, it reflects the growing concerns for children's nature deficit and the obesity epidemic, and it provides a wider variety of gardening projects, like vertical, green roof, and container gardens for limited-space or urban areas. It also contains more than thirty gardening activities for children of all ages—including experiences for infants and toddlers, because even the youngest children can and should be involved in gardening.

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Strong partnerships with families create a better environment for children to learn and grow. This resource addresses the realities of working with families and provides effective steps to help you initiate and maintain efforts as you build mutually respectful relationships in your program. Filled with self-assessments, tips, sample letters and forms, and reflection questions to optimise your knowledge, this book will help you collaborate with families to provide better care for children and their parents. Pack of 3 books, 72 pgs each.

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Children's play is focused, purposeful, and full of learning. As children play, they master motor development, learn language and social skills, think creatively, and make cognitive leaps. Let's Play provides caregivers, teachers, and parents with a variety of budget-friendly, child-centred experiences that lead to countless learning opportunities. Each chapter outlines an open-ended play adventure with instructions, photographs, and fresh ideas for children to explore everything from worms to magnets. These activity starters were all tested by a slew of early childhood professionals and approved by the children they work with. Each of the thirty-nine adventures is simple, flexible, engaging, and packed with learning, and they support the philosophy that the best learning is done when children are allowed freedom to play.

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All the Colors We Are/Todos los Colores de Nuestra Piel captures the essence of one way we are special and different from one another - skin colour! We are all shades of brown and tan, and this engaging book explains how all the colours we are come from our ancestors, the sun, and the pigment melanin. This twentieth anniversary edition features all new colourful photographs that showcase the beautiful diversity of skin colour.Engaging bilingual text (English/Spanish) offers children a simple, scientifically accurate explanation for how we get our skin colour and answers the “what and why” questions children love to ask. Unique activity ideas are included to extend learning about skin colour. Understanding melanin frees children from the myths and stereotypes associated with skin colour and helps celebrate our differences.

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Understanding the development of infants, toddlers, and twos equips caregivers with the tools and best practices needed to guide, teach, and care for them. This foundational approach provides information on theories of early development, components of high-quality, responsive caregiving, and strategies to support children in their earliest years.

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Growing research shows that many children from immigrant and refugee families are not doing well in school, due in part to linguistic and cultural disadvantages. Teaching dual-language learners requires cultural sensitivity, an understanding of language acquisition, and intentional teaching strategies. Combining research and techniques, this resource helps early childhood educators support dual-language learners as they develop the skills necessary for school readiness and success.

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The first three years set the stage for a lifetime of learning. This book provides more than eighty activities and experiences to optimise very young children's intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development, as well as strategies that support responsive caregiving.

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Make the complex task of creating a child-centered curriculum easier with the practical guidelines and ideas in this updated and expanded handbook. Learn how to sharpen your observation and documentation skills, set up your space, and transform your teaching to reflect children's interests and needs. Insightful classroom stories, assessment tools, checklists, comparative charts, and activities encourage new approaches and self-reflection as you plan your curriculum and put it into practice. Addressing new standards in early education, two new chapters focus on teaching academics in a meaningful way and guiding children as they play and learn.Reflecting Children's Lives is your work in progress—use it to record the development of your own thinking and practice.

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Enhance the depth and richness of children's play. Developmentally appropriate play is complex, long-lasting, and all-engaging for children. It requires facilitation and guidance, thoughtful planning, and attention to the environment and materials. Developmentally Appropriate Play follows the new Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and includes information to help you: • Identify and plan purposeful play • Guide children to make choices • Interact with children to enhance play • Provoke children into more complex play • Add representation to further enrich play • Incorporate standards into play

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Develop the valuable skills of communication, motivation, and assertiveness to become a more effective home visitor by successfully carrying out your job duties and conveying messages in the most positive and accessible manner. Loaded with tools and strategies to help you build these skills, The Home Visitor's Manual complements your knowledge of topics such as nutrition, regulations, policies, documentation requirements, and child development that helps you teach, support, and encourage providers. The Home Visitor's Manual is an ideal reference for: • addressing a difficult situation • working with a hostile provider •motivating an unresponsive provider • dealing with an unsafe environment • delivering an unpleasant or difficult message

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There are a multitude of financial decisions that must be made when running a family child care business. This resource offers valuable advice—whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned child care provider—to learn how to worry less about monetary details so that you can keep your focus on the children. You will find information on ways to reduce your expenses, earn more money, and pay off your debt; how to handle special financial situations such as applying for a loan or grant; what you need to know about the basic principles of retirement planning; the five fundamental rules of investing and how to balance and diversify your investment portfolio; and information on the rules and benefits of the six major individual retirement account (IRA) plans.

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Make learning count with activities and games that reflect early learning standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Combining new activities and favorites from bestselling More Than Counting and Much More Than Counting by the same author team, this edition provides 124 math lessons for young children. Activities are organized by learning standard—number sense and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement and data analysis, and probability. A materials list, modifications for special needs, and a connection to early learning standards are provided for each activity.

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For decades early childhood educators in high-quality programs have understood that the transition into reading and writing occurs naturally when young children are surrounded by opportunities to interact with print in ways that are meaningful to them. The original edition of More Than Letters, first published in 2001, showed teachers how to intentionally help children develop literacy skills through hands-on, play-based activities. Like the original edition, the Standards Edition is based on theory and research. It contains new chapters that specifically focus on developing the skills needed to decode literature and informational text. Expanded chapters include activities that target specific concepts included in national literacy standards.

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The art of observing children is more than merely the act of watching them- it is also using what you see and hear to craft new opportunitites in your classroom. This newly updated edition of The Art of Awareness provides a wealth of inspiration and practice. Witness children's remarkable competencies as they experience childhood and find a new joy in your work with children. In the third edition you will find A new chapter focused on observing children's active play in the context of current neuroscience and the connection between active physicality and brain developementRevisons with a strong emphasis on observing wiht an antibias and equity lens, including new stories and reflective questions to promote learningExpanded thinking about children's engagement with the natural world and supporting children' ecological identity developmentAccess to videos for further study related to chapter contentNew strategies to organize your observations, share them with colleagues and families, and apply the to planning and assesment processesBy learning the art and skill of observation, you can improve your teaching and help children grow and learn.

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The follow-up to the successful Loose Parts and your guide to infants and toddlers safely exploring through play.Loose parts capture children’s curiosity, give free reign to their imagination, and encourage creativity. A variety of new and innovative loose parts ideas are paired with beautiful photography to inspire safe loose parts play in your infant and toddler environments. Captivating classroom stories and proven science provide the context for how this style of play supports children’s development and learning.

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Emotions can have a domino effect in the classroom when teachers' emotional states influence their interactions with students and alter the children's moods. Don't Get So Upset! will show child care providers how to express themselves in appropriate ways so that children will learn to do the same. This book approaches the subject in a practical, personal, and self-helping manner that will ultimately assist you in supporting children's emotional development.Don't Get So Upset! explains early childhood behavior management, explores anger-related feelings, and describes how to accept the negative and positive aspects of all our emotions. Through these topics, you will be able to uncover your own feelings as you manage children's behavior and discover strategies that work in your classroom.

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Early childhood educators are facing a crucial inflection point in the profession. Research shows that children need movement and play and joy to learn to their fullest potential—yet the educational system pushes worksheets and takes away time outdoors, among many other harmful and developmentally inappropriate teaching practices. Educators everywhere are tired of witnessing unrealistic expectations and impossible attempts to accelerate child development, stripping children of authentic learning—and their giggles. They are disturbed by the inequities that exist in education and want to see every child provided with the good foundation a quality early education can supply. They are fed up with the nonsense depriving children of childhood, requiring them to teach in ways that they know aren't right!This book challenges and inspires early childhood professionals to advocate for change in the field while giving them the research underpinnings and tools they need to take real action. It dispels the fears associated with speaking up and banishes all doubts about the need to advocate bravely and widely, proving the need to change course and providing practical and actionable steps for speaking to decision makers and convincing them to pursue change. Spark a Revolution in Early Education busts four myths—earlier is better, children learn by sitting, digital devices are important to learning, and play time is not productive time—to push for "Rae's Revolution" and get educators everywhere to stand up for the children.

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