Inquiry Based Early Learning Environments

An in-depth look at children's inquiry and effects of environment in early childhood settings.

An inspiring step-by-step guide to documenting children's ideas, questions, and learning in a way that enhances teacher's thinking and understanding

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows. With illustrations made from actual fall leaves and die-cut pages on every spread that reveal gorgeous landscape vistas, here is a playful, whimsical, and evocative book that celebrates the natural world and the rich imaginative life of children. Includes an author's note and leaf-identifying labels.

Based on research that demonstrates the powerful advantages of integrating the curriculum while providing inquiry opportunities, The Early Childhood Curriculum shows how to make such an approach work for all children, preschool through the primary grades. The text demonstrates how to confidently teach using inquiry-based methods that address the whole child, while also meeting and exceeding academic standards. Offering a foundation in early childhood theory, philosophy, research, and development, the 2nd edition of this unique textbook helps future teachers, as well as current educators, understand the "why" of curriculum in early childhood and invests them with the skills they need to move from simply following a script to knowledgeably creating curricula on their own. Since each curricular subject has its own integrity, there is a chapter for each discipline, grounding the reader in the essentials of the subject in order to foster knowledgeable and effective integration. The 2nd edition of The Early Childhood Curriculum includes information on the most recent trends in national curriculum standards, particularly in regard to the Common Core State Standards Initiative and the Next Generation Science Standards. Coupled with this information are practical suggestions for meeting standards while still providing young learners with a truly child-centered educational experience. Chapters contain real-life vignettes that demonstrate inquiry and integration in practice. The entire text reflects the philosophy that the use of inquiry to seek and obtain information is one of the most valuable and powerful tools children can acquire along the way to becoming lifelong learners.

In this unique text, Dr. Brenda Jacobs brings together two important ideas that have become central to learning and development in education, demonstrating the core relationship between self-regulation and inquiry-based learning in primary classrooms. The author compellingly shows that inquiry-based learning can empower children and is vital to becoming self-regulated learners. Drawing on real-life classroom examples, the volume outlines four key insights: that children learn self-regulation during inquiry-based learning in the same way they do during play; that teachers can use scaffolding strategies to support this development; that inquiry-based learning promotes the positive emotions essential for the development of social and emotional learning; and, finally, that during inquiry-based learning, children use oral language as a self-regulatory tool. These insights are applied to the four components of emergent curriculum—inquiry design, classroom environment, conversation, and documentation—to show how educators can help children become self-regulated learners. Considering how COVID-19 has exacerbated children’s social, emotional, behavioural, physical, and mental health problems, this timely volume also provides guidance about how to do inquiry-based learning in virtual classrooms. Concise and practical, Self-Regulation and Inquiry-Based Learning in the Primary Classroom is an invaluable foundational text for students in Education and Early Childhood Education and for pre-service and in-service teachers alike.

Humans, especially children, are naturally curious. Yet, people often balk at the thought of learning scienceâ€"the "eyes glazed over" syndrome. Teachers may find teaching science a major challenge in an era when science ranges from the hardly imaginable quark to the distant, blazing quasar. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards is the book that educators have been waiting forâ€"a practical guide to teaching inquiry and teaching through inquiry, as recommended by the National Science Education Standards. This will be an important resource for educators who must help school boards, parents, and teachers understand "why we can't teach the way we used to." "Inquiry" refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and in which students grasp science knowledge and the methods by which that knowledge is produced. This book explains and illustrates how inquiry helps students learn science content, master how to do science, and understand the nature of science. This book explores the dimensions of teaching and learning science as inquiry for K-12 students across a range of science topics. Detailed examples help clarify when teachers should use the inquiry-based approach and how much structure, guidance, and coaching they should provide. The book dispels myths that may have discouraged educators from the inquiry-based approach and illuminates the subtle interplay between concepts, processes, and science as it is experienced in the classroom. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards shows how to bring the standards to life, with features such as classroom vignettes exploring different kinds of inquiries for elementary, middle, and high school and Frequently Asked Questions for teachers, responding to common concerns such as obtaining teaching supplies. Turning to assessment, the committee discusses why assessment is important, looks at existing schemes and formats, and addresses how to involve students in assessing their own learning achievements. In addition, this book discusses administrative assistance, communication with parents, appropriate teacher evaluation, and other avenues to promoting and supporting this new teaching paradigm.

This text helps teach pre-service teachers the art of inquiry instilling in students a sense of wonder, curiosity, asking questions, looking for answers, and making sense of the world in different ways. The authors see teaching as an art that supports the learner in multiple ways, using different tools that are responsive to their individual orientation or to their multiple intelligences. Teaching as Inquiry is based on best practice and centers around the philosophies of Reggio Emilia, as well as Dewey, Vygotsky, Piaget, Gardner and others. The book has a unique structure that focuses on helping future teachers understand the theory and apply it practically. Each chapter begins with a story from the classroom, followed by a list of questions to be considered throughout the chapter. "Think About It" boxes ask students to pause and reflect, and each chapter ends with suggestions for "Getting Started" as well as Web resources and suggested readings.

This booklet documents our school district's collaborative inquiry project looking at how Reggio-inspired practices can inform and enhance primary mathematics teaching and learning.