ECI 315 Early Childhood Science and Social Studies

At this time in our nation's history, the establishment of a solid foundation upon which to build a student's educational framework and basic skills is imperative. Teachers, parents, administrators and policy makers are all focusing on test scores, standardised measurement of growth, annual yearly progress and "value added" issues. While education begins in the home, it is the early educational environment in which children are exposed to licensed certified professionals whose charge is to provide students with exposure to the basics and to identify those with developmental needs, and assist in the intervention process. This book provides an overview of the field of early childhood education as well as ancillary issues that permeate the field.

Ostroff highlights the processes that propel learningOCoplay, confidence, self-regulation, movement, mnemonic strategies, metacognition, articulation, and collaborationOCoand distills the research into a synthesis of the most important, takeaway ideas that teachers will need as they design their pedagogy and curriculum.

This volume focuses on the goals of science education at the levels of children, early childhood professionals, and pedagogical staff at after-school centers and primary schools, and on process-related quality criteria for science teaching at pre-primary and primary level.