Care and Development of Young Children: Home

Studies show that students who enjoy reading and writing have expanded comprehension skills and better overall communication skills. This video demonstrates that with a little creativity, learning to read and write can be fun. Whole class and small group activities include shared and guided reading, learning centers, rephrasing, reinforcement, and summarizing. Students will be encouraged to reflect, discuss, and support each other as they develop these new skills. (22 minutes)

Teaching and learning numeracy skills involves a large range of elements. Basic math skills are required in almost every aspect of life and creating fun activities can challenge children to explore and allow them to enjoy the process. This video demonstrates the use of whole class and small group activities open ended activities and questions, encouraging trial and error to find solutions. Math can be fun when children are challenged to explore. (16 minutes)

This program visits two kindergarten classrooms and one first grade classroom to show how whole language techniques are used to teach beginning reading and writing. The program provides a detailed description of how the three basic "cuing systems" that children use to "decode" text are integrated into every classroom activity. The effectiveness of literature-based teaching is demonstrated in the classroom use of theme-based curricula, "big book" oral reading, meaningful work, response journals, peer teaching, the acceptance of invented spelling in first drafts of written work, and the constant emphasis on children viewing themselves as successful readers and writers. (28 minutes)

In this classic program, Sally L. Smith explains how to teach students with learning disabilities and ADHD. The techniques include challenging the intellect and tapping the imagination; using concrete objects, the body, and pictures to communicate abstract ideas; using object-centered learning by attracting the attention visually; limiting the amount of words used; using stimulation, choices, and materials without limiting the child; and offering maximum participation and feedback to empower the student. Distributed by PBS Distribution. A part of the series Teach Me Different! with Sally Smith. (55 minutes)

Beginning teachers often don’t anticipate the challenges that high-needs students present. This video provides supportive strategies that boost the success of special needs learners. Exploring verbal and nonverbal communication through immediacy behaviors, the program shows how teachers can reduce the psychological distance between themselves and challenged students, with tangible benefits in student performance. The power of humor, praise, inclusiveness, listening to student feedback, and other strategies are discussed, as well as self-awareness points like speech tempo, tone of voice, and body language. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online. (13 minutes)

If diversity and special needs are prominent factors in a learning environment, teachers may have to juggle mandated standards with students’ personal challenges. This video addresses that balancing act, demonstrating how experienced educators have mastered it. Focusing on multilevel instructional planning, the program explores the use of educational channels, individualized support, and interpersonal engagement—showing how to deliver lessons and assess student progress based on communication style, learning preference, and other variables. An extensive bonus interview with Dr. Diane Ashby, Dean of Illinois State University’s College of Education, is included. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online. (18 minutes)

Learning environments, both indoor and out, provide early childhood programs with many choices and materials to create learning opportunities. This program includes real-life examples of encouraging children's initiative and creativity through supportive environments in a variety of HighScope educational settings.

This program looks at how adult creativity is formed by our childhood experiences. It poses the question, "Are we crushing or liberating the creativity of our children?" New teaching techniques that encourage creativity are examined. Creativity in the home is explored, and suggestions for avoiding "creativity killers" are depicted through humorous animation.

The mathematical skills children bring with them to elementary school predict both their mathematical and literacy achievement for years to come. In this video, experts from Erikson Institute’s Early Mathematics Education Project discuss approaches to creating rich, developmentally appropriate math experiences for young children. Lively footage from three pre-K classrooms in the Chicago public school system, a Head Start program on Chicago’s South Side, and a private preschool in a Chicago suburb illustrates how foundational math can be joyfully incorporated into both informal and planned activities. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. (37 minutes)

With the growing reliance on computer-based communication and the return of public interest in early schooling, much attention is being paid to the attainment of literacy. Filmed in several multicultural preschool and kindergarten classrooms, this program reviews underlying cognitive, social, and physical requirements for all formal education and then presents the literacy-specific understandings and skills that have been widely cited but not always adequately described. This video presents an integrated vision of how the precursors of literacy stem from appropriate experiences provided by thoughtful adults to the children in their care. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. (32 minutes)

This two-part program describes how HighScope’s active participatory learning model of early education provides inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities, allowing children at all levels to succeed. It demonstrates how active learning principles, the learning environment, the daily routine, and team planning with specialists help teachers individualize instruction for all young learners. It then demonstrates how teachers can embed learning opportunities into all components of the daily routine. Viewers will see examples of teachers using adaptations and supports to allow each child to develop skills in key curriculum content areas and actively participate in the daily routine.

Children, fight, argue, and throw tantrums — it's a preschool teacher’s job to help them find effective ways to resolve their problems. This program shows authentic problem solving and conflict resolution in HighScope classrooms, giving you a chance to see HighScope techniques in action. As children learn how to find constructive solutions (with teachers' help), they're developing essential communication, empathy, and negotiating skills for use throughout their lives. This program includes a special section on preventing bullying.

What is it like to be a preschool teacher? In this Career Q&A video interview, Kimberly Wynne talks about her career path, what she does on the job, and the keys to success teaching preschool. She also offers candid advice on breaking into the profession as well as insight into the industry’s biggest challenges and how the field may change in the next ten years.

This program explores the importance of creating and maintaining a strong and positive classroom culture. It demonstrates that the successful classroom builds relationships between the teacher and the students, celebrates learning, is managed well with consistent rules, boundaries, and use of transitions, and is structured in a way that helps students feel empowered to handle challenges. When they feel empowered - as well as safe and supported – early learners will grow and flourish. They will also be confident enough to try hard and take the necessary risks to help them learn more.

This program demonstrates that early learners thrive when the environment for learning supports their social and emotional needs. This is most visible when they are encouraged to learn from each other and when they’re given meaningful instructional interactions along with materials that stimulate their thinking and skills. It also shows how asking the right questions at the right time encourages conversations that ultimately lead to self-discovery and learning.

The exploration of writing in an early childhood classroom is based on encouragement while understanding that we are not forcing that development, but supporting it. This program stresses the importance of understanding the differences between early learners’ ability to reach milestones – especially in reading and writing.

This program addresses concepts for teaching math skills to early learners. For the creative teacher, there are multiple ways to introduce math concepts in the early childhood classroom because they’re found everywhere, both inside and outside the classroom. Leading young students in fun and playful ways to engage with math will help them build confidence in their math skills and generate excitement for the subject that will last far into the future. They’ll also be better prepared for the more complicated topics they’ll encounter later.

Ongoing assessment is a key part of any successful learning environment, and that is just as true in the early childhood classroom. This program addresses on-going gathering of information to see what children know and determine what skills they are ready to learn next to ensure their success. This data will help inform teachers' curriculum planning, determine how they instruct any given lesson, and how they may need to individualize for each child.

This program covers the plan-do-review process—an essential element of the HighScope approach in which children make plans, carry them out, and reflect on what they have done. In doing so, they learn to take initiative, solve problems, work with others, and accomplish their goals—making play both fun and intentional. It presents the three components that make up plan-do-review and how they encourage purposeful play, featuring real examples of the process in the classroom.

Eager for knowledge, a child is by nature curious about everything. Why, then, is school such an unpleasant place for some children? In this program, teachers, researchers, a psychoanalyst, a neurologist, a neurobiologist, a psychomotor specialist, and others examine the process of learning and the classroom as a learning center. Mastery of reading and writing-the key to unlocking all forms of communication and the entry point to many other exciting domains-is emphasized. In addition, the concept of multiple intelligences is explored.

Helping children to grow and bloom properly also means taking into account their biological rhythms. This program seeks out holistic approaches to education that more scientifically organize the school day and strike a better balance between intellectual and physical development. Educators, psychologists, a geneticist, a philosopher, and others consider topics such as the times of day when students are most ready to learn and the role of play in the developing child. They also question the effectiveness of lectures and take a penetrating look at the video game phenomenon.

In this video, Jean Piaget and Barbel Inhelder discuss concepts of motivation, learning, perception, sensory-motor issues, pre-operational stages, and the operational stage.

This program is composed of three segments: “Formal Reasoning Patterns” (1978), in which Robert Karplus and Rita Peterson conduct interviews as a part of tasks developed to probe the thinking styles of secondary students; “Memory and Intelligence” (1971), in which Jean Piaget presents his work on memory and intelligence at a conference in Kyoto; and “Morality: The Process of Moral Development” (1978), which identifies the progress of moral thinking that begins in preschool years, and illustrates Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages through an interview conducted by Susan De Merresmen-Warren and Elliot Turiel. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Classic Piaget.

Building on the ideas of Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner, Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong worked with teachers in urban schools to foster self-regulated learning. This program presents both the theoretical underpinnings of their work and its results as viewers sit in on busy classrooms where students are being helped to take responsibility for their education. The video offers useful viewpoints on constructivist practice in elementary education. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Constructivism. (35 minutes)

The work of Lev Vygotsky is cited as the theory and practice of constructivist education. This program reconsiders the life, vocabulary, and concepts of Vygotsky, illustrating four basic concepts integral to his work: children construct knowledge, learning can lead development, development cannot be separated from its social context, and language plays a central role in cognitive development. Elena Bodrova brings an easy familiarity to these concepts, while Deborah Leong’s commentary and lively classroom examples will enable students, teachers in training, and classroom teachers to incorporate these concepts into their understanding of child development. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Giants of Psychology. (28 minutes)

This program offers both theoretical and practical perspectives on dramatic play. Through sequences of young children playing house, doctor’s office, rescue squadron, and trick or treat, the theoretical positions that Vygotsky and other prominent theorists have taken in systematically studying play are illustrated. The video provides a thorough review of traditional ways of studying play (the Freudian-Eriksonian emphasis on its emotional content, the Piagetian view of its importance in symbolic representation, and the social psychological approach of looking at how play contributes to socialization) while showcasing Vygotsky’s contribution of seeing play as an arena in which children can begin to master their own behavior. The program ends with practical suggestions for fostering high-level play in early childhood settings. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. (26 minutes)

Why would 300-year-old educational theories be of interest to teachers of young children today? This program features the ideas of early researchers and philosophers, showing how these pioneers laid the groundwork for modern concepts of elementary school instruction. Locke’s opposition to rote memorization, Rousseau’s belief in self-direction, the recognition of each child’s individuality by Pestalozzi, and Froebel’s creative preschool techniques are profiled—and offered as starting points for educators to develop their own framework on how best to interact with young students. Part of the series Study of the Child: Theories of Development. (16 minutes)

A century ago, Maria Montessori, Italy’s first female physician, inspired an educational movement. Through what has come to be known as the Montessori method, children essentially teach themselves through sensory-rich and hands-on activities facilitated by instructors who focus on nurturing their students’ efforts. Useful to child care providers as well as teachers in training, this program presents levels of Montessori education ranging from infant to elementary and explains how each level makes use of the Montessori method. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online.

Although John Dewey lived in a markedly different era, many of his concerns are still highly relevant to life today. This program introduces students to his philosophy and his critical studies of education, the arts, and the implications of democracy for the lives of individuals and their communities. Contemporary examples of the influence of his work include film sequences of noted educator Deborah Meier’s Mission Hill School in Roxbury, Massachusetts; commentary by literature authority Louise Rosenblatt on Dewey’s theories of democratic behavior; and philosopher Larry Hickman’s comments on the ways technology changes how one experiences the world. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. A part of the series Giants of Psychology. (40 minutes)

This video clip shows a two year old in the garden picking up an earthworm. Does her surprise and excitement influence her to repeat this action? What learning opportunities might have been missed if the teacher had scooped up the worm for Zinnia? Why do you think is it often important for a toddler to repeat an action?

This video clips shows the dynamics of three two-year-old boys attempting to play in the same space. The teacher uses a variety of strategies to assure safety while honoring the children’s goals. Notice aspects of actions that help us infer a child’s intention, such as eye contact, sequence, and timing. Note how Alex reacts to Henry as Henry tries to make entry into the play space. The teacher redirects Jackson to the pile of leaves on the floor so that he can play without standing in the elevated water basin. Alex picks up on whatever the teacher says, such as ‘feet’ and ‘be gentle’ and ‘leaves on the floor’. Consider how these observations can help us answer the question: Why might we bring leaves into the classroom? How might these observations help us decide where we might take this activity tomorrow?

Children have a great curiosity about little creatures that move. As adults, how do we help children form a more complex relation to bugs and slugs that creates an empathic me-to-them connection? In this video clip the teacher begins by asking the three-year-old girl to give the slug a name. Watch the rest of the clip and comment on how the teacher scaffolds the play so the child can reach this objective of taking care of “a neighbor,” as the teacher says at the end. Comment on where the teacher gives direct ideas and when she asks the girl to come up with an idea. Why does the teacher make the choice to use one of these two strategies. Why do you think the girl decided not to put Sluggy where the log was? What was the girl thinking as she pulled grass to add to the spot where she lay Sluggy?

For many weeks, three-year-old Dryden has shown an interest in unusual rocks. He collects them near the school. Today he has found a rather large rock, too heavy for him to carry. He requires the help of an adult. This video clip shows his actions and the way in which his teacher, Mr. Pat, balances helping with encouraging the children’s planning.

This video clip shows a four-year-old interacting with a teacher and looking at a butterfly. Viewers see different strategies that teachers and children use hundreds of times a week. As you think about these strategies, consider all that we can learn from them about how children think and about how teachers enter and extend the child’s world of wondering.

In this video clip, a group of four year olds decides to act out the emergence of plants from the earth. They gather under a brown blanket meant to represent the dirt in a garden and listen for the music to guide them to grow. “Soon, the music will tell your body what to do, and it might tell your voice what to do as well. Just listen,” their teacher explains. The children are patient and listen to the music. As the music crescendos Lara begins to “grow” but stops when she notices her friends are not. They rise from the “ground” together and use their bodies to represent the plants. The children are then invited to use instruments to represent more garden sounds.

This video clip shows a four year old covering herself with leaves. Her friends come over to see what she is doing. The teacher explains that she’s “getting covered up,” and the friends want to try it too. What makes it fun for children to cover themselves up with leaves? Perhaps the fun resides in the paradox of creating a sense of coziness out-of-doors. Children may enjoy reversing a primary attribute of the open outdoor space.

This video clip shows four year olds on a walk through the forest near their school. Finding the remains of an adult tree, the children wonder what happened to the missing parts. One child speculates that a dragon took down the tree. Rather than ask if dragons are real, the teacher uses this opportunity to engage in a little discussion about evidence. Watch this clip and offer your comments on the value of these few moments for the children. Also comment on what you might have said in addition to or instead of what the teacher said. Offer some comments on how the boy’s ability to actually throw a rock at a fallen tree might have contributed to his choice of saying the dragon might have done the same.

This video clip shows four five-year-old children and a teacher as they work to build a tower using large sections of tree trunk. As the children arrange the wood to create a platform for their structure they encounter a problem that they attempt to solve.

This video clip shows five-year-old Hunter explaining the rain cycle as he points to his drawing. Quite often, and in this episode as well, children add new twists to their theories after they draw an event. The elements of the drawing, the mountain, the moving clouds, the teacher’s question about what makes the clouds start to rain, were not yet parts of an integrated theory of what causes what. As children navigate their drawings in the context of trying to explain how things work, they invent solutions. This process, called “drawing to learn,” reveals that symbols have both a representative power (putting down on paper what one knows) and a generative power (helping children construct an understanding that goes beyond their original theory).