Children Explain the Rainbow: Using Young Children’s Ideas to Guide Science Curricula

This study examines young children’s ideas about natural science phenomena and explores possibilities in starting investigations in kindergarten from their ideas. Given the possibilities inherent in how young children make sense of their experiences, we believe it is critical to take children’s perspectives into consideration when designing any activities, and ideally, to design activities from their perspectives and understandings. Specifically, this research focuses on 5- and 6-year old children’s explanations of rainbows, and there are three main findings. First, our analysis demonstrates that opportunities to discuss their ideas revealed children’s different perceptions of the phenomena of rainbows. Secondly, this research emphasizes that peer-to-peer interaction in the co-construction of science concepts provided support to the children to learn from, and with, each other. Third, children’s initial explanations provided the teacher-researcher (second author) with a starting point to scaffold her teaching from. Although rainbows are quite an abstract topic to try to reproduce in the classroom, the children demonstrated their often sophisticated understandings of natural science phenomena, as well as their creative ideas as related to rainbows. In order to foster an appreciation of themes in natural science, it is crucial to build from what children already know and can do, and to use these emergent theories and considerations in designing curriculum. Thus, we draw implications for the importance of teaching science at the early childhood level and for using children’s ideas as starting points in planning instruction.     

Relating Preschool Quality to Children’s Literacy Development

Preschool classrooms were investigated to determine the extent to which quality is related to children’s literacy development. The study included 24 classrooms of 428 prekindergarten children in a large, urban Midwestern school district. Results suggest that global classroom quality and literacy environment quality are strongly related. Literacy environment quality and children’s literacy abilities are also related. Differences in classroom quality were found to have an impact on children’s literacy scores—the higher the quality, the higher the scores. This article also describes lessons learned from the investigation and provides suggestions for teachers and administrators for improving quality to enhance literacy development.     

Looked-after Children: what supports them to learn?

This paper outlines a study which explored six young Looked-after Children’s perceptions of what supports them to learn. The participants were aged between eight and nine years old and lived in the UK. The study adopted semi-structured interviews and notepad diaries as research methods and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research methodology. Three super-ordinate themes were developed, which focussed on the importance which participants placed on school as the major support for learning as summarised in the themes: a place where I am accepted; a place where I can make choices; and a place which personalises learning. A model seeking to outline the findings was generated and the implications which the research raises are discussed. Additionally, considerations for future research are outlined.     

The Factors Related to Preschool Children and Their Mothers on Children’s Intuitional Mathematics Abilities

The aim of this study is to assess the factors that are related to preschool children and their mothers on children’s’ intuitional mathematics abilities. Results of the study showed that there were significant differences in children’s intuitional mathematics abilities when children are given the opportunity to think intuitionally and to make estimations, and when their mothers believe in the importance of providing such opportunities in the home setting. Children who tended to think fast and to examine details of objects had significantly higher scores. Also, the working mothers aimed to give opportunities to their children more often than non-working mothers. The mothers whose children received preschool education tended to give more opportunities to their children to think intuitionally and to make estimations. When incorrect intuitional answers or estimations were made by children, lower-educated mothers tended to scold their children much more than higher educated mothers. Mothers having at least a university degree explained more often to the children why they were in error than did the less-educated mothers.     

Making the Intentional Decision to Use an Effective Curriculum to Promote Children’s Learning

This study investigated the extent to which early education classrooms across Indiana implemented evidence-based practices and how well the classrooms of different types of early education programs in our state compared with one another. Evidence-based effective curricula increase children’s learning compared to those that are not effective. This article addresses the question: “Are the curricula used by the teachers effective?” The 81 participating classrooms included 28 in licensed child care centers, 27 in Head Start, and 26 in public school prekindergarten. Of the 81 classrooms, 80 teachers responded to the question: “What curriculum or curricula do you use in your classroom?” We used a three-step process to determine whether each response named a curriculum based on the Head Start definition; whether studies of the curriculum met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) guidelines for being evidence-based; and if the WWC reviews identified the curriculum as effective in increasing children’s learning. Findings revealed that only 2 of 80 responding teachers used a curriculum determined by WWC to be effective. Other teachers used curricula that did not meet the Head Start definition, used curricula that did not meet the WWC standards for evidence, or used curricula with evidence but that were ineffective. These findings suggest that administrators and teachers should opt for a curriculum determined to be effective and to choose whether the curriculum will be math- or literacy-based since no comprehensive curriculum has been determined to be effective. A challenge for implementation is that the WWC has shown only five curricula to be effective.     

What Does Your Child Really Know? Supporting Teachers to Listen Closely to Our Children

Close listening and observation of children as an alternative assessment is a powerful approach that can help balance an emphasis on standardized measurement. The tool of Reggio-inspired documentation is described for families with suggestions on how to advocate and support teachers who want to tell a story about children's learning that highlights social language, collaboration, and problem solving and to serve as evidence in meeting required curriculum standards.     

Children’s access to pre‐school education in Bangladesh

Using the Education Watch household survey database, this paper explores children’s access to pre‐school education in Bangladesh. Participation in pre‐school education has been increasing in Bangladesh at the rate of 0.6% per year and the net enrolment rate was found to be 13.4% in 2005. Enrolment of over‐aged children in pre‐school education made the gross enrolment ratio as high as 30.5%. However, over half of the four to five year olds at school were actually enrolled in primary school and not in pre‐school. Moreover, 71% of the four‐ to five‐year group were out of school. Only a third of the four‐ to five‐year‐old children enrolled in schools had the opportunity to attend the English‐medium kindergartens or NGO‐run non‐formal schools, both of which provide better quality pre‐school education. Urban children, especially those with educated parents and from more privileged socio‐economic backgrounds, were more likely to have access to pre‐school education. The lack of a common pre‐school curriculum seems to have created further inequity among children at this very early age. An educational policy targeting poor and socially disadvantaged children with support from both the state and current pre‐school providers is urgently needed to provide four‐ to five‐year‐old children appropriate education for their needs.     

President Bush＇s State of the Union Letter to Children

Since september 11,2001,many of you have sent cards,letters,and drawings to express your love for our great nation and for the families of the victims thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me(与我交流思想)。     

President Bush’s State of the Union Letter to Children

Dear Young Americans:Since September 11,2001,many of you have sent cards,letters,and drawings to express you love for our great Nation and for the famlies of the victims.Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me.     

Asking Children to “Be Helpers” Can Backfire After Setbacks

Describing behaviors as reflecting categories (e.g., asking children to “be helpers”) has been found to increase pro-social behavior. The present studies (N = 139, ages 4–5) tested whether such effects backfire if children experience setbacks while performing category-relevant actions. In Study 1, children were asked either to “be helpers” or “to help,” and then pretended to complete a series of successful scenarios (e.g., pouring milk) and unsuccessful scenarios (e.g., spilling milk while trying to pour). After the unsuccessful trials, children asked to “be helpers” had more negative attitudes. In Study 2, asking children to “be helpers” impeded children's helping behavior after they experienced difficulties while trying to help. Implications for how category labels shape beliefs and behavior are discussed.     

Investigating Children’s Abilities to Count and Make Quantitative Comparisons

This study was designed to investigate children’s abilities to count and make quantitative comparisons. In addition, this study utilized reasoning questions (i.e., how did you know?). Thirty-four preschoolers, mean age 4.5 years old, participated in the study. According to the results, 89 % of the children (n = 30) were able to do rote counting and 70 % (n = 24) were able to do rational counting. When children were asked how they knew how many objects were in a set, 30 responded that they used a counting strategy. Sixty-five percent of children (n = 22) answered “zero” when no block was given and 21 children answered “nothing” when they were asked what zero meant to them. About quantitative comparisons, 65 % of children (n = 22) answered correctly when they were asked more and less questions.     

Children’s understandings related to hazardous household items and waste

This study focuses on children’s understanding of hazardous household items (HHI) and waste (HHW). Children from grades 4, 5 and 6 (n=173) participated in a questionnaire and interview research design. The results indicate that: (a) on a daily basis the children used HHI and disposed of HHW, (b) the children did not realize the danger of these items and their exposure to hazardous substances, (c) some children ignore consequent adverse health effects, (d) school‐based recycling and other environmental education programs can have a significant effect on children’s conceptions, and (e) even though children use and discard HHI, they can also present a strong external environmental locus of control orientation, considering that others, and not they themselves, should deal with the problem. The findings enrich the knowledge base on the topic, and can be used in the development of environmental education pedagogies aimed at reducing environmental and health risks associated with the use and disposal of hazardous items.     

Number Knowledge and Young Children’s Ability to Measure Length

Research Findings: In this research we explore the relationship between young children’s number knowledge and their measurement of length. First, we examined 4- to 5-year-olds’ (kindergartners’) understanding of and preference for using standard or nonstandard units to measure length. Second, we investigated whether the following tasks were related to children’s understanding of using standard (i.e., rulers) and nonstandard (i.e., blocks) units to measure length: (a) counting and written number identification knowledge, (b) symbolic or nonsymbolic number magnitude comparison ability, and (c) approximate number line estimation ability. Third, we examined whether understanding these number tasks predicted understanding how to measure length for both standard and nonstandard units. Our results show that young children prefer to use standard units of measurement when given a choice, and some of these children use a ruler correctly. Our results also show an important relationship between children’s understandings of numbers and measurement. Practice or Policy: Given children’s preference for rulers, introducing both nonstandard and standard units in early learning settings concurrently rather than consecutively is recommended for practice.     

Children’s Ability to Learn Evolutionary Explanations for Biological Adaptation

Research Findings: Evolution by natural selection is often relegated to the high school curriculum on the assumption that younger students cannot grasp its complexity. We sought to test that assumption by teaching children ages 4–12 (n = 96) a selection-based explanation for biological adaptation and comparing their success to that of adults (n = 30). Participants provided explanations before and after a 10-min, analogy-based tutorial illustrating the principles of variation, differential survival, differential reproduction, inheritance, and population change. Although younger children (ages 4–6) showed minimal evidence of learning these principles, older children (ages 7–12) showed robust evidence of doing so, learning them at rates equivalent to adults. Participants of all ages, however, provided nonevolutionary explanations for biological adaptations (i.e., explanations referencing need, growth, and creation) nearly as often at posttest as they did at pretest. Practice or Policy: These results suggest that older elementary school-age children can be taught evolutionary concepts but that learning such concepts does not lead to the automatic replacement of nonevolutionary views of biological adaptation, which must be addressed separately.     

Children’s epistemological views according to their learning centre preferences

The purpose of the study was to investigate children’s epistemological beliefs in terms of their free play preferences in relation to learning centres. The study was conducted with 115 children coming from families with high socio-economic status (54 girls and 61 boys, 57 five years old and 58 six years old) during the 2015/2016 spring semester. The Epistemological Beliefs Scale for Children was administered to each child individually. In addition, all the children were shown pictures of science, drama, music, literacy, painting and mathematic centres prepared by two researchers and asked to choose the one they preferred for play during free time. Each child was interviewed by one researcher and each interview lasted approximately 15–20 minutes. According to the overall results of the study, children’s epistemological views tended to be dogmatic; however, some children thought more sceptically. Furthermore, children had a sophisticated thinking style in certain dimensions of knowledge while having immature reasoning in others. It was also found that the source of knowledge and hypothesising sub-dimensions of epistemological views indicated dogmatic thoughts. On the other hand, children had sceptical thoughts concerning the sub-dimension of change in knowledge.     

The Implementation of Character Education and Children’s Literature to Teach Bullying Characteristics and Prevention Strategies to Preschool Children: An Action Research Project

Bullying behaviors among young children are taking place in preschool classrooms and child-development centers. The author makes a case, based on bullying themes in children’s literature and both qualitative and quantitative data collection with young children, for the use of children’s picture books to teach character as bullying prevention to 4–6 year old children. Through the reading of picture books and character education activities with a bullying theme preschool children develop a better understanding of bullying characteristics and strategies for dealing with bullying behaviors. Included are the results from questionnaires and interviews with preschool children and an annotated bibliography of children’s picture books and activities useful in the instruction and prevention of bullying behaviors.     

Children’s Developing Ability to Resolve Disagreements by Integrating Perspectives

Children live in a world where disagreement is commonplace. Although disagreement can sometimes be explained by differences in people’s reliability, disagreement may also indicate that the referent elicits multiple perspectives. The present studies (total N = 129, 5- to 12-year-old ethnically diverse U.S. children, 42% girls) examined children’s ability to resolve disagreement among two individuals by identifying referents that integrated the perspectives, and considered the extent to which any age-related change could be explained by epistemological understanding (i.e., acknowledging that two perspectives can be right). Children’s age was positively correlated with their ability to integrate perspectives, and children performed at above-chance levels by approximately 10 years of age. Age differences in integrating perspectives were partially accounted for by epistemological understanding.