Preface

"*There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.*"—Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa

In today's world, early childhood education is more important than ever before, because we have never raised children in more advanced societies across the globe. However, even with the knowledge base and advances we have today, gaps remain in relation to early childhood education. Some countries have very advanced societies, while other societies do not enjoy those luxuries. Researchers from early childhood education, literacy, science, technology, mathematics, science, and special education have all contributed to this special volume so that all these resources about early childhood education can be located in one place.

The goal of this book is to formulate international research to include Latin America, South Africa, the United States, Turkey, Nigeria, Greece, Crete, and India. This book will serve as a resource for students, researchers, and practitioners in the area of early childhood education. The 18 chapters are in no particular order except that they are divided and organized into the major areas relevant to early childhood education: early childhood development, play, science, mathematics, technology, literacy, and exceptional learners. Each chapter contains an overview of background information pertinent to the chapter and a synopsis of research or a new research study. The information contained in this handbook provides a foundation for past and/or present research and suggests future research studies.

The first two chapters are included in the *Early Childhood Development* section because it discusses early childhood development on a broad scale.

Chapter 1, "Compulsory Preschool in Latin America: Comparative Evolution and Future Challenges," discusses a comparative study focused on dramatic efforts to increase preschool coverage, with a broad success that favors the level of attainment in primary education throughout Latin America. While this is recognized throughout the countries as a significant progress for the improvement of access for many young children, it has been acknowledged that the extent of this expansion has been very unequal. The comparative study helps to reveal the different developments, as well as the diverse situations and political agendas when Latin American countries adopt international agendas to their particular realities and education contexts.

Chapter 2, "Opportunities in the Odds: Exploring Adult-Child Interactions and Their Effects on Children's Cognitive and Learning Progress," is action research and raises awareness on the influence that small changes in adult-child interactions can have on children's cognitive and learning progress. The authors address learning opportunities found through the odds of conventional teaching in an early childhood setting. In an effort to promote good thinking that develops language and cognition in young bilingual children, the authors found the use of documentation, and asking good questions were important aspects to engage disengaged children and teachers.

The next section is identified as *Play* because it is an essential part of human development in early childhood. Play is crucial for children's imagination and their emotional, social, and academic well-being. It has often been said that play is a child's work or job. That said, it is their job to explore the world around them and take risks. Play is the human right of all children, no matter where they live. The idea that children need to play has stood the test of time. In this book, we explore movement, emergent literacy, and pedagogy.

Chapter 3, "Jack Be Nimble and Jack Be Quick: Increasing Movement Competence in Early Childhood Settings," focuses on the importance for early childhood researchers, caregivers, educators, and policy makers to understand the relationship of movement competence in early childhood to later movement and academic success.

Chapter 4, "Play as a Mechanism of Promoting Emergent Literacy among Young Children: The Indian Context," summarizes the status of emergent literacy in India, discussing the significance of play in early years. It is crucial to emphasize the role of traditional games, stories, and lullabies as a mechanism to enhance children's holistic development and learning. There is also a need for incorporating traditional play in the regular curriculum and classroom practices in early childhood programs and this has reflected the significance of inculcating cultural values and beliefs among children through traditional games, plays, and stories.

Chapter 5, "To Teach or Not to Teach in the Early Years: What Does this Mean in Early Childhood Education," examines this undertheorized notion by revisiting constructivist theory, reexamining the differences between constructivism and critical social constructionism, and in the process explores many underpinning beliefs about knowledge in early years pedagogy. Examples of critical social constructionist pedagogy, drawn from some of the "big ideas" in the social sciences, are provided in an attempt to blur the boundaries between the binaries that have dogged educational reform in the early years for decades.

The next section is *Science* in early childhood classrooms, specifically the Reggio Emilia approach in preschools in Turkey and the importance of addressing stereotypes in early childhood education.

Chapter 6, "Science Education in Reggio Emilia-Inspired Altın Çağ Preschools," focuses on integrated teaching and learning philosophy and the 3H principle of early childhood education, namely hands-on, heads-on (minds-on), and hearts-on education, because in Reggio Emilia classrooms, children are seen as a whole with their hands, minds, and hearts, and education needs to satisfy all. Moreover, this chapter presents some examples and photos of science experiences happening within the project named "80" in Reggio Emilia-inspired Altın Çağ preschools in Turkey so that the teachers can easily comprehend how to get children to work on science projects from the first stage of development of a project to the last stage.

Chapter 7, "Developing Young Scientists: The Importance of Addressing Stereotypes in Early Childhood Education," explores stereotypes young children hold of scientists and how to recognize, address, and combat these stereotypes in the early childhood classrooms. The history of drawings of scientists will be used to begin the discussion and pedagogical methodologies will be discussed.

The next section examines *Mathematics,* namely spatial reasoning, early numeracy, and mathematical concepts in games. Early childhood mathematical skills, whether

**VII**

participation.

in formal or informal settings, are designed to lay the foundation for one's life;

Chapter 9, "Predictors of Early Numeracy: Applied Measures in Two Childcare Contexts," assesses differences in early numeracy, phonological awareness, receptive language, executive functioning, and working memory for children in two childcare settings (family and center) to determine whether applied measures of phonological awareness and executive functioning could serve as predictors of numeracy performance. These results suggest a connection between children's numeracy skills and a developmental change from receptive language skills to

Chapter 10, "Black Students' Rich Mathematical Experiences: Mathematics Concepts and Xhosa Cultural Games for Reception Class," explores cultural games played by students during playtime and in their communities with the aim of eliciting mathematics embedded and attained while engaging in the game. The chapter recommends culturally relevant pedagogy that integrates mathematics learning with students' cultural artifacts for ownership of knowledge and recognition of

The next section is about *Technology* because it relates to early childhood education and includes television, (auto)photography, and coding. Each is a new literacy for the twenty-first century and, as a literacy, enables new ways of thinking and new ways of communicating and expressing ideas, as well as new ways of civic

Chapter 11, "Tourist or Traveler? Unpacking Informal Conversations between Teachers and Young Children across Diversity," describes a study that uses autophotography to examine the ways teachers engage in informal conversations with young children who come from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, around their photos of home. Specifically, conversations are interrogated to identify what impacts teacher-student interactions across differences. Using Gee's discourse analysis, this study explores how the teachers built or lessened what the children viewed as significant, how they distributed their social goods—influence, power, or status—and how they created or positioned identities within the conversations.

Chapter 12, "Evaluating a Course for Teaching Advanced Programming Concepts with Scratch to Preservice Kindergarten Teachers: A Case Study in Greece," discusses a game-based approach to coding education for preservice kindergarten teachers using Scratch. The aim of using Scratch was to excite students' interest and familiarize them with the basics of programming in an open-ended, project-based, and personally meaningful environment for a semester course in the Department of Preschool Education in the University of Crete. For the projects, they were required to design their own interactive stories to teach certain concepts about mathematics or physical science to preschool-age students. The results we obtained were more satisfactory than expected and, to a certain extent, encouraging if one considers the fact that the research participants had no prior experiences with computational thinking.

pluralism for economic and development initiatives globally.

Chapter 8, "The Importance of Spatial Reasoning in Early Childhood Mathematics," describes a study that uses a primary-level screener and diagnostic to assess students' spatial reasoning and then provides curricular resources to improve students' understanding of mathematics. The study shows students' mathematical spatial

therefore, they are of utmost importance.

reasoning improved significantly.

phonological working memory skills.

in formal or informal settings, are designed to lay the foundation for one's life; therefore, they are of utmost importance.

Chapter 8, "The Importance of Spatial Reasoning in Early Childhood Mathematics," describes a study that uses a primary-level screener and diagnostic to assess students' spatial reasoning and then provides curricular resources to improve students' understanding of mathematics. The study shows students' mathematical spatial reasoning improved significantly.

Chapter 9, "Predictors of Early Numeracy: Applied Measures in Two Childcare Contexts," assesses differences in early numeracy, phonological awareness, receptive language, executive functioning, and working memory for children in two childcare settings (family and center) to determine whether applied measures of phonological awareness and executive functioning could serve as predictors of numeracy performance. These results suggest a connection between children's numeracy skills and a developmental change from receptive language skills to phonological working memory skills.

Chapter 10, "Black Students' Rich Mathematical Experiences: Mathematics Concepts and Xhosa Cultural Games for Reception Class," explores cultural games played by students during playtime and in their communities with the aim of eliciting mathematics embedded and attained while engaging in the game. The chapter recommends culturally relevant pedagogy that integrates mathematics learning with students' cultural artifacts for ownership of knowledge and recognition of pluralism for economic and development initiatives globally.

The next section is about *Technology* because it relates to early childhood education and includes television, (auto)photography, and coding. Each is a new literacy for the twenty-first century and, as a literacy, enables new ways of thinking and new ways of communicating and expressing ideas, as well as new ways of civic participation.

Chapter 11, "Tourist or Traveler? Unpacking Informal Conversations between Teachers and Young Children across Diversity," describes a study that uses autophotography to examine the ways teachers engage in informal conversations with young children who come from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, around their photos of home. Specifically, conversations are interrogated to identify what impacts teacher-student interactions across differences. Using Gee's discourse analysis, this study explores how the teachers built or lessened what the children viewed as significant, how they distributed their social goods—influence, power, or status—and how they created or positioned identities within the conversations.

Chapter 12, "Evaluating a Course for Teaching Advanced Programming Concepts with Scratch to Preservice Kindergarten Teachers: A Case Study in Greece," discusses a game-based approach to coding education for preservice kindergarten teachers using Scratch. The aim of using Scratch was to excite students' interest and familiarize them with the basics of programming in an open-ended, project-based, and personally meaningful environment for a semester course in the Department of Preschool Education in the University of Crete. For the projects, they were required to design their own interactive stories to teach certain concepts about mathematics or physical science to preschool-age students. The results we obtained were more satisfactory than expected and, to a certain extent, encouraging if one considers the fact that the research participants had no prior experiences with computational thinking.

**VI**

The next section is identified as *Play* because it is an essential part of human development in early childhood. Play is crucial for children's imagination and their emotional, social, and academic well-being. It has often been said that play is a child's work or job. That said, it is their job to explore the world around them and take risks. Play is the human right of all children, no matter where they live. The idea that children need to play has stood the test of time. In this book, we explore

Chapter 3, "Jack Be Nimble and Jack Be Quick: Increasing Movement Competence in Early Childhood Settings," focuses on the importance for early childhood researchers, caregivers, educators, and policy makers to understand the relationship of movement competence in early childhood to later movement and academic success.

Chapter 4, "Play as a Mechanism of Promoting Emergent Literacy among Young Children: The Indian Context," summarizes the status of emergent literacy in India, discussing the significance of play in early years. It is crucial to emphasize the role of traditional games, stories, and lullabies as a mechanism to enhance children's holistic development and learning. There is also a need for incorporating traditional play in the regular curriculum and classroom practices in early childhood programs and this has reflected the significance of inculcating cultural values and beliefs

Chapter 5, "To Teach or Not to Teach in the Early Years: What Does this Mean in Early Childhood Education," examines this undertheorized notion by revisiting constructivist theory, reexamining the differences between constructivism and critical social constructionism, and in the process explores many underpinning beliefs about knowledge in early years pedagogy. Examples of critical social constructionist pedagogy, drawn from some of the "big ideas" in the social sciences, are provided in an attempt to blur the boundaries between the binaries that have

The next section is *Science* in early childhood classrooms, specifically the Reggio Emilia approach in preschools in Turkey and the importance of addressing stereo-

Chapter 6, "Science Education in Reggio Emilia-Inspired Altın Çağ Preschools," focuses on integrated teaching and learning philosophy and the 3H principle of early childhood education, namely hands-on, heads-on (minds-on), and hearts-on education, because in Reggio Emilia classrooms, children are seen as a whole with their hands, minds, and hearts, and education needs to satisfy all. Moreover, this chapter presents some examples and photos of science experiences happening within the project named "80" in Reggio Emilia-inspired Altın Çağ preschools in Turkey so that the teachers can easily comprehend how to get children to work on science projects from the first stage of development of a project to the last stage.

Chapter 7, "Developing Young Scientists: The Importance of Addressing Stereotypes in Early Childhood Education," explores stereotypes young children hold of scientists and how to recognize, address, and combat these stereotypes in the early childhood classrooms. The history of drawings of scientists will be used to begin the

The next section examines *Mathematics,* namely spatial reasoning, early numeracy, and mathematical concepts in games. Early childhood mathematical skills, whether

among children through traditional games, plays, and stories.

dogged educational reform in the early years for decades.

discussion and pedagogical methodologies will be discussed.

types in early childhood education.

movement, emergent literacy, and pedagogy.

Two chapters included in the *Literacy* section are relevant to two very important topics in reading: the screening of young children and emergent reading and brain development. Reading and reading difficulties are some of the most researched topics in the literature in regard to education. Emergent reading emphasizes the developmental continuum aspect of learning to read and advocates the importance of reading-related behaviors occurring before school. The brain-imaging evidence elucidates our understanding of the importance of emergent reading from a neurobiological point of view.

Chapter 13, "Screening Young Children at Risk for Reading Failure," focuses on the screening measures and their characteristics toward significance and effectiveness. More specifically, discrimination accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity as well as validity and reliability are taken into consideration. Some well-known studies are examined revealing a range of methodological issues, which affected the effectiveness of using measures in the extant research.

Chapter 14, "Emergent Reading and Brain Development," discusses brain imaging's evidence of high plasticity of young children's brains and emergent reading experience that can shape brain development to support fluent reading. Future studies are needed to understand how emergent reading experience can become a protective factor for children at risk for reading impairments. Future studies need to design early interventions to improve emergent reading experience, which is a crucial part.

The four chapters in the *Exceptional Learners* section are pertinent to the fact that there has been an increase in students with cognitive, social, and emotional disorders included in general education classrooms today. Significant debate continues to surround the issue of students with emotional and behavioral disorders and other disabilities for placement in general education settings. The practice of inclusive education within general education classrooms is becoming more prevalent within early childhood settings and there has been an absence of empirically sound research to guide policy and practice. To successfully deliver classroom curriculums, promote learner growth, and meet the goals of all students served within inclusive settings, teachers must have a basic understanding of the unique learning needs of all students, including those with visual impairments and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Chapter 15, "Obstacles to Inclusion: One Early Childhood Inclusive Teacher's Perspective," explores the experience of one such environment in which several students with emotional disturbances are included in a first-grade classroom. The frustrated teacher expressed a perceived lack of knowledge in handling behaviors and persistent feelings of helplessness. She struggled with how to handle the behaviors of the students with emotional disturbances and questioned if their inclusion in the general education classroom was best for all.

Chapter 16, "Relationships and Resources: Supporting Exceptional Learners from Birth through Primary School," outlines common milestones of young children, challenges experienced by parents and caregivers of young children with exceptionalities, and strategies and resources designed to support families on their journeys. The information is designed to be presented in a way to help set families and their little ones up for success. The content provided in this chapter is built on the premise that knowledge is power, that all children can learn, and that parent-professional partnerships are central to the growth of all learners.

**IX**

Chapter 17, "Promoting the Social Competence of Each and Every Child in Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms," examines social competence in early childhood while considering existing research, developmental theory, and best practices and policies, many of which (on their own) address limited facets of a complex set of interactive competencies and outcomes. The potential and pitfalls of inclusive early childhood classroom structures relative to supporting interaction and social skill

Chapter 18, "Including Children with Visual Impairments in the Early Childhood Classroom," is designed as a basic starting point for early childhood educators who have limited to no background in working with students who have visual impairments. The goal of this chapter is to give early childhood educators a basic understanding of visual impairments, to know what questions to ask when serving children with vision loss, and to show how accessibility can be approached in a way

I would personally like to thank each and every author for their contribution to this book. Together, we have assembled something unique in the field of early childhood education, an international resource in the fields of literacy, science, technology, mathematics, science, and special education. We only advance the field when we learn about each other's work and embrace early childhood education as a whole

**Donna Farland-Smith**

The Ohio State University,

Associate Professor of Teaching & Learning,

Columbus, Ohio, United States of America

that is meaningful to students with visual impairments.

field. The children we teach today are our future!

development are explored.

Chapter 17, "Promoting the Social Competence of Each and Every Child in Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms," examines social competence in early childhood while considering existing research, developmental theory, and best practices and policies, many of which (on their own) address limited facets of a complex set of interactive competencies and outcomes. The potential and pitfalls of inclusive early childhood classroom structures relative to supporting interaction and social skill development are explored.

Chapter 18, "Including Children with Visual Impairments in the Early Childhood Classroom," is designed as a basic starting point for early childhood educators who have limited to no background in working with students who have visual impairments. The goal of this chapter is to give early childhood educators a basic understanding of visual impairments, to know what questions to ask when serving children with vision loss, and to show how accessibility can be approached in a way that is meaningful to students with visual impairments.

I would personally like to thank each and every author for their contribution to this book. Together, we have assembled something unique in the field of early childhood education, an international resource in the fields of literacy, science, technology, mathematics, science, and special education. We only advance the field when we learn about each other's work and embrace early childhood education as a whole field. The children we teach today are our future!

> **Donna Farland-Smith** Associate Professor of Teaching & Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America

**VIII**

Two chapters included in the *Literacy* section are relevant to two very important topics in reading: the screening of young children and emergent reading and brain development. Reading and reading difficulties are some of the most researched topics in the literature in regard to education. Emergent reading emphasizes the developmental continuum aspect of learning to read and advocates the importance of reading-related behaviors occurring before school. The brain-imaging evidence elucidates our understanding of the importance of emergent reading from a neuro-

Chapter 13, "Screening Young Children at Risk for Reading Failure," focuses on the screening measures and their characteristics toward significance and effectiveness. More specifically, discrimination accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity as well as validity and reliability are taken into consideration. Some well-known studies are examined revealing a range of methodological issues, which affected the effective-

Chapter 14, "Emergent Reading and Brain Development," discusses brain imaging's evidence of high plasticity of young children's brains and emergent reading experience that can shape brain development to support fluent reading. Future studies are needed to understand how emergent reading experience can become a protective factor for children at risk for reading impairments. Future studies need to design early interventions to improve emergent reading experience, which is a crucial part.

The four chapters in the *Exceptional Learners* section are pertinent to the fact that there has been an increase in students with cognitive, social, and emotional disorders included in general education classrooms today. Significant debate continues to surround the issue of students with emotional and behavioral disorders and other disabilities for placement in general education settings. The practice of inclusive education within general education classrooms is becoming more prevalent within early childhood settings and there has been an absence of empirically sound

research to guide policy and practice. To successfully deliver classroom curriculums, promote learner growth, and meet the goals of all students served within inclusive settings, teachers must have a basic understanding of the unique learning needs of all students, including those with visual impairments and the Individuals with

Chapter 15, "Obstacles to Inclusion: One Early Childhood Inclusive Teacher's Perspective," explores the experience of one such environment in which several students with emotional disturbances are included in a first-grade classroom. The frustrated teacher expressed a perceived lack of knowledge in handling behaviors and persistent feelings of helplessness. She struggled with how to handle the behaviors of the students with emotional disturbances and questioned if their inclusion in

Chapter 16, "Relationships and Resources: Supporting Exceptional Learners from Birth through Primary School," outlines common milestones of young children, challenges experienced by parents and caregivers of young children with exceptionalities, and strategies and resources designed to support families on their journeys. The information is designed to be presented in a way to help set families and their little ones up for success. The content provided in this chapter is built on the premise that knowledge is power, that all children can learn, and that parent-professional

biological point of view.

ness of using measures in the extant research.

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

the general education classroom was best for all.

partnerships are central to the growth of all learners.

**1**

Section 1

Early Childhood

Development

Section 1
