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Explores the science inherent in good early years practice and provides ideas for early years teachers and practitioners.
Giving early years practitioners and students the confidence to effectively support scientific exploration and investigation with young children, this book explains the science behind young children's knowledge and understanding of the world. Linking theory to good early years practice, the emphasis throughout the book is on recognizing young children as competent, creative thinkers and building on their ideas. The reader is encouraged to think carefully about the role of the adult in supporting child-initiated learning and discovery by providing open ended resources, asking productive questions and observing carefully. The authors provide essential background information for all the key areas of scientific knowledge supported by practical ideas suitable for babies, toddlers and children aged 3 to 5 years. For each of these ideas, practice and theory are linked by highlighting the skills, attitudes and dispositions to observe and the questions to ask to challenge young children's thinking and plan for the next stages in their learning. Chapters cover: - the place of science in early years curricula in the UK - the processes of science and the role of the adult in supporting young children's scientific learning - using open ended resources to create a science-rich environment - essential background knowledge, covering all areas of early years science - ideas to use as starting points for exploration and investigation, indoors and outdoors - pointers for observational assessment and planning - suppliers of resources and equipment By making clear links to practice, and providing ideas to use with babies and toddlers as well as with 3-5 year old children, this book enables the reader to fully exploit the potential for exploration and investigation in any early years setting. Pat Brunton and Linda Thornton are both Education Consultants based in Cheltenham. They run their own training and consultancy company alc associates, and edit Early Years Update.
Young children are intuitive scientists. This book builds on their inherent curiosity and problem solving as they move forward in their scientific thinking. Science develops from early beginnings and a solid foundation in the early years is essential for their future learning and engagement with the subject. Starting Inquiry Based Science in the Early Years shows you how you can support children’s emerging scientific skills by working with them and scaffolding their inquiries as they experiment, hypothesise and investigate building on their natural curiosity. Full of practical advice, it offers a wide range of scientific activities that can be carried out in partnership with young children. Each activity presents a challenge for the child to solve by thinking and talking through their ideas and then carrying out their own investigations. This invaluable guide focuses on helping children to follow their own line of inquiry and supporting them in mastering the skills and vocabulary they need in order to do this. Features include: An explanation of the key skills children need to acquire and practical ideas for developing these; Useful lists of relevant vocabulary and everyday resources; Cue questions to encourage children’s thinking skills; Cross-curricular links to show how the activities support early literacy and mathematics. Providing a rich bank of resources for promoting scientific experiences and learning, this highly practical book will help you ensure that the children in your care have the strong foundations they need to become confident, successful scientists in the future.
This book looks at and challenge the traditional teaching views of science and aims to show how scientific exploration and thinking are at the heart of child led, child-centered EYFS provision. The EYFS asks that practitioners help children to become active learners who are inquisitive and have a thirst for new knowledge. This book will aim to show how scientific exploration, as an integral part of play based learning, can offer children these skills and develop their confidence to learn and independently explore the world around them. As an experienced early years trainer Kirstine's passion is science (her teaching degree is in primary science education) and she believe that this book could help build early years practitioners confidence in offering science based learning. She hopes that this book will take away some of the 'stuffed shirt mystery' of science and show that it is at the heart of good early years practice!
Science education in the early years is vital in assisting young children to come to know about and understand the world around them. Science in Early Childhood covers the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of teaching science in early childhood settings in way that is engaging and accessible. It is a comprehensive resource for students, as well as early childhood teachers and carers and provides up-to-date coverage of the Early Years Learning Framework. This text explores the current issues and debates in early childhood science education from an Australian perspective, whilst recognising the links to international practice and research. A summary at the start of each chapter helps students identify the key themes and ideas in early science education and application boxes throughout the text illustrate how theories relate to practice. Written by experts in the field, Science in Early Childhood is essential reading for pre-service teachers.
Teaching science to young children has long been an area of intense interest and concern to educators. Investigating Science with Young Children is specifically designed to address this concern in a practical, timely, and enjoyable way. Originally planned as an extension of the ten-booklet series, Science Experiences for Young Children (Teachers College Press, 1975), this book outlines 85 lively activities the teacher can use in guiding three-, four-, and five-year-olds in a fruitful exploration of science. The first part of the book presents a theoretical explanation of the process approach advocated by the author; the second, the activities themselves: Exploring Water, Mixing Colors, Setting Objects in Motion, to name a few. Investigating Science with Young Children offers an informed guide to resources necessary to implement an effective and productive science program. The book will help teachers fully understand the process approach and encourage them to develop their own science activities for the classroom. As the author states, “It is not enough to read about process science; you must use it to find out how much children enjoy and learn from this method.” This book will serve as a supplemental text for early childhood and primary science curriculum courses and as an invaluable resource for teachers. “There is much of value here.” —School Science & Mathematics “Teaching science by a process approach is an exciting adventure for both teachers and children. There is neither a predetermined sequence of events for children nor a specific set of directions for the teacher. Process science is an open-ended approach, and the direction learning will take is determined, for the most part, by the children.” —From the Preface
You asked for it---now you've got it In a focus group at a recent NSTA convention, teachers of prekindergarten through second grade clamored for help. They do want easy-to-do science activities they can use for everyday teaching. But they don't want to be forced to adapt material meant for older children. So here's the solution. Start Young offers a wealth of simple educational activities designed to use right away with even the littlest scientists. The book includes a chapter of helpful background on the latest thinking about effective ways to introduce science in early childhood. But the bulk of the book is two dozen articles compiled from Science & Children, NSTA's award-winning journal for elementary school teachers
This third edition has been substantially updated to include current research, written by a team of respected science education researchers. It complements the Australian Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum: Science. Concepts are brought to life through case studies, practical tasks and activity plans.
Applying social science subjects such as psychology, sociology, social policy and research methods to Early Years can help to raise standards and ensure good practice. These subjects inform much of the academic curriculum within many Early Years programmes and are subjects that make an important contribution to understanding children′s behaviour, growth and development. The book identifies, analyses and assesses how social science enriches Early Years as opposed to regarding Early Years and social science as distinct. Each chapter imaginatively introduces the main learning objectives and includes formative activities, which apply social science to particular themes to aid students′ cognitive skills.
