Beginning Essentials in Early Childhood Education

The book takes a developmental approach, rather than a subject-oriented approach, to help readers understand developmentally appropriate practice. Special topics related to ethics, diversity, standards, and professionalism highlight the practical applications of the material in the main text. In addition, “Teacher Talks” in every chapter provide first-person accounts of classroom challenges that early childhood educators are likely to encounter.

Learning Outcomes are correlated to the main sections in each chapter as well as to chapter summaries, focusing students' reading and showing them what they need to know, understand, and be able to apply after completing the chapter.

Standards integration shows how the text chapters correlate to the key NAEYC Standards, including chapter-opening listings of NAEYC Standards, integrated coverage of standards throughout the book, and a convenient Correlation Chart on the inside book covers that indicates where standards coverage appears.

NEW: MindTap for Education is a first-of-its-kind digital solution that prepares teachers by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they must demonstrate to earn an education degree and state licensure, and to being a successful career. Through activities based on real-life teaching situations, MindTap elevates students’ thinking by giving them experiences in applying concepts, practicing skills, and evaluating decisions, guiding them to become reflective educators.

New “Teacher Talks” vignettes, written experiences from classroom teachers, appear in every chapter to bring the reality of the classroom to students. These vignettes enhance students' understanding of the variety of teacher roles and responsibilities as well as provide a window to the personal and professional growth of a teacher.

New A new “Brain Research Says. . .” feature in each chapter highlights some of the most important aspects of brain research and development today. The research is linked to classroom use and teacher application through questions that invite students to reflect on how this information relates to their teaching.

New TeachSource Digital Downloads are practical and professional resources, often customizable, that allow students to immediately implement and apply the textbook's content in the field. The student downloads these tools to keep, enabling preservice teachers to begin to build their library of resources. A TeachSource Digital Downloads label identifies these items throughout the text.

New topics such as technology in the classroom, media culture, challenging behavior, and intentional and reflective teaching assure the book's currency and broaden students' knowledge of early education.

A new chart on Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum Models clarifies and defines the differences and similarities of early childhood programs.

TeachSource Videos, many of which are new to this edition, feature footage from the classroom to help students relate key chapter content to real-life scenarios. Introduced in the text, the videos are accompanied by critical-thinking questions that provide opportunities for in-class or online discussion and reflection.