Vol.32, No.3 Summer 2011
The Journal of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children
Early Years
Science in
a Preschool
Classroom
The Creative
and Imaginative
Language of Young
Children
Understanding
Bullying in an Early
Childhood Context
Control Those Germs
How Schools Can
Prevent the Spread
of Germs
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Early Years
Vol. 32, No. 2
Summer 2011
FeatureD
The Journal of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children
8 Control Those Germs: The Role of the Schools
in Preventing the Spread of Germs
11
Control de los Gérmenes: El Papel de las
Escuelas en la Prevención de la Propagación de
Gérmenes
14The Creative and Imaginative Language of Young
Children
16Young Children’s Language: A Window on Their
Thinking Departments
18Bullies and Victims: Understanding Bullying in a
Early Childhood Context
22More than Rattles and Refereeing: Curriculum for
Children under Three
27
Departments
4 President’s Message
6 TEACH: Texas Update
3047th Annual Texas
AEYC Conference
Science in a Preschool Classroom
Early Years is the official publication of
the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children
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[
President’s Message
]
Children, Teachers & Families: Creating
A Vision for Tomorrow
Aaron Carrara, Board President, Texas AEYC
Dear Colleagues,
As summer approaches I would like to take
this opportunity to thank all of you for your
hard work and support of Texas AEYC’s programs and services. I am proud to announce
that T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Texas
AAS Degree scholarship recipients have
completed their first semester of school and
most of these individuals have re-enrolled in
classes for the summer sessions. Additionally,
our allotted T.E.A.C.H. CDA Assessment
scholarships were awarded in record time.
Feedback from our inaugural class of scholars
tells us that T.E.A.C.H. is an effective and
worthwhile initiative that plays an important role in providing Texas early childhood
practitioners with access to education. We
could not be more pleased with the progress
of T.E.A.C.H. Texas and are happy to announce that we are expanding the project into
Williamson, Falls and McClennan counties.
T.E.A.C.H. is not just a scholarship model,
it is a unique research-based movement that
ALL early childhood folks in our state should
promote and support. Professional develop-
ment is at the crux of Texas AEYC’s mission
and I am proud that T.E.A.C.H. has a home
within Texas AEYC’s infrastructure.
YOUR Texas AEYC has been extremely
busy this year collaborating, furthering
T.E.A.C.H., attending public policy meetings, providing public testimony and making sure the voice of our members and the
children and families they represent are
heard. During the session and beyond, our
board, members and everyone in the Texas
AEYC family will continue to work together
to promote best practices in early childhood
education because it is the right thing to do.
Mark Your Calendars for the 47th Annual
TAEYC Staff
Jackie Taylor
Program Director
[email protected]
Board of Directors
President & NAEYC Affiliate Rep.
Aaron Carrara
[email protected]
TAEYC Treasurer
Diana Nabors
[email protected]
TAEYC Secretary
Shawna Garrett
[email protected]
4 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
SECA Representative
Mary Jamsek
[email protected]
VP Advocacy
Mary Claire Munger
[email protected]
VP Affiliate Relations
Sue Gainer
[email protected]
VP Program Services
Earlene Gonzales
[email protected]
Texas AEYC Conference, which takes place
in Arlington, Texas on September 22-24,
2011. We have a tremendous lineup of activities and events, including national speakers
Diane Trister Dodge, Dr. Charles Smith,
Dan Hodgins and more! We are excited
about the atmosphere the Arlington Sheraton
Hotel and adjoining Convention Center offer
our conference participants, presenters and
vendors and we GUARANTEE an exciting
and informative time. Join your colleagues
for a power-packed conference that will help
create a vision for the future!
It is an honor and privilege to serve as president of Texas AEYC and I thank you for your
commitment to promoting high quality care
and education for young children through
your work and advocacy. As the old TAEYC
saying goes – “Together We are Better.”
Respectfully,
Aaron Carrara
President and Board Chair
Texas AEYC
VP of Membership
Mitzi Barlett
[email protected]
Past President
Kris Curtis
[email protected]
TAEYC Parliamentarian
Gwendolyn Sneed
[email protected]
Publications Committee Chair
Cynthia Simpson, PhD
Early Years editor
[email protected]
Early Childhood
Education
Would you like to continue your education?
Earn a Bachelor’s
Degree in Early
Childhood
Education
Three different programs at the
undergraduate level:
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
AVAILABLE!
Grants, Loans,
and Scholarships
• SHSUBAAS
Bachelor of Applied Sciences Early Care and Education
Non-teacher Certification
Focus on Early Years 0-8
Online courses
Allows transfer of AAS courses
• BS/IDS/EC-6Generalist
Bachelor of Science Interdisciplinary Studies
Early Childhood - 6th Grade
Generalist with ESL Supplement
Texas Teacher Certification
• BS/IDS/EC-12SpecialEducation
Bachelor of Science Interdisciplinary Studies
Early Childhood - 12
Special Education with
EC-6 Generalist
Texas Teacher Certification
CONTACT:
Dr. Diana Nabors
[email protected]
936-294-3950
Dr. Cindy Simpson
[email protected]
936-294-1238
Sam Houston State University
A Member of the Texas State University System
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood
TEXAS UPDATE
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood TEXAS would like to congratulate our recent
CDA Assessment Scholarship awardees:
Karen Dean
Barbara Russell
Elizabeth Morales
April Yarbrough
Christy Boles
Teresa Edwards
Quality Time DaycareHarker Heights
St. Dunstan’s ELC
Spring
Learning Tree Center
Corpus Christi
1st Baptist Church Ministry
Belton
Storyland PreschoolAmarillo
Storyland PreschoolAmarillo
T.E.A.C.H. Associate Degree scholarships are currently available for summer and fall sessions in the following
counties: Williamson (NEW!), McClennan (NEW!), Bell, Lampasas, Coryell, San Saba, Milam, Falls (NEW!),
Llano and Burnet. Please visit our website at www.texasaeyc.org to download an application for a T.E.A.C.H.
Associates Degree scholarship. T.E.A.C.H. will help cover the cost of your tuition and books PLUS provide a
travel stipend and a bonus for completion of 9-15 credit hours within a year. TAEYC and the T.E.A.C.H. Advisory
Committee continue to secure funding to spread T.E.A.C.H. across the great state of TEXAS!
We are currently accepting applications for Associate of Applied Science Degrees in Child Development or
Early Childhood Education statewide in anticipation of being able to offer scholarships in more communities by
the fall semester. An application can be downloaded from our website.
If you work at a community college and are interested in offering T.E.A.C.H. scholarships at your college, please
send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call at 512-215-8142.
Are you an EBAY fan? Texas AEYC is now listed in EBAY Giving Works. If you
auction something on EBAY, please consider donating part or all of your entire selling
price to Texas AEYC for T.E.A.C.H. scholarships. Set TAEYC on your watch list so
you can bid on items we auction! http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_
ID=44415
6 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood TEXAS is partnering with the 2010 American League Champions TEXAS Rangers
to raise scholarship money for those working in Early Childhood Education! Here’s how it works! Texas AEYC
Family and Friends are invited to take advantage of discounted tickets for up to 9 pricing levels.
Purchase tickets to one of the games listed on our website (www.texasaeyc.org) though our personal web portal.
USE THE PASSWORD rangers. For each ticket sold, $5 will be donated to T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Texas
scholarship fund. It’s that simple!
Go to one of these games this summer and help support T.E.A.C.H.:
Wednesday, June 8th vs. Tigers
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Friday, July 22nd vs. Blue Jays
7:05pm - Post-game fireworks
Friday, August 26th, vs.Angels
7:05pm - Post-game fireworks
Tuesday, June 21st vs. Astros
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Saturday, July 23rd vs. Twins
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Saturday, August 27th vs. Angels
7:05pm - Mercy Me Pre-Game Concert
Wednesday, June 22nd vs. Astros
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Wednesday, July 27th vs. Twins
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Wednesday, August 31st vs. Rays
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Sunday ,June 26th vs. Mets
7:05pm - C.J. Wilson Blue & Red Gloves
(First 10,000, 13 & under)
Friday, August 5th vs. Indians
7:05pm - Post-game fireworks
Friday September 9th vs. A’s
7:05pm - Post-game fireworks
Saturday, August 6th vs. Indians
7:05pm
Saturday, September 10th vs. A’s
7:05pm - Hispanic Concert
Wednesday, August 10th vs. Mariners
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Wednesday, September 14th vs. Indians
7:05pm - Dollar Hot Dog Night
Friday, July 8th vs.A’s
7:05pm - Post-game fireworks
Saturday, July 9th vs. A’s
7:05pm
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 7
feature
Control Those Germs:
The Role of the Schools in Preventing
the Spread of Germs
By José A. Santiago
caused by the spread of microorganisms are
the major contributor of absenteeism at the
elementary school level (Hammond, Ali,
Fendler, Dolan, & Donovan, 2000). This is a
major concern for school administrators and
teachers as absenteeism has been found to be
detrimental to student learning (Ohlund &
Ericsson, 1994).
Fighting the
Battle Against Germs!
Crowded classrooms, shared objects,
frequent student skin to skin contact, contaminated surfaces and items, inadequate
self-care skills, and improper cleaning make
our schools and child care facilities a favorable
place for the spread of communicative diseases. What is more surprising is that those
places in which our children’s little hands visit
the most are areas that carry various forms of
bacteria and viruses. School water fountain
toggles, pencil sharpeners, keyboards, and
faucet handles are the most contaminated
surfaces with bacteria while desktops, faucet
handles, and paper towel dispensers were
the most contaminated with viruses (Bright,
Boone, & Gerba, 2010).
Teachers, childcare providers, and parents
alike worry about keeping children healthy
and in attendance in school. Their worries
are well validated with the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) (2010), reporting that approximately 22 million school
days are lost each year due to common cold.
Research evidence suggests that illnesses
8 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
School personnel and childcare staff
should play a critical role in implementing
simple and practical strategies to prevent the
spread of germs that may cause communicative diseases. For example, incorporation of
hand hygiene education and hand washing
practices into the school curriculum has
been found to be an effective, inexpensive and
practical method of preventing the spread
of germs (Bright, Boone, & Gerba, 2010).
Teachers may schedule hand washing when
entering and leaving the classroom, before and
after lunch, after recess, after physical education, after use of the restrooms, and after
coughing or sneezing. The following hand
washing technique can be taught to children:
• Use soap and warm, running water.
• Lather and wash hands thoroughly, including wrists, palms, back of hands, fingers,
and under finger nails for at least 20 seconds.
• Rinse hands well under warm, running
water.
• Dry hands thoroughly with clean paper
or cloth towel or air dryer.
• Apply hand lotion if desired to help
prevent and soothe dry skin (The American
Society for Microbiology, n.d.).
While hand washing is an excellent
method for providing hand hygiene, it may
be difficult to implement in schools due to (a)
simple logistics, (b) students’ developmental
level, (c) time constraints, and (d) lack of
facilities (Hammond, Ali, Fendler, Dolan, &
Donovan, 2000). These challenges are well
documented. Visual reminders are beneficial
to students of all ages to help them recall
the steps involved in proper hand washing.
Free online resources are available for school
administrators and teachers to incorporate
hand-washing practices in the school curriculum (See Table 1).
Another common practice that has been
proven effective to help decrease the spread
of germs in the schools is the use of alcoholbased hand sanitizers. Hand sanitizing dispensers may be installed in the classrooms,
restrooms and cafeterias for teachers and
student use. The CDC (2002) recommends
selecting hand sanitizers with a concentration
of 60% to 95% alcohol because they are effective in combating bacteria. Similar to hand
washing, the students may use hand sanitizer
when entering and leaving the classroom,
before eating or drinking, after shaking hands,
and after use of the restroom. Teachers may
also encourage their students to use hand
sanitizers after sneezing or coughing. It is
important that teachers take time to teach
their students to cover their nose and mouth
with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.
When a tissue is not available, the students
may cough or sneeze into their upper sleeve
or elbow, but not their hands.
Get Everyone Involved!
The school nurse, custodians, cafeteria
staff, childcare director, and specialist teachers (e.g., physical education, technology, art)
may also contribute significantly to prevent
the spread of germs within the school or
childcare environment. It is important to
involve everyone in the fight against the
spread of germs. Often, at childcare facilities,
tumbling personnel, karate, or music teach-
ers are contracted to bring in equipment and
provide extra-curricular activities to children.
Keeping these individuals in the loop about
the schools desire to prevent the spread of
communicative diseases is important. Be sure
they are sanitizing the equipment that the
children are using.
Another individual that needs to be involved in this process is the school nurse.
He or she is in an invaluable position to
collaborate with teachers in educating their
students about hygiene, hand washing skills,
and classroom cleaning protocols. The nurse
is also able to recognize if a student has skin
infections. Skin cuts and abrasions may be
the carrier of infectious diseases (e.g., staph).
If the student has an infection that is not
covered, it may contaminate a computer keyboard, desktop or gym mat that may result in
infection of another student or teacher. The
nurse needs to make sure that the student
covers the infection with a bandage to prevent
the spread of diseases.
School custodians also play a critical role
in the prevention of communicative diseases,
as their primary responsibility is maintaining a clean and healthy school environment.
Generally, custodians receive formal training in the use of proper cleaning tools and
disinfectants. It is the responsibility of the
custodial staff that they thoroughly monitor,
clean and disinfect those “at risk” surfaces (e.g.,
water fountain toggles, paper towel dispensers, sink faucets). In addition, they may be
responsible for the maintenance of soap and
hand sanitizer dispensers. In the childcare
arena, many times teachers are often asked to
perform custodial duties. If this is the case, be
sure they are trained on how to mix cleaning
supplies properly and how to wipe and clean
down tables and equipment.
Large class size, manipulation of equip-
ment (e.g., bean-bags, hula-hoops, ground
balls), physical contact and student sweat
make the physical education and recess
environment ideal for the spread of germs.
If not properly cleaned, equipment such as
bean-bags, hula-hoops, jump ropes, and mats
may carry hundreds of germs. The physical
educator (in schools) and assigned personnel in childcare facilities, should take time to
examine and clean the play and physical education equipment daily, while also educating
the students on the importance of cleanliness.
The use of disinfecting wipes (e.g., Clorox,
Lysol) can be a practical method for this
Table 1 Online Resources
Web Site
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
American Cleaning Institute
http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/clean_hands.aspx
American Society for Microbiology
http://www.washup.org
Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/
Clean Hands Coalition
http://www.cleanhandscoalition.org/
Clorox
http://www.cloroxclassrooms.com/
Handwashing for Life
http://www.handwashingforlife.com/
NSF Scrub Club
http://www.scrubclub.org/home.aspx
Purell
http://www.purell.com/page.jhtml?id=/purell/include/teachers.inc
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 9
purpose. Clorox (n.d.) recommends using a
product that is registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to kill 99.9% of
germs. However, with the busy schedule of
the school physical educator and childcare
teachers, and limited amount of time between classes, this may be a challenging task.
Teacher assistants and parent volunteers may
also be trained to help the assigned personnel
clean equipment and create a healthy school
environment.
Obviously, administrative support, whether that be a school principal, childcare direc-
tor, or physical education lead, is key for
successful implementation of hygiene practices in any school or center setting. Proper
hygiene practices in schools and childcare
facilities may result in less teacher and student
absenteeism, but without a primary building
administrator who is deeply committed to the
well-being and health of all students in the
school, these practices can be poorly implemented. In addition to providing financial
support, the administrator may encourage
teachers and other school personnel to attend
classes and in-service presentations that ad-
dress health education (e.g., hand hygiene).
Hand washing, the use of hand sanitizer,
and cleaning practices can decrease the spread
of communicable diseases in the school environment. These simple and practical methods
may result in less teacher and student absenteeism. The school-community should take
every effort to create a clean, healthy and
safe atmosphere that is conducive to student
learning and includes the incorporation of
good health and hygiene in the curriculum.
References
American Society for Microbiology. (n.d.). Hand
washing brochure. Retrieved from http://www.
microbeworld.org/images/stories/washup/
asm-adult-ch-trifold-web.pdf.
Bright, K.R., Boone, S.A., & Gerba, C.P.(2010).
Occurrence of bacteria and viruses on
elementary classroom surfaces and the
potential role of classroom hygiene in the
spread of infectious diseases. The Journal
of School Nursing, 26(1), 33-41. doi:
10.1177/1059840509354383.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].
(2010). Stopping germs at home, work, and
school. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/
germstopper/home_work_school.htm.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC]. (2002). Guideline for hand hygiene
in health care settings. Retrieved from http://
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5116.pdf.
Clorox. (n.d.). Clean routines. Retrieved from
http://www.cloroxclassrooms.com/downloads/teacher_clean_routines.pdf.
Hammond, B., Ali, Y., Fendler, E., Dolan, M.,
& Donovan, S. (2000). Effect of hand sanitizer use on elementary school absenteeism.
American Journal of Infection Control, 28,
340-346. doi:101067/mic.2000.107276.
Ohlund, L.S., & Ericsson, K.B. (1994). Elementary school achievement and absence due
to illness. Journal of General Psychology,
155(4), 409-421.
Vessey, J.A., Sherwood, J.J., Warner, D., & Clark,
D. (2007). Comparing hand washing to hand
sanitizers in reducing elementary school
students’ absenteeism. Pediatric Nursing,
33(4), 368-372.
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Dr. José A. Santiago is an assistant professor
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10 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
1/18/11 9:09 AM
Articulo de Portada
Control de los Gérmenes:
El Papel de las Escuelas en la Prevención
de la Propagación de Gérmenes
Por José A. Santiago
Traducción por Stela Balderas-Holcombe
cuidado infantil séan un lugar propicio para la
propagación de enfermedades comunicativas.
Lo que es más sorprendente es que los lugares
en donde más frecuentemente se encuentran
las manos de nuestros niños son las áreas en
que habitan diversas formas de bacterias y
virus. Las manijas en las fuentes de agua, los
sacapuntas, los teclados de la computadora, y
las manijas de la llaves son las superficies más
contaminadas con bacteria mientras que los
superficies de los escritorios, las manijas de
las llaves, y dispensadores de toallas de papel
son los áreas más contaminados con virus
(Bright, Boone, y Gerba, 2010).
Los maestros, los trabajadores de las guarderías, y los padres igualmente se preocupan
por mantener a los niños sanos y en asistencia
en la escuela. Estas preocupaciones están
bien validados por el Centro para el Control
y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC)
(2010), que informa que aproximadamente
22 millones de días escolares se pierden cada
año debido a la gripe. La evidencia científica
sugiere que las enfermedades causadas por la
propagación de los microorganismos son los
principales contribuyentes de ausentismo en
la escuela primaria (Hammond, Ali, Fendler,
Dolan, y Donovan, 2000). Esta es una
preocupación importante para los administradores escolares y los maestros porque el
ausentismo se ha encontrado ser un factor
perjudicial para el aprendizaje del estudiante
(Ohlund y Ericsson, 1994).
La Lucha Contra los
Gérmenes!
Aulas repletas, objetos compartidos, contacto frecuente de piel con piel, las superficies
y objetos contaminados, la inhabilidad de los
niños de mantener la limpieza de sí mismos,
y la limpieza inadecuada son factores que
hacen que nuestras escuelas y centros de
El personal de las escuelas y los guarderías
tienen una responsabilidad crítica en la implementación de estrategias sencillas y prácticas
para prevenir la propagación de gérmenes que
pueden causar enfermedades comunicativas.
Por ejemplo, en el currículo escolar la incorSummer 2011 •
Early Years 11
Tabla 1 Online Resources
Web Site
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
American Cleaning Institute
http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/clean_hands.aspx
American Society for Microbiology
http://www.washup.org
Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/
Clean Hands Coalition
http://www.cleanhandscoalition.org/
Clorox
http://www.cloroxclassrooms.com/
Handwashing for Life
http://www.handwashingforlife.com/
NSF Scrub Club
http://www.scrubclub.org/home.aspx
Purell
http://www.purell.com/page.jhtml?id=/purell/include/teachers.inc
poración de la educación de higiene de las
manos y las prácticas correctas para lavarse
las manos resulta ser un método eficaz, barato
y práctico para impedir la propagación de
gérmenes (Bright, Boone, y Gerba, 2010). Los
maestros pueden programar el lavado de manos al entrar y salir del aula, antes y después
del almuerzo, después del recreo, después de
la educación física, después del uso de los
baños, y después de toser o estornudar. Se
puede enseñar a los niños éste método para
lavarse las manos:
• Usar jabón y agua corriente tibia.
• Espumar y lavarse las manos completamente, incluyendo las muñecas, las palmas,
en dorso de las manos, los dedos y debajo de
las uñas por lo menos 20 segundos.
• Enjuagar bien las manos con agua corriente tibia.
• Secarse las manos con una toalla limpia
de papel o de tela o con un secador de manos.
• Aplicar loción para las manos, si se desea
para prevenir o aliviar la piel seca (La Sociedad Americana de Microbiología, n.d.).
Aunque el lavado de manos es un método
excelente para proporcionar higiene de las
manos, quizá sea difícil implementar en las
escuelas debido a (a) logísticas (b) el nivel de
desarrollo de los estudiantes, (c) la falta de
tiempo, y (d) falta de facilidades adecuadas
(Hammond, Ali, Fendler, Dolan, y Donovan,
2000). Estos retos están bien documentados.
Recordatorios visuales son beneficiosos para
los estudiantes de todas edades para ayudarles
a recordar los pasos necesarios para lavarse
bien las manos. Recursos para incorporar las
prácticas de lavado de manos en el currículo
de la escuela están disponibles gratis en el
internet para administradores y maestros
(ver Tabla 1).
Otra práctica común que se ha demostrado
su eficiente para ayudar a disminuir la propagación de gérmenes en las escuelas es el uso
de desinfectantes para las manos con base
de alcohol. Dispensadores de desinfectante
para las manos pueden ser instalados en las
aulas, en los baños, en y los comedores para
el uso de los profesores y los estudiantes.
El CDC (2002) recomienda la selección
de desinfectante con una concentración de
alcohol de 60% a 95% debido a su eficacia
contra las bacterias. Al igual que el lavado de
manos, los estudiantes pueden usar desinfectante de manos al entrar y salir del salón
de clases, antes de comer o beber, después
de darse la mano, y después de usar el baño.
Los maestros también pueden alentar a sus
estudiantes a usar desinfectantes después de
estornudar o toser. Es importante que los
maestros dediquen tiempo para enseñar a sus
estudiantes a cubrirse la nariz y la boca con
un pañuelo desechable al toser o estornudar.
Cuando un pañuelo no está disponible, los
estudiantes pueden toser o estornudar en
su manga superior o en el codo, pero no en
sus manos.
Que Todos Participen!
La enfermera de la escuela, los custodios, el
personal de la cafetería, el director de cuidado
de niños, los maestros especializados (por
ejemplo, educación física, tecnología, arte)
también pueden contribuir significativamente
a prevenir la propagación de gérmenes en el
ambiente de la escuela o guardería. Es importante involucrar a todos en la lucha contra
la propagación de gérmenes. A menudo, en
las instalaciones de cuidado de niños, instructores contratados de gimnasia, karate,
o música traen equipo especial para ofrecer
actividades extraescolares para los niños. Es
importante asegurar que se les informe a estas
12 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
personas del empeño de la escuela de evitar la
propagación de enfermedades comunicativas.
Asegúrese de que estén desinfectando el
equipo utilizado por los niños.
Otra persona que debe ser involucrado en
este proceso es la enfermera de la escuela. Él
o ella está en una posición muy valiosa para
colaborar con los maestros en la educación
de sus estudiantes acerca de la higiene, las
habilidades de lavado de manos, y el protocolo para la limpieza del aula. La enfermera
también es capaz de reconocer si un estudiante tiene infección de la piel. Laceraciones
y abrasiones en la piel pueden ser portadores
de enfermedades infecciosas (por ejemplo,
el estafilococo). Si un estudiante tiene una
infección que no está cubierta, se puede
contaminar un teclado de computadora, un
escritorio, o una alfombrilla en el gimnasio
que puede infectar a otro estudiante o maestro. La enfermera debe asegurarse de que el
estudiante entienda la importancia de cubrir
la infección con un vendaje para evitar la
propagación de enfermedades.
Los custodios de la escuela también ocupan un papel fundamental en la prevención
de enfermedades comunicativas, ya que su
responsabilidad principal es mantener la
escuela limpia y saludable. En general, los
custodios reciben instrucción práctica en
el uso de equipo apropiado de limpieza y
sobre desinfectantes. Es la responsabilidad
del personal de la limpieza vigilar, limpiar y
desinfectar los superficies más “en riesgo” de
ser contaminadas (por ejemplo, las manijas
en las fuentes de agua, los dispensadores
de toallas de papel, los grifos del fregadero).
Además, pueden ser responsables del mantenimiento de los dispensadores de jabón y
desinfectante para las manos. En las escuelas
y guarderías, los maestros muchas veces hacen
tareas de limpieza. Si este es el caso, asegúrese
de que estén capacitados en la preparación de
los productos de limpieza, y como limpiar
correctamente las mesas y el equipo.
Clases grandes, la manipulación de los
equipos (por ejemplo, bolsas de frijol, hulahoops, y pelotas), el contacto físico y el sudor
son factores que causan que el ambiente de
educación física y el tiempo de recreo séan
gran riesgo para la propagación de gérmenes.
Si no se desinfectan los equipos, tales como
bolsas de frijol, hula hoops, cuerdas para
saltar, y alfombrillas del gymnasio pueden
contaminarse con cientos de gérmenes. El
maestro de educación física (en las escuelas),
y otros personales asignados al cuidado de
los niños, deben dedicar tiempo para examinar y limpiar el equipo de jugar y de la
educación física todos los días, y al mismo
tiempo educar a los estudiantes sobre la
importancia de la limpieza. El uso de toallitas desinfectantes (por ejemplo, Clorox,
Lysol) puede ser un método práctico para
este propósito. Clorox (n.d.) recomienda el
uso de un producto que esté registrado por
la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA)
para eliminar 99.9% de los gérmenes. Sin
embargo, con la apretada agenda del educador de educación física y los maestros de
guardería, y la cantidad limitada de tiempo
entre las clases, esto puede ser una tarea
difícil. Los asistentes de los maestros y
padres voluntarios también pueden ser entrenados para ayudar al personal encargado
a limpiar el equipo y crear un ambiente
escolar saludable.
Obviamente, se necesita el apoyo administrativo (como un director de escuela,
director de cuidado de niños, o director de
la educación física) para una implementación
exitosa de prácticas de higiene en cualquier
escuela o guardería. Prácticas adecuadas de
higiene en las escuelas y guarderías pueden resultar en menos ausentismo de los empleados
y los estudiantes, pero sin un administrador
que esté profundamente comprometido con
el bienestar y la salud de todos los estudiantes
en la escuela, estas prácticas pueden ser mál
implementadas. Además de proporcionar
apoyo financiero, el administrador puede
animar a los profesores y demás personal de
la escuela que participen en clases y presentaciones sobre la educación de la salud (por
ejemplo, higiene de las manos).
El lavado de manos, el uso de desinfectante
para las manos, y las prácticas de limpieza pu-
ede reducir la propagación de enfermedades
comunicativas en el ambiente escolar. Estos
métodos y prácticas pueden resultar en menos ausentismo de parte de los maestros y los
estudiantes. La comunidad de la escuela debe
hacer todo lo posible para crear un ambiente
limpio, saludable y seguro que favorezca el
aprendizaje de los estudiantes incluyendo la
incorporación de la buena salud e higiene en
el plan de estudios.
Bibliographia
American Society for Microbiology. (n.d.). Hand
washing brochure. Retrieved from http://www.
microbeworld.org/images/stories/washup/
asm-adult-ch-trifold-web.pdf.
Bright, K.R., Boone, S.A., & Gerba, C.P.(2010).
Occurrence of bacteria and viruses on
elementary classroom surfaces and the
potential role of classroom hygiene in the
spread of infectious diseases. The Journal
of School Nursing, 26(1), 33-41. doi:
10.1177/1059840509354383.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC]. (2010). Stopping germs at home,
work, and school. Retrieved from http://www.
cdc.gov/germstopper/home_work_school.
htm.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC]. (2002). Guideline for hand hygiene
in health care settings. Retrieved from http://
www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5116.pdf.
Clorox. (n.d.). Clean routines. Retrieved from
http://www.cloroxclassrooms.com/downloads/teacher_clean_routines.pdf
Hammond, B., Ali, Y., Fendler, E., Dolan, M.,
& Donovan, S. (2000). Effect of hand sanitizer use on elementary school absenteeism.
American Journal of Infection Control, 28,
340-346. doi:101067/mic.2000.107276.
Ohlund, L.S., & Ericsson, K.B. (1994). Elementary school achievement and absence due
to illness. Journal of General Psychology,
155(4), 409-421.
Vessey, J.A., Sherwood, J.J., Warner, D., & Clark,
D. (2007). Comparing hand washing to hand
sanitizers in reducing elementary school
students’ absenteeism. Pediatric Nursing,
33(4), 368-372.
Dr. José A. Santiago es un Profesor Asistente
en el Departamento de Salud y Kinesiología en
Sam Houston State University. Su área principal de investigación es la educación física – el
conocimiento de los maestros del curriculo y de
los métodos de instrucción.
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 13
[
Language Development
]
The Creative and Imaginative Language
of Young Children
By Elizabeth Larkin and Stephen B. Graves
Beginning at the age of two, every child becomes,
for a short period of time, a linguistic genius
(Chukovsky, 1968, p. 7).
Young children have a capacity for playing with language in ways adults have long
abandoned. As their understanding of the
structure of language grows, they use words
meaningfully in new contexts and apply
grammatical rules according to their own
rudimentary grasp of them. Their creative
plasticity results in surprising combinations
of words and original language. Additionally,
young children’s language can portray an
unexpected capacity for logical connections
and experimental applications of words in
new contexts.
In this article, we focus on examples of
creative and imaginative uses of language by
children in their early years, and in a companion piece, Young Children’s Language: A Window on Their Thinking, we explore children’s
underlying reasoning and emerging logic in
the ways they use language. Often, the richness of meaning in their language is missed,
because the vocabulary is either limited or
perceived as not being legitimate. As the following vignettes show, there is more to what
children say than meets the ear.
A 5-year-old boy and his mother had been
mugged while walking home after dinner at
a friend’s house. As soon as they got back to
14 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
their apartment, the mother called the police
to report the incident, and then turned her
attention to her son, checking to make sure
he was okay. The boy said, “Mom, you went
hyperdrastic!” His newly invented word
captured her emotionally charged reaction
to the robber and her heightened maternal
instincts to protect her child. The colorful
combination of ‘hyper’ (meaning ‘overly’) and
‘drastic’ (meaning ‘extreme’ or ‘strong effect’)
was both creative and evocative.
A 6-year-old boy, while cleaning up his
room, told his mom to put a toy he no longer wanted in the “disusement” pile. He had
connected the term disuse, (“to stop using”)
to the suffix ‘ment’ (‘a result’ or ‘a process’) to
create this new word. It is an efficient use of
language for expressing the idea that he is no
longer interested in playing with the toy. His
invented word shows an understanding of
the structure of the English language, and at
the same time, it is an example of imaginative
thinking, quite atypical of an adult’s defined
and stable use of language.
A 6-year-old boy woke up early in the
morning to discover his helium-filled balloon
had drooped and was nearly down on the
floor. Sadly, he remarked to his mother “My
balloon has lost its courage.” Applying the
metaphorical image of courage to his balloon
describes its overnight loss of “strength” and
the power to stand up straight and tall. Again,
the simple connection is both appropriate
and evocative.
An education professor was observing in
a second grade classroom when a child asked
her who she was. The professor explained
she was the intern teacher’s teacher. The
child pondered this response for a moment
and replied, “Oh, so you are a grandteacher!”
Clearly, she had transferred her knowledge
of the grandparent relationship to the role
of teacher in an “Aha!” moment. Her insight
made sense, logically comparing the two kinds
of relationships as successive generations.
Several first grade boys were digging in
the sand box when all of a sudden one boy
leaped up and shouted, “I struck geranium!”
Here, relying on auditory learning, the child
confused “geranium” with “uranium.” He
probably had first-hand experience with
geraniums in flower boxes along the street,
and he also knew from television that uranium was a precious and powerful metal
that could fuel a rocket. His mistake was in
not differentiating the meaning of those two
words that sounded so similar. This was not
a creative use of language – it was a misuse
of language in his imaginative play that demonstrates misunderstanding.
As parents and teachers, we need to
notice the difference between what is actually incorrect and what is an appropriately
invented use of language. In the instance of
the ‘geranium’/’uranium’ mix-up, the child is
ready for clarifying information (a teachable
moment). The other examples need no correction – these are imaginative uses of language
and create meaning in a logical, evocative
manner that ought to be celebrated. To honor
their value, the new words can be adopted by
the family or the classroom for further use.
Outsiders won’t need to know the context in
which the words were invented, because they
are appropriately descriptive in their own right.
Chukovsky (1968) describes how, as
children grow older and are schooled in
grammatical rules, their language shifts from
improvising original word structures toward
adhering to the linguistic norms modeled by
adults. By age eight, children have lost this
earlier creativity with language (p. 7). What
happens when young children are not provided opportunities to use language creatively,
or when they have no early role models to
promote a rich vocabulary? The following
vignette describes first graders in an urban
public school classroom who need assistance
with language to express their thinking.
The first grade teacher set up a “handson” science experiment for the class to do in
small groups. On the tables are beakers of
water and three substances: salt, flour, and
sugar. The task is to predict what will happen
when each substance is put into the water,
then to observe what happens and record
the results in their notebooks. Excitedly, the
children combine the water with each different substance. The teacher notices that what
they write down is the same for all three: “It’s
white.” When asked, the children state that
they do not look exactly the same, but they
lack the words to explain the subtle differences. This is a wonderful moment to introduce
words such as ‘dissolve’, ‘cloudy’, ‘transparent’,
and ‘opaque.’ Dewey (1933/1998) points out
the problem with applying terms with vague
meaning, such as ‘white’:
“Terms that are miscellaneous in scope
are clumsy tools at best; in addition they are
frequently treacherous, for their ambiguous
reference causes us to confuse things that
should be distinguished” (p. 242).
Teachers and parents can help children
build their thinking by pairing new words
with immediate experiences, and by associating more descriptive words with familiar
vocabulary (Wasik, 2006). Without opportunities to try out words in new contexts, to
apply metaphorical comparisons, or to learn
more precise words for describing the world
around them, children are at risk of not succeeding in school and being judged as unintelligent. In their speaking and in their writing,
we can encourage flexibility and creativity in
children’s use of language rather than correcting improper grammar or word usage.
References
Chukovsky, K. (1968). From two to five. (Translated and edited by Miriam Morton). Berkeley and
Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Dewey, J. (1933/1998). How we think. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Wasik, B.A. (November 2006). Building vocabulary one word at a time. Young Children,
61(6).
Elizabeth Larkin, Ed.D., is a professor in the
College of Education at the University of South
Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. She has taught at
Wheelock College, Vermont College and has
taught 4-year olds and 6 and 7-year-olds in New
York. In addition, she has served as a director of
a nursery school and child care center.
Stephen B. Graves, Ph.D., is a professor
in the College of Education at the University of
South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. He has taught
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the
University of Memphis, and the University of
South Carolina.
In addition, he has taught 3-year-olds, 5-year
olds and served in administrative positions in
three child development centers.
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 15
[
Language Development
]
Young Children’s Language:
A Window on Their Thinking
By Elizabeth Larkin and Stephen B. Graves
The early childhood years have been described as a time when “thought and language
are expanding at an astounding pace” (Berk,
2009, p. 6). Teachers and parents of young
children often marvel at what preschoolers say.
According to Piaget (1969; 1977), however,
as children are developing language during
the early years they do not yet have the ability
to think logically. Their capacity for building
increasingly complex structures of language
and thinking (Berk, 2012) will be explored
in this article. The following vignettes provide glimpses into more nuanced reasoning
than adults typically assume young children
are capable of even when their vocabulary is
limited. Research has shown that “the more
parents talked to their children, the faster the
children’s vocabularies grew and the higher the
children’s IQ test scores were at age three and
later” (Wasik, 2006, p. 71). In the previous
article, The Creative and Imaginative Language
of Young Children, we explored the richness
of meaning in children’s surprising uses of
language. Here we focus on the underlying
logical and symbolic thinking evident in children’s language.
Vignettes
A 4-year-old girl strolled into an office
one day with her mom and when asked how
old she was, she promptly stated “I am four.”
When she was asked when her birthday was
she said “when I turn five.” This illustrates
the logic (or lack of logic) of a 4-year-old.
Piaget called this stage preoperational thinking (1969). This child is lacking the cognitive
structures to perform an appropriately logical
operation in her thinking, but the expression is entirely rational. Her statement not
only made perfect sense to her, but it also
communicated an understanding that five
follows four and birthdays are the occasions
16 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
that mark getting older.
Recently, a 5-year-old was riding in the
car with his mother when a report from the
Middle East came on the radio concerning
bombs being dropped. The young boy became afraid and told his mom that he was
scared. His mom allayed his fears by saying
that the bombs were “far, far away” and could
not hurt him. He calmed down for a few
minutes, then became upset again. When
his mom asked this time what the problem
was, he said that he was afraid of the bombs.
She reminded him that the bombs were far
away and he said, “That’s why I’m scared. I’m
afraid for Grandma.” The mother realized
that whenever her son asked to go see his
Grandma, the family would say they would
like to see her, but she lived “far, far away.”
This is a case where the child has made a new
connection to the meaning of the words “far,
far away.” Once he connected his Grandma
living “far away” and the “far away” bombs’ potential for harming her, he was quite logically
afraid. We also see empathy in his thinking,
although we don’t know if he is worried about
her being harmed, or worried about losing
someone he loves.
A family took their 4-year old to the State
Fair and treated their daughter to a fried
pastry advertised as an “elephant ear.” Two
weeks later the girl came into her mother’s
room with a pained look on her face and
asked “Mom, why did I eat that elephant’s
ear?” Here, the child’s egocentric thinking led
her to understand the label in literal terms.
She had obviously spent some time thinking
about eating an elephant ear and was puzzled
why her parents had allowed her to eat the ear
of an elephant. We also see moral reasoning
in her concern about whether she should have
eaten part of an elephant. This scenario would
have gone very differently if the parents had
used the term “pastry” instead of the term
“elephant ear”, or explained the metaphorical
reference to its shape.
A boy, 2 years and nine months old, was
brought to a speech and hearing screening at
his preschool. When the speech therapist led
the boy into a strange room with headphones
and other unfamiliar equipment, the boy
balked.“This is not a good place for me to be!”
he told his teacher. The therapist noted that
the young child did not need to be screened
since he had just uttered an articulate tenword sentence. This child’s language clearly
indicated that he had no hearing or articulation problems. The boy, quite reasonably,
didn’t care that all the children at this school
were being screened – he just didn’t like the
look of those intimidating machines. Like
all young children at this age, he viewed the
situation from his own egocentric perspective,
and he came to a logical position of resistance.
Fortunately, his language sufficiently demonstrated what the school wanted to know, and
he didn’t need to be coerced into being tested
by machines.
A 5-year-old stuck his chest out and
proudly told his kindergarten teacher to
“Look at my new shoes.” Several hours later,
the teacher reflected on the pronouncement
and realized that the boy was not just asking
for attention to his shoes; he also wanted
the teacher to notice him, to pay attention to
his identity, and to recognize his worth. This
child, like all children (and adults too), has a
yearning for acknowledgement and recognition. He wants to be noticed, and to be seen
as a success. Erikson’s psychosocial theory
(1950) supports this notion of a burgeoning
sense of self in the preschool years. Despite
expressing himself in few words, the teacher
realized his meaning went deeper than just
his physical image.
A Closer Look
at Children’s Words
Adults may be surprised by the ways
children put words together, finding these
expressions amusing and the language to be
immature. However, if we really listen and
look beyond the surface, we can use these occasions as windows on the minds of children,
and see that they are making meaningful
connections with words and their personal
experiences as they construct a world view.
Piaget’s theory of preoperational thought
may have missed some of the ways in which
young children’s reasoning capabilities and
rational thought are present in the preschool
years. As the vignettes show, and Berk (2012)
also suggests in her discussion of research
on preoperational thought, young children
can demonstrate a higher level of cognitive
functioning, including logical reasoning, than
what might be expected based on Piaget’s
definition of preoperational thinking.
References
Berk, L.E. (2012). Infants, children, and adolescents. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Berk, L.E. (2009). Child development. Boston:
Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New
York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Piaget, J. (1977). The development of thought:
Equilibration of cognitive structures. New
York: Viking.
Piget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology
of the child. New York: Basic Books.
Wasik, B.A. (November 2006). Building vocabulary one word at a time. Young Children,
61(6).
Elizabeth Larkin, Ed.D., is a professor in the
College of Education at the University of South
Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. She has taught at
Wheelock College, Vermont College and has
taught 4-year olds and 6 and 7-year-olds in New
York. In addition, she has served as a director of
a nursery school and child care center.
Stephen B. Graves, Ph.D., is a professor
in the College of Education at the University of
South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee. He has taught
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the
University of Memphis, and the University of
South Carolina. In addition, he has taught 3-yearolds, 5-year olds and served in administrative
positions in three child development centers.
Tips for Teachers
•Talk to children, using precise language in a meaningful context.
•Listen to children’s meaning beyond the words.
•Associate new words with familiar vocabulary and words that sound similar.
•Find out the prior knowledge children are building upon and make connections.
•Are children thinking literally or metaphorically?
•Incorporate children’s invented vocabulary when it is appropriate.
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 17
[
Classroom Behavior
]
Bullies and Victims: Understanding
Bullying in a Early Childhood Context
By Chad A. Rose
Social-Ecological
Framework
Bullying has become a widespread epidemic
among school-aged children in the United
States (Swearer, Espelage, Vallincourt, Hymel,
2010). While evidence suggests that bullying
is more pervasive among adolescent student
populations (Robers, Zhang, Truman, &
Snyder, 2010), aggressive behaviors can emerge
in children as young as 12 months of age
(Alink et al., 2006). Therefore, involvement
within the bullying dynamic could begin in
the early childhood years. (Monks, Smith, &
Swettenham, 2005). It is believed that the early
emergence of bullying behaviors may be related
to children becoming engaged in social groupings at an early age. Based on the social nature
of bullying, it is critical for early childhood
educators to understand how the development of socializing behaviors may contribute
to involvement within the bullying dynamic.
Early intervention is the most effective
means for reducing challenging behaviors
within an educational setting, including bullying and victimization (Llewellyn, 2000). This
immediate intervention is even more crucial
because young children who are exposed to
early victimization may display premature
signs of social maladjustment and isolation,
and these individuals may have internalized
behavior problems that existed prior to
school enrollment (Arseneault et al., 2006).
Internalizing behaviors may consist of anxiety, depression or withdrawal. On the other
hand, students who possess early aggressive
behaviors (externalizing behaviors) tend to
engage in direct forms of bullying during primary grades (Monks et al., 2005). Therefore,
teachers must be able to recognize the early
signs of problem behaviors, both internalizing and externalizing, in order to prevent
prolonged involvement within the bullying
dynamic. Intervening early could possibly
reduce future perpetration and victimization.
18 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
Although the acts of bullying are grounded
in student behavior, the social nature of
bullying is based on complex interactions
between the child and his or her environment (Swearer et al., 2009). More specifically,
family, school, peer, community, and societal
factors directly influence how students behave
(Espelage & Swearer, 2004). Conceivably,
early bullying behaviors may develop through
behaviors learned prior to school enrollment
coupled with behaviors developed through
early peer influences. However, primary
school educators are partially responsible
for fostering acceptable socializing behaviors
and helping students develop age-appropriate
social roles and identities.
While peer and familial factors directly
influence student behaviors, school and
classroom factors play a critical role in the
fostering of the social development of primary aged students. Educational environments that are grounded in awareness and
acceptance may serve as protective factors
against high levels of bullying within the
classroom (McLaughlin, Byers, & Vaughan,
2010). These environments often adhere to
an inclusive philosophy of education where
students of all abilities are fully integrated
into the educational environment, and have
opportunities to engage in appropriate social
interactions with their same-aged peer group.
The effectiveness of these pedagogical approaches hinge in the ability of the classroom
teacher to embrace student diversity, address
student needs, and embed acceptance and
awareness activities into the classroom curriculum (Rose & Monda-Amaya, in press).
What is Bullying?
Primary school teachers must be able to
identify behaviors that could be defined as
bullying, as well as identify individual children involved within the bullying dynamic. In
general bullying is defined by four characteristics: (a) imbalance of power between the bully
and victim, (b) repetition across victims or
time, (c) intent to cause emotional or physical
harm, and (d) unequal levels of effect, where
the victim is exposed to a traumatic experience and the bully often blames the victim or
is left unaffected (Olweus, 1993, 1995; Rose,
Monda-Amaya, & Espelage, 2011). While
bullying behaviors are partially defined as
a function of time, primary school teachers
must be actively aware of behaviors and/or
situations that may transition into bullying
episodes. Teachers often underestimate the
level of bullying within their classrooms
(Bradshaw, Sawyer, & O’Brennan, 2007), or
they do not believe the situation warranted
direct intervention (Richman, Rose, Fettig,
Hayner, & Slavin, under review). Therefore,
it is fundamentally important for primary
school teacher to understand classes of
behaviors that may be identified as bullying.
There are four classes of behaviors that
constitute bullying:
• Physical bullying, which can be defined
as direct physical contact, can include kicking,
punching, shoving, tripping and forcefully
removing objects from a peer.
• Verbal bullying can be described as verbal
behaviors that include hurtful or damaging
remarks, racial or discriminatory comments,
and profanity directed at the victim.
• Indirect bullying includes social exclusion, rumor spreading, lies, and cyberbullying.
• Sexual bullying, which is more commonly known as sexual harassment, includes
unwanted sexual touching, sexually-based
comments, and homophobic teasing (Rose
et al., 2011; Walker et al., 2004).
It has been suggested that these behaviors
follow a distinct pattern, where as socializing
behaviors develop, the bullying becomes more
indirect (Björkqvist, 2001). At the primary level,
bullying is often documented as direct physical
or verbal behaviors (Monks et al., 2005; Woods
& Wolke, 2004). The direct nature of these
behaviors may be attributed to young students’
lack of sophisticated social and communication
skills and an inability to effectively problem-solve.
Bullies and Victims:
Who They Are
Although a bully and victim are necessary for an episode to be defined as bullying,
students maintain varying levels of participation. Bullies have been classified into three
categories:
• The aggressive bully, who may possess
leadership skills (Parren & Alsaker, 2006)
and instigate the direct or indirect aggression.
• The passive bully, who is often not as
popular as the aggressive bully, but joins in
the bullying after the initial onset.
• The bully-victim, who adopts bullying characteristics as a means of combating
victimization (Olweus, 2003).
In addition to the bully-victim, victims
have been classified into three groups:
• The passive victim, who does not act
out toward the aggressive behavior (Olweus,
2003).
• The false victim, who inaccurately reports episodes of victimization (Besag, 1989).
• The provocative victim, who maintains
characteristics that may predispose them to
increased victimization (Olweus, 2003).
While any number of warning signs can
help identify participations within the bullying dynamic, teachers should be consciously
aware of the dispositions of their students.
Early childhood teachers should pay close
attention to the social groupings developed
within their classrooms, and take note of any
changes or exclusions within these groups. It
should be noted that students who engage in
bullying behaviors may possess positive and/
or negative behavioral characteristics (Rose et
al., 2011). For example, students who bully
may exhibit the following behaviors:
• High levels of aggression,
• Low self-control,
• Poor academic performance, or
• Difficulties with social relationships.
• Or they may regarded as the following:
• Leader of their social group,
• Popular among their peers,
• Engaged in classroom and extracurricular activities, or
• High spirited (Marini, Koruna, & Dane,
2006; Perren & Alsaker, 2006; Rose et al.,
2011).
Students who are victimized, on the other
hand, may:
• Maintain fewer close friendships,
• Be socially withdrawn,
• Be rejected by same-aged peer group,
• Appear dependent on teachers or adults,
• Have lower socializing behaviors,
• Be physically weaker, or
• Have observable differences ( Marini et
al., 2006; Rose et al., 2011).
Most importantly, characteristics that may
set a student apart from normal behaviors
within the classroom could serve as a risk
factor for increased victimization (Whitney,
Smith, & Thompson, 1994). Based on the
social nature of bullying, bystanders must also
be identified because these individuals perpetuate the bullying behaviors through social
reinforcement. Generally speaking, bystanders fall into three categories: (a) supporters of
the bully, (b) defenders of the victim, and (c)
disengaged onlookers (Olweus, 2003). Overall, early childhood educators must be able
to accurately identify each participant and
provide appropriate interventions for each.
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 19
parents/guardians, community members,
and students to create programs that meet the
unique needs of the school and community.
Conclusion
Creating a
Classroom Atmosphere
The bullying phenomenon is not exclusive to any one environment or grade level
(Swearer, Espelage, & Napolitano 2009).
Therefore, it is important for early childhood
teachers to create a classroom structure that is
not conducive to bullying and victimization.
Initially, the classroom structure should be
founded with sound rules and expectations
with regard to bullying, where the students
are made aware of behaviors that constitute
bullying, classroom reporting policies and
consequences, and behavioral expectations
of all students (Rose & Monda-Amaya, in
press). For example, teachers could allow
their students, with direct facilitation from
the teacher, to assist in the creation of the
classroom anti-bullying policy. In creating
this policy, teachers may consider assigning
leadership or administrative tasks to their
students for active monitoring and reporting.
By allowing the students to take an active role
in the policy creation, the students can take
ownership of their classroom and develop a
stronger sense of belonging.
In addition to the initial classroom structuring, primary teachers should utilize
evidence-based instructional strategies that
proactively address bullying. These strategies should include measures that increase
awareness and acceptance, and foster social
skills and communication development
(McLaughlin et al., 2010). Philosophically,
this inclusive environment should embrace
student diversity and foster full integration
of all students (Meadan & Monda-Amaya,
2008), where lessons are universally designed
to embed awareness and acceptance activities
into the classroom curriculum and proactively address student need. Strategies could
include the following:
Instruction is differentiated to meet the
social and academic needs of the student and
provide a stronger sense of independence.
Provide choice opportunities for students,
so they can engage in activities that they find
reinforcing, and so they can establish a stronger sense of belonging within the classroom
environment.
Systematically structure cooperative learning groups, so students have the opportunity
to develop socially appropriate behaviors
among their same-aged peer group.
Provide opportunities for sharing and
communication, so students can develop
age-appropriate communication skills in a
comfortable environment (Rose & MondaAmaya, in press).
Collaborative Support
for Anti-Bullying
While classroom anti-bullying polices and
procedures are a necessary step to decreasing
bullying among early childhood youth, bullying behaviors extend beyond the classroom
walls. Therefore, long-term program effectiveness hinges on the collaborative efforts of all
stakeholders. At the present time, a majority
of states have adopted anti-bullying legislation
designed to prevent or reduce bullying among
the school-aged population (Swearer et al.,
2009). It is important for early childhood
professionals to work with administration,
20 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
Bullying behaviors can emerge at an early
age, and it is critical for early childhood professionals to be able to identify and intervene
in bullying situations immediately. Educators
of young children must provide a structured
classroom that is not conducive to bullying
behaviors, and allow their students to become
active stakeholders within the environment.
Additionally, early childhood teachers must
consistently watch for the behavioral warning
signs and monitor for changes in social groupings or structures within their classrooms.
Evidence-based practices should be used to
increase awareness and acceptances, as well
as foster social skills and age-appropriate
communication. Overall, early intervention is
most effective for preventing or reducing the
long-term outcomes associated with exposure
to bullying and victimization.
References
Alink, L. R. A., Mesman, J., Van Zeijl, J., Stolk,
M. N., Juffer, F., Koot, H. M., … Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2006). The early childhood
aggression curve: Development of physical
aggression in 10- to 50-month-old children.
Child Development, 77, 954-966.
Arseneault, L., Walsh, E., Trzesniewski, K., Newcombe, R., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2006).
Bullying victimization uniquely contributes
to adjustment problems in young children:
A nationally representative cohort study.
Pediatrics, 118, 130-138.
Besag, B. (1989). Bullies and victims in schools:
A guide to understanding and management.
United Kingdom: Open University Press.
Björkqvist, K. (2001). Different name, same issue. Social Development, 10, 272-274.
Bradshaw, C. P., Sawyer, A. L., & O’Brennan, L.
M. (2007). Bullying and peer victimization
at school: Perceptual differences between
students and school staff. School Psychology
Review, 36, 361-382.
Espelage, D. L., & Swearer, S. M. (2004). Bullying in American schools: A social-ecological
perspective on prevention and intervention.
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Llewellyn, A. (2000). Perceptions of mainstreaming: A systems approach. Developmental
Medicine & Child Neurology, 42, 106-115.
Marini, Z. A., Koruna, B., & Dane, A. V. (2006).
Individualized interventions for ESL students
involved in bullying and victimization. Contact, 32(2), 22-41.
McLaughlin, C., Byers, R., &Vaughn, R. P.
(2010). Responding to bullying among children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities. London, England: Anti-Bullying
Alliance
Meadan, H. & Monda-Amaya, L. (2008). Collaboration to promote social competence for
students with mild disabilities in the general
classroom: A structure for providing social
support. Intervention in School and Clinic,
43,158-167.
Monks, C. P., Smith, P. K., & Swettenham, J.
(2005). Psychological correlates of peer
victimisation in preschool: Social cognitive
skills, executive function and attachment
profiles. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 571-588.
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What
we know and what we can do. Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.
Olweus, D. (1995). Bullying or peer abuse at
school: Facts and intervention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 196-200.
Olweus, D. (2003). A profile of bullying at school.
Educational Leadership, 60(6), 12-17.
Perren, S., & Alsaker, F. (2006). Social behavior
and peer relationships of victims, bully-victims, and bullies in kindergarten. Journal of
Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 45-57.
Richman, D. M., Rose, C. A., Fettig, K., Hayner,
A., & Slavin, C. (under review). Early childhood preschool aggression: Descriptive
study of topographies, roles, setting, and
peer or teacher consequences. Manuscript
submitted for publication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Robers, S., Zhang, J., Truman, J., & Snyder, T. D.
(2010). Indicators of school crime and safety:
2010. Washington, DC: Government Printing
Office.
Rose, C. A., & Monda-Amaya, L. E. (in press).
Bullying and victimization among students
with disabilities: Effective strategies for
classroom teachers. Intervention in School
and Clinic.
Rose, C. A., Monda-Amaya, L. E., & Espelage, D.
L. (2011). Bullying perpetration and victimization in special education: A review of the
literature. Remedial and Special Education,
32, 114-130.
Swearer, S. M., Espelage, D. L., & Napolitano, S.
A. (2009). Bullying prevention and interven-
tion: Realistic strategies for schools. New
York, NY: The Guilford Press, Inc.
Swearer, S. M., Espelage, D. L., Vaillancourt, T.,
& Hymel, S. (2010). What can be done about
school bullying? : Linking research to educational practice. Educational Researcher, 39,
38-47.
Walker, H. M., Ramsey, E., & Gresham, F.
M. (2004). Antisocial behavior in school:
Evidence-based practices (2nd ed.). Belmont,
CA: Thomson & Wadsworth.
Whitney, I., Smith, P. K., & Thompson, D. (1994).
Bullying and children with special educational
needs. In P. K. Smith & S. Sharp (Eds.),
School bullying: Insights and perspectives
(pp. 213-240). London, UK: Routledge.
Woods, S., & Wolke, D. (2004). Direct and
relational bullying among primary school
children and academic achievement. Journal
of School Psychology, 42, 135-155.
Chad Rose, Ph.D., is a researcher in the area
of bullying among students with disabilities,
most notably, unique, protective, and preventative factors involved in the bullying dynamic. Dr.
Rose has received numerous recognitions for his
involvement in the field of special education.
We Need Early Years Submissions!
Early Years is the Official Journal of the Texas Association for the Education it is published 3 times per year. Early
Years issues are organized around topical clusters that devote special attention to issues in the field of early childhood
education. The practitioner based nature of Early Years makes it unique to field of Early Care and Education.
You are invited to submit manuscripts for publications in Early Years. It is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal
publishing articles of value to educators and practitioners in all aspects of child development and early childhood
education. Articles of interest include research that bridges theory with practice, literature reviews, program and
curriculum development, and assessment as well as informed practice in the field. Invited professionals will review
manuscripts with special competence in the area represented by the manuscript. Manuscripts from those working
directly in programs with young children are especially invited.
Preparation and Submission
A system of anonymous peer reviewing is used by Early Years. Please remove all identity information from the
manuscript and include personal information on the cover sheet only. All manuscripts should be sent in word format
and include a brief biography of 3-4 sentences per author on the coversheet.
Authors will be notified within 2 months via e-mail regarding acceptance or rejection of a manuscript. Manuscripts may
not be submitted simultaneously to Early Years and other journals. Submit manuscripts electronically to the editor at [email protected].
Manuscripts must be double-spaced throughout, including references with a length of 3-8 (12 type) pages. The
separate cover sheet should contain the title of the manuscript, the name (s) of the author (s) and affiliations (s). Also,
include the street address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the corresponding senior author. The
title, but not names of the author(s), should also appear on the first page of the text, and the manuscript must follow
the style provided in the Publication Manual (6th ed.) of the American Psychological Association (APA).
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 21
[
Early Childhood Curriculum
]
More than Rattles and Refereeing:
Curriculum for Children under Three
By Kay M. Albrecht
New findings in neuroscience and the
push for preparing preschool-age children for
later learning have created an increased focus
on what is happening with children during
infancy and toddlerhood. This focus has created all kinds of additions to the educational
marketplace including videos that claim to
make babies smarter and phonics programs
that claim to teach toddlers to read. While
these programs may make some of us laugh,
they point to the reality that what children
are learning during the first three years is
almost like magic. The transformation from
a seemingly helpless newborn to a running,
talking, and learning 3-year-old is a pretty
dramatic one. Teachers and caregivers who
work with these children participate in and
watch this miraculous change with highly
variable preparation to do so.
We also know that it is a momentous time
in human development. Growth, development, and learning during the first three years
contribute substantially to each child’s future
life success—creating a cascade that predicts
so many later outcomes, including health,
school success, and life success (Tarlov, 2008).
Given the considerable potential to support
these outcomes, what should curriculum for
22 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
infants and toddler really be like? How do the
adults who work with children during these
important years make sure that the cascade
gathers positive momentum and capacity
while children are with us?
Curriculum with infants and toddlers,
simply put, is a plan. The focus of that plan
is a different story. Some feel it is an adopted
resource—similar to adopting a textbook in
the elementary school. Others feel it is all
about caregiving routines—the place where
relationships are created. Still others view it
in terms of outcomes—what children should
know and be able to do. For the purposes of
this article, we’ll use the definition of curriculum offered by Carol Copple and Sue
Bredekamp (2009) as a starting place. These
authors say, “Curriculum consists of the
knowledge, skills, abilities, and understandings that children are to acquire and the plans
for the learning experiences through which
gains will occur “ (p. 20) as our starting place.
This broad view of curriculum, though,
needs some explanation for most of us who
work with the very young. Albrecht and
Miller (2000) focus this definition for infant
and toddler caregivers on thinking about and
planning those experiences that contribute to
growth, development, and learning and to the
teacher’s relationship with the child and the
family. The intentionality implied in both of
these definitions is important and points to
the reality that curriculum with infants and
toddlers is more than making them smile or
keeping them from hurting each other (although every caregiver worth her salt consider
these teaching tasks as important as well!)
What’s Included in a Good
Curriculum Plan?
So what does this curriculum plan include?
Good curriculum plans include purposeful
interactive experiences, a carefully planned
environment, interesting activities to experience on your own and with the help of your
teachers, identified opportunities to observe
and assess children’s progress, and many
opportunities for families to join with their
children in meaningful participation options
that are within their reach and fit into their
family life schedules.
Plan Purposeful Interactive
Experiences
A good starting place is to think about and
plan the interactive experiences children will
have. A familiar, predictable teacher plans
ways to get to know the children she cares for
in ways that match that child’s temperament,
schedule, and preferences for stimulation.
So often with infants and toddlers, these
interactions cluster around caregiving routines that are intimate and individualized.
So, your curriculum plan needs a supportive
schedule that allows infants to eat when they
are hungry, sleep when they are sleepy, offers
opportunities to be with you, and time to
play independently in the environment with
interesting toys and materials. Once children’s
schedules are more predictable, it means
considering routines such as diapering and
eating as opportunities to connect individually and in small groups so interactions can
be intimate and unhurried and offer plentiful
opportunities to learn.
Plan interactions that structure and enrich
your time with children such as book reading,
singing songs, saying rhymes and fingerplays
that make routine interactions interesting,
and offer many opportunities to hear your
voice labeling objects, describing what is happening now and what will happen next, and
listening to what children have to say.
Plan ways to be close. Physical proximity
builds relationships. So holding infants (even
when they don’t demand it) and touching
gently when you are nearby are important
experiences. Plan experiences for children to
be in the lead. A cooing conversation with your
face close; a few minutes of rocking together
right after a nap; or shared time exploring the
feeling of the grass between fingers, opportunities to play with water at a sensory table, or
time to build with blocks while you are nearby
are all examples. Attending to the same thing
at the same time the child is attending is an
interactive experience that supports development while at the same time helping children
determine what characteristics to pay attention
to during the interaction.
But don’t these opportunities happen
spontaneously in infant and toddler classroom? Of course they do. The purpose of the
curriculum plan is to make sure they happen
every day. Where will the interactions take
place? When? With what toys and materials? What will you do if they don’t work or
children don’t respond? Who will do them?
How often? Where? Curriculum plans focus
your intentionality—making sure you don’t
get to the end of the day or week and say to
yourself, “Nothing important happened this
week in my classroom.”
Plan the Environment
Consider the environment in your plan.
Create environments that attend to where
children are developmentally. Infants need
places that are protected from older children
and provide many opportunities to move
around independently. Resist the urge to
Universal Elements of Environments
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Good ventilation with a source of fresh air
Windows that provide natural light
Safe toys, materials, and equipment
A home-like feeling
Comfortable places for adults to join in children’s activities (adult-sized chairs, etc.)
Places for adults to put their things during arrival and departure routines
A sense of calm
A sense of belonging
Soft elements
Places for everything
Things in their places
Places to be all alone yet well supervised
Places to be with my teacher for face-to-face, one to one interactions
Places to be with friends
Multiple sources of interesting things
Multiple types of stimulation
Ways to increase and decrease stimulation
Mirrors
A variety of play props
A variety of play cues; invitations to play right here
Indoor materials that are brought outside
Not too much stuff
Opportunities for different perspectives
Place for some gross motor activities
Differentiated spaces to be with friends and with teachers
Open-ended toys and materials
An accessible collection of books in good repair
Environmental print (photographs, pictures, labels, signs)
Teacher-made toys and materials
Many images of children and their families and of children and teachers interacting in the
classroom
• Diverse cultural props that reflect the cultures and ethnic groups of families enrolled in
the program as well as other cultures and ethnic groups.
• Bias-free images of people of all ages and differing abilities
• Outdoor play areas that foster all domains of development, particularly gross and fine
motor development
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 23
defined play areas with toys and materials that
relate to the kinds of experiences that should
take place in each area. Blocks, manipulatives,
sensory, books, music and movement, and
dramatic play are examples. Both infant and
toddler environments should provide comfortable places for children and adults to be
together in side-by-side platform rockers, on
the floor, and in appropriately sized furniture.
Make sure you plan both indoor and outdoor
environments. When children’s bodies are
growing and changing rapidly, they require
time in both settings each and every day.
Plan Activities
and Experiences
restrict children’s movement by using swings,
seats, or exersaucers. Plan environments that
sort toys into categories that are similar, for
example, toys that make noise separately from
toys that roll or move and those that are for
exploration with your mouth separately from
those that are for exploring visually.
Environments for toddlers need well-
Another component of your plan is the
particular activities and experiences you intend to offer to children or prepare for their
independent use alone or with their friends.
Plan for infants to spend much of their time
interacting with you and with the toys and
A Well-Planned Activity
I Wonder Where the Clouds All Go*
Location
Outdoors, on the playground; repeat indoors near a window where the
child can look at the clouds
Materials
Fingerplay written on an index card; pictures of clouds from magazines
or photographs of clouds laminated for durability; beach towels
Teacher Talk Suggestions
“There go the clouds!” “I see lots of fluffy, white clouds.” Which picture
looks like the clouds in the sky right now?” Describe the clouds to children
as they go by. Include the following vocabulary: fluffy; wispy; white; grey;
up high in the sky, etc. Ask children questions such as “Where do the
clouds all go?” ; “Which clouds do you like best?”
Instructions
Lay the towels on the ground. Sing the following song with children
to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” using the hand movements
suggested. After the song, lie down and watch the clouds go by, describing what you see to the children.
I Wonder Where the Clouds All Go
When I look up in the sky, (Hand on brow, looking up)
I can see the clouds go by. (Flutter fingers)
They don’t ever make a sound, (Finger to lips)
Letting wind push them around. (Move hands around)
Some go fast and some go slow (Move hands fast, then slow)
I wonder where the clouds all go! (Hand on brow, looking up)
24 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
Adaptation
•Describe details of the clouds to visually impaired children.
•Help children using adaptive devices get into a position to see the
clouds.
•Pre-teach hand movements (with any modifications necessary) to children who have orthopedic impairments that may interfere with their ability
to perform movements as directed. For example, if a child cannot move
his or her hand to an upright position, he or she may tap the table quickly
and then slowly when the other children are moving their hands fast and
then slow.
•Children with significant speech impairments may not be able to
articulate specific sounds in the song or sing at the same rate as the
other children. If the child uses sign language, teach him key words and
phrases to the song such as cloud, look up, fast and slow, etc. The use
of sign language can support the song and allow the child to be fully
included in the activity.
Extension
Take photos of clouds on various days (or collect magazine pictures of
clouds during various weather situations) and compare the clouds today
to the clouds you saw another day. Teach children the names various
types of clouds, e.g., cumulus, stratus, cirrus, nimbus, etc., you see.
*Adapted from Albrecht, K. & Miller, L.G. (2000). Innovations: The
Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum. Beltsville, WA: Gryphon House.
materials you carefully select. Plan for toddlers
to have many concrete, hands on experiences
with the toys and materials you provide. Plan
experiences that stimulate exploration and give
children many opportunities to do activities independently or nearby and with their friends.
Make sure the activities and experiences
you plan fit the children in your group. It isn’t
necessary to usurp the content of preschool
programs by drilling skills those teachers like
to see children have. Instead, focus your planning on age, stage, and culturally appropriate
activities that take into consideration the interests and preferences of these young learners.
Observation
and Assessment
Observe the child’s response to the song
and hand movements. Look for connections
between the words in the song and the finger
movements. Watch to see if the child can
reproduce the sequence of the movements.
Watch to see if the child connects the pictures
of the clouds with the clouds in the sky. Notice if the child pays attention to song. Notice
if the children coordinate the movements
with the words as you say them.
Plan for Observation and
Assessment
When you plan activities, think carefully
about your goals for children, making sure
they are appropriate. Plan modifications or
amendments to individualize your plan for
each child. Individualization is crucial during
the first three years when growth and development is highly variable and individually
unique. Matching your plan to each child
insures you can identify what children know
and can do now and allow you to think about
what might come next.
Think about each of the activities and
experiences you plan. Why did you plan
them? What is the intent? Identifying why
and what allows you to assess the success of
your plan and to modify or extend it based
on your observations.
Plan to observe, make notes, and compare
children’s individual progress. Early intervention during the first three years is very likely
2-Year-Old Developmental Milestones*
Movement milestones
•Walks alone
•Pulls toys behind her while walking
•Carries large toy or several toys while walking
•Begins to run
•Stands on tiptoe
•Kicks a ball
•Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
•Walks up and down stairs holding on to support
Milestones in hand and finger skills
•Scribbles spontaneously
•Turns over container to pour out contents
•Builds tower of four blocks or more
•Might use one hand more frequently than the other
Language milestones
•Points to object or picture when it’s named for him
•Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and body parts
•Says several single words (by fifteen to eighteen months)
•Uses simple phrases (by eighteen to twenty-four months)
•Uses two- to four-word sentences
•Follows simple instructions
•Repeats words overheard in conversation
Cognitive milestones
•Finds objects even when hidden under two or three covers
•Begins to sort by shapes and colors
•Begins make-believe play
Social and emotional milestones
•Imitates behavior of others, especially adults and older children
•Increasingly aware of herself as separate from others
•Increasingly enthusiastic about company of other children
•Demonstrates increasing independence
•Begins to show defiant behavior
•Increasing episodes of separation anxiety toward midyear, then they fade
Developmental health watch
Because each child develops at his own particular pace, it’s impossible
to tell exactly when children will perfect a given skill. The developmental
milestones will give you a general idea of the changes you can expect
as children get older, but don’t be alarmed if children take a slightly different course.
*Excerpted from Shelov, S.P., & Altman, T.R. (2009). Caring for Your
Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. Elk Grove Village, IL: American
Academy of Pediatrics
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 25
Family Participation and Involvement Activities—Some Examples*
•Plan a visit to the classroom by family members. Encourage them to visit often.
•Ask grandparents to record themselves reading a book or singing a song. Share the recording with their grandchild.
•Help families establish a separation and reunion ritual to use every day when they leave and when they return.
•Send home a teacher-made Meet-Your-Friends-at-School book for families to read to their child.
•Send home tips for encouraging language development with examples.
•Ask families to make a photo necklace for children who are experiencing separation anxiety to wear to keep their loved ones close.
•Fill a resealable plastic bag with two labeled photos of each child in the classroom. Encourage the family to play a matching game with their child
using the photos. Families will learn the faces and the names and so will their child.
•Invite families to join you outside on the playground for a few minutes before they go home. Encourage them to join their child in play.
•Send home a copy of a favorite song, rhyme, or fingerplay for families to sing or recite with their child. Share the tune or fingerplay movements
so it will be familiar to the child or encourage the family to make up their own.
•Ask families to send in one empty, well washed yogurt container to school. Report the number collected and counted to families.
*Adapted from Albrecht, K. & Miller, L.G. (2000). Innovations: The Comprehensive Toddler Curriculum. Beltsville, WA: Gryphon House.
to be effective but we have to identify whether
or not children might need such intervention.
Use checklists that chart typical development in social, emotional, language, motor,
and cognitive milestones to confirm that
development is proceeding normally as well
as to target goals for ongoing developmental
progress. An example from the American
Academy of Pediatrics follows.
Brooks-Gunn, 1998).
A carefully made curriculum plan is the
foundation of effective teaching practices.
When plans are comprehensive and include
families as first educators, we can be sure
that we are building a strong foundation for
continued growth, development, and learning
for the infants and toddlers.
Plan for Family Participation
and Involvement
Albrecht, K., & Miller, L.G. (2000). Innovations:
The comprehensive infant curriculum. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House.
Albrecht, K., & Miller, L.G. (2000). Innovations:
The comprehensive toddler curriculum.
Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House.
Albrecht, K., & Miller, L.G. . (2001). Innovations:
The infant and toddler child development
Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House.
Baker, A.K.L., Piotrkowski, C.W., & BrooksGunn, J. (1998). The effects of home instruction program for preschool youngsters
(HIPPY) on children’s school performance
at the end of the program and one year later.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13(4),
571-578.
Copple, C. & Bredekamp, S. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early
childhood programs. Washington, DC:
National Association for the Education of
Young Children.
Lally, J.R., & Mangione, P. (2006). The uniqueness of infancy demands a responsive approach to care, Young Children, 61(4), 14-22.
Parlakian, R. (2003). Before the ABCs: Promoting school readiness in infants and toddlers.
During the first three years, infant and
toddler teachers support children’s first teachers—the people in their immediate family
who care for them. Plan for family involvement and participation, making plans for
each and every family. Your curriculum plan
should include the natural extensions that can
connect and involve families as you support
and extend their competence as first teachers. Some examples include visiting to read a
story, sharing pictures of family members to
make a family collage for posting, gathering
food containers to recycle into teacher-made
toys, collecting pictures from magazines to
create board books and add vocabulary in the
classroom, etc. And, don’t give in to the idea
that families are too busy to help. Research
tells us that families that connect with their
school and teacher early in their children’s
lives are more likely to keep it up. Such participation matters . When their families are
involved and connected to children’s school
experience, their children are more likely to
succeed academically (Baker, Piotrkowski, &
References and Resources
26 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
Washington, DC: Zero to Three.
Tarlov, A. R. (2008). The coproduction of human
development and health. In A.R. Tarlov & M.P.
Debbink, Eds.), Investing in early childhood
development. New York: Palgrave/McMillian.
Thompson, R.A. (2009). Connecting neurons,
concepts, and people: Brain development
and its implications. In NIEER Publications:
Preschool policy facts. Retrieved July 17,
2009, from http://nieer.org/resources/factsheets/21.pdf.
Shelov, S.P., & Altman, T.R. (2009). Caring for
Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5.
Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of
Pediatrics
Zero to Three. (2008). Caring for infants and
toddlers in groups. Washington, DC: Author.
Kay M. Albrecht is president of Innovations
in Early Childhood Education in Houston TX.
Teaching in some capacity has been the bulk of
Kay’s life work, beginning with her first assignment as a preschool teacher. She has continued
her work with young children and the adults
who teach them as the director of a nationally
accredited early childhood program and on the
faculty at four universities.
She served until 2010 as academic editor of
Exchange Magazine, co-authored the Innovations series of curriculum, development, and
training materials and The Right Fit: Recruiting, Selecting, and Orienting Staff. Her latest
publication is “Teaching children to be healthy
and fit: Physical development and health,” in
Effective practices in early childhood education
(Bredekamp, 2010).
[
Preschool STEM Curriculum
]
Science in a Preschool Classroom
By Lindsay R. Dennis
science can be thought of not as an activity,
but as a way to complete an activity. As stated
by Gelman and Brenneman (2004), “Science
becomes a process of knowledge acquisition,
doing and recording, not just a body of facts,”
(p. 156). Children are naturally curious about
the world around them and want to form
their own ideas and make sense of their environment. Science activities can guide them
in this process when they are provided with
opportunities to explore materials, ask questions, investigate, and record and reflect on
their work. Furthermore, because science is
so engaging for children, it is the ideal content
area for supporting children’s learning and
development (French, 2004). What teachers
may not realize is how science activities can
actually support learning and skill development in the areas of mathematics, language
and literacy, and social-emotional development. Let’s take a look at how each of these
areas can be further enhanced through the
use of science.
Mathematics
Miss Debbie’s classroom of 4 and 5-year old
children are hard at work. One of the choices during center time is painting at the easel, where the
children have paint and pictures of flowers. Three
colors of paint (red, blue, and yellow), are available.
Trevor and Trinity decide they would like to paint
flowers together. After painting a beautiful red
flower, Trinity now wants to add a green stem and
leaves. “We don’t have any green paint,” she says to
Trevor. After thinking for a minute, Trevor says,
“But we do have blue and yellow paint and when
you mix them together, it makes green!” Trevor and
Trinity work together, mixing blue and yellow, until
they have made the perfect green color. “Yippee!”
Trinity exclaims when she is finished painting,
“Look at my red flower with the green stem and
leaves. And I made it all myself!”
Integrating science, technology, engineering, and math (S.T.E.M) into the curricula
of schools is becoming increasingly important
(Clark & Ernst, 2008). Adults may believe
that activities involving these four disciplines
are too challenging to be included at the
preschool level (Moomaw & Davis, 2010).
However, preschool children can benefit from
activities, particularly those that are sciencebased, if they are meaningfully and intentionally incorporated within the context of their
early learning environments. The National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) encourages teachers to plan
for learning experiences within a curriculum
that supports all disciplines, including mathematics, science, and literacy (2009). In fact,
Science activities provide many opportunities for children to learn about and practice
mathematical concepts such as counting,
problem solving, measurement, and classification. According to NAEYC and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(NCTM) (2002), math can be incorporated
within and across children’s experiences with
literature, language, science, and virtually
all parts of the classroom environment. For
example, math can be used within a thematic
unit on liquids, solids, and gases.
• After discussing the properties of liquids, solids, and gases, children could place
pictures of different items under the correct
category for example, milk under liquids and
blocks under solids.
• Using a hair dryer, children could blow
drops of colored water across a piece of paper
and then measure to see which drop went the
farthest.
• Have the children create pinwheels and
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 27
then have them walk with and then run with
them, talking about why the pinwheel moves
faster when they run as compared to when
they walk.
Find balloons of different sizes. Ask the
children to predict how many breaths it might
take to blow up a large and small balloon.
While you are blowing, have the children
count each breath that you take. Discuss
whether their predictions were correct.
This scientific approach of “trial and error”
helps children understand that their input
was not a failure, but rather provided important information that helped the class figure
out the answer to a question or problem. In
this way, knowledge increases as children
focus more on learning and less on making
mistakes (Conezio & French, 2002). The
following vignette provides an example of
this process:
“Miss Debbie”, Charlie says, “your face got
really red when you were blowing up that big balloon.” “Yes it did”, Miss Debbie replies. “Why do
you think that is?” “Well, it took you 10 breaths
to blow it up. That’s a lot”, Charlie answers.
Continuing on he says, “I guessed 15 breaths, I
was wrong.” Miss Debbie smiling says, “You made
a really good guess and we learned that it didn’t
take as many breaths as you thought. Good thing
because my face would have gotten really red.”
The next group of activities provides
further examples of how math can be incorporated into a science lesson.
• Children could perform “races” with different liquids such as honey, syrup, and water.
Show children a baking sheet and talk about
how you are going to place one drop of a liquid
on the baking sheet and then tip it up so the
liquid runs down the sheet. One at a time,
place a drop of honey, syrup, and water on
the baking sheet and have the children count
how long it takes the drop to go from the top
of the baking sheet to the bottom. Record the
children as they count and discuss the results.
• Gather a few different solid objects such
as rocks, buttons, and feathers. Begin by asking the children to describe these solids using
words like heavy, light, soft, and hard. Then
ask the children to make predictions about
which solid they think weighs the most and
using a scale, weigh each object. Encourage the
children to talk about why rocks weigh more
than feathers, even though they are both solids.
• Freeze a gallon of water, talking with the
children that ice is a solid. Over the course of
the day, make marks on the gallon jug to measure how much of the ice has melted. Ask the
children to discuss what they are observing.
Language and Literacy
Children are more likely to learn language
and literacy skills when they are situated
within authentic learning contexts and opportunities to practice these skills are present (Teale & Sulzby, 1984). Therefore, daily
literacy activities can be embedded within
science activities that are already taking place
in the classroom. Let’s return to the above
mentioned unit on liquids and solids. Prior
to your “race” with the liquids, children can
describe the honey, syrup, and water using
words such as sticky, thick, thin and transparent. Ask the children to explore each of
the liquids using their senses of touch, smell,
and taste. Record the children’s statements as
they are talking and display it for them to see.
Another benefit derived from science demonstrations is that they help children become
comfortable with large group discussions
(Conezio & French, 2002). An example of
this is seen during a large group gathering
when blowing up different sizes of balloons,
as you encourage the children to use vocabulary such as inflate. As you let the air out of
the balloons and they zip around the room,
the children will squeal with delight and
you can talk about the word deflate. During
outdoor play you may find, or create an opportunity to translate their new knowledge
about inflate and deflate to a new situation.
Ask them to help you figure out what to do
with a flat kickball you found. Encourage
them to remember and use the words they
have recently learned.
The ability to use language both receptively and expressively can be supported and
developed through the preschool years by
teachers who use language that describes
what children are experiencing or observing
(French, Conezio, & Boynton, 2000).
Have children select one item from a group
of different kinds of solids (e.g. block, aluminum foil, cotton ball, or feather). As each child
places their item into a tub of water, talk with
them about whether or not their solid absorbs
or repels the liquid.
On another day you could make small ice
cubes of different colors (using food coloring). The children will select one ice cube and
“paint” with it on a piece of finger paint paper.
Ask the children to describe what is happen-
28 Early Years • www.texasaeyc.org
ing with the ice cube and paper. Encourage
them to also discuss what it feels like when
they are touching the ice and then what it
feels like when it turns into water. Write the
children’s words on their papers. Observing as
letters, words, and sentences are written down
helps children begin to make the connection
between verbal expression and written print.
Literature of all kinds can be used to support language and scientific literacy development. Stock your book area with books on the
topic of solids, liquids, and gases, including
those that you have read during group time.
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner and
Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer are great
examples of books that you can use to talk
about both liquids and solids as they discuss
the melting process in a way that children
can understand and relate to. To enhance
children’s understanding of gases, The Wind
Blew by Pat Hutchins and Like a Windy
Day by Frank Asch and Devin Asch use the
concept of wind to teach children that even
though they may not be able to see the air,
they know it is there because it moves things
around. Incorporate songs, fingerplays, and
poems whenever possible. Keep in mind that
books, particularly non-fiction books, provide
a powerful foundation for conversations with
peers and adults (Conezio & French, 2002).
Read to the children every day, even going so
far as to read the same book more than once
across a period of several days. Re-reading
books to children provides opportunities for
them to really connect with the content and/
or characters in the book. Finally, don’t be
afraid to have fun yourself while reading by
using voices, gestures, and facial expressions
to relay your interest and excitement in the
book. The point here is that science should
be considered the content for both math and
literacy experiences, not as a separate activity
that takes away from these core content areas
(Gelman & Brenneman, 2004).
Social-Emotional
Development
As stated by NAEYC, children’s social
experiences with their preschool peers may
help him or her develop not only social skills
and confidence, but these experiences also elevate a child’s social competence and academic
achievement (2009). Children’s social skills
develop best when they have opportunities
to learn and practice them within the context
of meaningful activities (Katz & McClellan,
1997). As you have probably experienced,
one consistent challenge is keeping children’s
attention for a sustained length of time. Activities such as those previously discussed engage
children’s interest for extended periods of
time because they are hands-on, expand upon
children’s desire to investigate, and allow them
to reach their own conclusions. Consider the
activity in which children are using a blow
dryer to move drops of liquid paint across a
piece of paper. Likely you will only be able
to have one hair dryer at a time going, due to
factors such as noise and safety.
In order to participate in this activity, children will be asked to hold the hair dryer for
several minutes in order to move their drop
as far as they can. Not only does this activity
require children to be attentive for several
minutes, it is also providing them a sense of
achievement. Large group discussions, like
the one having to do with describing different
kinds of solids, will challenge the children’s
ability to regulate their attention throughout
the discussion. Both of these activities will
also require that children take turns, to use the
hair dryer and make a comment respectively,
as well as listen while others are talking (e.g.
directions for using the hair dryer from the
teacher and hearing their friend’s comments
about solid objects).
Another social skill that can be practiced
throughout many of these activities is that
of problem solving. Although the traditional
version of the cycle of scientific reasoning
(reflect and ask, plan and predict, act and
observe, and report and reflect) (French,
Conezio, & Boynton, 2000) may be difficult
for young children to grasp, a simplified version can be applied to the activity with the
liquid races. To begin, children will reflect
and ask as they explore the honey, syrup, and
water to determine their different characteristics, perhaps even asking questions of you
for clarification.
They can then make predictions about
which liquid they think will go faster down
the baking sheet. During the races, children
will be encouraged to help put the drops
onto the baking sheet (i.e. act) and then
discuss out loud what they are observing (i.e.
observe). Finally, the results of the race will
be reported to the group and children can
reflect as they think about what they could
do differently to get different results. Would
milk move as fast as water? What would
happen if we raced on a rougher surface, like
sandpaper? The cycle would start over with
a new set of activities that incorporate the
children’s suggestions.
Often this problem solving process can
also be applied to social situations that occur
in preschool classrooms, for example, during
the naturally occurring process of peer play.
Imagine that one child comes to you because
a group of children won’t let him play with
the flashlights in the dramatic play area.
Rather than intervening, ask the child who
felt left out what he could do (i.e. plan) and
what he thought would happen if he chose
a particular course of action (i.e. predict).
After talking through several possibilities
(e.g. taking the flashlight and then my friend
gets mad), the child goes back and tells his
friends, “It is now nighttime and I can’t see
anything without my flashlight,” at which
point, a flashlight is shared with him (i.e. act
and observe). The child may come back and
report to you that he was able to play with a
flashlight or he may realize that verbalizing
helps him get his wants and needs met (i.e.
report and reflect). With support from you
as the teacher, children may continue to resolve their own problems using the problem
solving process you have been teaching them
throughout your science activities.
Conclusion
Most young children bring wonder and
curiosity with them to their preschool
classrooms. Teachers can capitalize on these
characteristics by bringing science into their
everyday activities and routines. Learning
about science provides a rich knowledge base
that will serve as the foundation for acquiring skills in the areas of math, language and
literacy, and social-emotional development.
Most importantly, children love to explore
and literally put their hands on and in all
kinds of different materials to see how things
work. Teaching children who are engaged and
having fun can make you, as the teacher, feel
like a kid again.
References
Asch, F., & Asch, D. (2002). Like a Windy Day.
Orlando: Harcourt.
Buehner, C. (2002). Snowmen at Night. Orlando:
Harcourt.
Clark. A.C., & Ernst, J.V. (2008). STEM-based
computational modeling for technology
education. Journal of Technology Studies,
34(1), 20-27.
Conezio, K., & French, L. (2002). Science in
the preschool classroom: Capitalizing on
children’s fascination with the everyday world
to foster language and literacy development.
Young Children, 57(5), 12-18.
de Beer, H. (1987). Little Polar Bear. New York:
North-South Books.
French, L. (2004). Science as the center of a
coherent, integrated early childhood curriculum. Early Childhood Research Quarterly,
19, 138-149.
French, L., Conezio, K., & Boynton, M. (2000,
November). Using science as the hub of an
integrated early childhood curriculum: The
ScienceStart curriculum. Proceedings of the
Lilian Katz Symposium (pp. 1-14).
Gelman, R., & Brenneman, K. (2004). Science
learning pathways for young children.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19(1),
150-158.
Hutchins, P. (1993). The Wind Blew. New York:
Aladdin.
Katz, L., & D. McClellan. 1997. Fostering children’s social competence: The teacher’s role.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Moomaw, S., & Davis, J.A. (2010). STEM comes
to preschool. Young Children, 65(5), 12-18.
National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC) & National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) (2002). Early
Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good
Beginnings. Joint position statement. Retrieved
March 5, 2011 from http://www.naeyc.org/
files/naeyc/file/positions/psmath.pdf.
National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC) (2009). Developmentally
appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through
age 8. A position statement of the National
Association for the Education of Young
Children. In Developmentally appropriate
practice in early childhood programs. 3rd
ed., eds. S. Bredekamp & C. Copple, 1-31.
Washington, DC: Author.
Teale, W., & E. Sulzby. 1986. Emergent literacy as
a perspective for examining how young children become writers and readers. In Emergent
literacy: Writing and reading, eds. W. Teale,
E. Sulzby, & M. Farr. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Dr. Lindsay R. Dennis served as both a
general and special education teacher for 3 to
5 year old children. She participated in a grant
project involving a science-based curriculum for
preschool children. She is currently a professor
of Early Childhood Education.
Summer 2011 •
Early Years 29
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