This diploma thesis focuses on improving reading literacy in preschool children in cooperation between family and kindergarten. The theoretical part is devoted to the concept of a preschool child, taking into account his psychological development, the cooperation of the kindergarten with the family, family itself, reading literacy and methods of its development. Through action research, the practical part focuses on mapping parents' work with children at home using intervention activities to improve parents' understanding of book working methods and the use of reading strategies that help building a positive relationship with books and improve text comprehension, and then evaluate the impact of these activities on parents and their effort to stimulate reading in children. The proposed lessons devoted to the development of reading literacy were implemented with children in the presence of their parents and the aim was to show the possibilities of working with a book through specific activities that will help building interest in books and comprehension of the read text. Due to the implementation of five lessons, progress has been made, which can be recognized from the reflective questionnaires that were completed before and after the lessons. The information from the questionnaires is gathered into...

In this study we aimed to investigate preschool teachers' perceptions of mathematics in relation to play. And what pre-school teachers have to say about their active presence about children's mathematical learning. In addition, we also want to investigate how they describe that mathematics in both planned and spontaneous play is implemented. We used these issues to get close to our aim; What approaches do pre-school teachers have to play and learning in relation to mathematics? How do preschool teachers describe the implementation of mathematics in relation to play? In this study we used qualitative research and we interviewed six active preschool teachers and summarized their answers. We found out that a phenomenological research approach suits this study. The theories we have based our study on are Lev. S Vygotskij, Alan Bishop and Friedrich Fröbel. Our result: In this study, we have studied pre-school teachers' perceptions of how mathematics can be applied through play. According to preschool teachers, play leads to mathematics learning. Furthermore, they believe that play and learning go hand in hand, so it can be difficult to define what play is and what learning is, according to most of them. The study shows that learning takes place in preschool daily and in all activities the children participate in or observe. According to the teachers, learning in mathematics can take place when the child plays by himself, or in interaction with other peers, and with a teacher present. This teachers’ presence depends on the situation in the game. According to the teachers, they can sometimes observe the game and only participate to implement a clarification in the game, be a co-researching teacher with empathy. Our conclusions may be that learning in mathematics takes place all the time, but it is clarified by the active role of preschool teachers and awareness of their approach.

The Diploma thesis "Research on religious literacy of preschool children in a Christian kindergarten class: Case study" consists of two main parts. Its chief aim is to introduce a new term "religious literacy" and identify its main features on children of preschool age. In the first chapter, it is dealt with the term of literacy in general and from the religious point of view. First, the term is defined; its levels, main factors and points of judgment are specified. Further, the particular models for preschool age and the main principles of its effective stimulation and development are drawn up. In the chapter about religious literacy, the stage of faith intuitive - projective is presented, typical for preschool age. It is based on the passages from Catechism of the Catholic Church. The item of the second part is a case study as an empirical research on religious literacy of preschool children in a Christian kindergarten class. The research is directly connected to the theoretical part and its main goal is to get a real picture of the stand of religious-literacy state of preschool children and to analyze given issues. The research sample is characterized; the kindergarten is presented with the related commentary of the Educational program for preschool education. The project main aim and partial...

Die Kindertagesbetreuung in Sachsen ermöglicht allen Kindern chancengerechte und qualitativ hochwertige Bildungs- und Sozialisationsprozesse sowie soziale Teilhabe am Wohnort.

Die Adventsaktion „Türen auf!“ will genau das ermöglichen: Herausgehen aus der Enge und Tabuisierung durch falsche Vorstellungen. Hereinkommen in eine Gemeinschaft, die junge Menschen mit Behinderung integriert, unterstützt und Teilhabe ermöglicht. Der Zugang zu Schulbildung ist dabei ein wichtiger Schritt. Jedes der drei vorgestellten Projekte ist für sich einzigartig und will die Lebensumstände der jungen Menschen vor dem Hintergrund ihres regionalen Umfeldes und ihrer besonderen Situation verbessern.

Job satisfaction of early childhood teachers in military programs and satisfaction changes as teachers deal with challenging behaviors in the workplace was the focus of this study. The goal of The National Association for the Education of Young Children is to ensure quality programming that promotes positive child development experiences. Child development experiences are impacted by teaching staff, partnerships, administration, and the children's' environment. This case study examined the specific environment and behaviors that military childcare providers experience at a small military installation and explored how working with children with challenging behaviors impacts the job satisfaction of early childhood teachers. Herzberg's 2-factor theory provided the conceptual framework on how satisfaction and dissatisfaction can exist in the same environment. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and observations of the work environment with 11 participants ranging from 23 to 56 years of age at the military installation. The participants were selected for being part of the military community and early childhood teachers at the study site. Data were open coded and thematically analyzed. Findings indicated that the teachers at this site have a dual perception of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the workplace that stems from experiences with coworker relationships, dealing with policy and procedure changes, and adjusting to the varying behaviors of children. The implications for social change include providing research findings on early childhood teacher satisfaction to the study site so that administrators can develop a plan to improve military early childhood care provider job satisfaction, which may improve the quality of the environment of the military child.

The influx of women of childbearing age into the labor force, family dynamics of dual working parents as a result of economic factors, and weakening of extended family supports have increased demand for early childhood care and education programs in Nigeria. Consequently, a problem emerged in increased enrollment in ECCE programs that are deficient in terms of structural and process factors of child-caregiver ratio, group size, staff qualifications, health and safety practices, curriculum implementation, and parental engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influenced parents' in their decision process for ECCE placement for their children aged 6 months to 1 year in Asaba education zone of Delta State, Nigeria. Epistemological constructivism was employed as the conceptual framework for this inquiry. A qualitative design together with one-on-one interviews of 9 parents of children enrolled in selected public, mission, and private ECCE programs were employed to answer four research questions on parents' decision making for ECCE selection. The resulting data were analyzed using both a priori and open coding to generate themes and patterns. The study revealed that parents relied on personal priorities over quality indicators. This study may contribute to social change by providing policymakers and other stakeholders with information on factors parents consider in their selection of ECCE programs, including factors that incline parents to choose quality-deficient programs. This information may lead to program improvements that increase enrollment of children into quality programs, reduce gaps in achievement and opportunity between the low and middle-income groups, and enhance social equity and success for children enrolled ECCE programs.

Administrators and teachers are concerned that English Language Learners (ELLs) in an urban elementary school in a southern part of the United States are not meeting required state standards in reading. Teachers have indicated that they do not always know how to differentiate instruction for ELLs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate teachers' implementation of differentiated instruction for ELLs. This research study was guided by the conceptual framework of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's theory of implementing differentiated instruction. The research questions investigated teachers' perceptions of differentiated instruction and their professional development for mediating instruction for ELLs. Six teachers from Grades 1 to 3 who teach ELLs with limited English-speaking ability and 2 ELL teachers participated in the study. Data were collected from transcribed interviews, open-ended surveys, and lesson plans. Inductive analysis was used to identify themes and commonalities within the collected data. The major themes included that differentiation is crucial for ELL instruction, teachers use varied instructional strategies to meet ELLs' individual needs, and teachers want purposeful and relevant professional development to meet ELLs' academic needs. The findings indicated a need for a professional development that include a systematic approach to differentiated instructional strategies to improve academic achievement for ELLs. A 3-day professional development was designed. The findings of this study and professional development may contribute to positive social change by increasing teachers' use of instructional strategies that align with the district's guidelines to improve learning and achievement for ELLs.

Children's undeveloped social, emotional, and behavioral skills have long been a concern in early childhood classrooms. Numerous studies have illuminated how therapy dogs in pedagogical settings support children's holistic development, yet there is scant data on the integration of therapy dogs into the early childhood classroom. This study was guided by the progressive education theory and the concept of the human-animal bond, which collectively lay the foundation for how young children develop critical life skills in the presence of a therapy dog. A qualitative collective case study was used to examine how 3 early childhood educators used therapy dogs and viewed the support these dogs provide for the social, emotional, and behavioral development of children. Two educators from three Indiana public schools and 1 educator from an Indiana independent early education program participated in semi-structured interviews on their use of therapy animals in early childhood classrooms. Classroom observations, children's artifacts, and researcher field notes were used to triangulate the data. A within-case analysis was conducted for each site, followed by a cross-case analysis for comparisons and generalizations. Three themes resulted: a therapy dog (a) is an innovative teaching tool; (b) supports children's social, emotional, and behavioral development; and (c) enhances children's experiences. It is expected that these findings may give program administrators and early childhood educators the mechanics of effective therapy dog practices. Knowing the mechanics of therapy dog usage in the classroom and understanding the potential outcomes for young children, administrators and educators could build on this process, develop a more effective plan for their own program, or opt out of a therapy dog program entirely.

Teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender are known to influence their assessment of primary and secondary students' academic achievements. However, little is known about the effect on children's academic achievement of preschool teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender, which forms the basis for this study. The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher assessment of preschool children's mathematics and science skills on the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) and Teacher Strategies GOLD (TSG), along with teacher comments written in preparation for each child's parent-teacher conference, to determine if there was a relationship between preschool teachers' assessment and comments and the race and gender of the child. Wason's theory of confirmation bias formed the theoretical foundation of this study. The research questions addressed the relationship between preschool teacher assessments recorded on the DRDP and TSG regarding children's mathematics and science skill and teacher comments coded from Racasens linguistic model and those children's race and gender. Archival data from 2 Head Start centers in a western and southwestern state were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, and the point-biserial Pearson correlation. The Mann-Whitney U test found no statistically significant differences in DRDP and TSG scores by students' race and gender. The point-biserial Pearson correlation found no statistically significant correlation between race or gender and teacher comments. This study contributes to positive social change by confirming observational assessments to be free from teacher bias, supporting their continued use with preschool children to promote their learning and development.