Vegetation has the potential to support all domains of early childhood development when carefully selected, yet it is infrequently used as a deliberate learning element in outdoor play environments for young children. The purpose of this study was to measure vegetation value in the context of developmentally appropriate early childhood education by assessing existing vegetation and interviewing educators at thirteen nationally accredited preschools in Tucson, Arizona. Results indicated low vegetation density and diversity compared to presence and quality of built elements, both indoors and out. While potential of existing vegetation was high, many educators reported few values of vegetation and rarely regarded it as a tool in their stated environmental curriculum. Furthermore, the values of structure for climbing and refuge for dramatic play appeared infrequently despite their importance in cited literature.

The purpose of this study was to determine if preschool children, specifically three- and four-year olds, were able to demonstrate recognition of chord changes and identify implied tonic-dominant chord changes as a result of age-appropriate instruction focusing on harmony. Sixteen preschool children (7, three-year-olds; 9, four-year-olds) were given 10, 15-minute lessons that consisted of activities designed to enhance their awareness of harmony. Following instruction, students were given a test that measured their ability to recognize chord changes with regular and irregular harmonic rhythm. Furthermore, subjects were asked to demonstrate audiation of the implied harmony in three unaccompanied melodies by performing chord changes on an electronic keyboard. Results indicated that preschool children (94%) could recognize tonic-dominant chord changes, especially when they occurred in a regular harmonic rhythm. A majority of students (69%) also showed mastery when chords were played in an irregular harmonic rhythm. Students were unable to demonstrate mastery in any of the audiation tasks. Following the 10-week treatment, eight of the original subjects continued for an additional 10 sessions. Instructional and testing procedures remained the same. The scores from the 10- and 20-week tests were compared using a repeated-measures ANOVA. Students showed significant improvement in their ability to recognize chord changes that were played in an irregular harmonic rhythm. A moderate correlation was found to exist between age and this same task.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children sing more accurately when taught songs on a neutral syllable or when they are taught with the original text. The subjects (N = 89), ages 3 to 5 years old, were enrolled in three preschools in Eastern Maryland. The children were randomly assigned to groups and then each group was randomly assigned to one of two treatments. The Text Method retained the text of all songs sung during the treatment period. The Neutral Syllable Method removed the original text of all songs sung during the treatment period and replaced it with a neutral syllable such as loo or lah. The subjects participated in two 30 minute classes per week for eight weeks. Lesson activities included singing, moving, listening to music, and playing a variety of small, hand-held percussion instruments. The Singing Accuracy Test (Posttest I) was administered individually to each child during the study's ninth week. The test required the child to echo the test song in phrases and then the song in its entirety. A second treatment occurred during week 11 in order to present the song material to the subjects in the opposite manner. A second test (Posttest II) concluded the study in week 12. Repeated Measures ANOVAs, t-Test for Independent Samples, t-Test for Correlated Samples, and Newman-Keuls Post-Hoc Comparisons were used to measure mean differences and interaction in the data. Results of the study indicated no significant difference of scores between the treatment groups due to the method of instruction. However, a closer investigation comparing differences between age groups revealed that the 4-year-old children scored significantly higher when singing the text of the song. Finally, a significant difference was found for all subjects when comparing phrase performance scores to whole song performance scores for Posttest I and Posttest II. The results suggest that 4-year-old children sing more accurately when performing songs with text. Further, it appears that young children are more accurate when singing a song in phrases then when singing a song in its entirety.

<p> The purpose of this historical narrative study was to discover how the World's Fair of 1876 advanced the kindergarten movement in the United States. Historical documents, photographs, and drawings were used as data sources. The following questions guided this study: "What were the purposes of the kindergarten exhibits at the World's Fair?" "Who were the individuals that demonstrated the kindergarten at the first Centennial World's Fair and how did they influence the kindergarten exhibits at the next fair in 1893?" and "How did commercialism associated with the fair affect the kindergarten movement?" </p><p> The kindergarten exhibits at the Centennial World's Fair had a profound effect on the way in which Americans viewed the kindergarten. At once viewed as a foreign import, the kindergarten became Americanized and more accepted by the majority of visitors. The fair exhibits also united the kindergarten pioneers in an effort to present an organized exhibit at the World's Fair of 1893. Even though the proliferation of commercialized kindergarten materials exhibited at the Centennial World's Fair often distorted the Froebelian kindergarten pedagogy, these materials increased the public's awareness of the kindergarten movement and all of its benefits.</p><p> Keywords: kindergarten, Froebel, Centennial World's Fair, feminism</p>

<p> Personal handheld media use, in particular the smartphone has increased in the last few years. Research has highlighted the increase of smartphone use among elementary age children but there is little information about how younger children use this tool and how parents feel about using technology with preschoolers. The purpose of this study was to investigate how preschool age children use the smartphone and to further explore parents' perceptions of this popular form of technology. The current study surveyed 141 parents about their practices and beliefs regarding their preschooler's smartphone use. Results revealed that preschoolers' smartphone use is prevalent, that the smartphone is being used for various purposes, and that parents have positive as well as negative feelings about their children's use. These results support the need for future research on the role of technology in very young children's learning.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Smartphone, digital media, mobile technology, preschool children</p>

<p> Early intensive behavior intervention programs are designed to educate children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Programs provide one-to-one instruction in highly structured learning environments, eventually moving students into less restrictive placements. General education classrooms are the placement of choice for most students with ASD. The popularity of these programs has made large gains in the last decade due to the documented success of students receiving services. The United States Surgeon General and the National Academy of Sciences Research Council provided additional support for these programs through their endorsement. However, little research exists to demonstrate if the gains made in early intervention programs are sustained over time. A cross case analysis using qualitative methods was used to examine the perceptions and experiences of parents whose children received early intensive behavior intervention services. Data were collected through participant interviews and document analysis. Findings revealed that all students had maintained their placements in general education classrooms and two students were no longer receiving Special Education services. Students had established support networks and friendships with peers.</p>

<p> This qualitative research examined how two early childhood educators initially integrated tablet technology in the curriculum through classroom observation, interviews and a review of documentation. The overall question was: how are early childhood educators initially integrating tablet technologies in the curriculum? The researcher also asked three sub-questions to further delve into developmentally appropriate practice while choosing apps. The three sub-questions ranged from what the early childhood educators believed about the impact of tablet technology within the curriculum, to how the early childhood educators were choosing developmentally appropriate apps. </p><p> The results of the research were the early childhood educator were initially integrating tablet technology at a cautious pace, but were not aware if the apps were developmentally appropriate. The researcher observed for seven weeks with 14 observations per educator. The observations and unobtrusive documentation showed that the iPads were used as a teacher driven goal. The children did not get to choose an app during the 7 weeks study. Each educator had an app in mind for each observational period. The researcher observed that many of the children, in one particular room, never had an opportunity to use the iPad. </p><p> The data collection strategies for this study were unobtrusive documentation, interviews, and unobtrusive observations. The unobtrusive documentation was the lesson plans submitted by one of the educators and app lists. The researcher arranged pre- and post-interview for the two educators. Though the unobtrusive documentation, observations and interviews, the researcher answered the initial research questions as well as the three sub-questions.</p><p> Seven themes emerged from the data. The themes included: a slow and cautious pace of integrating technology, the limited access to iPads, evidence of the lack of emphasis in lesson planning, need for more and continuous professional development, a trial and error approach to app selection, educators reliance on others for app selection, and uninformed app selection.</p>

Since 1987, the Kerry Wood Nature Centre has run a nature preschool for three-five old children. This study shows the affect it had on the environmental attitudes of former participants, who were 10-12 years old at the time of this study. Interviews and questionnaires with former participants, their families, and a control group investigated: (1) their current environmental attitude and behaviours; and (2) from whence these attitudes and behaviours arose. Past participants had a significantly greater connectedness-to-nature score than their peers did, even several years after leaving the program. The Nature Nursery program, along with other factors, made a measurable and persistent change in the attitude of these children. "Opportunity" in terms of location, parenting, companionship, and time emerged as being important in determining attitude. Children and parents overwhelmingly reported better feelings and behaviour after playing outside. Recommendations to improve early childhood environmental education programs are included.

Research has shown that at least half of children who display problem behaviour in preschool maintain these behaviour patterns when they reach school age. Without targeted intervention these behaviours may lead to an antisocial developmental pathway and problem behaviours which become increasingly entrenched and unlikely to respond to treatment. The present study had two aims, the first was to evaluate the use of differential attention as a behaviour management strategy in a preschool setting and to assess its effectiveness in encouraging prosocial behaviour in children who require extra assistance with their social development. The second was to assess the extent to which groups of Early Education teachers were able to implement differential attention during structured mat times and eating periods. This was achieved by observing both child appropriate and inappropriate behaviour and teacher attention to child appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. The study found that when teachers increased their rate of attention to appropriate behaviour to a level greater that their rate of attention to inappropriate behaviour, the child’s behaviour changed with appropriate behaviour increasing and inappropriate behaviour decreasing. Child behaviour only changed when teachers behaviour changed and was only maintained in the cases where teachers’ behaviour was maintained. One of the most significant observations in the study was the variability in implementation of the differential attention procedure across teachers and centres, leading to a number of recommendations for future research in preschool settings.

<p> Hispanic English Learners (ELs) in America are at risk of educational failure. Hispanics are the poorest, least-educated US ethnic group, making them subject to the widening educational achievement gap. When ELs are unsuccessful in school, both students and society suffer. As their population rises, many school districts, such as the Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) (pseudonym), need strategies to improve EL education. High-quality early childhood education increases student achievement. The literature indicates that transformational leadership (TL) is vital for school success. However, TL has been explored neither for EL achievement nor in the preschool setting. This study was needed to address the problem of EL achievement and improve TL theory prediction. This study investigated whether TL practices by preschool directors, as perceived by instructional staff, predicted EL's preschool achievement. Instructional staff (<i>n</i>=146; 130 teachers and 16 master teachers) at Great Falls district's 30 preschool sites completed 194 surveys describing their site leader's TL practices. Both the leadership scores and the preschool ELs' (<i>n</i>=1,390) literacy and mathematics achievement scores were aggregated by preschool site. Regression analyses were performed using SPSS to explore the relationships between preschool directors' TL practices and EL achievement, controlling for prior achievement scores, average student age, and leader characteristics. The results indicated that Setting Directions (<i>R</i>² =.70, F (6, 22) = 8.53, p&lt;0.01), Developing People (<i>R</i>² =.70, F (6, 23), p&lt;0.01), and combined TL practices (<i>R</i>² =.69, F (6, 22) = 8.11, p&lt; .01) had a significant and positive relationship with student mathematics achievement. However, Redesigning the Organization had no significant relationship with student outcomes. In addition, no relationships between TL practices and student literacy outcomes were significant. Future studies should include both student mathematics and literacy outcomes to investigate whether transformational practices have greater impact on mathematics than literacy achievement.</p>