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Eric.ed.gov – Multiple Languages and the School Curriculum: Experiences from Tanzania

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This is a research report on children’s use of multiple languages and the school curriculum. The study explored factors that trigger use of, and fluency in, multiple languages; and how fluency in multiple languages relates to thought processes and school performance. Advantages and disadvantages of using only one of the languages spoken were explored. Data were collected in five schools in three regions in Tanzania. This context provided multilingual children for the study. Data included faculty and parent questionnaires, parent interview notes, teacher observation notes on children&’s interactions, and performance scores as secondary data. The data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 15.0) as well as content analysis. Results revealed school related and family related factors that trigger and support childhood multilingualism,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Creative Futures: Act, Sing, Play. Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Act, Sing, Play (ASP) offered music and drama tuition to Year 2 pupils. The aim of the programme was to evaluate whether music workshops had a bigger impact than drama workshops in terms of pupils’ maths and literacy attainment. The evaluation was based on the hypothesis that participation in high-quality music instruction promotes educational attainment over and above instruction in other artistic pursuits (see Schellenberg, 2004). The ASP programme was developed specifically for this trial and ran from September 2013 to June 2014: 909 pupils participated in 19 schools across London, Essex, Sussex and Coventry. In each participating Year 2 class, pupils were randomly allocated to one of three groups: violin or cello workshops (ASP-strings), singing lessons (ASP-singing), or drama workshops (ASP-drama). The two music groups (strings… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – “Growing Up WILD”: Teaching Environmental Education in Early Childhood

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: A growing body of research, both nationally and internationally, indicates that children in the early childhood years (birth to age 8) learn primarily through their senses and from direct experience. They develop an understanding about the world through play, exploration, and creative activities as well as by watching and imitating adults and other children. “Growing Up WILD” (2010) is a large format book that promotes teacher efficacy with 27 developmentally appropriate activities, yet gives educators the flexibility to modify activities to meet the needs of children at different age levels and learning stages. The authors describe the contents of the resource as it presents a wide range of options for a variety of classroom strategies: small group, whole group, centers, pair and individual work, plus teachable moments… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – A Toolbox for Supporting Early Number Learning in Play: Moving beyond “How Many”?

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This paper explores the ways preschool teachers orchestrate instructional environments to promote mathematical play related to early number and, how they intervene during play to promote children’s engagement with early number. We highlight these practices to identify resources for the growing numbers of early childhood teachers. This is important as many prospective and practicing teachers do not have access to the knowledge of teaching that supports young children’s math learning because of the constraints of mathematics methods courses and the dearth of research on early childhood mathematics in mathematic education journals — particularly in-depth attention to early number and teaching mathematics in play. [For the complete proceedings, see ED583989.] Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – Math out of School: Families’ Math Game Playing at Home

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study investigated the potential of an approach to involving families in regular integration of math into home life, addressing the following: When families are given math-related games unconnected with children’s school, does what parents believe impact the extent to which their families play the games, and how do parents describe their family’s learning with the games? We distributed games integrating math and U.S. geography to 30 parents with children aged 7 to 13. Over four months, we followed the extent and nature of families’ playing of the games. Families with children under 10 were more likely to continue playing over time; parent education and occupation did not relate to extent of play. Parents described a rich, shared educational experience that they and their children shaped to… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Math, Science, and Technology in the Early Grades

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Do young children naturally develop the foundations of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)? And if so, should we build on these foundations by using STEM curricula in preschools? In this article, Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama argue that the answer to both these questions is yes. First, the authors show that young children possess a sophisticated informal knowledge of math, and that they frequently ask scientific questions, such as “why” questions. Preschoolers’ free play involves substantial amounts of foundational math as they explore patterns, shapes, and spatial relations; compare magnitudes; and count objects. Moreover, preschool and kindergarten children’s knowledge of and interest in math and science predicts later success in STEM. And not only in STEM: the authors show that early math knowledge also predicts later… Continue Reading