Beginnings and Beyond: Foundations in Early Childhood Education » (8th Edition)

Ann Gordon has been in the early childhood field for over 40 years as a teacher of young children, of parents, and of college students. She has taught in lab schools, church-related centers, and private and public preschool and kindergarten programs. While at Stanford, Ann was at the Bing Nursery School for 11 years and was a lecturer in the Psychology Department. For 10 years she also served as an adjunct faculty member in four colleges, teaching the full gamut of early childhood courses. Ann served as executive director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools for 14 years, where more than 1100 early childhood programs were a part of her network. She is now consulting in the areas of early childhood curriculum governance and professional development.

Current and prospective teachers and caregivers will greatly value Beginnings & Beyond for its well-organized and dynamic approach to teaching the fundamentals of early childhood education and the skills necessary to succeed in meeting the needs of young children. This edition promotes a "both/and" viewpoint, supporting the premise that there is more than one correct way to care for educate and young children. Discussions of early literacy, spiritual development, discipline, diversity and anti-bias strategies and family relationships are all presented from the "both/and" viewpoint. The book successfully uses a host of techniques for illustrating the concepts presented, such as guest editorials, focus boxes, footnotes and related Web sites. The readers' knowledge of this topic will be broad thanks to a multicultural approach with emphasis on NAEYC's developmentally appropriate practice. The book uses a host of techniques for illustrating the material and offers integrated technology for further exploration of the topic.

Chapter 1: History of Early Childhood Education
Chapter 2: Types of Programs
Chapter 3: Defining the Young Child
Chapter 4: Development and Learning Theories
Chapter 5: The Teachers Role
Chapter 6: Observation and Assessment: Learning to Read the Child
Chapter 7: Understanding the Guiding Behavior
Chapter 8: Parents and Teachers: Partners in Education
Chapter 9: Creating Environments
Chapter 10: Curriculum Basics
Chapter 11: Planning for the Body: Physical/Motor Development
Chapter 12: Planning for the Mind: Cognitive Development
Chapter 13: Planning for the Language Development
Chapter 14: Planning for the Heart and Soul: Emotional, Social and Creative Growth
Chapter 15: Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education