Powerful Children

by Lewin-benham, Ann

• ISBN13: 9780807748848
• ISBN10: 0807748846
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-20
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr

Summary

In Possible Schools, Ann Lewin-Benham showed us that we can create schools that engage the minds of children and involve parents, even in urban settings. In this book, she describes projects in a school that successfully adapted the Reggio Approach with Head Start-eligible children.  She explains how to use the Reggio Approach to address current major concerns in early education, including helping children become self-disciplined, making sure children are ready for 1st grade, assessing children’s progress, and laying a foundation for literacy. Presenting a multitude of examples of excellent preschool practice, this dynamic book introduces the concept of significant work” that draws deeply on young children’s innate intelligences, provides teachers with an opportunity to reflect on what they know and understand about young children, illustrates how teachers can make changes in their classrooms to expand and improve learning, describes robust activities from an urban preschool, including how each project relates to a particular teaching principle, and suggests more clearly defined standards and lays out policy implications for each

Author Biography

Ann Lewin-Benham founded and for 20 years directed the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, DC where she also founded and directed the Model Early Learning Center.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
The Book's Themes	p. 2
Chapter Overview	p. 6
Beliefs, Classroom Environments, and Discipline	p. 9
Beliefs That Shape Practices	p. 10
Designing an Environment	p. 21
Helping Children Become Self-Regulated	p. 23
A Goal: Significant Work	p. 24
Where Theory and Practice Meet: First MELC Projects	p. 26
Beginning a Reggio-Inspired Practice	p. 27
Children's First Experiences	p. 30
Awareness Dawns	p. 35
Sociocultural Theory in Practice	p. 39
The Studio's Role in School Readiness	p. 43
Fall Experiences	p. 43
Winter Experiences	p. 49
Spring Experiences	p. 53
Roles of the Studio and Studio Teacher	p. 56
Studio: Preparation for School Skills	p. 58
The Concept of a Hundred Languages	p. 59
What to Learn from a Cat	p. 59
Projects: A Cat's Hundred Lives	p. 63
More Complex Projects	p. 69
The Hundred Languages of Children	p. 72
Significant Work/Fluent Expression	p. 74
Toward Better Preschool Practices	p. 76
Highly Articulated Practices	p. 76
Evolution of Birthdays	p. 79
Birthdays as Curriculum	p. 85
A New Time/Space Paradigm	p. 90
Intentional Content, Intentional Techniques	p. 94
Message-Making: Impetus for Parent Involvement and Literacy	p. 95
The Message Center	p. 95
Communication Expands	p. 102
Ideas Expand	p. 105
Messages Everywhere, 1995-1996	p. 107
Detailing a Space	p. 109
Contextual Learning	p. 109
Significant Work	p. 111
Friendship with a Turtle: A Case History of Documentation	p. 112
The Story	p. 112
A Supportive Environment	p. 122
Documentation	p. 124
Significant Work/Assessing Development	p. 128
The Teacher's Role as Seen in Four Projects	p. 130
A Multi-Faceted Teaching Role	p. 131
Episodes in the Story	p. 133
The Teacher's Roles in Action	p. 140
Learning a New Role	p. 144
Forgotten Space	p. 147
Complex, Original, Creative Work	p. 148
Building a Bridge	p. 149
The Protagonists	p. 149
The Story	p. 153
Supporting Teachers	p. 162
Whether Beliefs and Culture Support Practices	p. 164
Shaping Preschools	p. 166
Aspects of Early Education	p. 166
Standards	p. 172
Challenges to Policymakers	p. 179
Looking Ahead	p. 180
Glossary	p. 185
References	p. 189
Index	p. 193
About the Author	p. 200
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