This book argues that supporting a child’s learning in primary school is more about nurturing their dispositions than continually assessing their performance. Drawing on the latest research in the fields of child development, psychology, health and well-being, it shows how teachers and parents have a deep impact on children’s learning, motivation and potential and the practices that offer children the best opportunities for future success. Guided by the holistic approaches of the Nurturing Childhoods Pedagogical Framework and the ABCs of Developing Engagement, this book has a strong focus on increasing child engagement alongside methods to consider the impact of learning experiences. Chapters cover: Supporting engagement through communication, movement and play Helping children to feel safe and secure within their learning environments Developing classrooms where children think and express themselves Understanding childhood anxiety Nurturing confidence and self-motivation Working with parents and carers Anxiety within the classroom Ways of evaluating teaching styles and class dynamics Decoding children’s behaviours Part of the Nurturing Childhoods series, this exciting book provides teachers, practitioners and parents with the knowledge and understanding they need to nurture children’s happiness, well-being and sense of security throughout their school years.

Tap into children's natural curiosity and scaffold their creative abilities across all domains of learning--and nurture your own creativity!

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

This guide encourages and enables teachers to identify gifted children as early as age four and create a learning environment that supports all students. Proven, practical strategies and techniques help you teach to multiple intelligences, compact and extend the curriculum, communicate with parents, and more.

The preschool and reception years can be viewed as a stage of preparation for formal schooling. But we must not lose sight of the profound impact this time of play and exploration has as children continue developing the core processes they will later rely on. Nurturing Children through Preschool and Reception explores how a child’s mind and body develops during this critical and sensitive period and how the choices practitioners and parents make every day have a deep impact on these processes. Underpinned by the latest research in the fields of child development, psychology, health and well-being, it explores the practices that can be embedded straight away to support children’s ongoing development and give them the best opportunities for future success. The book follows a holistic approach through the Nurturing Childhoods Pedagogical Framework and the ABCs of Developing Engagement, alongside methods to consider the impact of learning experiences, decoding children's evolving behaviours and strategies for their development. Chapters cover: • Managing the expectations placed on the early years • Connecting with children through communication, movement and play • Recognising emotions and promoting effective choices • Helping young children manage their emotions in a social world • Developing young children’s confidence to think and express themselves • Understanding young children’s friendships and conflicts • Supporting lifelong learning in the years before school Part of the Nurturing Childhoods series, this exciting book provides practitioners and parents with the knowledge and understanding they need to nurture children’s happiness, well-being and sense of security through the preschool and reception years.