Planning for Play, Observation, and Learning in Preschool and Kindergarten

Exceptional Resources for Early Childhood Professionals

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The best ways to intentionally plan for young children's learning

Learning can happen during every minute of a child's day when you plan and teach with intention. This how-to resource provides four planning and reflecting frameworks to help you bring engaging experiences into your classroom. It describes a methodical cycle that encompasses the many elements of a successful classroom—a process of planning, implementing, observing, reflecting, and individualizing curriculum—that helps build children's academic and social skills.

With step-by-step guidance and planning forms to nurture children's joy of learning, this book will help you

Incorporate learning goals into daily routines and group activities

Support child-led, high-level, developmentally appropriate play

Write lesson plans that are intentional, child-focused, and responsive

Assess children in ways that show what they are learning and how they are applying skills

Identify and communicate the type of learning that occurs as children play

Reviews

- November 1, 2012

Gaye is one of those rare individuals in the world of early childhood who understands the integrity of play for young children and the importance teachers play in scaffolding observed play to support both cognitive and social/emotional development. Gaye was instrumental in creating our Developmental Continuum, a series of benchmarks from preschool through second grade. She has also offered valuable professional development opportunities for teachers at our school and has been a guest presenter at our summer institute for five years. Gaye's enthusiasm and passion for 'getting it right' in the early childhood world has been a catalyst for change in the greater Cleveland, Ohio, area.

Review by: Mary Hilborn,
Early Childhood Director for the Hawken School
- August 15, 2012

Gaye has once again provided us with a powerful and engaging book that is both theoretical and practical. She identifies the ways standards can be tied to best practices and classroom experiences in ways that allow educators do what they know is best for children. The frameworks are inherently practical and simple to use, yet, thought-provoking. The implications for using this powerful tool are far-reaching. This is a must-have book for pre-service to experienced teachers, as well as administrators. It is exciting to imagine how children will be the beneficiaries of such intentional and reflective planning.

Review by: Gail Holtz,
Kindergarten Teacher, Hawken School, Lyndhurst, Ohio
- August 10, 2012

The planning and reflection frameworks provide teachers with the guidance they need to observe their students and plan individual and group teaching goals. This is a practical resource that offers support to early educators from an author who understands young learners and the importance of teaching them well.

Review by: Shannon Riley-Ayers,
Asst. Prof. at The Nat'l Inst. for Early Education Research
- August 1, 2012

We must embed academics into play. Once again, Gaye Gronlund defines developmentally appropriate practices in a resource that is both comprehensive and easy-to-use. Practitioners, administrators, and pre-service teachers will appreciate the focus on reflective, intentional teaching practices, and the helpful tools and strategies for planning, observation, and assessment. With the emphasis on play as how children can learn most successfully, this book provides both the argument and a how-to guide for successful implementation.

Review by: Barb Merrill,
Executive Director of the Iowa AEYC