In her new book, popular author Ann Lewin-Benham draws on her intimate knowledge and experience with the Reggio Approach to present 12 “best practices” inspired not only by Reggio, but also by play-based and Montessori approaches to early childhood education. These practices are demonstrated, one per chapter, with scenarios from classrooms, dialogues of children and teachers, and work samples showing the outcome of using each practice. Used together, the 12 best practices offer...

Now in a second edition, this popular resource shows teachers and childcare providers how to work with young children based on current neuroscience research. Revised and expanded, it contains a wealth of practical and specific activities and materials to use with infants and toddlers to enhance growth and development. For each activity presented, the text examines its relation to the rapid brain growth that characterizes the 0 to 3 years, including major developments in sensory reception, ...

In her latest book, bestselling author Ann Lewin-Benham describes eight techniques that foster intentional and reflective classroom practice. She presents over 70 novel exercises to help teachers learn to use body, face, hands, voice, eyes, and word choices to precisely convey meaning. Some exercises are for teachers to practice, while others build intention and reflection in children. Dozens of scenarios from typical classroom situations contrast unintentional and intentional teaching beh...

In this unique collaboration, the authors bring to life the theory of mediated learning. Through numerous examples and scenarios from classrooms and museums, they show how mediated learning helps children to become more effective learners. Readers learn the steps in the process, including analyzing the child’s problem, teaching the child to focus on the difficulty, and using the techniques of mediated learning to enable the child to overcome the learning challenge. This is the first ...

Originally developed to help students overcome learning obstacles created by emotional trauma or neurobiological learning disabilities, Reuven Feuerstein’s work is now used in major cities around the world to support improved thinking and learning by all students. This book is the most up-to-date summary of his thinking and includes accessible descriptions of his tools and methods for cognitive modifiablilty and mediated learning. With dramatic case studies throughout the text, Feuer...

Decades before educators began to draw teaching and learning implications from neuroscientists’ groundbreaking findings on brain plasticiy, Reuven Feuerstein had already theorized it and developed practices for teaching and developing higher level cognition and learning for all students, even those with Down syndrome and other learning disabilities. His mediated learning, enrichment instruments, and dynamic assessment are used in urban districts in the United States and around the world to...

Incorporate inquiry-based practices into your early childhood classroom or family child care program. Inspired by an approach to teaching and learning born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, The Language of Art emphasizes investigation anchored by drawing, painting, and other art activities. It provides:advice on setting up a studio space for art and inquirystudio explorations designed to give children a basic fluency in artsuggestions for documenting children's develo...

The Gardener and the Carpenter shatters the myth of "good parenting" and illuminates the paradoxes of parenthood from a scientific perspective.In the past thirty years, parenting has transformed into an obsessive, controlling, and goal-oriented labor intended to create a particular kind of child and adult. However, in The Gardener and the Carpenter, pioneering developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik argues that this familiar twent...

In Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot, eminent neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Richard Restak, M.D., combines the latest research in neurology and psychology to show us how to get our brain up to speed for managing every aspect of our busy lives.Everything we think and everything we choose to do alters our brain and fundamentally changes who we are, a process that continues until the end of our lives. Few people think of the brain as being susceptible to...

Paula Lillard, director of a Montessori school ranging in age from 18 months to fifteen years, provides a clear and cogent introduction to the Montessori program for the elementary and later years. In detailed accounts, Lillard shows how children acquire the skills to answer their own questions, learn to manage freedom with responsibility, and maintain a high level of intellectual stimulation by using the Montessori method. This is an essential handbook for parents and teachers who have ch...

NPR SciFri Book Club PickNext Big Idea Club's "Top 21 Psychology Books of 2022"Behavioral Scientist Notable Books of 2022A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and coping with loss.In The Grieving Brain, neuroscientist and psychologist Mary-Frances O’Connor, PhD, gives us a fascinating new window into one of the hallmar...

LEARNING THROUGH PLAYOne of the best ways for children with autism, Asperger's, and sensory processing disorders to learn is through play. Children improve their motor skills, language skills, and social skills by moving their bodies and interacting with their environment. Yet the biggest challenges parents, teachers, and loved ones face with children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing disorders is how to successfully engage them in play.Pedi...