All Cognitive Content

Young girl smiling
A group of children watching their teacher instruct.
Article
Teaching Young Children
April 1, 2022

Exploring Children’s Thinking About Data

In this excerpt of our book The Young Child and Mathematics, third edition, we showcase children’s thinking about data as a teacher engages her preschoolers in a data-centric activity.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Angela Chan Turrou, Nicholas C. Johnson, Megan L. Franke
Members Only
A child looking into a slide.
Article
Teaching Young Children
April 1, 2022

Promoting Spatial Orientation: A Math Activity for Teachers and Families

The following classroom activity and its home extension include step-by-step instructions and sample questions to promote conversations about spatial orientation to build children’s reasoning processes and spatial terminology.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Lindsey Perry, Eloise Aniag Kuehnert, Leanne Ketterlin Geller
Members Only
the cover of the publication Teaching young children, Volume 15, Number 1
Issue
Teaching Young Children
Vol. 15, No. 3
April 1, 2022

Spring 2022

A Focus on Math
This issue of Teaching Young Children is packed with suggestions to make math meaningful, engaging, and playful for young children.
Members Only
a child looking at an insect
Article
Teaching Young Children
January 3, 2022

Making the Most of Teachable Moments

Even the smallest moment has great potential for learning. But what makes a moment “teachable,” and how can early childhood educators transform an everyday occurrence into such a learning experience?

Authored by

Authored by: 
Karen Walker
Members Only
a parent with a child on  a tablet
Blog
December 13, 2021

Four Ways to Use Tablets to Foster Early Math Learning

Here, we describe four ways to use tablets in developmentally appropriate ways to foster preschoolers’ early math learning.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Jessica Mercer Young, Ashley Lewis Presser
Members Only
A group of young children dresses up for their stage production.
Article
Teaching Young Children
September 1, 2021

Rethinking Field Trips: Venturing Out to Foster Meaningful Learning

Knowing that local field trips are a source of curriculum in early childhood education, two teachers venture to a theater with their class, then engage in a project about storytelling, performance, and stages.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Lynette Bagwell, Betsy Cahill
Members Only
Children play with blocks and dinosaur figurines.
Article
Teaching Young Children
September 1, 2021

Sparking Creativity with Cross-Area Play

Cross-area play is rooted in the idea that when children are given the freedom to experiment with materials in open-ended ways, their play can transform into elaborate, complex plots and offer rich developmental opportunities.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Lydia Minahan, Jessica Byrd, Sarah Dwyer, Sandra Romp, Layney Viets, Ekaterina Strekalova-Hughes
Members Only
a collage of images of children drawing
Article
Teaching Young Children
September 1, 2021

Exploring Nature Indoors with Observational Drawing and Scientific Thinking

One valuable way we can support children’s exploration of nature is by teaching them how to observe carefully and create observational drawings, which encourage children to understand and question their world.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Kendra Nenia, Melissa Clucas Walter
Members Only
A baby on the floor with a book.
Article
Young Children
September 1, 2021

Rocking and Rolling. Reading Aloud with Infants and Toddlers

Reading aloud helps develop essential competencies that infants and toddlers will need to become skilled readers later on, including vocabulary knowledge and world knowledge.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Kathy Kinsner, Rebecca Parlakian
Members Only
A child plays a shapes activity.
Article
Young Children
September 1, 2021

Intentional Teaching Moments: Supporting Executive Function Development and Early Mathematics Through a Geometry Activity

Enhanced by math activities, higher-order mental skills and abilities serve as the behind-the-scenes machinery that facilitates young children’s ability to engage in and demonstrate their learning competency.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Holland W. Banse, Douglas H. Clements, Julie Sarama, Crystal Day-Hess, Marisa Simoni, Candace Joswick
Members Only
the cover of the publication young children, Volume 76, Number 3
Issue
Young Children
Vol. 76, No. 3
September 1, 2021

Fall 2021

Supporting Literacy Through Engaging Instruction & Materials
The Fall 2021 issue of Young Children includes a cluster of articles offering a variety of practices and materials to help early childhood educators foster a love of literacy and support early reading, writing, listening, and speaking development.
Members Only
children sitting with each other
Article
Young Children
June 1, 2021

What Are You Thinking? Scaffolding Thinking to Promote Learning

Classrooms that incorporate child-directed experiences offer many opportunities for children to uncover their ideas, to generate questions, and to construct their own knowledge.

Authored by

Authored by: 
Angela K. Salmon, María Ximena Barrera
Members Only