Early years

A recent longitudinal study in the Philippines has followed a cohort of 4,500 public elementary school students for 5 years. The study found that children who attended preschool consistently outperformed those who did not in literacy, mathematics and social-emotional skills.

Developing children’s reading skills as they start primary school can often mean meeting children at a range of different levels. In this article, we speak with Dr Lexie Scherer who explains how the reader-response method can help teachers find that special ‘hook’ that can open a child up to the wonders of reading.

Algorithms are a key component of computational thinking, and the foundations for developing these skills starts in the early years. What are some of the day-to-day ‘unplugged activities’ that offer teachers easy opportunities for emphasising and building these skills?

Two educators from the Philippines are in the running for teaching’s biggest prize after being selected as finalists from over 8000 nominations. Grade school teacher Michelle Rubio and Science teacher Bryant Acar have both made the top 50 for the US$1 million Global Teacher Prize – the only finalists from the Southeast Asia region.

Effective teacher-parent relationships and parent engagement in their child’s learning improves student outcomes. Researchers in the United States have surveyed parents and carers of preschoolers about their role in their child’s learning, and the support they’d like from teachers.

Families will often engage in the shared reading of picture books about starting Kindergarten to help children with their transition. But, how are Kindergarten teachers demographically represented in the books that children read during this time? And importantly, who is missing from these representations?

Researchers have used an Indonesian folktale setting to explore how young children take up and experience different gender roles during early years play, and how teachers can support their learning and development by moving beyond traditional gender stereotypes.

With land at a premium, vertical preschools and schools are popping up around the globe. Here, we travel to Singapore to take a look at a design project that’s providing two school communities with lively learning environments and play spaces in the sky.

Preschools use playful pedagogies to help prepare children for school, but learning through play continues to be of value as students move through the primary years and beyond.

A study of children participating in book talks in libraries has shown differing lines of priority between classroom teachers and librarians when it comes to reading, and suggests they should work together more cohesively.