Active Experiences for Active Children

Part of a series of texts, Active Experiences for Active Children: Science, Third Edition, is unique to the market by providing a theoretical foundation for teaching science to preschoolers and primary-grade children alongside meaningful, standards-based, constructivist, hands-on learning "experiences" to guide teachers in their practice. Organized around the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the textconsists of clear, concise, usable guides for planning meaningful learning experiences in science for children in childcare settings, preschool programs, Head Start and other federally funded programs, and kindergarten. Primary-grade children should be engaged in active experiential learning as well, and each experience is extended to the early primary grades (grades 1-3). 

The experiences in this book are meaningful because they:

·     are grounded in children’s interests and needs in their here-and-now world.

·     have integrity in terms of content key to science.

·     involve children in group work, investigations, or projects based on inquiry learning.

·     have continuity: One experience builds on another, forming a complete, coherent, integrated learning curriculum for young children as well as connecting the early childhood setting to children’s homes and communities.

·     provide time and opportunity for children to think and reflect on their experiences.

·     provide the teacher with the opportunity to document and assess children’s learning.

Organized to address a variety of audiences, the text is formatted in two parts: Part One offers a foundation for young children and science; Part Two offers thematic based units full of resources for teachers, teacher strategies, and inquiry-based experiences for children. The content has been expanded in the third edition to include a new chapter on engaging children with the natural world (Chapter 14), references to the most recent reports on science education from the National Academies, updated and expanded lists of books and Web sites for children and adults, and new activities. This highly- readable, user-friendly series text is formatted with an engaging, conversational style that will connect and resonate with its varied readers.