Teach the Whole Preschooler: Strategies for Nurturing Developing Minds

by Cindy Terebush

Overview

The world today’s children live in is much different than the world we knew at their age. That’s obvious. Yet some of our approaches with young children haven’t changed. All of us—and especially our young children—must have appropriate expectations in order to succeed. All of us, children and adults, learn more when we find the task to be enjoyable, challenging and yet achievable.

Teach the Whole Preschooler guides teachers through reconsidering your routines, your approaches, your actions, and reactions. It considers the whole child—students not only as vessels for information but as emotional human beings with newly emerging socialization skills and cognitive abilities who need to figure out their world.

Learn how to approach learning experiences with thoughtful consideration and find strategies for updating your interactions and lessons.

Chapters in the book cover everything from socialization and behavioral expectations to emotional capacity and assessing reading and writing readiness. Learn how to have realistic expectations of yourself as well as your young students while preparing them for the years ahead.

Readers are encouraged to think about these questions:
• Why am I doing the activities that I do and are they meaningful?
• Am I doing everything possible to form a positive foundation for the students?
• Do I need to let the ideas from the past go in order to make room for new approaches?

Terebush ends each chapter with discussion points for your communication with parents—a vital part of teaching and something that is often overlooked.

Acknowledging that there isn’t a quick fix, this book guides readers to lead classrooms that intentionally promote a love of learning, positive self-image, and  pro-social behavior that values the perceptions, thoughts and emotions of our youngest students. Through humor and relatable stories, Teach the Whole Preschooler provides new ideas, helpful hints, and strategies for a more effective experience for teachers, students, and parents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393711547
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/31/2017
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Cindy Terebush has worked with children for nearly 20 years. She has extensive experience teaching, directing, and consulting in early childhood and school age programs. She is a sought-after workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, and professional development provider for early childhood professionals and parent groups.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Expectation Tightrope 3

Chapter 2 What Do We Know About Young Children? 21

Chapter 3 Our Words Matter 39

Chapter 4 Play Doesn't Mean Only Dress-Up 53

Chapter 5 Socialization Expectations: You Cannot Fail Playing 63

Chapter 6 Behavioral Expectations: Creating Citizens through Appropriate Expectations of Behavior 79

Chapter 7 Emotional Capacity: Sometimes Children Have a Bad Day, Too 105

Chapter 8 Preschool Classroom Habits: Rethinking Your Routine 123

Chapter 9 Sheep Aren't Made of Cotton Balls: The Importance of Self-Expression 147

Chapter 10 Readiness for Reading and Writing: Observing the Development of the Whole Child 159

Chapter 11 Realistic Expectations of Ourselves: Creating a Mindful Plan 173

Chapter 12 Parent Education about Appropriate Practice: How to Ease Their Fears 185

Acknowledgments 195

Recommended Reading 199

References 201

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

"The book is not just another presentation of essential materials for caring for and educating young children, rather it is almost like attending a professional development session with Terebush or being in the classroom with her where you can hear her discussing the issues that are important to our field in a personal and conversational manner. Her writing style engages the reader and allows them to see ideas in a new way as well as analyze the ideas for use in their own classroom."

Amanda Discala

"Wow! Cindy Terebush has given an invaluable gift to Early Childhood educators and their parents: an intelligent, practical, research- and experience-based, readable, wise, and witty guide to helping our children grow, learn, and explore. The author delves into such topics as expectations, creativity, play, routines, mindulness; she adeptly discusses social-emotional development, self-expression, and cognition. Her chapter summaries and recommendations for communicating with parents are especially brilliant and useful. My recommendation? Read this book, then go play with your children—as a more compassionate, wiser, and more capable educator than you were before."

Helene Frieder Lockspeiser

"Piece by piece, Cindy Terebush explains the natural development of the child found within the realities of the classroom. To 'teach the whole preschooler' you have to celebrate what their actions are telling you and confront your own expectations to effectively nurture today's young learners."

Angela Torres

"Cindy Terebush shares her wealth of knowledge regarding early childhood education and makes a strong case for thinking deeply about the ‘why’ for the activities we organize for young children. . . . As an added bonus, the end of each chapter includes suggestions for discussions for families, a feature that is very useful for early childhood educators."

Education Review