Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally Appropriate Approach, Vol. 1

Assimilating the best of current research and practice, this book presents the origins, purpose, curriculum, organization, and assessment of the developmentally appropriate kindergarten. Several techniques and approaches are suggested for use in a variety of settings, from small to large classes, from half-day to full-day programs.

The principles and practices here are easily adaptable to preschool and the early grades.

Beginning with a brief history of kindergarten and a discussion of current issues in kindergarten education, the book provides invaluable suggestions on:

• balancing all aspects of the kindergarten curriculum, including subject areas
• laying out the classroom
• organizing a daily schedule
• communicating with parents
• managing the classroom environment, including conduct
• planning theme activities
• choosing the right materials
• using volunteers.

An evaluation checklist, theme evaluation form, and annotated bibliography of useful sources are included for teacher use.

Bonnie Brown Walmsley has been a kindergarten teacher for eighteen years and an early childhood teacher for twenty-five years. She currently teaches at Karigon School in Clifton Park, New York. She has consulted for school districts and presented at conferences and workshops throughout the United States. She has coauthored, Kindergarten Ready or Not (Heinemann, 1998), Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally-Centered Approach (Heinemann, 1994), Teaching Kindergarten: A Theme-Centered Curriculum (Heinemann, 1994), and Teaching with Favorite Marc Brown Books (Scholastic, 1999).

Anne Marie (Sue) Camp received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education from State University of New York at Brockport and her M.S. in Elementary Education at SUNY-New Platz.

Sean Walmsley is a Professor in the Reading Department at the State University of New York at Albany. He has taught in the United Kingdom and in the US in both elementary and secondary schools. For the past 15 years, he has been working closely with a small number of school districts helping teachers rethink their K-8 language arts programs. Sean received his B.A. and M.A. in History at Trinity College, Dublin University (Ireland), and his Ed.D. in Reading at Harvard University. For the past four years, Sean has been researching the teaching and learning of literature in elementary and middle schools, funded through a federal grant to the National Center for the Teaching and Learning of Literature at SUNY-Albany.