Here you’ll find a selection of articles Rae has written about education on the topics of developmentally appropriate play and practice in early childhood programs, developmentally appropriate curriculum, movement, and more. To learn read the piece, simply click on the title.
Childhood is not a dress rehearsal for adulthood, nor is it a race.
Parents often worry if their kid is at the level they should be in school, health, life…but what if I told you the “standard” really varies?
Is it even fair to ask young kids, who by nature’s design are the most energetic among us, to stay still for what must seem like an eternity?
What changes would come about in education? How much healthier would children’s lives be if this unique period of their lives was understood?
What is the better way to ensure a love of the written and spoken word — being forced to read assigned stories, to memorize spelling words and definitions on which they’ll be tested, or bringing words to life through a play?
Anyone who understands child development would not write 90 literacy and numeracy standards for kindergartners.
… There are numerous experts who tell us that standardized tests are indicative of neither intelligence nor potential. But we are a nation that …
… If handwriting is no longer to be used as a form of communication but the computer is, at what age should children be learning keyboarding …
… Earlier this month, the Indiana Department of Education joined the ranks of school systems that will no longer require the teaching of cursive …
Should we banning war, gun, and superhero play? No! And we certainly shouldn’t be suspending children for it.
There’s so much research determining the ineffectiveness – the detriment – of using rewards and punishment that it’s hard to imagine why any
teacher or parent would continue to employ them, or why any pre-service program would continue to recommend their use. But they do.
Schools — and policymakers — have for too long accepted the belief that learning best occurs while students are seated (and quiet, of course). The theory may have been understandable back when they didn’t have the research to prove otherwise. But today we do.
Here’s a hint: It’s not the children.
… A growing body of research is determining that physical activity activates the brain much more than doing seatwork.
… Approximately 40 percent of the elementary schools in the U.S. have eliminated recess from the children’s day. Here are seven contradictions …
… For many children, physical education class is their only opportunity to learn about the relationships among exercise, nutrition, and health.
… What many early childhood professionals don’t realize is that the brain and the body are inseparable, especially for young children.
Many people believe children automatically acquire and perfect motor skills, such as running, jumping, and throwing, as their bodies develop, that it’s a natural process that occurs along with physical maturation.
Do you care for infants? Have their parents asked what you do to make movement part of your program? Have you given it a lot of consideration? Perhaps not.
The outdoors is the very best place for preschoolers to practice and master emerging physical skills.
… It’s time for early childhood professionals to get mad and to take action! If it doesn’ t bother you that politicians with no experience in early …
… Today’s educators are under tremendous pressure and are facing a scrutiny unlike anything they or their predecessors have experienced in the …
With the vast majority of full and part-time teachers, in both public and private schools in America, white and female — and our growing awareness of the importance of understanding students — you have to wonder just how successful the typical American educator can be with the black boys in her classroom. Can the gender and racial gaps be closed?
… When teacher education programs begin advising its students to put up a high- five when a kid requests a hug, it’s time to take a step back and …
… What if preventing bullying is as simple as paying closer attention? The research indicates this may be the case.
… There are many, many stressors in the teaching profession. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are also many, many
avenues to …
… Early childhood professionals can play a part in helping young girls grasp that they are more than how they look. And they can start with
how …
The subject of competition sometimes provokes strong feelings among early childhood educators and families of young children…
Who could have imagined that the issue of teacher attire would be such a hot-button topic?