The importance of being little : what preschoolers really need from grownups / Erika Christakis.
"A bold challenge to the conventional wisdom about early childhood, with a pragmatic program to encourage parents to rethink how and where young children learn best. Parents of young children today are in crisis: Pick the "wrong" preschool and your child won't get into the "right" college. But our fears are misplaced, according to Yale early childhood expert Erika Christakis. Children are hardwired to learn in any setting, but they punch below their weight when "learning" is defined by strict lessons and dodgy metrics that devalue a child's intelligence while placing unfit requirements on the developing brain; we have confused schooling with learning. The race for good outcomes has blinded us to how young children actually process the world, acquire skills, and grow, says Christakis, who powerfully defends the preschool years as a life stage of inherent value and not merely as preparation for a demanding or uncertain future. This grounded, sensible book offers a ray of light in a dim and frantic world--with the message that before we can teach our youngest children, we must better understand them. In The Importance of Being Little, Christakis explores what it's like to be a young child in America today, in a world designed by and for adults. With school-testing mandates run amok, playfulness squeezed, and young children increasingly pathologized for old-fashioned behaviors like daydreaming and clumsiness, it's easy to miss the essential importance of being a young child. She provides meaningful solutions through a forensic analysis of today's whole system of early learning, from pedagogy and science to policy and politics. "-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780525429074
- ISBN: 0525429077
- ISBN: 9780143129981
- Physical Description: xxii, 376 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: New York, New York : Viking, [2016]
- Copyright: ©2016.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- Variant subtitle on paperback edition: What young children really need from grownups
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-364) and index.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- Chapter 1 Little Learners: The Classroom Called Childhood 1 -- Chapter 2 Goldilocks Goes to Daycare: Finding the Right Zone for Learning 32 -- Chapter 3 Natural Born Artists: The Creative Powers of Childhood 58 -- Chapter 4 Search for Intelligent Life: Un-standard Learning 87 -- Chapter 5 Just Kidding: The Fragmented Generation 111 -- Chapter 6 Played Out: Habitat Loss and the Extinction of Play 138 -- Chapter 7 Stuffed: Navigating the Material World 167 -- Chapter 8 Secret Lives of Children: Fear, Fantasy, and the Emotional Appetite 195 -- Chapter 9 Use Your Words: Hearing the Language of Childhood 224 -- Chapter 10 Well Connected: The Roles Grownups Play 256 -- Chapter 11 Hiding in Plain Sight: Early Learning and the American Dream 285.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Education, Preschool > Parent participation.
Available copies
- 36 of 37 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
- 4 of 4 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 37 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Main Library | 372.21 CHR (Text) | 36015000675088 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Richlands Branch Library | 372.21 CHR (Text) | 36015001499074 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Sneads Ferry Branch Library | 372.21 CHR (Text) | 36015001216833 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Swansboro Branch Library | 372.21 CHR (Text) | 36015000933164 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
