Young Investigators : The Project Approach in the Early Years

This bestselling book has been completely updated and expanded to help teachers use the project approach in child care centers, in preschools, and in kindergarten, 1st grade, and early childhood special education classrooms. For those new to using projects, the book introduces the approach and provides step-by-step guidance for conducting meaningful projects. Experienced teachers will find the teacher interviews, children’s work, photographs (including full color), and teacher journal entries used to document the project process in actual classrooms very useful.

This popular, easy-to-use resource has been expanded to include these new features:

• Explicit instructions and examples for incorporating standards into the topic selection and planning process.
• A variety of nature experiences, with examples that show how project work is an excellent way to connect children to the natural world.
• An update of the use of technology for both documentation and investigations, including use of the Web as well as video and digital cameras.
• More toddler projects that reflect our increased knowledge from recent mind/brain research about toddler understanding and learning.
• A study guide for pre- and inservice teachers (available at www.tcpress.com).

Judy Harris Helm heads her own educational consulting and training company, Best Practices, Inc., in Brimfield, Illinois. Her books include Becoming Young Thinkers: Deep Project Work in the Classroom; The Power of Projects: Meeting Contemporary Challenges in Early Childhood Classrooms―Strategies and Solutions; and Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work, Second Edition.. Lilian G. Katz is past president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and professor emerita at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.