Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
External
Observation and Assessment in Early Childhood Education
Gina Peterson; Emily Elam · College of the Canyons · 2020
This text focuses on the appropriate use of a variety of assessment and observation strategies to document child development and behavior. Child observations will be conducted and analyzed.
External
The ELC: An Early Childhood Learning Community at Work
Heather Bridge; Lorraine Melita; Patricia Roiger · Open SUNY · 2020
The ELC professional development model was designed to improve the quality of teacher candidates’ Practicum field placements and align teaching in field placements with Learning Standards used in the teacher education program. Teams of four educators from varied settings worked in a Practicum placement setting for one semester to improve their teaching and align it with Learning Standards. An action research approach improved teaching challenges teams faced. Research articles were read to improve teams’ teaching challenges by implementing one agreed strategy. Teams video-recorded, assessed, and reflected on the impact of the strategy on their teaching, on teacher candidates’ learning and on children’s learning. This text compiles six case studies from this model to illustrate how teaching challenges were improved. Appropriate for practiced educators as well as educators in training, this text provides a real world look into applying Learning Standards in early childhood classrooms.
External
Foundations of Early Childhood Education
Amanda Dohms · WisTech Open · 2025
Discover the principles, practices, and strategies for teaching young children from birth to 8 years.
External
The Role of Equity and Diversity in Early Childhood Education
Krischa Esquivel; Emily Elam; Jennifer Paris; Maricela Tafoya · College of the Canyons · 2020
Guided by cultural beliefs and principles, families select experiences, convey attitudes, and impart knowledge to their children to prepare them for adulthood. Accordingly, it is important for program staff to learn to collaborate effectively with families. To develop a partnership and to tap into the family as a primary resource, early childhood educators must reach out to, learn about, and develop strong partnerships with families. This process requires openness to learning and an effort to understand the individuality of each family and the diversity of the families from which the children come.
External
Early Childhood Literacy: Engaging and Empowering Emergent Readers and Writers, Birth – Age 5
Christine Pegorraro Schull; Leslie La Croix; Sara Miller; Kimberly Austin · Virginia's Academic Library Consortium (VIVA) · 2021
This textbook, Early Childhood Literacy: Engaging and Empowering Emergent Readers and Writers Birth-Age 5, outlines the connection between different areas of language and literacy and describes strategies for supporting development and promoting instruction. Early literacy includes reading, writing, and language development. Writing includes any early writing attempts and pre-writing behaviors just as reading includes any early reading attempts and recognition of symbols and sounds. Language also includes listening and speaking (oral language) and the use of gestures and signs to communicate. The term oral language is commonly used to describe early language development separately from reading and writing. This text assumes oral language is a component of language and embraces the broader term to underscore the communication practices outside of listening and speaking. For example, some children use sign language or a picture board. For these reasons, the textbook will focus on language development in its totality, including oral language. This textbook is focused on birth to age 5 because early literacy development is crucial for future learning and development.
External
Mathematics Methods for Early Childhood
Janet Stramel · Fort Hays State University · 2021
Welcome to Early Childhood Mathematics! This course satisfies the Early Childhood Unified requirements in the state of Kansas for a teaching license Birth to Grade 3. Most people agree that early childhood includes the period from infancy until eight years of age, characterized by rapid and complex growth in physical, cognitive, and social domains. Math skills must be taught in early childhood. Children should be provided a foundation to succeed in elementary school and beyond. Teachers should focus lessons in early childhood around the basic skills that will help to advance future mathematics. From preschool to the end of elementary school, children are setting the foundation for future life skills. Learning mathematics is “a ‘natural’ and developmentally appropriate activity for young children” (Ginsberg, Lee, and Boyd, 2008). Through their everyday interactions with the world, many children develop informal concepts about space, quantity, size, patterns, and operations. Unfortunately, not all children have the same opportunities to build these informal and foundational concepts of mathematics in their day-to-day lives (Sherman-LeVos, 2010). Young children are naturally curious, and the best time to begin mathematics is at a time while the young child’s brain is rapidly developing. Mathematics in early childhood helps children develop critical thinking and reasoning skills early on and it’s the key to the foundation for success in their formal schooling years.
External
Safety, Health, and Nutrition in Early Childhood Education
Jennifer Paris · College of the Canyons · 2018
Early childhood is a critical time in development. Many outcomes, both positive and negative, have their beginnings in these years. It is vital that children’s health and safety be protected. High-quality early care and education programs can play a valuable role in improving outcomesfor children.
External
Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Education
Jennifer Paris; Kristin Beeve; Clint Springer · College of the Canyons · 2018
Welcome to learning about how to effectively plan curriculum for young children. This textbook will address: Developing curriculum through the planning cycle Theories that inform what we know about how children learn and the best ways for teachers to support learning The three components of developmentally appropriate practice Importance and value of play and intentional teaching Different models of curriculum Process of lesson planning (documenting planned experiences for children) Physical, temporal, and social environments that set the stage for children’s learning Appropriate guidance techniques to support children’s behaviors as the self-regulation abilities mature. Planning for preschool-aged children in specific domains including Physical development Language and literacy Math Science Creative (the visual and performing arts) Diversity (social science and history) Health and safety How curriculum planning for infants and toddlers is different from planning for older children Supporting school-aged children’s learning and development in out-of-school time through curriculum planning Making children’s learning visible through documentation and assessment
External
Understanding Human Development: Prenatal Through Adolescence
Terese Jones; Christina Belli; Esmeralda Julyan · Open Oregon Educational Resources · 2025
Understanding Human Development is an introductory textbook for individuals entering early childhood education and related fields. The textbook provides an overview of the developmental lifespan from conception to adolescence using social justice and ecological perspectives. The textbook aims to represent equitable approaches to understanding human development and discusses the diverse factors and interactions that support or hinder development.
External
Critical Perspectives on Technology and the Family
Susan Walker · University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing · 2022
From the perspective of a long time family practitioner, researcher, and educator, and technology innovator, this textbook offers the first comprehensive view of technology in the family for college students, professionals and the public. Each chapter offers content and a complete reference list, learning activities, ideas for critical blog posting and additional readings. The beginning chapters cover foundational information about our societal use of information and communications technology, family theories and ways of understanding families, and how families differ in their use and access to ICT. The main body of the book (chapters 4-10) covers elements of the family from couple relationships and dating apps, to children’s use and impacts on development from early childhood through young adulthood, use by parents and in the parent-child relationship, shared use by family members, and then topics important to family life: work-family balance and health and financial management and technology. The end of the book pivots to look closely at use by family professionals, the competencies needed to integrate technology into practice, and policy as a proactive and systemic avenue for change. End of book material include an additional reading list and recommended web content, social media and thought leaders. The authors lends her ideas on teaching for critical thinking with an overview at the beginning of the book, and classroom assessment ideas (actually short ways to engage learners in critical thinking activities).
External
Reflective Practice in Early Years Education
Sheryl Third · Fanshawe College Pressboks · 2022
This resource will provide a context that will allow the reader to consider their obligation to reflect from their own perspective and will explore how to create a practice that best suits their professional setting. This book will bring together in one place the history, the values, the skills and disposition required to be a reflective practitioner. It is a textbook with elements of a workbook, embedded are opportunities to watch, to think, to write, and to listen allowing the reader to become a purposeful and intentional reflective practitioner.
External
Opening Eyes onto Inclusion and Diversity
Susan Carter; Lindy Abawi; Jill Lawrence · University of Southern Queensland · 2019
Susan Carter; Professor Lindy-Anne Abawi; Professor Jill Lawrence; Associate Professor Charlotte Brownlow; Renee Desmarchelier; Melissa Fanshawe; Kathryn Gilbey; Michelle Turner; and Jillian Guy
External
Play-based teaching approaches: Assessing learning through play
Naomi David; Kat Cain; Andrea Nolan; Natalie Robertson · Deakin University · 2025
This interactive textbook offers a grounding in play-based learning and shares authentic assessment potentials in play. The text encourages the implementation of play-based approaches in early childhood settings and primary school. This media-rich learning resource is designed to guide educators in their play-based teaching journey by linking theory to practice.
External
Family & Community Relationships
Amanda Dohms · WisTech Open · 2025
Build skills for engaging families and communities in early childhood education settings.
External
Why play works: Conceptual PlayWorlds inspiring learning, imagination and creativity in education
Marilyn Fleer; Kelly-Ann Allen; Anne Clerc-Georgy; Leigh Disney · Monash University · 2024
The focus of this textbook is on play and learning through a Conceptual PlayWorld. This evidence informed model helps teachers to plan innovative practices relevant for a range of discipline concepts. The teachers and children after reading/hearing a children’s book or nursery rhyme or fairytale jump into the story as characters from the book/story, go on adventures, meet challenges that they solve and return to the real world enriched, and excited to go back in for another adventure (potentially bringing with them things they have learned to enrich their play). The 5 characteristics of planning for a Conceptual PlayWorld are: 1) Selecting a story, 2) Designing an imaginary play space; 3) Planning an exciting entry and entry into that space; 4) Planning a problem that the characters of the story (children in role) will meet and need to solve using concepts; 5) Planning the role of the adults in the imaginary play. This evidence-informed model forms the foundation of each chapter in the book. Students will learn: ● what is a Conceptual PlayWorld ● the research that underpins a Conceptual PlayWorld ● how to plan and implement a Conceptual PlayWorld ● how to contextualise a Conceptual PlayWorld for specific ages, contexts and discipline content ● how to assess and make learning visible in a Conceptual PlayWorld ● to be leaders and innovators by designing creative and imaginative programs using a Conceptual PlayWorld model of pedagogical practice ● the utility of Conceptual PlayWorlds for creativity, imagination, and wellbeing.
External
Understanding the Whole Child: Prenatal Development through Adolescence
Jennifer Paris; Antoinette Ricardo; Dawn Rymond · College of the Canyons · 2021
An Open Educational Resources Publication by College of the Canyons
External
The Roles and Responsibilities of the Special Educator
Paula Lombardi · University of New Hampshire · 2023
This book is evolving into a book by and for teacher candidates pursuing licensing in Elementary, General Special Education, and Early Childhood Special Education in New Hampshire and surrounding New England states. These teacher candidates share their knowledge about teaching PreK-12 learners with disabilities and the many roles and responsibilities of the case manager/special educator.
![Children, Families, Schools, and Communities [Revised Edition]](/api/files/covers/otl-1630.webp)
External
Children, Families, Schools, and Communities [Revised Edition]
Joan Giovannini · ROTEL · 2023
Children, Families, Schools, and Communities is an introductory text in the field of Child and Family Studies. It provides a lens for understanding the evolving definition of “family” through socially constructed and ecological theory frameworks. It promotes strategies for culturally sustaining and deeply collaborative relationships between families, schools, and communities through the use of home-grown advocacy strategies based on community-driven data. Children, Families, Schools, and Communities is an adapted OER text from Rebecca Laff’s and Wendy Ruiz’s Child, Family, and Community.
External
The Whole Child: Development in the Early Years
Deirdre Budzyna; Doris Buckley · ROTEL · 2023
The Whole Child is a textbook that gives an overview of development, beginning in the mother’s womb through the age of eight. It starts with a look at perspectives of early childhood, including how children have been viewed historically as well as cross-culturally. There is a complete overview of the important theorists that have helped to deepen and bring clarity to how children develop. These theories include psychodynamic, behavioral, social cognitive theory, cognitive theory, humanistic, multiple intelligence, growth mindset, and Bloom’s taxonomy. Understanding the implications of each theory is important foundational knowledge for the study of development. Developmental domains at each stage is examined alongside important milestones. The biology of the brain is given important consideration. Some of the many factors that influence a young child’s development are also included in this text.
External
Teaching Early and Elementary STEM
Alissa Lange; Laura Robertson; Jamie Price; Amie Craven · East Tennessee State University · 2021
This Open Access Educational textbook, "Teaching Early and Elementary STEM", was written to support pre-service early childhood and elementary teachers in their journey to become facilitators of science, technology, engineering, and math, or “STEM,” and "integrated STEM" in their future classrooms. Students who read and use this text will deepen their understanding of “STEM” and “integrated STEM,” learn what early childhood and elementary students need to know and be able to do in relation to STEM, and understand ways to create activity plans and implement current research-based approaches to teaching and pedagogy. This text arose out of our Early/Elementary STEM Collaboration project, which started in 2017 with the intention of increasing the quality of teacher preparation in STEM across early childhood and elementary education. The team is composed of math and science education professors, classroom in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers in pre-school through fifth grade. We are driven by the values of collaboration, strengths-based approaches to teaching and learning, constructivist philosophy of teaching and learning, and applied STEM experiences to increase access and equity. Our model of preparing pre-service teachers has been published elsewhere in more detail (Robertson, Nivens, & Lange, 2019). We built this open access product to include the following: 1) completely new content that includes input from our team as well as examples of integrated STEM learning experiences; 2) adaptations of existing resources, and; 3) compilations of existing free resources (e.g., Next Generation Science Standards).