Teaching the Way Children Learn

This inspiring book reveals the invisible inner landscapes of how educators teach children from a variety of backgrounds to meet the challenging expectations of today’s standards without sacrificing support for their developmental needs or their diverse ways of learning. Featuring “images of possibility” from an urban school, it describes effective, child-centered teaching in pre-K through fifth grade. Each image is analyzed for the educational decisions that took place to make the experience effective, including the planning involved, the classroom environment and routines that supported it, how standards were addressed, how the teacher assessed student learning to shape instruction, and the impact on students. This practical resource is a must-read for pre- and in-service teachers and anyone committed to helping inner-city children succeed in school and beyond.

Book Features:

• Principles of teaching for understanding through active learning.
• Examples of effective, project-based interdisciplinary curricula.
• Alternate methods of preparing children for standardized tests.
• Descriptions of schoolwide practices that create a community of caring.
• Strategies for involving families in school life.

Beverly Falk is Professor and Head of the Graduate Program in Early Childhood Education at The School of Education, The City College of the City University of New York.

“There's never been a more timely book, one that brings to life what it is that we need and want for all our children, written by someone who has proven it can be done.”
—Deborah Meier

“A wonderful story, rich in detail and inspiring in its realistic account of how-to-do-it”
—Nel Noddings

“Teaching the Way Children Learn is a powerful antidote to an educational climate based more on the punitive consequences of rigid accountability than on the possibility for real learning. This book will be a source of inspiration for those looking for a different vision of what schools should be.”
—Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst