Beginnings & Beyond: Foundations in Early Childhood Education

My wife finished this class.. She got an A so I guess the book helped too

This book is of course a text book, but it has great information about early childhood. I expecially like the history of early childhood part. It goes from the history to personalities to how to set up your own class and curriculum. It helped all of us a lot during our classes.

G.S. Morrison? Jo Ann Brewer? Feeney, Christensen, & Moracivik? Watch Out! This text packs some major punch...quite unexpectantly. I've been waiting for this new edition from Gordon & Brown for four years. The last book was pretty intriguing. It had some very well-written sections on DAP, but this book takes a giant leap forward. The key to a good early childhood introductory textbook is four-fold: (1) affordable, (2) comprehensive, but...,(3)...succinct, and (4) evidence-based. I think this book makes major improvements in three/four parts over the last edition. Unfortunately, this book is not affordable compared to G.S. Morrison's FUNDAMENTALS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION or Brewer's INTRODUCTION TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION which are both under 100 bucks. This book is $103.00. Not good for the money-struggling undergrad or vocational student:( The other three areas are where it soars pretty, surprisingly high. It's quite comprehensive, a bit more than Brewer's text and a lot more than Morrison's text, especially in the theoretical parts. Morrison, nor Brewer talks about the transactional aspect of constructivism. Feeney et al's WHO AM I IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN aludes to it, but that's it. Consequently, BEGINNINGS & BEYOND has new knowledge that these other heavyweights are not pulling. Compared to Feeney et. al.'s thorough but somewhat drawn out style, this book is as clear as glass. They hit the basics, tell the details, and move on. Sometime's Feeney's book overwhelms while Brewer's and Morrison's books underwhelm. Gordon & Browne...almost get it just right...almost. I think that an excellent textbook should integrate research into the content because that is where it comes from. Morrison rarely did this in his book while Brewer and Feeney sometimes too zealously integrated it. Gordon & Browne do it sparingly...only when necessary. That's a good approach for an intro text. Do we have a new champion???

Finally, a book that offers sensible and realistic approaches to child development which departs from "mythical" ideas of past and archaic culture. Luckily, this volume isn't afraid to address the homogenous fallacies that have plagued our society and discusses significantly the exploration of truly modern theories embraced around the world. People of all walks of life, education, and backgrounds will rejoice in an important concept that this book teaches: genuinely nurturing children as opposed to treating them like pets.

Beginnings and Beyond is still the best Early Childhood Education text out there.