Active Experiences for Active Children: Science

Organized around the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Active Experiences for Active Children: Science consists of clear, concise, usable guides for planning meaningful learning experiences in science for children in childcare settings, preschool programs, Head Start and other federally funded programs, and kindergarten. Primary-grade children should be engaged in active experiential learning as well, and each experience is extended to the early primary grades (grades 1-3).

The experiences in this book are meaningful because they

•  are grounded in children’s interests and needs in their here-and-now world.
•  have integrity in terms of content key to science.
•  involve children in group work, investigations, or projects based on inquiry learning.
•  have continuity: One experience builds on another, forming a complete, coherent, integrated learning curriculum for young children as  well as connecting the early childhood setting to children’s homes and communities.
•  provide time and opportunity for children to think and reflect on their experiences.
•  provide the teacher with the opportunity to document and assess children’s learning.

Carol Seefeldt, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of human development at the Institute for Child Study, University of Maryland, College Park, where she taught graduate and undergraduate classes for 28 years. She received the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award from the university and has published 23 books and over 100 scholarly and research articles for teachers and parents. Her books include Social Studies for the Preschool/Primary Child, Active Experiences for Active Children: Social Studies, Active Experiences for Active Children: Literacy Emerges, and Current Issues in Early Childhood Education (the last three with Alice Galper), and The Early Childhood Curriculum: Current Findings in Theory and Practice.

During her 40 years in the field, Dr. Seefeldt has taught at every level from nursery school for 2-year-olds through the third grade. In Florida, she directed a church-related kindergarten, and served as Regional Training Officer for Project Head Start. She has conducted teacher-training programs in Japan and the Ukraine and has been a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows.

Alice Galper, Ph. D., educator and consultant, received her doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously, she was a classroom teacher in New Hampshire and a Head Start Consultant in the Washington, DC, area. She was a professor of human development teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in early childhood and human development at Mt. Vernon College, Washington, DC, for nearly 20 years and at the University of Maryland. She assisted Carol Seefeldt on the research component of the Montgomery County Head Start–Public School Transition Demonstration. Currently she is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Maryland.

Alice's research has revolved around intergenerational attitudes and program evaluation. She has written many articles for such journals as Child Development, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Alice presents workshops and papers regularly at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference, the Head Start Research Conference, and the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meetings, among others.

Active in community affairs, Alice has been appointed by Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, DC, as cochair of the Interagency Coordinating Council of the DC Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers, and she volunteers for Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc.