The Preschool Teacher’s Library: Books About Preschool Learning

The education world is a sharing community, and consulting books on preschool learning can aide new teachers, as well as clue in veteran instructors on various new strategies and pedagogies in teaching small children. Curriculum planning, as well as, activities, trips and art activities are often difficult to plan. Having a well-stocked library on preschool learning to guide a teacher ensures that he will have ideas, skills and concepts at his fingertips, which he can apply to his classroom. The following are four strong entries into any complete preschool teacher’s library.

A Calendar of Things to Learn and Teach

A popular style for books on preschool learning is creating a timetable for the teacher – weekly, monthly or yearly. While it would be unadvisable to carbon copy the suggestions from these books (after all, each class is different), altering tips to apply to a particular classroom is a great, and relatively easy way to create a lesson plan.

Patty Claycomb’s The Busy Classroom: A Preschool Teacher’s Monthly Book of Creative Activities (Gryphon House) is an excellent way to combat dead space when a teacher draws a blank (parents also tout Claycomb’s book, as well). Another favorite choice is Cynthia Holley’s and Faraday Burditt’s Every Day in Every Way: A Year-Round Calendar of Preschool Learning Challenges (Fearon Teachers AIDS), which not only offers advice and suggestions, but plots them out in themed calendar format.

A Primer for Preschool Teachers

Jean R Feldman’s A Survival Guide for the Preschool Teacher (Center for Applied Research in Education) offers important tips for teachers on how to become better preschool teachers. Not only does the book offer practical strategies for preschool learning, but teachers training future preschool teachers often assign this book to the students.

A vital part of preschool learning is reading and writing: the cliché applies – the earlier, the better. Dorothy S Strickland’s and Judith A Schickendanz’ Learning About Print in Preschool: Working with Letters, Words and Beginning Links with Phonemic Awareness (International Reading Association) is part of a series published by the IRA that raises awareness about the importance reading and writing skills for small children.

This book, as expected due to its publisher, is an all encompassing tome on preschool learning. The book discusses working with children of diverse learning abilities, as well as children for whom English is not a first language are covered The book also covers practical strategies and tips for teachers. Thus, with the proper research, one can easily find a great book to help with preschool learning techniques.