Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Education

Reviewed by Felix Rodriguez Suero, Lecturer I, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 11/9/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5

This book addresses a wide range of topics pertaining to curriculum design and inquiry with young children. Learning through Play is a central focus of the book. However, the authors introduce the reader to the most common approaches to early childhood education.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I think that at times the authors rely too much on secondary documents instead of citing scientific research findings directly. However, the authors draw from relevant theories and anecdotes to illustrate what the application of specific pedagogical principles may look like in practice, which I found particularly valuable for education students at the undergraduate level in general.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

One of the important contributions of this book is summarizing in one place, theories, principles, and concepts that often demand the use multiple books and articles. This book gives future teachers a good grasp of essential concepts such as transitions, routines, student readiness, assessment, and documentation. In addition to the solid discussion of the traditional literature, future editions could benefit from discussions on the contributions of neuroscience to how we understand young children's learning.

Clarity rating: 5

The authors use a language that is clear and accessible. Some of the articles I assign in my Art Education method courses can be hard to read for some of my undergraduate students. I am considering substituting some of those articles with chapters and sections from this book.

Consistency rating: 4

The organization of the book is consistent throughout the different chapters. The pop-up windows "Vignette" and "Pause and Reflect" add content and experiences that facilitate the connection between theory and practice.

Modularity rating: 5

In my case, not all chapters are useful for the courses I currently teach, but the book structure makes it conducive to assign specific chapters that align with some of my weekly topics.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized into five large thematic sections. Each section is divided into uneven number of chapters. However, the organization of the text is consistent throughout the different chapters. The book starts with more general theoretical and practical considerations that could be useful to students from different disciplines. Section IV, covering Chapters 7-16 provides insights into specific subject areas.

Interface rating: 2

While the book is comprehensive and useful for introduction to curriculum design and education method courses, the interface of the book could benefit from more elaborate formatting and design. Several images are low resolution, and the format and quality are not consistent. In general, a more professional design could make the book more visually appealing.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not notice significant grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors are attentive to how cultural and social factors affect students’ engagement. They intentionally examine learning experiences from diverse cultural settings and discuss how disadvantage students may lack access to technology.

I was expecting more specialized and in-depth discussions on the Creative Arts in Chapter 11. Nonetheless, this book is a great resource to address general curriculum design considerations with young children. I plan to use this book in the future.