With perennial teacher shortages in our Lutheran schools (Muehl, 2017) and the high costs associated with recruiting quality teachers (Simurda, 2004; Curran & Goldrick, 2002), principals must educate themselves about the best practices for retaining teachers in their schools. Principals play an important role in the recruitment and retention of teachers (Brock & Grady, 1998). […]

Words for thought As easy as it is to tell someone to believe in himself or herself, it is not as easy to help them […]

Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book tentatively titled The Concordia Christian Curriculum. This book will serve as a guide for the SCALE curriculum, the curriculum developed by the author over a period of decades as she founded and led the Concordia Early Childhood Education Center. This work is already used […]

It is always good to reflect on  what will impact children’s learning the most and bring about maximum benefits for all involved: the children and teachers alike. One of the major factors affecting learning is the classroom environment, in which children construct their knowledge in the social context of their peers and teachers. When thinking […]

A recent study has found that children have higher energy levels than trained endurance athletes (Birat, 2018). Therefore, to respond to these energy levels, their learning must be active. Learning must involve touching, talking, smelling, predicting, investigating, thinking, and comparing, to mention only a few. Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach that provides for […]

Where would we be in early childhood education without Martin Luther? When we think of Martin Luther, the hammer, nail, theses and the church door immediately come to mind, not early childhood education. It’s only after studying his writings that we see his influential opinions concerning young children. Many textbooks on the history of early […]

Last month I was invited to speak at Northeast Normal University of Bejing, China. The audience was a group of 450 early childhood educators including teachers, professors, and administrators. I was invited to discuss how early childhood education and the childcare of young children is done in America. Specifically, they wanted to know how Concordia […]