Question 1

The Reggio Emilia early-childhood program focuses on _____.

Accepted Answer

The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education emphasizes children's creativity and artistic talent, encouraging exploration and expression through various mediums.

Question 2

Most teacher-directed preschool programs stress _____.

Accepted Answer

Most teacher-directed preschool programs emphasize academics, focusing on skills and knowledge that prepare children for formal schooling.

Question 3

Jane and her 4-year-old daughter, Michele, are visiting at a friend's house when Michele blurts out, "This house is dirty." Michele clearly does not fully understand the _____ of polite speech yet.

Accepted Answer

Pragmatics refers to the social rules and conventions of language use, including understanding what is appropriate to say in different contexts. Michele's comment shows a lack of understanding of these social norms.

Question 4

In terms of early-childhood learning, research has found that if the home learning environment is poor, then _____.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that a quality preschool can help mitigate the negative effects of a poor home learning environment on a child's health, cognition, and social skills. Attendance at preschool can provide opportunities for socialization, learning, and exposure to new experiences that may not be available at home. Day care may also provide some benefits, but a quality preschool program is specifically designed to support early childhood learning and development. The approach of the program (child-centered or otherwise) may vary, but it is the overall quality of the program that is most important.

Question 5

Four-year-old Yvonne is putting on her shoes and says, "I need to put my shoes on my foots." She is exhibiting _____.

Accepted Answer

Yvonne is exhibiting overregularization, which is the tendency for young children to apply regular grammatical rules to irregular words. In this case, she is adding an -s to "foot" to make it plural, which is a regular rule, but it is incorrect in this context.

Question 6

What was Maria Montessori's objective when she created her preschool?

Accepted Answer

Maria Montessori's objective when she created her preschool was to promote individual achievement and independence in children through hands-on, experiential learning. She believed that children learn best when they are empowered to explore and discover on their own, rather than being forced to adhere to strict rules and guidelines or to obey a teacher without question.

Question 7

Micah's preschool has a high teacher/child ratio and ample opportunity for creative expression. He has chosen to make dinosaurs out of clay as his long-term art project. Which child-centered approach does Micah's preschool most closely resemble?

Accepted Answer

The characteristics of Micah's preschool, such as a high teacher/child ratio and ample opportunities for creative expression, are key components of the Reggio Emilia approach. This approach emphasizes child-directed learning and encourages children to explore their interests through projects like Micah's dinosaur sculptures.

Question 8

Which early-childhood method has been found to aid reading later on?

Accepted Answer

Code-focused teaching, which emphasizes the learning of letter-sound correspondence and phonemic awareness, has been found to be effective in improving reading skills later on. Teacher-directed programs can also incorporate code-focused teaching strategies, but the other programs mentioned have not been shown to be as effective in aiding reading development.

Question 9

The goal of most teacher-directed preschools is to _____.

Accepted Answer

The goal of most teacher-directed preschools is to make all children ready to learn when they enter elementary school.

Question 10

Child-centered programs are often influenced by the theories of _____ and _____.

Accepted Answer

Child-centered programs are heavily influenced by the cognitive development theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget's emphasis on children constructing their own knowledge and Vygotsky's focus on the role of social interaction in learning align with the child-centered approach. Skinner and Freud's theories do not align as well with child-centered programs.

Question 11

Demetrius's family recently immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine. After he attended kindergarten, his parents noticed that his English was more fluent than his native language. Demetrius was exhibiting _____.

Accepted Answer

Demetrius is exhibiting a language shift, which is the process of gradually abandoning one's native language in favor of a new language due to extended contact with that new language.

Question 12

Overregularization in a child's speech patterns indicates that _____.

Accepted Answer

Overregularization in a child's speech patterns indicates that they are able to apply grammatical rules to their vocalizations, even though they may not always use them correctly. This is a common part of language development as children learn the rules of their language.

Question 13

Sunnymont Preschool has plenty of opportunities for the children to play dress-up, dance, build with blocks, finger-paint, and be creative. Sunnymont is most likely a _____ program.

Accepted Answer

The emphasis on play, creativity, and allowing children to explore and express themselves suggests that Sunnymont Preschool is child-centered. The other options are unlikely, as there is no mention of Vygotsky's theories, teacher direction, or bilingual education in the given information.

Question 14

All of the following are common concerns that parents have about raising bilingual children EXCEPT _____.

Accepted Answer

While parents may have concerns about their child becoming more proficient than them in the second language, this is not typically seen as a negative outcome. The other concerns listed (that the child will be semilingual, will master language later, or become confused) are all common worries among parents raising bilingual children.

Question 15

Learning Circle Preschool emphasizes individual pride and achievement while focusing on teaching young children literacy-related tasks. Learning Circle's approach seems to most closely resemble a(n) _____ program.

Accepted Answer

Learning Circle Preschool's emphasis on individual pride and achievement aligns with the Montessori approach, which focuses on child-led learning and self-discovery. The emphasis on literacy-related tasks also aligns with Montessori's focus on language development. The other options (intervention, Reggio Emilia, bilingual) do not necessarily align with the described approach of Learning Circle.

Question 16

"I catched two mouses in a trap" is an example of _____.

Accepted Answer

The use of "catched" instead of "caught" is an example of overregularization, which is a common error made by young children when they incorrectly apply regular past tense rules to irregular verbs.

Question 17

Jessica is reading a story aloud to her 3-year-old daughter, Abigail. Abigail's father says, "Why are you bothering? It's not like she's going to learn to read from that." What would you tell Abigail's father about reading to preschoolers?

Accepted Answer

Research has consistently shown that reading to preschoolers has a positive impact on their language development, literacy skills, and even future academic success. Children who are read to frequently have larger vocabularies, stronger comprehension skills, and are more likely to enjoy and engage with books. It is never too early to start reading to children, and it is a wonderful way to bond with them and instill a love of reading from a young age.

Question 18

Overregularization occurs because children _____.

Accepted Answer

Overregularization occurs because children assume their language always follows the rules they already know. For example, a child may say "goed" instead of "went" or "teeths" instead of "teeth" because they apply the rule of adding "-ed" or "-s" to a word to make it past tense or plural, respectively.

Question 19

Preschool programs are called "child-centered" when they stress children's _____.

Accepted Answer

Child-centered programs focus on a child's overall development and growth, which includes cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. While language development is certainly an important component of this, it is just one aspect of a child's overall growth and should not be the sole focus. Gross motor skills and fine motor skills are also important areas to address, but again, they are just one part of a child's development.

Question 20

Neuroscience has proven true which statement about young bilingual children?

Accepted Answer

Neuroscience research supports the idea that both languages are stored in the same areas of the brain for bilingual individuals. However, they are able to activate one language and inhibit the other through cognitive control processes. This allows them to switch between languages as needed.

Quiz 11: Adulthood: Emerging Adulthood