Source 1: 1. MLA Citation: Kirp, David L.

Kids First: Five Big Ideas for Transforming Children's Lives and America's Future. New York: PublicAffairs, 2011. Print.

2. Annotation: David L. Kirp describes how the education system for K-12 education is very narrow and not as open as it should be. He explains how their should be a strong mindset in the kids that they should achieve and can do what they set their minds too. He agrees with the kids-first policy and strong stories of young kids being set up in the right way who succeeded just by how they were brought up as a young kid in preschool. Kirp explains how growing up has its difficulties but parents need to have strong support for the teachers as well. Teachers need to offer higher level of education to the younger generation to set them up for success in life. Kirp believes that every young child should have a caring and stable adult mentor, preferably the teacher in the school environment, to help them succeed in life.

3. Key Quotes: The discipline grew out of the insight, based on close observation of behavior at home and in the nursery, that what transpires between pregnancy and the start of school can mold a childs destiny (Kirp 25). MENTOR, a nonprofit organization that monitors mentoring programs and lobbies for additional federal funding, estimates that 14.6 million

youth between the ages of ten and eighteen who must need mentoring lack the opportunity (Kirp 148). Coming of age can be a fraught journey, especially when there is no teacher or coach, no neighbor or rabbi-no one who listens, who can give a nudge at just the right moment, who can pry open the right door or maybe shut the wrong one (Kirp 143).

4. Evaluation: When rating the quality of the source I read I would give it an eight out of ten. The book contained some biases about how kids who have nothing cant really succeed as much as others. The book contains a lot of factual content though and real life scenarios. Kirp provides 5 different scenarios of how raising a kid with the right mindset and the right mentors, including the teacher, they can succeed when they grow older.

Source 2 1. MLA Citation: Wollman, Patti G. Behind the Playdough Curtain: A Year in My Life As a Preschool Teacher. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1994. Print. 2. Annotation: Wollman describes the importance of the teacher in the building blocks of the child growing up. The teachers job while the kids are in preschool is to enrich them and start to try to open their mind and teach them in creative and innovative ways that will intrigue them. Wollman describes how kids arent

always in the best of moods and dont always listen to what the teacher says. She talks about the rollercoaster events that occur, including the good and the bad and how you can improve on them. By her telling this story of the good and bad events it lets current preschool teachers and soon to be teachers the insight or understanding that everyone will go through this at some point.

3. Key Quotes: A teacher is like a detective, gleaning clues from the behavior and language of the child, and from conversations with the parents (Wollman xvii). Three- and four-year-olds can learn a great deal during the course of a school year. They can identify letters and shapes, and begin to understand the most basic concepts of numbers (Wollman xvi). In order to communicate these two concepts, a teacher must be an actor, singer, orator and clown (Wollman xvi). 4. Evaluation: After briefly evaluating this book I think it is a great deal of help. It helps with telling real life stories about how you should try to use different techniques to teach children to keep them engaged. It also provides input on how their isnt always going to be pleasant moments when teaching preschooler, but there can be some refreshing moments. Some weaknesses of the book in my opinion are not having enough factual information in it. This source helps me

a lot with real life experience and what might happen when observing the preschool teachers.

Source 3: 1. MLA Citation: Allen, K E, and Betty Hart. The Early Years, Arrangements for Learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1984. Print. 2. Annotation: The authors, Allen and Hart both talk about the historical influences in early childhood education. They discuss the teacher activities that are effective with young children in preschool. Both authors describe the role of environmental influences and how it positively correlates with the growth of kids. They describe how teacher-structured activities teach children how to name things, actions, and how to answer a question properly. They describe the learning materials that are effective with preschoolers. Learning materials are a key to them learning and growing in a creative and innovative way.

3. Key Quotes: Because all developmental areas are interrelated, children are acquireing physical, social, language, and cognitive skills every time they are in active contact with the learning opportunities provided in an early childhood setting (Allen and Hart, 17).

They need activities in which they can sing as they perform action songs, name objects solely from feel, group objects along a single dimension, or make mud pies on a rainy day (Allen and Hart, 27).

4. Evaluation: From briefly evaluating this book I learned different techniques that can be used that will engage the kids and help them learn the most. It also talks a lot about how the environment helps the kids and can positively improve their development. The strengths of the piece were it stating factual info and describing personal stories from teachers. I couldnt really find any weaknesses in this book due to it giving factual information and real-life stories as well.

Source 4:

1. MLA Citation: Brenner, Barbara. The Preschool Handbook: Making the Most of Your Child's Education. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990. Print.

2. Annotation: Brenner describes the importance of home life and how it can effect in a positive way in the school environment. Having a supportive system at home with the parents or whoever the caretaker of the kid is can really improve the importance of learning. By the parent or the caretaker teaching them manners and proper ways of listening and socializing, they can work better in a classroom. By them

learning at a younger age they will acquire more skills and techniques of how to communicate and learn more effectively. Children are always eager to learn as Brenner states multiple times and by parents encouraging them to learn in healthy ways they will learn at a better rate.

3. Key Quotes: As a parent you should realize that education is currently in the midst of a great debate about what constitutes good preschool (Brenner 32). A good preschool program takes into consideration the fact that preschoolers develop at different rates and in different ways, but that theres a general timetable (Brenner 35). Just because a child shows a tendency toward print awareness does not mean he should immediately be pressured in to reading readiness programs and a barrage of pencil-and-paper activities. 5. Evaluation: After briefly reading Brenners book I learned how to pick a preschool effectively from a teacher standpoint and a parent standpoint. The article didnt seem to contain that many biases in my opinion. The strengths in this piece are it having factual information, as well as information for a parent when choosing the right preschool and how to make sure the teacher is doing the correct thing with their child. It shows that not every kid grows at the same rate but their definitely is a certain time period.

Source 5:

1. MLA Citation: Essa, Eva. Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Albany: Delmar Publishers, 1996. Print. 2. Annotation: Essa describes in the textbook about the research that has been done to further look at how to help each child grow. It describes the theorists who contributed ideas to the growth of furthering preschoolers education. The reader of this textbook gets an understanding of why these individuals are important and how they help with the progress of preschoolers. This book goes into more detail of what the kid wants and how they learn more efficiently. It then describes how teachers can help preschoolers cope with stress in childrens lives including poverty, health stressors, and more environment stresses that might occur in a childs life. 3. Key Quotes: Fundamental changes in the economy, family life, public awareness, and public support have had a profound effect on early childhood education (Essa 16).

Enrichment is a second aim, prevalent particularly in part-time preschools. Such programs usually include specific activities to enhance socialization, cognitive skills, or overall development of young children (Essa 19).

As we have discussed, a nurturing, well-trained, and consistent staff is important to a quality program, but a reciprocal concern for the well-being of the staff also is needed (Essa 31).

4. Evaluation: After reviewing this textbook that Essa wrote I learned a lot more than in the other books that I have found. The textbook gives great diagrams of learning activities that will help engage the preschoolers in learning in a more effective way. It gives great facts as well as great personal stories of teachers in the preschool teaching setting in a classroom environment.