Dr. Karen La Paro

Associate Professor, 2010
Professor, 2017

School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability
by Pianta, Cox, and Snow

There are several useful chapters in this book, but the idea presented about learning opportunities rather than teaching opportunities has guided a great deal of my thinking about teachers in early childhood classrooms. The idea of working from the child’s perspective and supporting opportunities for them to learn, rather than having teaching opportunities which implies a more top-down approach has the potential to maximize children’s engagement and learning in classrooms. I often reread this chapter to refresh my thinking and ideas for working with teachers of young children.