The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living – hands on, exploring, in active relationship with life.
– Vince Gowmon

For the third day of “Teacher Appreciation” and “Reading is Fun” Week we wanted to offer you support in reading about ways to create a calmer, more settled, more creative classroom. In their book, Complementary Curriculum Approach: Transform Your Practice Through Intentional Teaching, Lisa Porter Kuh and Iris Chin Ponte weave together four intentions for fostering the settled classroom. They write, “When children have opportunities to choose and the time to enjoy those choices, children and teachers have a sense of collaboration and mutual respect that creates a strong foundational learning experience for all.”

College professors have told us they use this book as a key part of their course week. Early childhood directors also reported they appreciate the Out of the Box training, “Organizing Materials for a More Settled Classroom,” based on Porter and Kuh’s work.