This unique and engaging resource describes, critiques and analyses the significance of a wide range of contemporary and classic ideas about how young children learn. Organised in a handy A - Z format, best-selling author and early years expert Sandra Smidt:

• Traces back each idea to the roots of how it was first conceived
• Explores its implications for the early years classroom in accessible terms
• Makes connections where relevant to other strands in the field of early childhood education
• Provides examples from her extensive classroom experience and international literature
• Draws on a range of ideas from both developing and developed countries giving the material a truly global focus
• Uses a sociocultural view of learning to underpin the choice or analysis of each idea

Students on early years education courses at a range of levels will find this an essential and enlightening companion text, for use throughout their studies.