Designs for Living and Learning - 2nd Edition by Deb Curtis & Margie Carter (Paperback)

About the Book

The best-selling source of inspiration for early childhood professionals designing learning environments; updated with all new photographs and fresh content

Book Synopsis

You likely have dreams for your early childhood environment that are greater than rating scales, regulations, and room arrangements. Designs for Living and Learning has been a favorite resource among educators and caregivers for more than a decade, and this new edition is packed with even more ideas that can be used as you create captivating environments that nurture children, families, and staff while supporting children's learning. With hundreds of all-new colorful photographs of real early learning settings and a multitude of simple and practical concepts for creative indoor and outdoor spaces and learning materials, this book truly is a source of inspiration as you learn how to shape welcoming spaces where children can learn and grow.

Expanded chapters include new information reflecting current trends and concerns in early childhood, such as the use of repurposed and nontraditional materials, children in the outdoors, alternative ways to think about providing for learning outcomes, facing and overcoming barriers and negotiating change, and the impact of environmental rating scales in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Two new chapters are included, one highlighting the transformations of environments with before and after photos and outlines of the process, and the other with examples of soliciting children's ideas about the environment.

Deb Curtis and Margie Carter are internationally acclaimed experts in early childhood. They host three-day institutes and professional development seminars for early childhood professionals; consult with early childhood programs across North America, Australia, and New Zealand; and have written many books together.

Review Quotes

Margie and Deb have done a phenomenal job of revising Designs for Living and Learning to ensure that the culturally relevant environments being created by paradigm shifting early childhood programs are highlighted. However, the power of their work is not in merely capturing the images that captivate our senses, but rather it is in providing us a window into the intentionality behind these images. It is far too easy to create an environment that is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, it is harder to create an environment that reflects the unique culture of your early childhood community, one that builds connections for children, strengthens parents understandings of their child's development and pushes the field of Early childhood education forward. Carter and Curtis have not only achieved this balance, they have also made the information accessible through imagery that touches our soul. When we at the Paradigm Project are working to help programs deepen their practice and create environments that draw upon the richness of a school's unique community, we find Designs for Living and Learning to be a go to resource for us, one that can live on for the teachers and Directors after we leave the school.--Peter Blair, The Paradigm Project Founding Partner, ECE change agent, Lifelong learner and Associate Executive Director Harry and Rose Samson JCC of Milwaukee

What is a quality experience and environment for young children? The voices of teachers in diverse settings - teachers who involve children in the design process and who design with attention to their own values and the rights of all children - are a powerful resource. Add to their voices the guiding philosophical perspectives and pedagogical approach of Deb Curtis and Margie Carter who engage with teachers around the world and you have this resource - bubbling over with photos and design ideas. New work included in this edition focuses on the professional development experience that can be the heart of transforming your environment. Quality is always a process and never finished. Let Margie and Deb provoke and inspire you on your journey.--Bonnie Neugbaur, Child Care Exchange and World Forum Foundation

This new edition illuminates how the environment becomes an active agent that helps to shape the living going on inside it: the reader sees that the environment and the life it contains are compellingly inseparable. This is a thoughtful, inspiring, and empowering contribution to the early childhood field.--Carol Anne Wien, York University

Beautifully constructed to connect to developmental and learning domains with well-conceptualized final chapters answering the questions that all will be asking as they read the book, how can I do this in my classroom? and where will I get the resources?--Dr. Deborah J. Cassidy, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

Designs for Living and Learning not only maintains that children thrive in spaces designed for both; it provides an updated second edition to planning outdoor and indoor environments that nurture children and families. Hundreds of photos and stories for early childhood programs around the world accompany discussions of the latest early childhood education trends, how to develop a sense of wonder and scientific thinking, and how to arrange and store materials to invite the best responses from kids. With its wealth of facts and fun ideas for environment and play areas, this is a 'must' for any involved in early childhood education.--James A. Cox, Editor in Chief, Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Deb Curtis: Deb Curtis has spent the past 35 years working with children and teachers in early childhood programs, observing and studying children and the teaching and learning process. Along with teaching children, Deb has worked with early childhood educators in college settings, seminars, and institutes all over North America, New Zealand, and Australia. She has been working as a toddler teacher for the past five years and is the coauthor of eight books related to working with young children. Deb holds a master's degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College.

Margie Carter: Margie Carter has worked in the early childhood field as a teacher, director, college instructor, coach, and consultant for nearly 50 years. She has coauthored eight books and traveled across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to present to early childhood professionals. Margie's work challenges early childhood educators and caregivers to expand their thinking about what children, families, and staff deserve in programs. She works to ensure that all quality enhancement efforts are focused on reflection, not just compliance. Margie holds a master's degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College.