Author Carol Garhart Mooney's Theories of Childhood (first and second editions) is the best-selling Redleaf Press published book of all time with almost 100,000 copies sold. Garhart Mooney has a reputation for making big ideas easy to digest and accessible.
There has been much discussion of theory and practice in early education. Prominent in the text is the author's somewhat provocative call for early childhood education teachers to hold degrees in early childhood. She argues that to be effective, teachers must be able to understand and articulate why they do something for children. This is what makes theories of practice: the understanding of theoretical foundations (Piaget, Erikson, etc.) and current theories (namely Developmentally Appropriate Practice) and then applying them to daily work with children. This book provides an explanation of why it's so important for teachers to understand the theories.
The book was born out of a conversation the author had with Dr. Lilian Katz, an international leader in early childhood education who, for decades, has lectured and taught all over the world.
