Introduction

This book is about teaching social studies in the primary grades (K-3). It offers a detailed analysis of both the curricular and the instructional aspects of primary social studies, illustrated with excerpts from audiotapes recorded in first-and second-grade classrooms. It demonstrates the feasibility of providing primary students with a much more substantive and coherent introduction to social education than they usually receive, and shows how a skilled teacher connects this content base to her students’ prior knowledge and home cultures and develops it with emphasis on understanding, appreciation, and life application.