“Edu-Chameleon” by Lili-Ann Kriegler

Edu-Chameleon: Leverage 7 Dynamic Learning Zones to Enhance Young Children’s Concept-Based Understanding

Lili-Ann Kriegler
Independently Published (2021)
ISBN 9781922497864
Reviewed by Jill Rey for Reader Views (7/2021)

Author Lili-Ann Kriegler does not do things halfway, whether it be her love of golf or passion for education. Using the foundations of other scholarly work, she has created a model for play using seven learning zones. Targeting early educators and administrators alike she provides readers an in-depth immersion into structuring play for learning.

In keeping with the title’s theme, “Edu-Chameleon” is broken into four parts as readers traverse the Chameleon—The Eye, The Head, The Body and The Tail. This animal is aptly used to represent the structure of this book as educators similarly have to adapt their skills, perspectives, toy box, classroom and planning to that of the Chameleon as it changes its color. 

The body of this book (pun intended), outlines the seven learning zones which set this book apart from that of other scholarly work. These zones range from Free Play to Clarity of Concept and Auto-Generative Creativity. They are independent of one another and are not expected to be completed in “stages.” Kriegler is detailed as she crafts each of these zones for the reader to embrace, structuring them by proximity of the educator to the student and the range of freedom in meeting the goals and activities that fall within the zone. Each chapter also begins with a comprehensive definition, what the teacher and students’ role may involve or look like as it pertains to this zone and even includes examples from the author’s own schools and classrooms.

This book may be densely populated with research and support of the learning zones proposed by the author, solidly landing it within a niche designed for educators and administrators alike. However, the examples of play and crafted themes she provides within the pages, such as water, which is carried from visual artistry to engineering and physics concepts, gives parents excellent ideas for structuring play for kids within their own homes, whether over the summer months or concurrently with school subjects.

Kriegler brings her concepts to the table fully formed and significantly well supported through her own examples and learning as well as through the use of peer reviewed scholars, as she shares her work with the masses in this read, “Edu-Chameleon.”