It's a common dilemma in early childhood classrooms: How to provide new, interesting experiences on a shoestring budget. This book offers low-cost ideas for gathering and creating rich explorations in learning centers by vividly describing the unique ways teachers can use found and recyclable materials to encourage cognitive development and creative exploration in young children. In addition to photographic examples, the book offers tips on how to source, select, and integrate materials into a center;… More »
Play is learning! But play in the early years is endangered by the emphasis on push-down academics, mounting parental expectations, and pressures on early childhood teachers to prepare young children for the rigors of kindergarten and beyond. With all of that, gains made by play experiences, including readiness skills and social-emotional development, have fallen away. Young children learn best through play. This book helps educators understand the different types of play and the rich opportunities… More »
For experts in the field of early care and education, defining and providing technical assistance can be as difficult as nailing jelly to the wall. Learn to effectively coach, mentor, and train early childhood teachers and administrators with guided experiences, strategies, and activities to provide technical assistance in specific program areas like parent involvement, science, outdoor play, music. and art. 144 pages. Paperback.
The Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) is the first valid and reliable tool for measuring and improving the overall quality of business and professional practices in family child care settings. It is applicable for multiple uses, including program self-improvement, technical assistance and monitoring, training, research and evaluation, and public awareness. It is currently embedded in many state quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) across the nation.
Using a 7-point rating scale (inadequate to excellent), this easy-to-use instrument assesses 25 items grouped into 10 categories: human resources development, personnel cost and allocation, center operations, child assessment, fiscal management, program planning and evaluation, family partnerships, marketing and public relations, technology, and staff qualifications.
The literature-based activities in this book help children who have been through a trauma. With activities and exercises that can be used in conjunction with 50 children's books, teachers can use the discussion starters, writing activities, and art activities to promote children's ability to cope and heal. Addresses numerous crises that can affect a child, including earthquakes, epidemics and mass casualty incidents, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and major storms, shelter experiences, volcanic… More »
You've probably seen it: frustration builds, teacher turnover rises, staff meetings become insufferable, indifference breeds throughout the school. Spark change! When your staff feels supported and empowered to grow and develop their skills, your program and the children will thrive. "Inspiring Professional Growth," the follow-up to Inspiring Early Childhood Leadership, addresses the need for offering nurturing and empowering professional development. This book provides leaders with a… More »
Communities of practice are an age-old phenomenon representing teamwork. Whether its researchers developing treatments for a disease or educators sharing best practices to enhance early childhood learning, communities of practice are about connection and shared purpose. "Growing Together" will help you define, create, and promote a community of practice to foster collaborative problem solving and enhance professional learning experiences. You will learn key strategies and techniques to… More »
In a complex and changing landscape of scare funding, high turnover rates, and differing view about priorities, the early childhood profession needs an anchor. The Whole Leadership Framework, developed by the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership, helps early childhood professionals inspire their staffs' collaboration, creativity, and ethical commitment. Learn how to: develop foundational leadership attributes and competencies, use both day-to-day management and long-range leadership skills,… More »
The fourth edition contains guidelines on the development and evaluation of health and safety of children in early care and education settings. Includes 10 chapters of more than 650 standards with supplemental information, forms and tools, and revised and updated topics on environmental health, infectious diseases, and nutrition. Topics include: staffing; program activities for healthy development, health promotion and protection; nutrition and food service; facilities, supplies, equipment, and… More »
Create responsive environments where young children thrive. When teachers create environments that teach skills rather than punish individual actions, they reduce behavior problems and nurture the growth of all learners. This book expertly guides early childhood teachers to analyze their classroom elements, routines, and responses to children. Much like gardeners who adjust soil, water, or fertilizer to help flowers bloom, educators of young children must look beyond challenging behaviors to what… More »
Open the door to teaching infants, toddlers, and two-year-olds successfully with these 300 activities linked to the latest development in child development. Observe what your children are already doing, then give them varied opportunities to develop at their own pace. This book outlines a typical development sequence in ten domains: social/emotional, fine motor, gross motor, language, cognitive, sensory, nature, music and movement, creativity, and dramatic play. Chapters on appropriate curriculum… More »
Providers can easily set goals to incrementally improve business practices that will result in better communication with parents, financial stability, reduced risk in operating a home business, and compliance with legal requirements. Using a 7-point rating scale (inadequate to excellent), this easy-to-use assessment instrument measures: qualifications and professional development, income and benefits, work environment, fiscal management, recordkeeping, risk management, provider-parent communication,… More »
This award-winning 10-step guide lets you work with portfolio assessment at a comfortable pace, breaking the process down into easy-to-manage steps. 192 pages.
When was the last time you got down on your hands and knees to see your classroom from a child's height? Research shows that effective early childhood classroom design begins from the ground up. Classroom design is a crucial component of an effective learning environment. This book brings a new approach to classroom design that begins and ends with the child's viewpoint. Each chapter details how the classroom environment influences children's learning, and the authors provide specific examples of… More »
Everything you need to keep accurate records for your family child care business and save money on your taxes. Operating a family child care program can be both difficult and rewarding. Few people give as much of themselves or accept more responsibility than you do as a family child care provider. And few are more deserving of the satisfaction that comes from helping children learn and grow. However, there are other challenges that are equally important-taking care of your business by tracking your… More »
With 52 weekly plans, this book makes it easy to come up with appropriate learning experiences that children will love. This essential classroom resource covers every topic and other things that you probably never thought of. 384 pages.
The third edition contains updated guidelines on the development and evaluation of the health and safety of children in all types of early care and education settings--child care centers and family child care homes. Features 10 chapters of 650+ standards including a new Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Education Programs standards. Chapters: Staffing / Program Activities for Health Development / Healthy Promotion and Protection / Nutrition and Food Service / Facilities, Supplies and… More »
With forms, worksheets, staff-training workshops, and task lists, as well as helpful guidelines and insights, this groundbreaking guide is filled with practical advice for every program director. Learn how to create a Disaster Readiness Master Plan and implement it; train teachers and administrators how to react in a catastrophic event; educate parents about your disaster plan to reduce panic; create planned evacuation routes and notify local emergency management agencies of your plans; and complete… More »
A positive, strengths-based leadership system is the key to transforming the quality of early childhood programs. Inspiring Early Childhood Leadership lays out strategies designed to support program leaders in finding new ways to reduce the levels of stress on themselves and their staff, and move into a unified, engaging system for leading with passion, intention, and purpose. Author Susan MacDonald's goal is to take leaders past their challenges with a vision of new possibilities so they can ensure… More »
This book will take educators step by step through the process of managing assessment. It explains the terminology involved, shows how to turn 'observation' into 'assessment' and outlines how to manage and interpret all the information gathered. An essential book for all early childhood educators. 128 pages.
Professional development is important, but early childhood professionals get just as bored, worn out, and disengaged from learning as their younger counterparts do. But while pre-K and K-12 classroom learning continues to evolve and improve, adult learners are often left by the wayside! There must be a better way. "Lose the Lecture" brings administrators, coaches, and facilitators a new approach to professional development and adult learning that focuses on the learners-how they think,… More »
No education professional wants to think about an active shooter on campus. Recent tragic events illustrate a clear and imminent need to prepare educators for these threats. Public institutions are required by law to follow rules and regulations to train for emergency responses, and several states have enacted or are considering enacting regulations specific to early childhood programs. "Preschool Preparedness for an Active Shooter," the first book in the new Preparing for the Unexpected… More »
