The TEACH Early Childhood Wisconsin is an initiative to address the crisis in recruitment, compensation, and retention of high-quality early childhood teachers and providers. The plan involves advanced training for infant/toddler caregivers, infant/toddler credential, administrator credential, and scholarships for higher education. Efforts are…

Examines three challenges facing the field of early childhood education: (1) homogenization of early childhood education; (2) over-scientization of the field; and (3) bureaucratization of early childhood education. (KB)

Learn how to safely incorporate touch in the early childhood setting and how to prepare children to confront troubling touch-related situations that may arise outside your setting. Following Acknowledgments, the book includes the following six chapters: (1) Taking a Look at Touch; (2) The Importance of Touch in Development and Learning; (3)…

As educators we must act with knowledge and purpose to make sure young children acquire the skills and understanding they need to succeed. Planful, intentional teachers keep in mind the key goals for children's learning and development in all domains by creating supportive environments, planning curriculum, and selecting from a variety of teaching…

When engaged in social studies, with guidance and encouragement from adults, children develop awareness of self and family and become active participants in the larger community. The knowledge and skills learned through social studies prepare children to become informed and engaged citizens of their country and the world. In this collection of…

The kindergarten year is quite unlike preschool and not like first grade, either. What should teaching practice look like for this critical year? This book offers a vivid picture of kindergarten children, perceptive discussion of the current kindergarten context and policy issues, and clear guidelines for teaching and assessing kindergartners.…

Professionals in early intervention and early childhood special education often do not feel that they are adequately prepared to provide indirect services in the form of consultation to general early childhood educators. In this article, the authors propose a framework for the practice of consultation in early education and intervention. Although…

Increasing numbers of infants and toddlers who were premature, had low birth weight, or experience chronic medical conditions are referred to early intervention services (Bernstein, Heimler, & Sasidharan, 1998). These young children often endure prolonged hospitalizations and are at risk for developmental disabilities by nature of their illnesses,…

Providing effective services to promote development of all children is the goal of programs serving young children; this is especially important for programs that include young children who have disabilities or are at risk. Ensuring effectiveness of programming for each individual child can be difficult, and many children will need individualized…

Addressing and integrating the various national recommendations is essential when assessing the strengths and needs of young children with disabilities in inclusive environments. To achieve implementation of recommended practices, the early childhood special education consultant must respect the philosophy of the early childhood teacher without…

Comments from parents such as, "It's nice to work with someone who understands how complicated my life is"; "I know when I make a decision about my child, my home visitor will respect it"; "Now, I feel like I can help my child learn"; and "I enjoy being with my child so much" are great to hear. These types of comments let early interventionists…

Programs for teenage mothers provided through school districts or community agencies often have their own curricular agenda for teaching teenage mothers about the proper care of and nutrition for infants and the typical stages of child development, but not all programs are successful in supporting the development of positive early relationships…

Most caregivers and teachers of young children are familiar with the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. Many may not be aware that there are two additional senses: the proprioceptive and vestibular senses. Proprioceptive sensors are located in the joints and tendons and enable a person to know the location of each part of the…

Among families who have young children, feeding concerns are quite common (Brazelton, 1992). Feeding concerns can include, but are not limited to, inappropriate mealtime behaviors, lack of self-feeding, food selectivity, and food refusal (Kerwin, 1999). Given the complex nature of assessment of and intervention for feeding concerns in young…

This article provides information for early childhood educators so that they will understand what goes into the task of building positive relationships with children. Having a warm and open relationship with his or her teacher or child care provider is identified as an important protective factor for young children. Empirical evidence for the…