In this book, early childhood authorities assist the readers in identifying the trends, research, and issues that are at the heart of important decisions in curriculum, instruction, and supervision.

The long-awaited new edition of NAEYC's book Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs is here, fully revised and updated! Since the first edition in 1987, it has been an essential resource for the early childhood education field. Early childhood educators have a professional responsibility to plan and implement intentional, developmentally appropriate learning experiences that promote the social and emotional development, physical development and health, cognitive development, and general learning competencies of each child served. But what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)? DAP is a framework designed to promote young children's optimal learning and development through a strengths-based approach to joyful, engaged learning. As educators make decisions to support each child's learning and development, they consider what they know about (1) commonality in children's development and learning, (2) each child as an individual (within the context of their family and community), and (3) everything discernible about the social and cultural contexts for each child, each educator, and the program as a whole. This latest edition of the book is fully revised to underscore the critical role social and cultural contexts play in child development and learning, including new research about implicit bias and teachers' own context and consideration of advances in neuroscience. Educators implement developmentally appropriate practice by recognizing the many assets all young children bring to the early learning program as individuals and as members of families and communities. They also develop an awareness of their own context. Building on each child's strengths, educators design and implement learning settings to help each child achieve their full potential across all domains of development and across all content areas.

"This guide is written as a resource for any public school district ... or educational service unit (ESU) developing and implementing high-quality center-based early childhood education programs serving children from birth to kindergarten entrance age. It is designed to provide strategies and resources to assist districts, ESUs, and community-based organizations in working together to ensure that all young children and their families have equity of learning access to high quality early learning experiences in their communities" (page 3).

Theory meets practical tips in this guide for leaders of early childhood programs

Family support programs have been attracting increased attention, and are at the center of efforts to build systems of integrated, comprehensive, and preventive family-focused services. This handbook, developed by the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), profiles 73 school-affiliated family support and education programs in the United States to help principals, policy makers, program directors, evaluators, and teachers make decision regarding such programs. The handbook serves as a national resource guide, describing the scope of programs currently implemented in schools serving families with young children. Following an overview that discusses major factors contributing to the success of these programs, the program descriptions are divided into the following chapters: (1)"Preschool and Early Childhood Programs with Parent Involvement"; (2) "Support for Special Needs Children and Their Parents"; (3) "Parent-School Partnerships for School Readiness and Enrichment"; (4) "Home Visits for Parenting Support"; (5) "School and Center-Based Parenting Support"; (6) "Teens, Parenthood, and Child Development"; (7) "Family Literacy and Intergenerational Skill Development"; (8) "Family Resource Centers"; and (9) "Family, School, Community Parternships." Each of the case studies includes demographic information, program philosophy, features, curriculum, site information, funding and staffing information, and evaluation efforts. Contains a listing and description of 109 resources for information, advocacy, and research for family support programs. (BGC)

Published under the auspices of the New York Public Library, this expanded, reorganized and updated edition of Resources for Early Childhood: An Annotated Guide for Educators, Librarians, Health Care Professionals, and Parents (1985), includes new essays by the most important theorists in the early childhood field today. Influential classic works as well as recent works are listed and annotated in the new bibliographies. Essayists include Marian Wright Edelman on the hardships of America's young families; Bettye Caldwell on Educare; Lewis Lipsitt on assessment of deficits in children; Louise Bates Ames on developmental readiness for schooling; Nicholas Anastasiow on oral language development; Urie Bronfenbrenner on changes in family life and child care; Irving Lazar on education policy; Bob McGrath on recorded children's music; Michael Lewis on emotional development in preschool children; Michael Meyerhoff on toy selection; David Elkind on young children in the post-modern world; Mary Dean Dumais on the kindergarten curriculum; Vincent Fontana on child abuse; Dorothy Singer on television and children's overall development; Lendon Smith on nutrition, health, AIDS and the environment; Edward Zigler on family support programs; Stella Chess on temperament; Bernard Spodek on choosing appropriate early childhood programs; David Weikart on the importance of early childhood education. A subject index is included.