FAMILIES, SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITIES: TOGETHER FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, 5E, International Edition emphasizes the role of families and communities in children's education, and is geared to meeting national standards in teacher preparation programs. Content reflects current research and best practices in education. Divided into two sections, this book helps you understand contemporary families and provides you with the skills that you will need to build relationships with families and the community. You'll find specific ideas and strategies for increasing family involvement in the community and schools, encouraging learning at home, working with military families, recognizing family strengths, diversity in the classroom, and many other topics. New content includes integration of current standards and a new video feature as well as expanded material on advocacy, technology, and strategies for dealing with parents.

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.

By approaching the concept of community through the lens of early childhood, this valuable book acknowledges the role that diverse and multiple communities play in supporting a child’s early development, and explores how their value can be harnessed in our ever-evolving and fast-changing world. Young Children and Their Communities delves deeper into the many layers of communities to which children belong. With a focus on key theoretical perspectives, such as social empathy and the pedagogy of friendships, the book seeks to expand readers’ understanding of the concept of community by considering a range of both established and emerging communities, including peer groups, digital communities, the extended family and intergenerational learning. Chapters explore how various communities contribute to and enhance young children’s lives, and examine how children can in turn enrich the communities they are part of. Illustrative vignettes and points for reflection are included throughout, along with helpful research summaries and links to current policy. Reiterating the importance of communities and illustrating the rich opportunities they offer to children, Young Children and Their Communities will inform students’ and early years practitioners’ practice as they confront new challenges and opportunities in fields of early childhood education, social work and sociology.

Resilience and Wellbeing in Young Children, Their Families and Communities unpicks the theme of resilience and wellbeing through diverse contexts, circumstances, populations and life stories in order to explore its complexity globally. Current societal events have brought forward a need for understanding how to best support and create environments with conditions that promote children’s holistic wellbeing. Violence in all its facets, poverty, political conflict and the recent pandemic are among the major realities threatening children, and this demands attention to how resilience can be supported to effectively safeguard children’s lived experiences. This book explores resilience from a range of perspectives, research projects and practical support mechanisms for young children, families, educators and communities. It starts with theoretical conceptualizations and goes on to present specific research projects and applied initiatives and how these can be used in application to praxis for young children and their families. Being of interest to educators and human services striving to advocate for and enhance young children’s wellbeing, this book will serve as both a useful overview of the many approaches to supporting resilience in young children, while providing a sound theoretical perspective that is accessible for all.

Some chapters based on papers originally given at the Fifth International Looking After Children Conference held in Oxford, England in Sept. 2002.

Early childhood education has always been an enterprising one. Innovative models that provide connections among the family, community, and school of early childhood will continue to emerge through the years to acknowledge new educational ideologies, new social demands, and new knowledge. The issues addressed in this volume can provide new directions to prepare early childhood scholars, researchers, and practitioners to work as a team in these different settings.

Caring for the Child with Complex Needs in Community Settingsprovides a valuable overview of the key factors relating to caringfor children with complex and continuing care needs. Despite itsfrequent and increasing use, complex care needs is a term withoutan agreed definition. This shortfall of knowledge is addressed inthis book through critical discussion of evidence-based researchand current health, social and education policy. It brings togetherthe latest knowledge into one text providing practitioners with thecrucial information needed when working with this diverse and broadgroup of children. Caring for the Child with Complex Needs in Community Settingsexplores caring for technology-dependent children who requirerespiratory assistance; caring for children who require homeenteral tube feeds; and caring for children with complexdisabilities. It looks at multi-agency care, respite care forfamilies, social service support and educational support ofchildren with complex needs. Practitioners from health, socialservices and education backgrounds have contributed to the chaptersusing case studies, while a parent of a child with complex needshas provided a personal view of caring. This accessible andpractical text provides core knowledge and vital insight requiredfor successful delivery of community care for children with complexand continuing care needs.