Redleaf Press

Approximately one in every thirty children born today is a twin or supertwin—a child of a higher-order multiple birth, such as a triplet or quadruplet. With twins and supertwins an increasingly growing population in preschool classrooms, early childhood professionals have more questions and concerns regarding the best ways to care for and educate preschool-age children of multiple births. Twins and Supertwins addresses these issues and highlights the best program practices supported by recent research and study findings; includes information on physical, social, emotional, and language development; identifies unique needs of twins and supertwins; and offers guidance to create partnerships with families.

Play, academics, and standards can work together with the right strategies and support from educators. Take an active role in child-directed play to guide learning. Become a strong advocate for saving play in early childhood education by empowering teachers to join play and standards, and learn how child-led, open-ended play addresses the seven domains and Common Core Standards.

This book is full of research and resources that link academic learning and play experiences. Engage in provocative questions for teachers and administrators to help you effectively share the importance of play in early learning with others, and help restore play to its proper role as both fun and educational.

Gaye Gronlund, MA, is a nationally recognized consultant and author who works with early childhood programs across the country, specializing in developmentally appropriate practice, authentic assessment, play-based curriculum, and early learning standards. Her other publications include: Individualized Child-Focused Curriculum, Focused Observations, Second Edition, and Making Early Learning Standards Come Alive, Second Edition.

Thomas Rendon is the coordinator of the Iowa Head Start State Collaboration Office and an active supporter of policy to promote play at a state level. He has an MBA from the University of Iowa and is currently working on a PhD in early childhood special education from Kent State University.

To counteract the prevalence of childhood obesity and to establish lifelong healthy eating habits, this research-based early childhood curriculum is designed to increase children’s preferences for nutritious fruits and vegetables. The tested “seed-to-table” approach will engage preschoolers in all aspects of planting, growing, and eating organically grown foods. Also included are recipes children can help prepare and ways to involve the whole family in making healthy food choices. These activities can be tailored to fit any early childhood program, climate, or geographical region.

People who visit home-based child care settings are extensively knowledgeable about regulations and policies. They do not, however, receive the same training on equally important “soft skills” such as communication, modeling, motivation, and assertiveness. This resource provides tools and strategies to develop skills needed to be successful in the profession.

This leading resource is a specifically designed curriculum for family child-care providers. They will be able to incorporate best practices and activities appropriate for the mixed ages of children in their care. Developmental domains and milestones, learning areas, age-appropriate activities and outcomes, and more are included. It is far more affordable than other family child care curriculum alternatives, and it aligns with Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) requirements around the country.

Sharon Woodward is the author of several resources for family child-care providers and holds a degree in social work.

Make meal preparation in your child care center easy and fun. Includes step-by-step instructions and photos for 160 recipes that all fit the USDA's Child and Adult Food Program guidelines, a four-week cycle menu for lunch, a two-week cycle menu for breakfasts and snacks, plus a seasonal menu.

Sally Moomaw, EdD, is an assistant professor of early childhood education at the University of Cincinnati. She is the author of eight other Redleaf Press books and a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences across the country. Much of Dr. Moomaw’s research and teaching is in the area of STEM education.

Creative art should offer children the opportunities for originality, creativity, fluency, flexibility, and sensitivity. Remember, there is no right or wrong way of doing things in art. This collection of activities focuses on the process and not the finished product, to allow for growth and fun. All activities are easily adaptable for children from age two to eight.

The 145 process-oriented art activities cover a wide range of media including painting, crayons, collage and sculpture, chalk, and printing. Activities are easy to prepare, to set-up, and to develop into project-approach explorations building on young children's interests and inquiries. These hands-on projects have been classroom-tested to ensure they keep learning fun and engaging.

Deya Brashears Hill has spent more than three decades working in early childhood education. Early in her career, she wrote scripts for Sesame Street during its formative years. Hill's experiences have helped her develop expertise in brain development, curriculum, and diversity in early childhood education. She has served as the Director of Orinda Preschool and is a professor for various Bay Area colleges, where she passes her knowledge on to the next generation of early childhood professionals

From playground equipment to skyscrapers, structures are everywhere. The second unit in the Young Scientist series, Building Structures with Young Children guides children’s explorations to help deepen their understanding of the physical science present in building block structures—including concepts such as gravity, stability, and balance. Looking at science in a new way, this nationally field-tested curriculum supports the early development of important science inquiry skills such as questioning, investigating, discussing, and formulating ideas and theories.

The Comfort of Little Things is a thought-provoking book that empowers educators to give themselves and the people in their lives second chances in order for themselves and the children they teach to learn and thrive. This book includes stories from the author and contributors to the author's blog posts.

Educators are among the most loving and nurturing people on earth. Yet those same caring adults are too often very hard on themselves. The Comfort of Little Things provides strategies and tips on how to give yourself a second chance. Drawing on the growing body of brain research along with personal experience and stories from educators, Holly Elissa Bruno fills her book with ideas that will help you see the world with the wonder of a child. You can learn to open yourself to the moment, to look at yourself anew, and to let go of negativity. As she writes, "Second chances come from letting go of what holds us back. These second chances take more work. The work is always rewarded. Fear not."

Pursuing third-party endorsements and accreditation is a significant undertaking for child care centers and preschools. Prove It! guides practitioners through the process of preparation, connecting criteria to classroom practices—including hygiene practices, quality interactions, quality learning opportunities and environments, and diversity—while maintaining high standards of care and quality.

Thousands of family child care providers save time and money using the Tax Workbook and Organizer—a comprehensive tool that takes the guesswork out of taxes.

Tom Copeland, JD, is a licensed attorney, tax and child care business specialist, and consultant for the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC).

For home-based family child care (daycare) providers, taking care of the children is only half of the job. The other half is taking care of the business—tracking expenses, being profitable, filing taxes, and meeting government requirements. This resource covers everything family child care providers need to keep accurate business records. If a family child care provider pays close attention to the recommendations in this book, he or she will be able to claim the maximum allowable deductions and pay the lowest possible federal taxes.

Since the previous edition of Family Child Care Record-Keeping Guide, Congress and the IRS have made many changes to tax rules that affect family child care providers. There have been changes in depreciation rules, adjustments to food and mileage rates, and clarifications on how to calculate the Time-Space percentage. Author Tom Copeland has been involved in many IRS audits and represented providers in several Tax Court cases that have also clarified numerous rules. Further necessitating this ninth edition, the IRS issued two significant new rules in 2013. These updates, new rules, and clarifications are detailed in this book; all of the information is applicable to child care providers in every state, regardless of local regulations.

Tom Copeland, JD, is a writer, trainer, lawyer, and consultant focusing on family child care business issues. He has conducted record-keeping, tax preparation, and business workshops for family child care providers across the country since 1981.

When an early childhood classroom teacher is promoted to a supervisory role, he or she must transition from guiding young children to supporting staff members. This professional development workbook, part of the Winning Ways for Early Childhood Professionals series, presents eight supervisory concepts to ease the transition and enhance and improve leadership skills. Using this workbook will encourage, empower, and equip the reader with knowledge and confidence to work with other adults.

Gigi Schweikert is a popular speaker at early childhood conferences and parenting seminars. She is the author of many books and contributes to early childhood periodicals and journals.

Family childcare homes provide care for hundreds of thousands of children every day. From Babysitter to Business Owner offers tried-and-true strategies for implementing established professional business practices in the home daycare environment, including:

• Developing a thorough parent handbook
• Selecting new clients
• Setting business goals
• Selecting an appropriate curriculum
• Creating “work” spaces in your home

Practical and easy to read, From Babysitter to Business Owner has everything home daycare providers need to make their business succeed.

Patricia Dischler has operated Patty Cake Preschool in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, for over 15 years.

From Goodnight Moon to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, books capture the attention and imagination of young children the way few other things can. Weaving the Literacy Web provides a framework for developing engaging, developmentally appropriate curriculum in the preschool classroom through the use of books children love. Six chapters offer an introduction to book-based webbing and ideas for activity planning, as well as helpful tips for observing children’s interests and evaluating books for the classroom library.

Making learning a hands-on experience, Do-It-Yourself Early Learning shows home child care providers how to find and use many of the inexpensive—and often overlooked—building, home-repair, and construction materials available at local hardware stores and home centers to create fun activities and toys that promote play, exploration, and discovery.

This innovative guide takes teachers on a journey through the aisles of the local home center to help them find creative ways to teach young children to build, interact, and learn from a wide variety of materials—from plumbing and electrical supplies to paints and hardware items.

Find solutions quickly and easily! This revised classic offers hundreds of updated tested solutions for the tricky problems, questions, and concerns that arise throughout the early childhood teacher’s day. Based on sound developmentally appropriate theory, this how-to book on classroom management techniques enables beginning and experienced teachers alike to run effective, successful programs.

New topics include working with ESL learners, helping children deal with traumatic life events, and using computers in the classroom.

Steffen Saifer is the director of the Child and Family Program at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory in Portland, Oregon. He is also on the faculty of Portland State University, where he conducts research on effective interventions for helping children with challenging behaviors.

Looking at science in a new way, Exploring Water with Young Children focuses children’s explorations to help deepen their understanding of water and its properties—including concepts related to water’s flow, appearance and effect on objects. The third unit in the Young Scientist Series, this field-tested curriculum supports the early development of important science inquiry skills such as questioning, investigating, discussing and formulating ideas and theories.

Karen Worth is a graduate-level instructor in the early childhood education department at Wheelock College.

Ingrid Chalufour has designed and conducted training programs for a variety of early childhood staff for more than 35 years. Both authors live in Newton, Massachusetts.

Judith Anne Rice is a keynote speaker specializing in character building. She is the author of several books and an early childhood family education teacher.

Teaching STEM Literacy is comprised of ready-made, open-ended lessons reviewed and tested by teachers, which help educators integrate STEM learning into the early childhood classroom. Lessons are linked to the Next Generation Science Standards, and encourage creative ideas for three-dimensional STEM learning that are developmentally appropriate and exemplified through children's literature.

The three-dimensional STEM learning—content, concepts, and practices—comes in twelve, ready-made open-ended teaching units that make it easy to teach science and inquiry to young children. This book uses the 5E framework (engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation) to cultivate children's skills of observation, questioning, and data collection by combining discovery, problem solving, and engineering solutions to authentic questions that young children might ask.

Juliana Texley holds a master's in biology and chemistry, and a PhD in curriculum development/science education from Wayne State University, and has over thirty years of teaching experience. She is a graduate-level adjunct professor specializing in educational technology and assessment, science, and science teaching at Central Michigan University and Lesley University in Massachusetts. Texley has been a National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) member for thirty years, and served as president from 2014-2015. She is on the board for Young Voices for the Planet and led the development and evaluation of online learning programs for JASON Learning.

Ruth M. Ruud has over thirty-five years of teaching experience ranging from early childhood to undergraduate studies. She has a master's degree in education with additional coursework in all areas of science. A former Delta Education FOSS (Full Option Science System) consultant, Ruth currently works as an adjunct professor teaching physical geography courses at Cleveland State University. She served as president of the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association and has chaired a number of committees of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), is a member of the NSTA Recommends committee, and is the head reviewer for the NSTA Shell Science Lab Challenge.

Learn to integrate individualized curriculum into daily practice with this step-by-step guide. Using Developmental Studies, a new tool created and successfully field-tested by the author, implement a truly child-focused and individualizing curriculum, meeting each child where she or he is and ultimately making teaching easier and more rewarding. These user-friendly materials will help teachers reconnect and reengage with each student outside of all the standards that are required.

Gaye Gronlund devotes her time to helping teachers, administrators, and policy makers implement best approaches to teaching and assessing young children. Clients have included the NAEYC, NIEER, the State of New Mexico Office of Child Development and Pre-K Program, the Illinois State Board of Education, and more.

Working in the Reggio Way helps teachers of young children bring the innovative practices of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, to American classrooms. Written by an educator who observed and worked in the world-famous schools, this groundbreaking resource presents the key tools that will allow American teachers to transform their classrooms, including these:

Organization of time and space
Documentation of children’s work
Observation and questioning
Attention to children’s environments

This workbook also contains interactive activities for individual or group reflection.

Julianne Wurm works as an instructional reform facilitator in the San Francisco Unified School District. She lives in San Francisco, California.

With over sixty-five hands-on art, science, and outside play activity ideas for creating engaging environments both at home and in early childhood and school-age care programs, The Ooey Gooey® Handbook is a must-have resource for everyone who spends time with children. For early childhood educators or parents who are just beginning their Ooey Gooey® journey, this is a great starting point. It includes an informational overview of how The Ooey Gooey Lady® started her work and is loaded with activities to get your gooey juices flowing. Each activity includes concept words to explain what children are learning.

Lisa Murphy has been involved with early childhood education for over twenty years, teaching and working with children in various environments. She presents hundreds of workshops and keynotes at national and international audiences each year on various topics related to early childhood education.

As the founder and CEO of Ooey Gooey, Inc., Lisa's mission is to assist in the transformation of early childhood education by offering the best workshops and trainings, the most up-to-date materials and resources, and insightful conversations and connections through the power of social media. She is recognized for her ability to link hands-on activities to educational standards, her outspoken advocacy, and her commitment to creating child-centered and play-based early childhood environments.

Holly Elissa Bruno, MA, JD; Janet Gonzalez-Mena, MA; Luis Antonio Hernandez, MA; and Debra Ren-Etta Sullivan, EdD, are acclaimed keynote speakers, authors, and experts on a variety of topics in early childhood.

The companion to the Early Childhood Staff Orientation Guide. Along with orientation on topics vital to early childhood professionals, this guide includes information just for mentors. Find valuable tools and tips to maximize mentoring skills and respond to frequently asked questions about the orientation process. Use this book to ensure you make the most of each new employee's potential.

Examine the evolution of developmentally appropriate practice with this biographical history of early childhood education. This book explores the theory's progression—from its beginnings in writings of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century philosophers, its experimental implementation by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century practitioners, and its scientific grounding in contemporary theory and research—and includes biographical sketches and perspectives of eleven philosophical, pedagogical, and theoretical figures—the giants—in this evolution.

David Elkind, PhD, is the best-selling author of more than twenty books and a well-known early childhood expert who has appeared on shows including Today Show, CBS Morning News, 20/20, Dateline, Donahue, and Oprah.

Enhance the quality of your teaching with collaborative, critical, and reflective thinking

Teaching young children is complex work. While you manage the day-to-day events that unfold in your classroom you also have to keep up with the demands of assessment and documentation. With all these challenges, how can you maintain the equally important tasks of encouraging children’s curiosity and supporting their joy of learning? How can you sustain your own curious mind and joyful spirit in your work? Reflecting with other teachers in a community of practice can strengthen your abilities to respond to the children in your classroom and share meaningful experiences with them.

This workbook is designed to be used with a group—a community of practice—but it can also be a self-study tool. The exercises help you to understand and practice the key elements of reflective teaching. Ten study sessions provide opportunities to engage with peers as you collaborate and connect theory and best practices in your classrooms. These experiences will help you evaluate and grow your reflective teaching skills; use the Thinking Lens™ protocol to align your daily work with your larger goals, values, and vision; gain a heightened sense of self-awareness and a stronger image of children; examine the details of your environment; and challenge yourself with new perspectives.

Deb Curtis, Debbie Lebo, Wendy C.M. Cividanes, and Margie Carter each have more than thirty years of experience teaching young children and adults. They lead professional development initiatives for child care organizations and are highly respected presenters and trainers across the country.

Children can pluck an elastic band to learn about the vibrations that create music, or they can bake a cake to learn measurement and reading skills.

Everyday Early Learning provides a myriad of ways to use everyday items for great early learning opportunities. For each activity, the book lists an age range, materials, step-by-step instructions, and possible variations. All are inexpensive and allow children to learn without much adult involvement.

These projects will help children develop skills in language and literacy, math and logical thinking, science and problem-solving, and art and creative representation, as well as social and physical skills.

Build collaborative partnerships with families to help the whole family thrive. This book explores the reasons and methods for developing cooperative partnerships, along with tools and strategies to help build the support network for family-centered care. The new edition includes information on how to:

-Use technology to increase the effectiveness of communication with families
-Interact with a more diverse population
-Build your program for continued success.

This book offers a theoretical background on why it is important to talk with families and how to efficiently and effectively communicate observations and reflections. Overcome common challenges, and create more avenues to include families in your program.

Janis Keyser is a teacher, parent educator, program director, and speaker specializing in early childhood and family development. She currently teaches in the early childhood education department at Cabrillo College in California, and has been conducting workshops for parents and teachers for more than thirty-five years. Keyser has a masters degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College. She is the coauthor of Becoming the Parent You Want to Be.

When teachers consider young children’s individual learning styles, they foster children’s inclinations to learn, explore, and grow. This book investigates the meaning and importance of recognizing and supporting young children’s dispositions to learn with Reggio-inspired ideas and National Association for the Education of Young Children early learning standards.

Children with parents in the military face unfamiliar and complicated emotions. This comprehensive handbook is for civilians and military personnel who work with or care for children who experience separation through deployment, death, or divorce. Written by an internationally known, hands-on trainer and presenter in the field, this book contains theory-based, practice-driven strategies for handling separation and helping young through elementary-age children move forward and live full lives.

Gaye Gronlund is an early childhood education consultant who trains early childhood educators across the country. She is the author of six books.

Parents will appreciate Creating a Beautiful Mess because it's fun and helpful. This book isn't about parenting rights or wrongs; it's about playful, joyous play experiences for childhood that are universal. It boils down the essential play experiences in an accessible, practical, and easy way. The chapters represent an optimal balance among experiences that support learning, provide physical activity, encourage creative expression, and promote social and family connections.

Let children experience the learning power of play! Let’s Play is a handbook full of child-led, open-ended learning adventures. The 39 fresh, fun, and budget-friendly activities (plus more than 225 play variations) are packed with learning that helps children develop important motor, cognitive, language, and social skills. These activity starters were all tested by a slew of early childhood professionals and approved by the children they work with. Building on the early learning principles presented in the author team’s first book together, Let Them Play: An Early Learning (Un)Curriculum, they also support your transition to a play-based, child-led (un)curriculum.

Jeff A. Johnson spent twenty-five years as a child care provider in center- and home-based programs. He now works full time as an author, keynote speaker, podcaster, toymaker, and early learning advocate. He is the author or coauthor of six other Redleaf Press books.

Denita Dinger has been a child care provider for more than fifteen years and operates a family child care program. For the last five years, she has been a frequent keynote speaker at early childhood conferences, focusing on the topics of hands-on learning, learning through play, and transitioning early learning programs from a teacher-controlled environment to one that is child-led and play-based.

A companion to the curriculum, this trainer’s guide serves as an indispensable handbook for trainers and administrators interested in introducing staff to the Building Structures with Young Children curriculum—from planning to implementation. Special sections outline the curriculum and introduce scientific reasoning to adults, and eight workshops detail the complete curriculum for staff members. The guide also includes strategies for supporting teachers over time through mentoring and guided discussions.

Marianne E. Dambra, president of Early Childhood Education Network of Rochester, Inc., has presented on heat-free cooking with children at national and regional conferences since 1994.

Unlike any other book on block play, Teaching Numeracy, Language, and Literacy with Blocks helps teachers observe and plan for young children’s play with blocks in order to support the development of early math, vocabulary, and reading skills. Focusing on the seven stages of block play, each information-rich chapter also contains open-ended picture exercises and easy-to-use charts.

Following the new Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), this resource helps teachers enhance the depth and richness of children’s play. Chapter topics include identifying and planning purposeful play, incorporating standards into play, and suggestions to reach higher levels of play.

Working with children is fun but also complex and requires knowledge of health and safety practices, child development, guidance strategies, and more. This guide serves as a long-term resource as you grow into the profession. Full of research and best practices.

Sharon Bergen has over thirty years in the education profession as a teacher, program director, multi-site manager, and trainer. She is an instructor of Early Childhood and Youth Development at Dakota County Technical College and author of several books including Best Practices for Training Early Childhood Professionals and Healthy Children Healthy Lives: The Wellness Guide for Early Childhood Programs.

Passion for working with children is a cornerstone for educators and caregivers, but early childhood professionals also need to look and act the part. This three-pack of Being a Professional workbooks provides early childhood educators and caregivers with information to help them present themselves as the professional that they are.

Typical art resources for teachers offer discrete art activities, but these don't carry children or teachers into the practice of using the languages of art. This resource offers guidance for teachers to create space, time, and intentional processes for children's exploration and learning to use art for asking questions, offering insights, exploring hypotheses, and examining experiences from unfamiliar perspectives.

Inspired by an approach to teaching and learning born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, The Language of Art, Second Edition, includes:

• A new art exploration for teachers to gain experience before implementing the practice with children
• Advice on setting up a studio space for art and inquiry
• Suggestions on documenting children's developing fluency with art media and its use in inquiry
• Inspiring photographs and ideas to show you how inquiry-based practices can work in any early childhood setting

Ann Pelo is a teacher educator, program consultant, and author whose primary work focuses on reflective pedagogical practice, social justice and ecological teaching and learning and the art of mentoring. Currently, Pelo consults early childhood educators and administrators in North America, Australia, and New Zealand on inquiry-based teaching and learning, pedagogical leadership, and the necessary place of ecological identity in children's—and adults'—lives. She is the author of several books including the first edition of The Language of Art and co-author of Rethinking Early Childhood Education.

The trainer’s guide serves as an indispensable handbook for trainers and administrators interested in introducing staff to the Exploring Water with Young Children curriculum—from planning to implementation. From exploring sinking and floating to using books to extend science learning, seven basic and eight advanced workshops develop staff members’ understanding of science and inquiry teaching skills. The guide also includes strategies for supporting teachers over time through mentoring and guided discussions, as well as an extensive resource list.

Rethinking Nutrition provides science- and practice-based information to meet young children's nutritional and developmental needs and establish healthy patterns with food. Each chapter includes a summary of key concepts and promising practices for early childhood settings. Aligned with MyPlate.