Nature Sparks

Over 200 developmentally appropriate learning experiences to choose from. The Redleaf Family Child Care Curriculum, third edition, provides the same user-friendly format you trust with new content and ideas for hundreds of creative and inclusive learning experiences. Activities are organized by age and developmental domain—physical and motor, cognitive, communication and language, social-emotional, and approaches to learning. This easy-to-use reference allows you to make choices based on the needs of the children in your care. The book contains a complete curriculum for a successful family child care program that promotes the healthy development of infants, toddlers, and preschool and school-age children in a caring, nurturing environment. The updated curriculum now includes: New sections on caring for school-age children before and after school and during school breaks. New research and best practices for supporting dual-language learners as well as children with diagnosed disabilities or additional support needs. Enhanced strategies and information for working with families and being culturally responsive. Enrich your program and support children’s early learning with best practices and activities designed specifically for family child care professionals.

This record-keeping system is the leading business tool for family child care professionals. It includes monthly expense charts, attendance and payment logs, mileage records, food program tallies, and detailed income tax worksheets, all making tax preparation easier and helping to reduce taxes. Also included are monthly nutritious recipes, activities, and helpful tips. With this calendar, all of the family child care professional's business-related records are organized in one convenient place. 

Support Young Multilingual Learners to Flourish—in Every Language. Teaching Young Multilingual Learners clarifies the myths and realities, challenges and joys of language learning and teaching. Teaching in a program where multiple languages are spoken presents complexities and challenges, but being multilingual brings so many lifelong benefits to children. With practical and effective advice, this guide honors the linguistic and socio-cultural goals of language learning of all children, including children with disabilities and other support needs, by taking a diversity and equity perspective in the work of teaching and fostering positive relationships among children, families, and staff.

The Power in Pretend questions and sheds light on the ways children play with ideas of power.

Children’s play often tells a story of power through the roles they choose to play: exercising power over, power with, or power for peers, adults, or phenomena from the wider world. Most adults are comfortable with some roles children take on, such as dinosaurs, mothers, and firefighters. Other roles or types of play make adults uncomfortable at times, such as weapon or gun play, superhero play, or hyper-feminine princess play. Yet allowing and supporting these types of play is key to fostering children’s identity and agency. The book gives practical strategies for adults in early childhood settings to support this sense of power in pretend play and in real ways. It draws on an updated understanding of gender expression, as well as a nuanced approach to consent, and includes a contemporary understanding of the development of executive function skills and their impact on young children’s behaviors. The book also considers cultural influences on children’s play and adults’ reactions, as well as how peer interactions and play may be affected by differences among children.