In this issue...

New titles

Social Competence of Young Children: Risk, Disability, and Intervention edited by William H. Brown, Samuel L. Odom, & Scott R. McConnell

Assessment of Parenting Competency in Mothers with Mental Illness by Teresa Ostler

Customer Service

Greetings!

We're all familiar with the scene where a child gets dropped off at preschool and wanders around waiting for direction (or diversion!). Imagine if you had a game plan to turn such moments of transition into opportunities for learning. Discover a simple scheduling technique that will help you keep children constructively engaged all day.

Suzette Guiffré
Web Editor

Engage children at key transition points in their day with "zone defense scheduling"

During times of transition in the classroom, children who aren't well engaged with teachers, peers, or materials can be found wandering aimlessly, waiting needlessly, crying, or acting up—none of which is conducive to a positive learning environment.

Learn how to use "zone defense scheduling" to enable you to give children your full attention during transition times so they're not distracted, and neither are you!

FULL ARTICLE & FREE DOWNLOAD >>

Get free online training for your early childhood staff

If you work in early childhood settings that include children with disabilities, you won't want to miss the Hilton Foundation/Headstart Training Program, available on line for free. The SpecialQuest Multimedia Training Library was developed to help early childhood professionals provide the best support for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.

More than 5,000 participants in some 500 Early Head Start and Head Start programs across the nation have used these materials to train their staff, and now they are available for use in your program!

For each of the 21 modules on topics such as "Embrace Possibilities (Including Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities)," facilitators can download planning worksheets, videos and handouts (in English or Spanish)—along with a training script that guides them step-by-step through the presentation of the materials. For no cost and only a little time investment, you can start training your staff now.

TAKE A PEEK AT THE VIDEOS >>

What is the state of the universal pre-K debate?

Universal pre-kindergarten has become such a high-profile topic, the 2008 presidential candidates are even talking about it. In a recent discussion on WBUR Boston's On Point talk show, one presenter likened the current momentum for pre-K to the "big push" for kindergarten around the time of World War I.

Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, co-director of the National Center for Children and Families at Columbia University Teachers College and contributing author to School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability, predicted that if voluntary pre-K were made available for all 4-year-olds today, there would be an 85% "take-up" rate. She pointed out that parents in most households work and the children are in some kind of care outside the home, so the need is there already.

HEAR THE ENTIRE WBUR TALK ON "NO 3-YEAR-OLD LEFT BEHIND" >>

Selected upcoming conferences

home | catalog

Copyright © 2008 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved. To inquire about reprinting material from this newsletter, e-mail rights@brookespublishing.com.