50 Early Childhood Strategies for Working and Communicating with Diverse Families is a practical and easy to use book.  It presents key concepts, discusses them in research-based, accessible prose, and provides useful strategies to facilitate communication and collaboration.  The book focuses on family-centered care and education for young children and emphasizes partnering with families.  Many of the strategies in this book address ideas about how to create a climate of trust by communicating in a collaborative way.  The goal is to create inclusive programs that respect and honor differences in families and individuals.  Teachers will love the fifty short chapters with information they can apply immediately.  At the heart of all these strategies lies the welfare of the child.   FEATURES: Emphasizes the importance of partnerships between teachers and family members.Stresses the integral components of communication between diverse families and teachers or administrators. Raises the important issue of respecting the various diversities and cultures that exist in today's classrooms. Reader-friendly writing style and the alphabetic arrangement of the strategies-interesting, understandable, and easy to find what the student or teacher is looking for. Interwoven, cross-referenced strategies-integrity throughout the book as the relationships between the strategies are highlighted; one strategy often mentions several other strategies that pertain to the same subject. Broad coverage: spans ages 0-8 in a variety of different care and education settings-applies to early childhood educators at all levels-not exclusive to Pre-K; also includes child care, but not exclusively. Goes beyond mere parent involvement and education-closely examines how a partnership may include both, but is different from the more common approaches early childhood educators often take to working with parents; promotes a family-centered approach instead of a child-centered one that is common practice. Photos and artifacts illustrate the messages-these visual images are designed to help readers grasp information and enliven the book.   New to this Edition!   Strategies organized by categories, rather than alphabetically. Emphasis on kindergarten and primary grade teachers. Diversity theme at forefront of strategies. New subjects covered include: working with families to maintain home language, holidays in the classroom, media issues, improving child nutrition, children playing outdoors, and dealing with death in the family.

Table of Contents:
SECTION 1 Welcoming Everybody   1    Appreciating all Kinds of Families   2    Working with Immigrant Families   3    Including Families of Children with Special Needs   4    Creating an Anti-bias Environment   5    Respecting all Families including those with Same Sex Parents   SECTION 2 Partnerships with Families   6    Building Partnerships   7    RemovingBarriers to Partnerships   8    Minimizing Competition with Parents   9    Supporting Attachment 10    Considering Authority 11    Focusing on Family Strengths 12    Helping Parents to be Advocates for their Children 13    Encouraging Parents to Become Advocates for all Children 14   Creating a Sense of Community SECTION 3 Honoring and Working with Diversity 15    Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences 16    Establishing Culturally Responsive Education and Care 17    Working with conflicts around Education and Care Practices 18    Considering Cultural Differences in Guidance and Discipline 19    Working with Families around what You Believe are Harmful Practices 20    Thinking about Differing Ideas Related to How Children Learn 21    Managing Conflicts   SECTION 4 Family Participation and Education 22    Considering Family Participation 23    Including Parents in the Classroom or Center 24    Focusing on Fathers 25    Taking a Transformative Approach to Parent Education 26    Working with Parents around Holiday Issues 27    Exploring Parents’ Role on Decision-Making Boards and Councils   SECTION 5 Communication 28    Creating Environments for Communication 29    Empowering Self and Others 30    Communicating through Writing 31    Holding Ongoing Conversations with Families 32    Looking at Nonverbal Communication across Cultures   SECTION 6 Meetings and Conferences  33    Meeting Families for the First Time 34    Thinking about Meetings in General 35    Holding Conferences 36    Considering Cross Cultural Conferences 37    Talking with Families when Concerns Arise   SECTION 7 Working with Parents around Specific Issues 38    Helping the Child Enter the School or Program 39    Maintaining Home Language 40    Easing Children through Transitions 41    Bringing Nature into Children’s Lives 42    Addressing Obesity with Nutrition 43    Dealing with Media Issues 44    Maintaining Stability During Divorce 45    Coping with a Death in the Family 46    Finding Community Resources and making Referrals   SECTION 8 Challenging Conversations 47    Working with Parents who Constantly Complain 48    Working with Parents who Appear Hostile 49    Talking with Parents about Behavior Changes 50    Referring Families for Abuse or Neglect<   References Index