Description: (NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary.) I. BEGINNING TO TEACH. 1. How to Survive While Teaching: Suggestions and Guidelines for the First Few Weeks. Some Thoughts about Getting Started. Implications for the Profession: What Do These Facts Have to Do with Me? Research Study: Who Is Caring for America''s Young Children. Some Comforting Thoughts. Basic Professional Ethics. Some Recommendations for Starting Out. Practical Things to Do to Increase Competence. Recognize Stress and Deal with It as Effectively as Possible. Some Special Problems. The Way to Your Mentor''s Heart. Summary. 2. What Makes a Good Day for Children? Can Early Education Make a Difference? Do Different Educational Approaches Produce Different Results? Underlying Philosophy of This Book. Basic Premises of This Book. Putting Premises into Practice: Planning a Good Day for Children. Putting the Elements Together. Summary. 3. What Parents Need. Problems That Interfere with Good Communication. Suggestions for Establishing a Good Relationship between Parent and Teacher. What If the Relationship Is Not Good? Maintaining Good Relationships: Keeping the Lines of Communication Open. Counseling with Parents. Research Study: Which Kinds of Children''s Centers Are Likely to Do the Best Job Communicating with Parents? Practical Pointers about Conducting a Parent Conference. Limits to Guidance Work. Summary. II. FOSTERING PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. 4. Handling Daily Routines. Schedules and Transitions into Routines. Research Study: Intentions Versus Reality. Routines of Arrival and Departure. Routines That Center around Eating. The Process of Toileting. Handling Nap Times. Summary. 5. Development of the Physical Self. Promotion of Health and Safety in the Children''s Center. Basic Principles of Physical Development. Fostering Large Muscle Development in Young Children. Research Study: Can a Little Instruction Make a Big Difference? Use of Perceptual-Motor Activities to Enhance Physical Development. Fostering Sensory Experience. Summary. III. NOURISHING AND MAINTAINING EMOTIONAL HEALTH. 6. Fostering Mental Health in Young Children. Importance of Developing Basic Attitudes of Trust, Autonomy, and Initiative in Young Children. Hallmarks of an Emotionally Healthy Young Child. Personal Qualities That Will Help the Teacher Establish an Emotionally Positive Climate in the Children''s Center. Practical Ways to Help Young Children Achieve Healthy Emotional Development. Summary. 7. Developing Self-Esteem in Young Children. Relationship of Self-Esteem to Self-Concept. Research Study: Is Positive Self-Esteem Related to Positive Social Behavior Toward Other People? Sources of Self-Esteem. Common School Practices Likely to Reduce Self-Esteem: Self-Esteem is Like a Balloon. Positive Methods of Enhancing Self-Esteem. Helping the Child Achieve Competence. Summary. 8. Tender Topics: Helping Children Master Emotional Crises. What Constitutes a Crisis? Some General Principles for Helping Families Deal with Crises. Some General Principles for Helping the Child Deal with Crises. Helping Children Cope with Specific Crises. Research Study: Would You Do It? Summary. 9. Welcoming Children Who Have Special Educational Requirements into the Life of the School. Identifying Children Who Have Special Needs and Finding Help for Them: The Preschool Teacher as a Screening Agent. Including Children Who Have Disabilities. Learning to Work as a Member of the Team. Getting Started with a Child Who Has a Disability. General Recommendations for Working with Children Who Have Disabilities. Research Study: Do Preschool Children Recognize Disabilities in their Peers? Identifying and Helping Children Who Have Physical Handicaps. Identifying and Helping Children Who Have Emotional Difficulties. Identifying and Helping Children Who Have Delayed or Advanced Mental Ability. Summary. IV. FOSTERING SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 10. Developing Social Competence in Young Children. Developmental Trends in Social Growth. Research Study: Learning the Secret Passwords for Group Inclusion. Helping Children Become Socially Competent: Suggestions for Teaching Appropriate Social Skills. Summary. 11. Helping Young Children Establish Self-Discipline and Self-Control: But What if She Won''t Do What I Say? Two Basic Goals of Discipline. Establishing Inner Controls: Ego Strength and Moral Development. Practical Things to Do to Make It Easier for Children to Behave in Acceptable Ways. Research Study: Who''s to Blame? Teachers'' Reactions to Children''s Misbehavior. Summary. 12. Aggression: What to Do about It? Undesirable Ways to Cope with Aggression. Desirable Ways to Cope with Aggression. Research Study: What Kinds of Things Make Young Children Angry, and What Do They Do in Response? Summary. 13. Providing Cross-Cultural, Nonsexist Education. Examples of Teacher Prejudice. Can Such Attitudes Be Changed? Suggestions for Controlling and Overcoming the Expression of Prejudice. Is Preschool Too Soon to Begin Cross-Cultural, Nonsexist Education? What Do Cross-Cultural and Nonsexist Education Have in Common? Principles of Cross-Cultural Education. Emphasizing the Similarities as Well as Valuing the Uniqueness of People. Can Teaching about Cultural Uniqueness and Similarity of Needs Be Combined? Encouraging Equity by Providing a Nonsexist Education and Helping Children Value Their Own Sexuality. Research Study: The Changing World of Picture Books. Summary. V. ENHANCING CREATIVITY. 14. Fostering Creativity by Means of Self-Expressive Materials. Definition of Creativity. Importance of Creativity. Stages of Development. General Recommendations about Creativity. Use of Self-Expressive Materials to Foster the Creative Self. Practical Ways to Encourage the Creative Aspect of Self-Expressive Materials. Presentation of Specific Materials. Summary. 15. Fostering Creativity in Play. Purposes of Play. Research Study: Games Babies Play. Developmental Stages of Play. Factors Likely to Facilitate Creative Play. Some Practical Ways to Stimulate and Extend Play. Specific Activities to Encourage Creativity in Play. Summary. VI. DEVELOPING LANGUAGE SKILLS. 16. Fostering the Development of Language Skills. How Language Is Acquired. Developmental Milestones. Basic Ways to Foster Language Development. Language and Dialectical Differences. Research Study: Does Learning a Second Language Mean Losing the First One? Children Who Have Special Disabilities Related to Speech and Hearing. Summary. 17. Fostering the Emergence of Literacy.

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