During the past 40 years, the rapid pace and complex nature of social change has created a stress-filled environment for families. New challenges such as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), drug abuse, increasing crime, economic malaise, moral deterioration, and increases in mental health problems contribute to the increasing stress in families. Historically, our society has looked to the family and the school to deal with the dynamics of social change. However, families have not received needed support for effectively dealing with these changes, and schools still function within designs more suited to the past than to the present or the future. A new paradigm based on a family-school-community learning and support system is needed. The focus of this book is on strengthening the early childhood educator's position in creating supportive relationships with families, particularly with those who are in at-risk situations. The book's goal is to promote new ways of thinking about and relating to families, with the focus on strengthening families and family-school relationships. The book has five chapters: (1) "At-Risk Families: The Context"; (2) "Empowering At-Risk Families"; (3) "Understanding the Barriers to Empowerment"; (4) "Insights on Relating to the Needs of At-Risk Families"; and (5) "Supporting At-Risk Families." Contains 190 references. (TJQ)

The second volume in this Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on teacher and family perspectives of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The aim of this volume is to articulate the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children’s education and care. Each country featured in this volume presents its own unique perspective in relation to the cultural and societal constraints around teacher training and/or family practices and the thinking around those practices that are important for early childhood development. Offering a unique insight into how teachers and families work together in different countries, the book is essential reading for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

A focus on the developmental progress of children before the age of eight helps to inform their future successes, including their personality, social behavior, and intellectual capacity. However, it is difficult for experts to pinpoint best learning and parenting practices for young children. Early Childhood Development: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is an innovative reference source for the latest research on the cognitive, socio-emotional, physical, and linguistic development of children in settings such as homes, community-based centers, health facilities, and school. Highlighting a range of topics such as cognitive development, parental involvement, and school readiness, this multi-volume book is designed for educators, healthcare professionals, parents, academicians, and researchers interested in all aspects of early childhood development.

Family and community involvement are increasingly touted as a means of improving both student and school-level achievement. This has led to an increase in policies, initiatives and goals designed to address family involvement in schools. Once recognized and implemented, such family-school partnerships can lead to the following benefits: enhanced communication and coordination between parents and educators; continuity in developmental goals and approaches across family and school contexts; shared ownership and commitment to educational goals; increased understanding of the complexities of children’s situations; and the pooling of family and school resources to find and implement quality solutions to shared goals.

Young children are social beings. In this volume, a group of distinguished authors examine an array of interpersonal relationships that are formative in shaping childhood - relationships that affect the child today and influence the adult tomorrow.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company. Positive effects of preschool education on children have been well documented (Berrueta-Clement et al., 1984; Consortium for Longitudinal Studies, 1983, Deutsch, Jordan, & Deutsch, 1985; Lazar & Darlington, 1982). This study considers positive benefits for caregivers who participate in cooperative preschool education. Since not all caregivers are parents, the study includes grandparents who have custody of children, and kin with responsibility for kith.

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education: History, Theories, and Approaches to Learning (3rd Edition)

This book integrates time-honored approaches to empowerment practice with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports -- the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping -- the author responds to the question "What works?" with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout.

Building community and empowering partnerships Empowering Family-Teacher Partnerships: Building Connections Within Diverse Communities prepares students to work collaboratively with families and community professionals in support of children′s early and middle childhood education and development. Students are invited to develop a personal philosophy of family involvement to guide their work with families and to join a community of learners in relying upon their collective insights and problem-solving skills to address family involvement challenges.