As early childhood programs and schools become more culturally and linguistically diverse, professionals need to create settings that welcome ¿new voices¿ and help all children succeed. This comprehensive professional development course gives them the in-depth practical guidance they need. Developed by respected scholar Dina Castro and her expert team, this five-module program is the key to working effectively with diverse children and families and preparing all children for long-term school and social success. The field-tested program is shown to improve early childhood professionals¿ practices and child outcomes, and is especially useful for working with Latino children and families, but can also be applied broadly to address cultural diversity in all early childhood settings. The program is developed for children from birth to five years of age in classrooms and home-based settings, based on actual professional development needs, as determined by the authors¿ extensive work in their training institutes. And it¿s flexible for professional development with early childhood teachers, administrators, SLPs, psychologists, and more, and is equally appropriate for preservice instruction or inservice professional development. The book gives readers thorough coverage of each module, enhanced with learning objectives, case studies, reflection questions, and an assessment scale and observation checklist administrators can use to monitor staff improvement. And professional development instructors will love the facilitator¿s manual on CD-ROM (sold separately), which gives them a complete professional development package with printable PowerPoint slides, helpful instructor notes, sample agendas, group learning activities, and handouts such as self-assessment instruments and training evaluation forms.
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