Publisher Description

This book equips early childhood educators and service providers with tools to support emerging social-emotional development and positive behavior in the first five years of life. It begins by providing an overview of social-emotional development, including how this development is intertwined with other areas of growth, environmental influences, and short- and long-term child outcomes. The educator's influential role is discussed within the context of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework and the Pyramid Model. Guiding principles and specific, research-based strategies for supporting children's success are presented, with numerous specific examples of how to foster healthy social-emotional development and adaptive behavior in center- and home-based settings.

The final chapters discuss how teachers and service providers can overcome potential roadblocks to implementing PBIS, build and maintain positive relationships with families, and ensure good communication, consistency, and shared accountability across support networks. Included are numerous examples and vignettes, textboxes on collaborating with families, quotes from parents and educators, and supplemental exercises.

These elements, along with the author's direct, user-friendly approach, make this content highly accessible for early childhood personnel seeking practical, engaging ways to support early social-emotional growth.

Author Biography

Dr Nicole Megan Edwards is currently an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Rowan University and previously worked at Georgia State University as Associate Director of a statewide early intervention professional development initiative. She began her career as a center-based and home-based early intervention provider in New York City, working with infants and toddlers with special needs and their families. She earned her M.Ed in Early Childhood Special Education from New York University and Ph.D in Special Education from University of Maryland, College Park and became a university faculty member in 2013. Dr. Edwards teachers several courses, including Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. She is a member of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and Teacher Education Division (TED) of the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Zero to Three, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is an annual conference proposal reviewer for DEC and AERA, reviews for Early Education and Development and Journal of Early Intervention, serves on the editorial board for TEACHING Exceptional Children, serves as co-leader of the Division for Early Childhood's Early Intervention Special Interest Group, and disseminates research at professional conferences and in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Edwards' research interests include improving access to and quality of early intervention early childhood/ early childhood special education (across birth five settings), family–provider collaboration and capacity building, the perceived role of caregivers and providers in early emotional development, and roadblocks to implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. She lives with her husband and two sons in Pennsylvania.

Review

"This book will make a fine reference text for the desk of every administrator of an early childhood program! The author provides clear, concise, and valuable insights and ideas specifically to enhance caregiver behaviors to optimize positive early emotional development. Teachers who apply the techniques suggested in these chapters will find deeper professional satisfaction in nurturing young childrenâ (TM)s emotional growth as well in forging positive partnerships with families and with colleagues." --Alice Sterling Honig, Ph.D.

Long Description

With expulsion rates three times higher in pre-K classrooms than in K-12 classrooms*, behavior is one of the biggest and most pressing challenges faced by early childhood educators and providers. Find research-based guidance and strategies in this book, an essential resource for professionals working with children from birth-5. You'll start with a comprehensive, reader-friendly overview of early growth and learning across developmental domains, with special emphasis on the components of emotional development and the environmental factors that influence it. Then you'll learn the guiding principles for nurturing social emotional development, aligned with the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework and the Pyramid Model. Concrete examples of specific, research based strategies help you put the principles into action and improve child outcomes in both center- and home-based settings. A keystone of professional preparation for both preservice and in-service early childhood providers, this book will help you work effectively with children, families, and colleagues to foster social emotional growth in the critical early years. DISCOVER HOW TO apply evidence-based universal prevention strategies to proactively support social-emotional growth collect data and use tailored secondary behavior strategies with children who have more intensive challenges collaborate with families and share concerns sensitively overcome roadblocks to PBIS through team communication and consistency encourage mindfulness in yourself and parental caregivers ensure that providers, caregivers, agencies, and other stakeholders work together and share accountability engage in ongoing reflection to improve your self-efficacy and confidence PRACTICAL MATERIALS: Sample scenarios that show you how to apply strategies, textboxes on collaborating with families, quotes from parents and educators, reflection questions, supplemental exercises, and access to a list of useful web-based resources *Gilliam, W. S. (2005). Prekindergarteners left behind: Expulsion rates in state prekindergarten systems. New York: Foundation for Child Development.

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