Resource Books

What can jellyfish, a bunch of grapes, or dandelions possibly teach us about designing early childhood classrooms? As it turns out, quite a lot! Inspired by Nature: Designing Play Places for the Littlest Learners explores how nature offers valuable and important lessons about transforming classroom spaces into places where infants and toddlers can thrive. Discover what mushrooms can teach us about cozy hideaways. Learn what sea turtles can show us about wayfinding. Find out what lightning bugs can share about illumination. With gorgeous photos and intriguing connections, Inspired by Nature: Designing Play Places for the Littlest Learners will help you see your infant, toddler, or twos classroom in a whole new way. Learn how to: make your classroom twinkle like fireflies, optimize storage space like honeybees, create a cozy environment like the forest, and see from different angles like alligators. There's so much more to learn, so let the exploration begin!

The Loose Parts set of books serve as inspiration with hundreds of beautiful full color photographs illustrating ways children enjoy using everyday items in their play, encouraging their curiosity, giving free reign to their play, and encouraging creativity. Books are available individually.

Every leaf, stone, and feather hold the potential to spark imagination and learning. Nature's Palette is a seasonal guide to open-ended art experiences that connect young children to the natural world while nurturing independence, creativity, and cognitive growth. Using Montessori principles and nature-based learning, author Janine Kloiber invites educators to rethink art time as an opportunity for discovery, reflection, and child-led expression. With clear guidance and developmentally rich ideas, each chapter introduces versatile techniques such as felting, marbling, stringing, and weaving using found and sustainable materials. Full of ideas for bringing more purpose and possibility to your art activities, this book.

As today's early learning environments become more linguistically and culturally diverse, educators face the growing need for practical, inclusive strategies to support young multilingual learners (MLLs). This extensively updated edition of Many Languages, One Classroom offers a hands-on, user-friendly roadmap for creating welcoming spaces where every child feels a sense of belonging and is empowered to succeed. Drawing from the latest research, classroom trends, and educator feedback, author Karen Nemeth, MEd, integrates meaningful updates throughout the book-enhancing guidance on family partnerships, equity and inclusion, curriculum fidelity, and support for both bilingual and monolingual teachers. New features also include connections to Connect4Learning® The Pre-K Curriculum and NAEYC's most recent guidance on developmentally appropriate practice, along with updated terminology, coaching insights, and curated resources for digital and professional development.

The shift in reading instruction has left many early childhood educators searching for clarity and support. Ready to Read bridges the gap between research and real-world practice, offering early childhood teachers the tools they need to deliver evidence-based, developmentally appropriate instruction grounded in the science of how young children build literacy skills. Edited by literacy expert Latisha Hayes, PhD, this resource brings together leading voices in the field to demystify key concepts and provide practical, easy-to-implement strategies tailored to pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. Whether you're just beginning your structured literacy journey or looking to align your instruction with new mandates, this guide will help you feel equipped and empowered. Paperback. 240 pages.

Every child deserves a supportive, inclusive environment where they can thrive. Nurturing Neurodiversity: Creative Strategies for Engaging Young Learners is a must-have guide for early childhood educators looking to create classrooms that embrace neurodiversity and benefit all learners. Drawing on years of experience in early childhood education, Sarah Taylor Vanover, EdD, shares innovative ideas for using art and music, movement and dance, outdoor activities, calming and mindfulness, and sensory-friendly spaces to support young children with autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and other neurodivergent conditions.

This expanded second edition offers a rich collection of 35 design challenges for children ages 3 - 8, featuring both updated favorites and brand new activities. It also includes a curated list of 140 picture books that inspire STEM-focused exploration while reflecting the diverse experiences, interests, and identities of young learners.  Educators will find enhanced foundational content, including clearer connections among tinkering, making, and engineering; updated terminology aligned with current research on how children learn; and practical guidance on observing, documenting, and assessing learning. A customizable planning template for creating your own design challenges is also available online.  With this hands-on resource, you can harness children's natural curiosity and creativity to spark meaningful STEM discovery and learning through play.

Young children need a strong foundation in understanding water's role in our world, especially as climate change impacts ecosystems, weather, and daily life. Gadzikowski provides educators with hands-on, inquiry-based activities that align with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Next Generation Science Standards. This resource builds vocabulary, supports scientific exploration, and fosters children's curiosity about the importance of water in natural and human-made systems. With engaging ideas for play-based engineering investigations, the book helps children develop critical thinking skills while nurturing a lifelong appreciation for water and its impact on our planet.

Tired of keeping up with behavior charts and doling out rewards and punishments that never seem to work? Ready to ditch the "good job" stickers and the dreaded time-out spot? Thinking Outside the Prize Box offers a fresh, research-based approach to supporting children and fostering positive classroom behavior. Discover how to transform your classroom into a place where children thrive and here you can teach with joy nd confidence. With Adam Holland's trademark humor, hilarious real-world examples, nd actionable advice, Thinking Outside the Prize Box will have you chuckling as you learn effective ways to create the classroom community you've always hoped for.

The GIANT Encyclopedia of Lesson Plans has more than 250 complete lesson plans covering topics from colors and numbers to seasons and nursery rhymes. Each lesson plan is complete with learning objectives, a circle or group time activity, book suggestions, snack ideas, five learning center activities, assessment strategies, and related songs, poems, and fingerplays. With easy-to-use lesson plans for more than an entire school year, this book belongs on every teacher's bookshelf! 574 pages.

This resource guide should be used with the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale®-revised edition. It explains why each item is important, what is needed to meet the requirements for all items, and how to score. Over 800 color photographs taken in child care settings are presented in this text of 465 pages. We have also developed a classroom list to correlate with ITERS-R™ (sold separately).

Over 450 rhymes, songs, stories, and fingerplays with Spanish and English on each page to help build vocabulary and language skills. Organized by theme. 384 pages.

Child care supports every industry in our nation, but it has an unstable infrastructure. Child-care businesses are failing, early childhood professionals are not paid living wages, and expenses are rising. The primary funding source is families, but families cannot afford the true cost of child care. Does this mean that all early childhood programs must fold into the public school system? Will private child care soon be extinct? In Bridging Gaps: Implementing Public-Private Partnerships to Strengthen Early Education, author Sarah Taylor Vanover dispels the myths and explains the opportunities of a mixed-delivery system. Discover the benefits and challenges of child-care partnerships such as Early Head Start with private and family child-care settings and private child-care programs with state-funded preschools. Explore how to address credentialing, professional development, and implementing IDEA, and learn the differences between mixed delivery and universal pre-K. 160 pages.

Creating an inclusive early learning program can be a challenge for site leaders who lack knowledge about special-education laws, struggle to create policies and accommodations that meet the needs of all children, and find it difficult to support staff and collaborate with families and the community. With its step-by-step approach, real-life examples, and expert perspectives, "Including All Children: Transitioning to an Inclusive Early Learning Program" provides everything site leaders need to make their programs truly inclusive. You'll learn how to draft a powerful vision and mission statement, navigate the legal landscape of special education, and create policies and accommodations that meet the needs of children with disabilities and their families.

Whether you are a teacher looking for ways to strengthen the math learning in your early childhood classroom, an educator in a community of practice who wants to learn more about teaching math in developmentally appropriate ways, or a teacher-educator who wants to offer students an easy-to-use reference and guide for helping young children develop their math competencies and skills, this text will help you make math learning a fun and worthwhile activity in your setting. Filled with photographs of children engaged in real experiences that demonstrate specific math concepts, chapters follow a developmental order: One-to-one correspondence; Forming sets; Object counting; Patterning; Measurement; Two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes; Parts and wholes; and Computation. Paperback. 288 pages.

This book invites teachers to enhance children's educational environment in a beautiful way by emphasizing aesthetic environmental qualities such as nature, color, furnishings, textures, displays, lighting, and focal points. Step-by-step instructions and lush photographs take educators through the process of transforming ordinary classrooms into creative, beautiful learning spaces.

Sure, you know that children learn best through hands-on explorations. How does that work in a real classroom? With jam-packed days and mounting expectations, you're pressed for time and pushed to follow standards-based curricula. It's no wonder you struggle to incorporate STEAM activites each day. Provoking Curiosity brings new and easy-to-execute STEAM learning experiences that encourage children to think, explore, and wonder. Each exploration builds on core ideas in the STEAM disciplines, develops higher-level thinking skills, and uses readily available materials in early childhood classrooms. Paperback. 88 pages.

Young children with special needs often face physical, emotional, or social barriers to deep engagement with the natural world. These challenges need not prevent them from enjoying the many benefits nature has to offer. Nature is a necessity. Research tells us that we are happier, healthier, more socially engaged, and more creative when it is part of our daily lives. These benefits apply to people of all ages and abilities. In this inspiring book, Dr. Ruth Wilson explores the great potential of connecting young children with special needs to the natural world. Drawing on her knowledge of research and her decades of work with children in nature, she weaves together advice, real-life examples, and testimonies from educators and families on the healing, nurturing power of nature in the lives of young children with diverse abilities. Paperback. 192 pages.

Whether your child has received a diagnosis or they are exhibiting behaviors that worry you, Empowering Your Child to Fly: A Family's Guide to Early Childhood Inclusion can help. Discover advice for navigating the early intervention and special education system from an educator who has experienced these systems as a child, as a parent, and as a professional. Understand screening, evaluation, and assessment. Discover helpful resources. Explore your role as an advocate for your child. Learn how to work with your team of specialists and educators. Discover strategies to identify your child's strengths and consider a future vision for your child. Explore ideas for creating learning spaces at home and embedding learning into everyday routines. Discover how to do all of this while staying healthy and strong, with a sense of balance in your life.

Do children in your class struggle with holding writing tools comfortably? Cutting with scissors accurately? Completing self-care tasks such as dressing and using eating utensils? This practical guide, written by a pediatric occupational therapist, equips you with the tools to empower children's fine motor development! Inside, you'll discover age-specific milestones, ready-to-use activities, differentiation strategies, classroom adaptations, and collaboration tips. Perfect for early childhood educators and special-education teachers, Fine Motor Foundations includes valuable resources for toy recommendations, skill-based activity lists, and downloadable materials to empower children, build their confidence, and develop their skills.

What can you add to your early childhood classroom that will immerse children in rich learning, reduce challenging behaviors, and develop confidence as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills? A makerspace! Filled with colorful photographs taken in real early childhood settings, this book will guide you step-by-step in making a makerspace that invites young children to boldly explore materials and create something only they can imagine. Discover how to: draft a plan and gather materials, set up your makerspace, garner administrator and parent buy-in, focus on goals and support specific skill development, and facilitate children's learning to deepen understanding. Paperback. 152 pages.

Based on census and population data, it is likely that one or more gender-expansive or LGBTQIA+ child is enrolled in every early education program in the country. Guidance for Supporting Gender Diversity in Early Childhood Education is a starting point--a primer--for early educators who are interested in learning more about working with and supporting young gender-diverse children and their families. With a focus on understanding children's gender development, this groundbreaking guide reflects the voices of those you are learning about and connects readers with useful resources to improve teaching and programs. Paperback.172 pages.

In today's world, it's crucial that we equip children with the tools they need to stay safe. Yet, many adults don't know where to begin. Written for educators and parents by a prevention education expert, Body Safety for Young Children is the comprehensive guide you need to navigate this complex and sensitive issue. Author Kimberly King takes the fear out of sexual-abuse prevention and makes it child-friendly and approachable, so you can confidently communicate with children and protect them from harm. Packed with extraordinary stories, prevention skills, talking points, and what-if scenarios, this compassionate resource book is the ultimate toolkit for educators and families looking to prevent child sexual abuse. The practical guide covers everything you need to know to keep children safe and informed. The tips, themes, shareable resources, and book suggestions in this guide will help you build a strong foundation of body-safety skills and provide simple safety strategies that work.

Dig In: Outdoor STEM Learning with Young Children provides strategies, ideas, real-life examples, and information to help you get children outside and learning, all while meeting required early learning standards and objectives. Explore the Learning Life Cycle and discover fresh ideas for engaging children in deeper explorations and experiences outdoors that will stick with them into kindergarten and beyond. Have more aha moments, seize learning opportunities, invite questions, and investigate answers while supporting rich STEM learning. Paperback. 140 pages.