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Books for Welcoming in, Learning about, and Learning from Families in Early Childhood Classrooms

October 12th, 2021 | 2 min. read

By Lisa Williford

Representing and including families within early learning programs is essential to creating rich learning environments that honor each child's sense of identity. Discover resources that focus on how early childhood educators can welcome families into early learning settings and how to create responsive learning experiences about and with families.

 


 

School-to-Home Connections

Simple Strategies for Early Childhood Educators

Children are the heart of meaningful family engagement. 

School-to-Home Connections is bursting with ideas for early childhood educators. Inside, you’ll find simple ways to explain developmentally appropriate practice to parents, ideas on partnering with them on their child’s journey to school readiness, and tips for nurturing families’ active involvement in the school community. 

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The Welcoming Classroom

Building Strong Home-to-School Connections for Early Learning

In The Welcoming Classroom, Dr. Johnna Darragh Ernst offers practical ideas for creating a welcoming atmosphere for families that will encourage them to participate in their children's learning community. Learn practical ways to connect with families from varied cultural and language backgrounds and abilities, gain new strategies for creating a home-school link to support learning, and get guidance on creating a richer learning environment by integrating unique family cultural perspectives.

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Partnering with Parents

Easy Programs to Involve Parents in the Early Learning Process

This innovative and original guide makes it easy for preschool teachers to connect with parents and involve them in the learning process using family meetings. Offering a complete plan for every meeting, Partnering With Parents is bursting with helpful tips, strategies, and creative ways to build a connection between home and school.

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Strength in Diversity

A Positive Approach to Teaching Dual-Language Learners in Early Childhood

This book offers teachers context, practical advice, and strategies to help young dual-language learners thrive, including ways to engage and learn from the families of dual-language learners. 

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Kick-Start Kindergarten Readiness

With easy-to-share parent letters and simple, fun activities for families to do together at home, Kick-Start Kindergarten Readiness is the perfect tool for early childhood teachers to involve families in understanding and supporting the rich learning taking place in your preschool classroom.

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Through a Child’s Eyes

How Classroom Design Inspires Learning and Wonder

Through a Child’s Eyes brings a new approach to classroom design that begins and ends with the child’s viewpoint, detailing how the classroom environment influences children’s learning. This book shows teacher how to create classrooms of honor, where the language and culture of each child is revered, and children's lives and identities are supported with dignity.

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Rethinking the Classroom Landscape

Creating Environments That Connect Young Children, Families, and Communities

Rethinking the Classroom Landscape invites educators and administrators to rethink the traditional classroom, with inspirational examples showing how to weave elements that reflect each center’s community into the classroom design. Easy-to-implement ideas and strategies are based on five guideposts that help educators create early childhood environments that vividly connect children, adults, families, and the surrounding community.

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Global Art

Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World

The fun, easy-to-do art activities in Global Art use collage, painting, drawing, printing, construction and sculpture to help children appreciate people and cultures from all over the world. Each activity is explained in step-by-step detail and accompanied by geographic and cultural background to help you make the most of the teaching possibilities.

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Author(s)Rebecca Kreth, Sally Haughey, Jody Martin, Sandra Duncan, Alison Pepper, Lea Ann Christenson, PhD, Robert E. Rockwell, Janet Rockwell Kniepkamp, Johnna Darragh Ernst, PhD

Lisa Williford

Lisa Williford, an experienced marketing event coordinator, served with Kaplan Early Learning Company and Gryphon House from 2020 - 2023.