Professional Library for Child Care Providers
Child Care Council has over 200 different titles in our Professional Library for Child Care Providers. Topics range from child development and program activities specific to the developmental age of the children to health and nutrition and specific disabilities affecting children.
Book Reviews from the Professional Library
The Child with Special Needs; Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth
By: Stanley I Greenspan, MD, Serena Wieder, PH.D.
Review by Emily Leone RN, MSN - Health Services
Child care providers are regularly confronted with the task of providing competent and nurturing care for children with emotional and intellectual disabilities such as ADHD, autism, Down’s syndrome, and language and speech delays. Even the usual developmental challenges of acquiring independence and interacting positively with peers can be challenging depending on the child’s temperament and the mix of the group in the program.
Drs. Greenspan and Wieder offer concrete examples and instruction on how to first move beyond the label of the child’s disability or temperament and to observe the strengths and problems of the individual child. Then, Dr. Greenspan introduces his “floor-time” approach to help the child reach key milestones and develop new emotional and intellectual capacities. The “floor-time” approach uses playful interactions to communicate verbally and non-verbally with children, helping them to move forward developmentally.
While this is a long, detailed book that most providers would have difficulty completing in a two week period, each chapter of this book contains numerous examples on how to see a child individually and interact with the child in a developmental context to create an interaction, an emotional connection, with the child. This book is a valuable tool to promote emotional growth with children with special needs and for children whose normal development creates behavioral challenges in your program. To borrow a copy, please visit our Professional Library.
The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays and Chants
by Jackie Silberg and Pam Schiller
Review by Rose Shufelt, Infant Toddler Specialist
Because music and movement are so important in children's lives, it is important, as child care providers to incorportae these into our daily curriculum. It is important to sing songs, recite poems and chants, and to perform fingerplays for and with the children. These can be familiar to the child or completely new.
Sometimes we need help to come up with new ideas. This book is an excellent resource. It is an easy to follow guide to hundreds of familiar and new ideas that can be added to your repretoire. The book is set up so that each rhyme, song, poem, fingerplay, and chant is listed alphabetically for easy access. The words are provided and there are also some simple finger movements that the children can do. A "theme connections index" is located at the back of the book so that if you are talking about a particular subject, you can find something that is related to your theme. There is also a category index that allows you to look up something specific. If you need a song, you can reference the index and look under songs to find exactly what you need.
No Biting! Policy & Practice for Toddler Programs by Gretchen Kinnell
Review by Rose Shufelt, Infant Toddler Specialist
If you've worked in child care, have a child in care, or know of someone who has, you have probably heard this scenario: "I have a toddler who is biting. What do I do?" For many of us, this is a trying time and something that can be emotionally draining. It is so hard at the end of the day to tell a parent that their child has been bitten. It is just as hard to tell the parent of the child who is biting. Luckily there is help.
The book, No Biting! Policy and Practice for Todler Programs by Gretchen Kinnel for the Child Care Council of Ononadaga County, Inc. is an easy to read handbook for teachers, caregivers, and administrators who care for toddlers. This guide offers information on why toddlers bite, which is the first step in overcoming this behavior. It also offers advice on what to do when toddlers bite, how to handle ongoing biting, working with parents, both of the biters and of the children being bitten, how to work together as staff members, how to develop policies about biting, and biting as a reason to exclude children. There are also some easy to use forms that could be implemented into any program.
If you work with or around toddlers and have had to deal with this very normal behavior, this book is a must! To borrow a copy, please visit our Professional Library. You'll be glad you did!