Presents strategies for helping children with autism interact with others and achieve their potential, covering such areas as back-and-forth interactions, nonverbal communication, and imitation.

Supported by the principles of developmental psychology and applied behavior analysis, ESDM's intensive teaching interventions are delivered within play-based, relationship-focused routines. The manual provides structured, hands-on strategies for working with very young children in individual and group settings to promote development in such key domains as imitation; communication; social, cognitive, and motor skills; adaptive behavior; and play. --from publisher description

In the United States, preschool education is characterized by the dominance of a variegated private sector and patchy, uncoordinated oversight of the public sector. Tracing the history of the American debate over preschool education, Andrew Karch argues that the current state of decentralization and fragmentation is the consequence of a chain of reactions and counterreactions to policy decisions dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when preschool advocates did not achieve their vision for a comprehensive national program but did manage to foster initiatives at both the state and national levels. Over time, beneficiaries of these initiatives and officials with jurisdiction over preschool education have become ardent defenders of the status quo. Today, advocates of greater government involvement must take on a diverse and entrenched set of constituencies resistant to policy change. In his close analysis of the politics of preschool education, Karch demonstrates how to apply the concepts of policy feedback, critical junctures, and venue shopping to the study of social policy.

A wonderful introduction to early language arts skills, "First Start Reading" covers consonants, short & long vowels, common words, and manuscript priting. Simple, effective, and reasonable, this enjoyable curriculum accompanies the lessons with artist-drawn coloring pictures and drawing pages for every letter. Workbook A features coloring pages with items with the same beginning letter as the accompanying handwriting page; students trace letters and can draw their own picture. Short stories are included in the back (with room to again draw a picture), and a word mastery list is provided. Workbook B includes the letter pages, short stories, and word mastery list, as well as room to write in dictation exercises Workbook C features handwriting practice that focuses more on words, longer stories, and a word mastery list.

Signing babies are taking over, asking for more milk and later nap times. Sure, they might not get their way, but signing gives them a way to express themselves. Frustrated communication is often the root cause of crying and tantrums in babies and toddlers. Usually it is caused by the lag between a child's desire to be understood and their ability to form words. Sign language bridges this gap.The Everything Baby Sign Language Book teaches parent and children to use a combination of sign language and homemade gestures to communicate needs, wants and feelings. Using this book and instructional DVD, baby and parent will be well on their way to using their hands to speak! Please note: DVD is not included with the e-book version of this title

In the United States, preschool education is characterized by the dominance of a variegated private sector and patchy, uncoordinated oversight of the public sector. Tracing the history of the American debate over preschool education, Andrew Karch argues that the current state of decentralization and fragmentation is the consequence of a chain of reactions and counterreactions to policy decisions dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when preschool advocates did not achieve their vision for a comprehensive national program but did manage to foster initiatives at both the state and national levels. Over time, beneficiaries of these initiatives and officials with jurisdiction over preschool education have become ardent defenders of the status quo. Today, advocates of greater government involvement must take on a diverse and entrenched set of constituencies resistant to policy change. In his close analysis of the politics of preschool education, Karch demonstrates how to apply the concepts of policy feedback, critical junctures, and venue shopping to the study of social policy.

In this innovative study, Crystal Sanders explores how working-class black women, in collaboration with the federal government, created the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) in 1965, a Head Start program that not only gave poor black children access to early childhood education but also provided black women with greater opportunities for political activism during a crucial time in the unfolding of the civil rights movement. Women who had previously worked as domestics and sharecroppers secured jobs through CDGM as teachers and support staff and earned higher wages. The availability of jobs independent of the local white power structure afforded these women the freedom to vote in elections and petition officials without fear of reprisal. But CDGM's success antagonized segregationists at both the local and state levels who eventually defunded it. Tracing the stories of the more than 2,500 women who staffed Mississippi's CDGM preschool centers, Sanders's book remembers women who went beyond teaching children their shapes and colors to challenge the state's closed political system and white supremacist ideology and offers a profound example for future community organizing in the South.

The Early Start Denver Model Curriculum Checklist for Young Children with Autism is used to comprehensively assess the skills of toddlers and preschoolers with autism across multiple developmental domains and to establish individualized teaching objectives. Administered every 12 weeks, it is an essential component of the intervention program described in the authoritative manual, Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism. Sold in sets of 15 two-color booklets.

From leading authorities, this state-of-the-art manual presents the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), the first comprehensive, empirically tested intervention specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Supported by the principles of developmental psychology and applied behavior analysis, ESDM’s intensive teaching interventions are delivered within play-based, relationship-focused routines. The manual provides structured, hands-on strategies for working with very young children in individual and group settings to promote development in such key domains as imitation; communication; social, cognitive, and motor skills; adaptive behavior; and play. Implementing individualized treatment plans for each child requires the use of an assessment tool, the Early Start Denver Model Curriculum Checklist for Young Children with Autism. A nonreproducible checklist is included in the manual for reference, along with instructions for use; 8½" x 11" checklists are sold separately in sets of 15 ready-to-use booklets. See also the authors' related parent guide, An Early Start for Your Child with Autism.