Rosemarie Smead presents strategies for selecting children for participation in group guidance and counseling, shows how to conduct sessions, and identifies successful techniques for group counseling.

A practical volume for the helping professions, Group Work With Children and Adolescents will be highly valuable to those practicing in the fields of social work, human services, clinical and counseling psychology, and psychiatric nursing.

With its effective outcomes, relative speed and reduced costs, the group format is becoming increasingly popular for work with children in counselling and educational settings. Drawing from their extensive experience of running children's groups and training group leaders, Kathryn and David Geldard describe the entire process of running groups from the initial planning to post-group evaluation.Topics covered include the benefits and disadvantages of running groups and the types of group available, as well as the planning, designing, implementation and evaluation of group programmes. Filled with lots of ideas, activities, games and work-sheets for use in group programmes, as well as examples of complete programmes for particular problems such as domestic violence and low self-esteem, this highly accessible and practical book will be an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to run groups for children.

This comprehensive handbook will be a major resource for all those involved in group work with children and adolescents. Bringing together the skills, practical experience and expertise of a wide range of contributors, it provides comprehensive analysis and practical guidance on all aspects of the subject under five broad headings: theoretical and practical issues, including structures and organisational aspects, conceptual frameworks and evaluation; developmental perspectives, including emotional development, empathy and prosocial development and the historical development of group psychotherapy; tools and techniques, including the use of play and games, art psychotherapy, relaxation, drama and interpretation; subjects and themes, including bereaved children, encopresis, victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse, young offenders and racial identity; and contexts and settings, including group work in schools, residential institutions, mental health services, youth services and therapeutic communities. The book will meet the needs of both beginners in the field, and those with experience.

This easy-to-follow manual presents techniques for working with groups of children who have been sexually abused. It begins with an overview of the theory and literature of group therapy with children and then offers seven sections on psycho-social skill building techniques, trust building, self esteem, identifying and expressing feelings, healing the inner child, relationships, boundary setting, and prevention skills.

Rev. ed. of: Communicating with children and infants. 2nd ed. 1997.

This inspiring book shows how Early Years staff can support the best possible practice for children under three and their families whilst making use of the limited funding available. Promoting the idea of infants as powerful learners, the authors focus on 0-3 years as the vital first phase of education and care, which can require a very specific pedagogical approach. They discuss the principles that underpin the practice of working with the youngest children, the critical nature of highly effective pedagogical practice and the important role of family workers in building relationships with parents and the extended family. Working with Children Aged 0–3 and Their Families explores the challenges and responsibilities of working with young children and communicates the ‘Pen Green approach’. Pen Green has become a focal point for Early Years professionals due to its outstanding Early Years provision. The innovative approach chronicled in this book will encourage practitioners to research their own practice and use the outcomes to create a radical, unique and yet highly effective provision for infants, toddlers and their families. The book will be of interest to Early Years professionals, foundation and undergraduate students, and early childhood educators.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Raise self-confident, self-reliant children using the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) Approach. Your baby knows more than you think. That's the heart of the principles and teachings of Magda Gerber, founder of RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers), and Educaring. Baby Knows Best is based on Gerber's belief in babies' natural abilities to develop at their own pace, without coaxing from helicoptering or hovering parents. The Educaring Approach helps parents see their infants as competent people with a growing ability to communicate, problem-solve, and self-soothe. Baby Knows Best is a comprehensive resource that shows parents how to respond to their babies' cues and signals; how to develop healthy sleep habits; why babies need uninterrupted playtime; and how to set clear, consistent limits. The result? More relaxed parents and more confident, self-reliant children.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings offer an opportunity to provide children with a solid beginning in all areas of their development. The quality and efficacy of these settings depend largely on the individuals within the ECCE workforce. Policy makers need a complete picture of ECCE teachers and caregivers in order to tackle the persistent challenges facing this workforce. The IOM and the National Research Council hosted a workshop to describe the ECCE workforce and outline its parameters. Speakers explored issues in defining and describing the workforce, the marketplace of ECCE, the effects of the workforce on children, the contextual factors that shape the workforce, and opportunities for strengthening ECCE as a profession.