Gain a strong understanding of the foundational issues you face as you teach, parent or assist in an inclusive early childhood setting with Allen/Cowdery's THE EXCEPTIONAL INCLUSION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, 9E. Today's most comprehensive, applied text on early childhood special education, this edition, with an appealing new design, defines inclusion and early childhood disabilities and explains the latest federal legislation. You examine applications and strategies for early childhood inclusion, from effective teaching and managing problematic behavior to working with linguistically and culturally diverse children and families. You also learn to involve parents and caregivers while encouraging independence and self-care in children. Current research, video cases, digital downloads and first-hand accounts support a developmental behavioral approach as you discover how to work with and optimize learning for diverse groups that include children with significant challenges.
Just read the 9th edition of this text for an upcoming college course I am teaching this semester on inclusion in ECE classrooms.
The text does a great job at presenting inclusion and federal regulations surrounding children with special needs.
The appendix provides sample IEP and IFSP forms and several points of discussion and activities related to the chapter reading.
The text is easy to read and provides key terms before each chapter.
I do wish the text provided more examples of modifications and accommodations general ed teachers use in inclusive settings.
I also wished the text provided a sample, completed IEP.
Overall, the text provides great info in an easy-to-read manner with application questions related to the chapters. I plan to use the text and supplement with additional readings.
Good plain-English guide to the principles of inclusive practice; like most US-centric EC texts it tends to assume the reader is ignorant of the rationale for some fairly basic aspects of care (standards and practices that centres in other countries may take pretty much for granted), but on the whole a useful introductory text - sometimes that spelling-out works in students' favour. It's always interesting to see how the rather peculiar legislative and statutory environment over there affects the way things are done (e.g. situations where funding/support etc is contingent upon child age rather than developmentally appropriate educational placement, or a specific diagnosis rather than the simple case of need, etc). Very different mindset, but as I say, useful to know about esp. because it highlights the reasons for doing things differently. A good solid grounding in the basic issues and practices of inclusion.