The Early Childhood Coaching Handbook

Evidence-based and highly effective, coaching helps early childhood practitioners support other professionals and families as they enhance existing knowledge, develop new skills, and promote healthy development of young children. This hands-on guide shows professionals how to conduct skillful coaching in any setting¿home, school, or community. This guidebook walks professionals step by step through the coaching process and shows them explicitly what best practices look like. It directly addresses the real-world challenges of coaching and gives readers concrete guidance on successful strategies and interactions. Preservice and in-service early childhood professionals will master the five characteristics of coaching practices¿observation, action, reflection, feedback, and joint planning; learn about the qualities of effective coaches; adjust coaching techniques to meet the specific needs of early childhood educators, parents, and caregivers; discover cutting-edge early childhood research that demonstrates the effectiveness of a coaching approach; and more. To keep their skills sharp and ensure adherence to best coaching practices, readers will get easy-to-use, photocopiable tools that help them implement coaching consistently and effectively. They¿ll also have samples so they can see how to use the tools to evaluate and improve their interactions. With this essential coaching guidebook, every early childhood professional will provide effective support to families and other professionals to enhance developmental outcomes for all young children.