Janet Gonzalez-Mena taught in the California university and community college systems for 35 years. She was on the full-time faculty at Napa Valley College in the Child and Family Studies Department for 15 years until her retirement. Janet started her early childhood career in a cooperative preschool as a parent volunteer back in 1966. She became a preschool teacher and taught in three types of programs including Head Start, a program for Spanish-speaking children and their families and a home-based preschool program. Later she became a director of child care programs and helped open several pilot projects including a therapeutic child care program and an infant-center.
Besides preschool, Janet’s special interests include working with parents, diversity, family child care, and infants. In the 1970’s she studied with Magda Gerber, an infant expert from Hungary. Recently she has studied at the Pikler Institute in Budapest where Magda came from. Janet has written 4 ECE textbooks, plus a book on diversity and 2 parenting books, including a humorous one that is called Dragon Mom. Presently Janet is involved in helping create a training project called “Strengthening Family and Professional Partnerships” with the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 2002 she co-authored Bridging Cultures in ECE, a training manual, also for WestEd. She has been on the faculty of WestEd’s Program for Infant-Toddler Care training of trainer institutes since 1991. Since 1998 she has been on the faculty of Beginning Together, another training of trainer institute for helping professionals learn to include children with special needs in early care and education programs.
Janet lives in a multicultural family in a state where there is no longer a majority culture. In California, everyone now is a minority. Janet earned a B.A. in English from University of California, Davis (1959) and a M.A. in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College (1976).
Welcoming Everybody | |
Appreciating all Kinds of Families | p. 1 |
Working with Immigrant Families | p. 3 |
Including Families of Children with Special Needs | p. 6 |
Creating an Antibias Environment | p. 8 |
Respecting All Families, Including Those with Same-Sex Parents | p. 11 |
Partnerships with Families | |
Building Partnerships | p. 13 |
Removing Barriers to Partnerships | p. 15 |
Minimizing Competition with Parents | p. 18 |
Supporting Attachment | p. 20 |
Considering Authority | p. 23 |
Focusing on Family Strengths | p. 25 |
Helping Parents to Be Advocates for Their Children | p. 28 |
Encouraging Parents to Become Advocates for all Children | p. 30 |
Creating a Sense of Community | p. 33 |
Honoring and Working with Diversity | |
Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences | p. 36 |
Establishing Culturally Responsive Education and Care | p. 39 |
Working with Conflicts Around Education and Care Practices | p. 41 |
Considering Cultural Differences in Guidance and Discipline | p. 43 |
Working with Families Around what you Believe Are Harmful Practices | p. 45 |
Thinking about Differing Ideas Related to How Children Learn | p. 47 |
Managing Conflicts | p. 50 |
Family Participation and Education | |
Considering Family Participation | p. 54 |
Including Parents in the Classroom or Center | p. 58 |
Focusing on Fathers | p. 61 |
Taking a Transformative Approach to Parent Education | p. 64 |
Working with Parents around Holiday Issues | p. 66 |
Exploring Parents' Role on Decision-Making Boards and Councils | p. 68 |
Communication | |
Creating Environments for Communication | p. 71 |
Empowering Self and Others | p. 73 |
Communicating Through Writing | p. 75 |
Holding Ongoing Conversations with Families | p. 78 |
Looking at Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures | p. 80 |
Meetings and Conferences | |
Meeting with Families for the First Time | p. 82 |
Thinking about Meetings in General | p. 85 |
Holding Conferences | p. 87 |
Considering Cross-Cultural Conferences | p. 90 |
Talking with Families when Concerns Arise | p. 92 |
Working with Parents around Specific Issues | |
Helping the Child Enter the School or Program | p. 94 |
Maintaining Home Language | p. 97 |
Easing Children Through Transitions | p. 99 |
Bringing Nature into Children's Lives | p. 101 |
Addressing Obesity with Nutrition | p. 104 |
Dealing with Media Issues | p. 106 |
Maintaining Stability During Divorce | p. 109 |
Coping with a Death in the Family | p. 111 |
Finding Community Resources and making Referrals | p. 113 |
Challenging Conversations | |
Working with Parents who Constantly Complain | p. 115 |
Working with Parents who Appear Hostile | p. 117 |
Talking with Parents about Behavior Changes | p. 119 |
Referring Families for Abuse or Neglect | p. 121 |
References | p. 123 |
Index | p. 129 |
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