One of the few books that successfully combines observation techniques with child development, this user-friendly text takes an applied approach that allows students to observe, record, and interpret child development by looking at particular behavior. Using the observation data to determine the level of a childs development, plans and activities are illustrated to show students how to help children strengthen specific areas of development. * NEW - Features a new chapter on sharing data with parents and developing collaborative portfolios. Lists examples of portfolio items from each chapter. * NEW - The Prewriting and Prereading chapter has been rewritten to show more clearly how children teach themselves to write and read through a progression. * NEW - Expanded discussion of speaking another language to assist teachers with helping bilingual children. Also includes 53 new children's books with multicultural characters located throughout the text. * Exclusive to this book, the Child Skills Checklist can be used by teachers to determine children's levels of development. This self-teaching device is used as an outline for chapters and their content. * If You Have Not Checked This Ite