Families + Educators: Building Great Relationships

Derry Koralek is president of DGK & Company, providing early childhood educational consulting to a variety of clients, including teachers and family child care providers. She is author of a number of early childhood resources, including two books cowritten with Laura J. Colker, High-Quality Early Childhood Programs: The What, Why, and How (2018), and Making Lemonade: Teaching Young Children to Think Optimistically (2019). Her other recent work includes developing training materials for staff in Early Head Start and revising the textbook, Essentials for Working with Young Children. For 14 years, Derry wrote, edited, and managed publications for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She joined NAEYC as editor in chief of Young Children, the association's award-winning, peer reviewed professional journal, and later also created and served as editor in chief of Teaching Young Children, NAEYC's magazine for preschool educators. During her time at NAEYC, Derry also became chief publishing officer, directing all print and digital publications. Before joining NAEYC, Koralek completed numerous projects through DGK & Company in support of early childhood teachers and family child care providers.

Cultivating positive, supportive partnerships between educators and families is an ongoing process, one that requires reciprocal respect and communication to grow. Use the practical information and ideas in this book to develop and embed a culture of family engagement in all aspects of your early childhood program.