Caring for Children in Family Child Care

Diane Trister Dodge
Diane Trister Dodge, MS, is the founder and president of Teaching Strategies, LLC. She is the lead author of The Creative Curriculum^® and many other Teaching Strategies resources. She has been a preschool and kindergarten teacher; served as the education coordinator for Head Start and child care programs in Mississippi and Washington, D.C.; and directed national projects in education and human services. Diane served on the Governing Board of NAEYC (1990–1994) and the Center for the Child Care Workforce (1995–2002), and was a member of the D.C. Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Early Childhood Development (1984–2009). In 2004, she received the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field of education. In 2010, Diane was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame for her lifetime contributions to education.

Laura Colker
Laura J. Colker, EdD, is an early childhood education author and trainer. She has co-authored The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool, The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care, and The Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum assessment systems. In addition to writing curricula, she has designed training materials, assessment programs, and instructional videos for teachers, supervisory staff, and families. Currently she serves as a contributing editor on NAEYC’s journal for preschool teachers, Teaching Young Children. Dr. Colker has taught courses on child development issues throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Derry Koralek
Derry Koralek has more than 15 years experience designing and delivering training for early childhood staff. She is a co-author of each edition of the Caring for... series. She has developed technical assistance guides for supervisors and trainers in child development programs in the military and in Head Start and provides training throughout the United States. She is currently the editor of Young Children, a publication of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.