50 Strategies for Communicating and Working with Diverse Families

About Janet Gonzalez-Mena

Janet Gonzalez-Mena is Retired Faculty in Child and Family Studies Napa Valley College Napa California where for 15 years she was on the full-time faculty until her retirement in 1998. Not only has she taught in the California community college system for 36 years but also Gonzalez-Menas career includes being a preschool teacher in a bilingual program child care director and coordinator of a pilot program of therapeutic child care for abused and neglected children. A prolific author her textbook achievements include: Child Family and Community 6th ed. (Pearson 2013); Infants Toddlers and Caregivers 9th ed. (McGraw-Hill 2012); Foundations of Early Childhood Education: Teaching Children in a Diverse Society 6th ed. (McGraw-Hill forthcoming); and Diversity in Early Care and Education: Honoring Differences 4th ed. (National Association for the Education of Young Children 2008). Janet also co-authored Basics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice: An Introduction for Teachers of Infants and Toddlers (National Association for Education of Young Children 2011). Currently self-employed as a consultant in early care and education she also finds the time to write for Young Children and Exchange and occasionally for publications in Canada and New Zealand.