“How Can I Help? A Teacher’s Guide to Early Childhood Behavioral Health, by Dr. Ginger Welch, is a very important tool for teachers in the field of Early Childhood Education. This is such an important topic for the times we live in today. Many teachers aren’t equipped with the knowledge to help children with behavioral health. This book should be in every early childhood educator’s resource library. This book is interactive and easy to read and comprehend. It provides valuable information for teachers that are new to the field as well as experienced teachers. Dr. Welch includes many relatable examples and gives specific instructions on what you can do to help young children. The Teacher Tasks in each chapter help educators make this relatable to the specific children they are involved with on a day to day basis. I specifically enjoyed the last chapter. We as teachers tend to forget about our own mental health and self-care. Dr. Welch provides specific strategies for teachers to take care of themselves as well.”

Rhonda Gagarin
Infant- Toddler Teacher

“We are faced with a complex reality in early childhood education as we see an increase in early childhood diagnoses often due to trauma. Trauma informed care in vital knowledge for today’s early educator yet we must first rely on our knowledge of child development to guide our work with children and families. Dr. Welch emphasizes the importance of looking first to the individual child’s stage in development through 3 lenses: biological, environmental and relational. She then guides the reader through step by step instructions to document behaviors, reflect on documented behaviors to obtain a prevention plan while collaborating with parents and other professionals as needed to fully advocate and support parents through the process of diagnosis and care. Dr. Welch’s practical writing style breaks down many of the DSM-5 and DC:0-5 diagnosis giving clear information on what a classroom teacher might notice from a child and how they support the child individualized intentional interactions. She also takes the classroom teacher through the referral process encouraging the teacher to reflect on their and parents communication style first so information can be presented to foster a collaborative team between teacher, parent, and needed professionals. In closing Dr. Welch reminds the classroom teacher of the importance of self-care in providing trauma informed care. She suggests multiple user friendly strategies that any early educator can employ to continue to feel and be successful in providing consistent quality early care and education to children and families. I highly recommend this book for any early childhood professional who is looking to understand early childhood behavioral health. The practicality of the format and resources given make this book excellent for a learning community, supplement to college course work or a outline for a Professional Development training.”

Kim Thomason
Quality Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist

“How Can I Help?: A Teacher's Guide to Early Childhood Behavioral Health by Ginger Welch is a practical guide that helps educators first identify issues and then create nurturing, safe, and successful learning environments to set up all children for success. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, this book would well serve as a teacher in-service training curriculum text, and should be considered essential reading for any student teacher preparing to embark upon a career in education.”

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review