The Infant and Toddler Years: Foundations for Reflective Practice

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• Covers infant and toddler development, brain growth, and early learning foundations.
• Emphasizes reflective practice, family partnerships, and trauma-attuned care.
• Aligned to NAEYC standards with real-world applications and educator preparation.

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Title Overview

The Infant and Toddler Years: Foundations for Reflective Practiceblends theory, research, and practical applications to provide students with the tools they need to be successful infant and toddler educators. While providing information on child development at these critical stages, the authors emphasize the importance of looking at infants and toddlers in isolation to understand that what is done in the first three years builds the foundation for all subsequent learning. This new title also has a unique focus on brain development, trauma-attuned practice, and how to build partnerships with families. The textbook includes a chapter on children with exceptionalities and SPED topics have been woven throughout the entire textbook. The authors bring early childhood concepts and foundational knowledge alive with many scenarios and other real-world applications that will prepare students for their roles as early childhood educators. This textbook also asks students to examine and reflect on their own values, beliefs, and attitudes about child development and care. Mapped to current NAEYC standards and guidelines, the textbook features NAEYC, DAP, and Code of Ethics callouts at the beginning of each chapter, and full correlations are available in the Online Instructor Resources.

Theclear instructional design, with short chunks of contentand many images, creates an engaging and approachable experience for students.
The emphasis on reflective practice guides students on their approach to working with infants and toddlers and how they respond to different situations.
Digital users have access to authentic videos from three early learning centers, accompanied by guided worksheets and video quizzes.

Instructor Resources

Hit the ground running with G-W's Online Instructor Resources that save you time and make it easier to prepare for class, reinforce new concepts, and assess learning. Created by educators for educators, these complete teaching packages are ready to go and will instantly make a difference in your class. Best of all—Instructor Resources are free with qualified purchases!

Lesson Plans and Activities Experienced teachers have developed detailed lesson plans and creative activities to accompany the textbooks. There's no need to spend days recreating your courses—they have done it for you!
PowerPoint Presentations Editable slides for each chapter engage a variety of learning styles, improve student focus, encourage discussion, and provide visual impact.
Interactive Content Additional interactive content including flash cards, animations, and interactive activities enhance the learning experience.
Assessments: The new cloud-based G-W Assessment platform allows you to create, customize, assign, and print prebuilt questions and tests. No more downloads, uploads, or imports needed! Integrate it with your LMS for autograded assignments, advanced reporting, and scores that flow into your gradebook.

Look Inside

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About the Author

Lynn Marie Lubecki, Ed.D.

is an early childhood educator, author, and professor at SUNY Empire State University. Her career spans familychild care, integrated early childhood programs, executive leadership, higher education, and statewide systems-building initiatives. Throughout her work, she hasremainedcommitted to improving outcomes for young children and families through relationship-based practice, professional development, and cross-sector collaboration. Dr. Lubecki specializes in infant and toddler development, inclusion, social-emotional learning, and early childhood systems change. She serves as a New York State Pyramid Model Master Cadre member and Regional Coordinator, supporting statewide implementation of evidence-based practices that promote social-emotional competence and inclusion. She currently serves as Public Policy and Advocacy Chair for the New York Association for the Education of Young Children (NYAEYC) and Secretary of the New York State Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NYSECTE). She holds the New York State Infant and Toddler Credential, was selected as a 2026-2027 LiberatEDNational Fellow, and is a frequent presenter at local, state, and national conferences. In recognition of her leadership and contributions to the field, she received the National Pyramid Model Champion Award in 2018 and was named a Rochester Business Journal Women of Excellence honoree in 2026.

Tracy Galuski, Ph.D

is an early childhood educator, author, and professor at SUNY Empire State University.Beginning her career inchild careas a toddler teacher,child careadministrator, and education specialist, she has dedicated her work to supporting educators who serve young children and their families. Her current work focuses on program development, student learning outcomes, and fostering reflective leadership, professional growth, and continuous improvement across the early childhood workforce.

Dr. Galuski develops and teachesonlinecoursesacross thedepartment inareas suchaschild development, curriculum and environments, infantand toddler education, andchild careadministration. She currently managesafive-year Equity in Actiongrant andleads efforts to increase upward mobility for early childhood paraprofessionals through scholarships and targeted academic support. She has held a variety of leadership roles with the Association for the Education of Young Children of Western New York (AEYC of WNY) and the New York Association for the Education of Young Children (NYAEYC) andpreviously served as a member of the New York State Infant Toddler Consortium and Community of Practice. She currently serves on the NYAEYC Professional Development and Preparation Committee and holds a New York State Early Learning Trainer Credential, Level III. In 2025, she was recognized as a NYAEYC Early Childhood Leader. She is also proud to support several community and volunteer organizations, including the Western New York Leadership Advisory, American Field Service (AFS), and 4-H.

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