Early Childhood Education / Professional Development Six key steps for behaving professionally in the early childhood field passion for working with children is a cornerstone in your line of work, but as an early childhood professional, you also need to look the part, act the part, and keep a positive attitude. Whether it is your first day on the job or you have years of experience, professionalism is essential for success as you work with children, their families, and your colleagues. Filled with tips, self-assessments, and reflection questions to optimize your knowledge, this resource will help you present yourself as the professional that you are. The concepts discussed in this book are completely pertinent to daily life in early childhood. Gigi’s expertise is truly a gift—she easily relates the reasons why dress, attitude, confidentiality, and continuing education are all critical to being a professional educator. This book provides an immense service by lending credibility to what are sometimes seen as extraneous matters to busy teachers. Gigi Schweikert has a straightforward way of making us look honestly at ourselves as early childhood professionals. She says it like it is and challenges us to see even the things we hoped no one would notice. The Winning Ways series compels us to examine the profound impact we have on everyone around us— children, certainly, as well as fellow professionals and the children’s parents and families. Everything matters. Everything. But the best thing is that Gigi believes in each of us, that we can change, that we can truly become the early childhood professionals the children need us to be. And that really matters. —Kristen M. Waterfield, president, The Malvern School, Pennsylvania —Bonnie Neugebauer, founder and executive editor, Exchange magazine Being a Professional will help new center-based employees navigate the ebb and flow of life in an early learning program.  —Jeff A. Johnson, family child care provider, keynote speaker, and author of Finding Your Smile Again, Do-It-Yourself Early Learning, Everyday Early Learning, Babies in the Rain, Keeping Your Smile, and Let Them Play Gigi Schweikert is a popular speaker at early childhood conferences and parenting seminars. She is the author of six books and coauthor of Prime Times: A Handbook for Excellence in Infant and Toddlers Programs. She contributes to early childhood periodicals and journals and also hosted a cable television show, Today’s Family. ISBN 978-1-60554-001-6