A Note of Thanks and Support

Hello Colleagues,

I have really enjoyed the last eight weeks working with you on our journey to attaining our Master in Early Childhood Studies.  Thank you for sharing your personal experiences, insights and support throughout this course.  As I read your blogs and discussions I have realised the depth of your passion and dedication to the early childhood field.  I hope that we will continue to collaborate throughout the rest of this journey as we become professionals in the field.  Congratulations to all of you for completing this first course and I wish you all the best in your future courses.


I would also like to thank Dr. Kien for challenging us to look beyond what we know and to focus on current issues, trends and needs of the early childhood field.  Likewise, I would like to thank her for sharing her knowledge, experiences, expertise and timely feedback as this contributed to us broadening our knowledgebase.

Again thanks to all and I look forward to working with you in future courses.

Code of Ethics

Selecting three ideals from the Code of Ethics was a very tasking activity as all of the ideals are rather important and quite relevant. However, I have settled on the following three.

The 3 Code of Ethics ideals from the NAEYC that are meaningful to me are:

1-1.3    To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities and potential of each child.

1-2.7    To share information about each child’s education and development with the families and to help them understand and appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood profession.

1-3A.2 To share resources with co-workers, collaborating to ensure that the best possible early childhood care and education program is provided.

The first ideal speaks of my ethical responsibility to the child.  Each child is different in their abilities, capabilities, learning styles as it relates to the completion of tasks.  Therefore, being aware of these individual differences empowers me to be able to group children to perform various tasks enabling them to learn from each other as the share their unique characteristics.  Also, knowledge of these unique qualities of individual children is critical to me being able to engage the ‘whole child’ and thus help him/her reach his/her full potential.

The second ideal focuses on my ethical responsibility to families.  Being able to share this relevant information with families will assist them in better understanding their child(ren)’s development and educational progress.  Additionally, I will be able to provide them with resources that will help them understand and appreciate the importance of the early years of a child as well as resources that they can use with their child(ren) at home to support what is done at the child care centre.  This will encourage a partnership with the family which will inevitably benefit the child.

The third idea speaks of my ethical responsibility to my colleagues.  Throughout this course I have learnt so much about the importance of resources and collaboration. Sharing my knowledge, experiences and skills with my colleague will help to exchange ideas, provide support and build partnerships.  Likewise, it will enable me to do some self reflection and evaluation.

Reference:

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrived from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Valuable ECE Resources for people who care!

As educators it is imperative that we keep abreast with new developments in an effort to provide the best quality education to our learners.  Below is a list of some valuable recources.



Course Resources
Multimedia:

• Laureate Education, Inc. (2010).[Multimedia Program]. Sectors of the early childhood field.      Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/ Walden/ EDUC/6005/04/mm/Sectors/Main.html

Articles:

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf 
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title.

• UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

Websites:

•  World Forum Foundation http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us

•  World Organization for Early Childhood Education http://www.omep-usnc.org/

•  Association for Childhood Education International http://acei.org/

Early Childhood Organizations:

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children's Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org/
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
• Voices for America's Children
  http://www.voices.org/
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Professional Journals

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education

Additional Resources

• A free website to teach children to read with phonics. For preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Exciting phonics games and online interactive books. www.starfall.com     

• A site that is good for anyone who has young children or who works with young children. It is interactive and children will enjoy it.  It will also provide additional links to other resources. www.berenstainbears.com

•  Child Care and Early Education Research Connections                             http://www.childcareresearch.org/childcare/welcome

• Silky Steps:  Access preschool book titles, search by theme                          http://www.silkysteps.com/storytime-book-titles.html