Congratulations!

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations on finishing the first course in the Early Childhood Studies Master's Degree Program. The accomplishment feels great, and I have enjoyed getting to know each of you through the discussions and blogs. Thank you for all your support and positive feedback!

-Mary

Ethical Responsibilities in the Early Childhood Field

The Division of Early Childhood and the National Association for the Education of Young Children have each developed a code of ethics to help guide early childhood professionals in their daily workplace attitudes and decisions. In this blog post I am going to describe three key factors from the codes of ethics that guide my daily work.

First key: the individual child's development.

The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment states, "Our paramount responsibility is to provide care and education in settings that are safe, healthy, nurturing, and responsive for each child" (NAEYC, 2005).

The Division for Early Childhood states, "We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curricula and learning environments to facilitate young children's development and learning" (DEC, 2009).

These two statements help me stay focused in my job. It is important to remember that everything we do should revolve around what is best for each individual child's development. Each child is unique and deserves to be understood, loved and nurtured.

Second key: the importance of family.

The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment states, "Because the family and early childhood practitioner have a common interest in the child's well-being, we acknowledge a primary responsibility to bring about communication, cooperation, and collaboration between home and early childhood program in ways that enhance the child's development (NAEYC, 2005)

The Division for Early Childhood states, "We shall empower families with information and resources so that they are informed consumers of services for their children" (DEC, 2009)

Partnering with families is of vital importance in early childhood education. Learning how to connect families with resources and keep communication strong and positive between the program and the families is one of my personal goals this year. I am working to identify and partner with community resources to assist parents, especially teen parents,  in meeting the needs of the children. I am fairly new to the field and feel that I have a lot to learn, but this is an area that I am focusing on.

Third key: collaboration with co-workers.

The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment states, "Based upon our core values, our primary responsibility to colleagues is to establish and maintain settings and relationships that support productive work and meet professional needs" (NAEYC, 2005)

By majoring in Early Childhood Studies with a specialization in Administration, Management, and Leadership at Walden University, I hope to gain strong leadership skills and help create a positive workplace for my colleagues. By working together as a team, my co-workers and I can better serve children and families that we work with.

References:

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf


The Division for Early Childhood. (2009, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from
http://www.dec-sped.org/

ECE Resource Collection

Below is a list of resources provided by Dr. Dartt, an instructor at Walden University for the Foundations in Early Childhood Studies course:

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• 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.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

• Article: 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
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
    http://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP's mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education International
    http://acei.org/
    Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

Selected 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/

Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

• 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 to check out:

• Brazelton Touchpoints Center
• http://www.brazeltontouchpoints.org/
• Ooey Gooey, Inc- A Silly Name, A Serious Message
• http://www.ooeygooey.com/
• Education World, Early Childhood Activity Bank
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/archives/activity.shtml
• Early Childhood News: The Professional Resource for Teachers and Parents
• http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/

Inspiring Quotes From the ECE Field

"Working in the early childhood field, we have the opportunity to shape a child's life for the better."

Sandy Escobido

Deputy Field Director

Los Angeles PreschoolAdvocacy Inititiative

California Community Foundation

 

"Our goal as caring professionals should be to join parents as allies in the system of care for their children."

T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. and Joshua Sparrow, M.D.

The Touchpoints Model of Development

 

"With the right approach, a plain white hat and a plate full of yarn spaghetti can contribute to a young child's cognitive development."

 

Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong

The Importance of Being Playful

My Family Web

Many people influence a child's growth and development. My parents, my brothers and sisters, neighbors, cousins, friends, and teachers are the people that I remember most. They are the people who taught me about love, friendship, communication- and more of those important life lessons that we all need in order to be successful in life. They are the ones who nurtured my self-esteem and built my confidence. They are the ones who taught me to persevere and never give up on things that are important to me. It is difficult to narrow the "web" of relationships down to a few people, but listed below are a few of the most influential people from my childhood.

 

My Dad: Thank you for being open to talk about anything, for being adventerous, silly and honest.

Sitting on top of dad with my three older siblings and one younger. I am the one sucking my thumb.

My Mom: Thank you for being patient, safe and predictable, understanding, respectful, selfless and just plain motherly.

My mom and I.

My Brother: Thank you for being my first friend and always making me laugh.

My older brother and sister playing at the beach.

I feel lucky to have experienced a loving, supportive and safe childhood. Parenting is not an easy job and all parents make mistakes, but I know that my parents did the best they could and always put me and my siblings  as first priority. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

"Sheila Rae, The Brave" by Kevin Henkes

"Sheila Rae, The Brave" by Kevin Henkes is a must read children's story. It is about two sister's that are mice. One sister is not afraid of anything and the other is very shy and timid, but the story is about how the timid, younger sister saves the day and shows the reader how to really be brave. "I am brave. I am fearless." is the motto of the book, and we all need a little bravery at times in our lives. The book is perfect for preschool age children. I remember reading this book to my daughter when she was a toddler, and she got so worried about one of the mice that I will never forget the empathy that she portrayed while I read the story. I love reading to children because it takes them to another time and place and teaches them about the important things like "how to be brave."

Welcome

I am an ECE high school teacher and director of the Roseburg High School Child Development Center in Roseburg, Oregon. I have a B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and have been teaching in Oregon for seven years. I enjoy my job very much. I am married and have one daughter who is five years old. We like the outdoors, and we stay busy fishing, gardening and playing outside. I am going back to school, and I am excited to learn new things that I can pass along to my students. This blog will be a place for me to post information that I am learning and connect with my colleagues. Welcome!