Thursday, October 25, 2012

You Are My Sunshine

I often get caught up in the business management duties of operating a Child Development Center and I  and forget to enjoy the real reason I come to work every day... the children's laughter, smiles, hugs and engaging with them in play!
I came to work one morning, after having a very difficult and stressful week, to find this sign posted on my door....
It made me realize that my priorities are completely wrong!  I would come to work and immediately feel that I had so much to do...mounds of paperwork to complete, emails to answer, business to attend to.  I felt trapped by my office and my role as the Center Director.  I forgot my passion for early childhood because I neglected to make that my focus!  I needed to start my day with interacting with the kids and engaging the teachers!  I've made a commitment to now begin my day with going into every class and greeting the teachers and the children.  Today was the beginning of the new plan... and it was a fantastic day!!!  I started my day with one of my beautiful toddlers coming up to me and lifting her arms up to be held and cuddled.  I got "air kisses" from the kids and played a quick game of peek-a-boo with a baby.  I was given a paper ghost a child made special for my office and was given the opportunity to help other preschoolers resolve a conflict over a toy.  Sure it took some time away from my other duties to do this, but I was energized and excited to go back to my office and dig in because what I do everyday impacts my team, these children and our families.  They are my sunshine and make me happy every day!!  :)
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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Early Childhood Professionals Whom I Admire and Have Learned From:


Renatta Marie Cooper, MA, currently serves as Education Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care. She is also a Pasadena Unified School District Board Member.

Ms. Cooper's expertise in early childhood development and education comes from a career in academic leadership, teaching, research and active participation in organizations related to Early Childhood Education. At Pasadena's Pacific Oaks College, she was founding director of the Jones/Prescott Institute-Hixon Center for Early Childhood Education. She has taught in ECE settings that included work with adolescent parents, abusive parents and their children, and migrant families. She has published and frequently presents on a wide range of topics, including "Play and the Acculturation Process" and "Cultural Sensitivity in Infant and Toddler Care."
Information Retrieved from: Walden University Website

Louise Derman-Sparks, Professor Emeritus, Pacific Oaks College, is the author and coauthor of several books, including Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children (National Association for the Education of Young Children); Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach (Teachers College Press); In Our Own Way: How Anti-Bias Work Shapes Our Lives and Future Vision, Current Work: Lessons from the Culturally Relevant Anti-Bias Education Leadership Project (Redleaf Press), and numerous articles and book chapters. Her most recent book, coauthored with Dr. Patricia Ramsey, is What If All the Kids Are White?: Anti-bias/ Multicultural Education with Young Children and Families (Teachers College Press).

Ms. Derman-Sparks speaks, conducts workshops, and consults widely throughout the United States and internationally. A former member of the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (1998-2002), she currently serves on the National Board of Crossroads Ministry: An Interfaith & Community- Based Anti-Racism Training Organization and on the National Diversity Advisory Council of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  
Information Retrieved from: Walden University Website

Sue Bredekamp 
retrieved from High Scope.org:
http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=552
Early childhood education specialist from Washington, DC, who serves as a consultant on topics such as early literacy, curriculum, teaching, and professional development. From 1981-1998, she served as Director of Accreditation and Professional Development at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She is the primary author of NAEYC’s highly influential and best-selling publication Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, the 1987 and 1997 editions, and co-editor of the 2008 revision.

From 2007-2008, Dr. Bredekamp served on the Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. Her professional development work included serving as NAEYC’s liaison to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

Dr. Bredekamp is author of numerous books and articles related to standards for professional practice and professional development. She served as a consultant to the Head Start Bureau from 1999-2000. Dr Bredekamp holds a Ph.D in early childhood education from the University of Maryland.

Her professional experience includes teaching and directing child care and preschool programs for children ages 2 through 6, training child care personnel at a community college, and serving on the faculty of the Human Development/Childhood Education Program at Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC.
 
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Code of Ethical Conduct in Early Childhood Education

In examining the Code of Ethics for both the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children and also those taken from NAEYC Position Statement, I had a hard time deciding which to focus on.  All of these important codes and commitments work together and are equally important for the professional treatment of children.  I chose to summarize my thoughts on the codes listed for both the treatment of children and families, as well as share the values and commitments of my organization.

 Excerpts taken from the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment (April 2005) and the DEC Code of Ethics (August 2009)
NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct:  http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf
DEC Code of Ethics:
http://www.dec-sped.org/uploads/docs/about_dec/position_concept_papers/Code%20of%20Ethics_updated_Aug2009.pdf

As an early childhood professional, I commit to:
• Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle
• Base our work on knowledge of how children develop and learn
• Appreciate and support the bond between the child and family
• Recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture,* community, and society
• Respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each individual (child, family member, and colleague)
• Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues 
• Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect 

 My Thoughts: Early childhood education can not be viewed as a one size fits all approach - each child is unique and comes from diverse backgrounds and experiences.  We must first meet children where they are in their development and base our curriculum and teaching to incorporate their individual needs, interests, and backgrounds.  We must collaborate with parents and build bidirectional relationships with them that are based on mutual respect and considerate of their familial, cultural, ethnic, and social-economic needs.  We must provide safe, healthy, high-quality care that is developmentally appropriate for each child. 

 Our Ethical Responsibilities to Children (Ideals reflect the aspirations of professionals):
I-1.1—To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.
I-1.2—To base program practices upon current knowledge and research in the field of early childhood education, child development, and related disciplines, as well as on particular knowledge of each child.
I-1.3—To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.
I-1.4—To appreciate the vulnerability of children and their dependence on adults.
I-1.5—To create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development and that respect their dignity and their contributions.
I-1.6—To use assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purposes for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children.
I-1.7—To use assessment information to understand and support children’s development and learning, to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services.
I-1.8—To support the right of each child to play and learn in an inclusive environment that meets the needs of children with and without disabilities.
I-1.9—To advocate for and ensure that all children, including those with special needs, have access to the support services needed to be successful.
I-1.10—To ensure that each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and valued in the program.
I-1.11—To provide all children with experiences in a language that they know, as well as support children in maintaining the use of their home language and in learning English.
I-1.12—To work with families to provide a safe and smooth transition as children and families move from one program to the next. 
My Thoughts:  In order to advocate for the ethical treatment of children as outlined by NAEYC and DEC, we must be willing to continue to develop ourselves professionally by staying informed of recent research and issues in the the early childhood field and by participating in continuing education.  We should collaborate with other professionals in the field and advocate for children's rights.  It is our responsibility to maintain the "appropriate national, state, or other credential or licensure requirements" (DEC, 2009).  It is our responsibility to build high quality programs that are based on meeting all domains of child development: Cognitive, Social-Emotional, Physical and Language.  We must use "individually and appropriate assessment strategies" to assess each child individually and use this knowledge to build a program that meets and supports each unique learner.

 Our Ethical Responsibilities to Families:
I-2.1—To be familiar with the knowledge base related to working effectively with families and to stay informed through continuing education and training.
I-2.2—To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.
I-2.3—To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program. 

I-2.4—To listen to families, acknowledge and build upon their strengths and competencies, and learn from families as we support them in their task of nurturing children.
I-2.5—To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language, customs, and beliefs.
I-2.6—To acknowledge families’ childrearing values and their right to make decisions for their children.
I-2.7—To share information about each child’s education and development with families and to help them understand and appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood profession.
I-2.8—To help family members enhance their under- standing of their children and support the continuing development of their skills as parents.
I-2.9—To participate in building support networks for families by providing them with opportunities to interact with program staff, other families, community resources, and professional services. 

 My thoughts: Families are our greatest resource and are essential to the success of the child.  We must welcome their participation in the program and find ways to share information with each other regarding what is best for the child.  Mutual trust and respect is built when we "assure that families receive individualized, meaningful, and relevant services responsive to their beliefs, values, customs, languages and culture" (DEC, 2009).  We can familiarize ourselves with outside resources that are available that can aid in the support of the family when needed.


I am very blessed to work for a wonderful organization that lives by values and ethics that are very similar to these stated by NAEYC.  All employees of Intermountain Healthcare are taught to exhibit these values and commitments in their interactions with customers, patients, families, coworkers and community members.  It is something that each employee is accountable for and lives by as part of their job description.  In fact, these values and commitments are used as part of every employee's performance evaluation and they must account to how well they live these values and commitment in their profession.  I know that part of the reason the Intermountain Child Development Centers are so professional and high quality is that our team strives to honor these values and commitments with our children, our families, our coworkers and others that aid us in our service to children.

 Intermountain Healthcare Values:
  • Mutual respect. "We treat others the way we want to be treated."
  • Accountability. "We accept responsibility for our actions, attitudes and mistakes."
  • Trust. "We can count on each other."
  • Excellence. "We do our best at all times and look for ways to do it even better."

The Intermountain Healthcare Commitments:
*I help you feel safe, welcome and at ease
*I listen to you with sensitivity and respond to your needs
*I treat you with respect and compassion
*I keep you informed and involved
*I take responsibility to solve problems
*I ensure our team works with you

To learn more please visit Intermountain Healthcare at:




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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Early Childhood Resources

Resources in the field of Early Childhood Studies:


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