A Note of Thanks and Support

The benefit of online learning is that we have the opportunity to learn from each other.  All of the blogs in my group have benefited me professionally. As a result of this, I would like to thank all of the individuals in group 3 for allowing me to learn and grow professionally from reading your blog posts.  I would like to extend a special thanks to Cheryl and Rebecca for providing with useful information through their blogs. Your blogs have allowed me to become a better writer and have diversified my knowledge about the field of early childhood.

Thanks Again,

Mary

Examining Code of Ethics

There are several ideals contained in the NAEYC Code of ethics that are meaningful to me. However, three of the most meaningful are as follows:

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.

This ideal is meaningful to me and applicable in my professional life because of am one of the individuals that provide children with the tools needed to in order to meet this ideal.

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.

This ideal is meaningful to me and applicable in my professional life because all of my social stories are written in the English language and presented in a manner to the children in the type of language or symbolism that they know and understand.

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.

All of my work in my professional life in founded on this ideal.  The main reason as to why I write social stories is because knowledge about the practice and research studies have proven how effective social stories are to children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Growing Your Collection of Resources

There are several resources that we have utilized in class this week that are very informative and interesting to anyone working in the field of early childhood.

The first course resource is a video that introduces those working in the field to the resources of early childhood. This is produced by Walden University and titled The Resources of Early Childhood

http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4603357&Survey=1&47=2983454&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1.

The first group of course resources pertains to position statements and Influential practices in the field of early childhood.  The links to these resources are featured below:

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved December 4, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved December 4, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved December 4, 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 December 4, 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 December 4, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved December 4, 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 December 4, 2010, from http://www.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 December 4, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~images/pdfs/snapshots/snap33.pdf

The second set of course resources pertains to global support for child rights and well being. The links to these resources are featured below:

•  UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved December 4, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
   

• World Forum Foundation http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
  
  
• World Organization for Early Childhood Education http://www.omep.org.gu.se/English/about_OMEP/
  
  
• Association for Childhood Education Internationalhttp://acei.org/about/
  

The third set of course resources are important organizations that are important to the field of early childhood. The links to these resources are featured below:

• National Association for the Education of Young Childrenhttp://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhoodhttp://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Familieshttp://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTEDhttp://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letterhttp://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institutehttp://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conferencehttp://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//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
• 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.preknow.org/
• Voices for America’s Children http://www.voices.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=22807
• The Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu/
     

The final set of course resources are personally recommended. In our discussion this week, the topic of early childhood development and education in Latin American countries came up. I decided to conduct more research on this area in order to identify some additional sources.

The first in an article titled “Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean” by Norbert Shady (2006). It can be retrieved at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=923222.

The second resource is an article titled “Chile Grows with You Policy Promotes Early Childhood Development” by Sabine Dolan (2006). It can be retrieved at http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/chile_36227.html.

The final resource is a book titled The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin American and the  Caribbean by Vegas & Santibanez (2010). It can be retrieved at http://books.google.com/books?id=A2fuYBUVPgQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=early+childhood+education+latin+america&hl=en&ei=W6f6TMGkN839nAfUmqXICg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=early%20childhood%20education%20latin%20america&f=false.