Thank you for your comments and support

This is my last week in this class before moving on to my next course. I am greatly appreciative for this blogging experience and look forward to future blogging. These experiences have greatly contributed to my passion for early childhood education. Thank you!! And wish everyone well in all they do!

My Commitment to the Field of Early Childhood Care and Education

Throughout my early childhood professional career, I have used the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and statement of commitment as my foundation when establishing relationships with children and families.  ‘’The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct offers guidelines for responsible behavior and sets forth a common bases for resolving the principle ethical dilemmas encountered in early childhood care and education.  The statement of commitment is not part of the Code what is a person acknowledgement of an individual’s willingness to embrace the distinctive values and moral obligations of the field of early childhood care and education’’ (NAEYC, 2005).    The standards of ethical behavior in early childhood care and education are committed to the core values that have been established throughout the history of early childhood development.  I share the same commitment to the field early childhood care and education as the NAEYC.  We are committed to

·         Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle

·         Base our work on knowledge of how child 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 colleagues)

·         Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues

·         Recognize that and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect

One of my favorite commitments is ‘’ Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle’’ because accepting childhood development as a separate entity in the human life cycle is vital to being able to understand children as a whole throughout their various stages of development as well as allows us to better create environments to maximize their development.  My commitment to  ‘’ Recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture, community, and society’’ has contributed to my passion for early childhood because I strongly believe as early childhood professionals we need to understand the foundation of each child.  The foundation of a child is deeply rooted in their relationships with their family and community. Understanding these various relationships in children’s lives allows us as early childhood educators to create a learning environment that reflects the needs of the family and community.  In conclusion, I think it is crucial to ‘’Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues’’ because we all our unique and can learn from each other’s individual learning experiences.  In addition, when working with children and families it is important to remember that your way may not always be the best solution for children and families, but you should always be presented to the group with the children and families’ best interest in mind. 

Reference

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Early Childhood Resources

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://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/78618/CRS-CW-6284751/educ6005_readings/naeyc_dap_position_statement.pdf
  
• 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://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
  
• 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. 

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 video 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/about/
    Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.

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/main/about.cfm
  
• 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//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/
  
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Some Personal Favorite Early Childhood Websites:

http://www.earlychildhood.com/


http://www.ecementor.org/

http://caeyc.org/main/page/navhome