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Archive for January 2009


Posted Tuesday, January 27, 2009 by Cecelia Westby

Advocacy Now!
Now, more than ever, is our opportunity to advocate for young children and families through our state representatives and legislature.  President Obama and his team have asked for recommendations for federal early care and education as part of the economic stimulus plan.   The National Institute for Early Education Research (nieer.org) Co-directors Steve Barnett and Ellen Frede, made the following recommendations:

1.  INVEST in early learning programs that provide child care as part of the Economic Recovery Plan over two years:
o (1) $15 billion in construction for 0-5 facilities, and;
o (2) up to $3 billion in matching funds to states to maintain or increase their spending on early childhood education, 0-5;

2.  INCREASE the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Head Start/Early Head Start appropriations to provide cost-of-living increases, raise quality, expand coverage and fund collaborations.

3.  CREATE a presidential Early Learning Council to coordinate major federal programs for early learning and child care and to facilitate federal-state cooperation. (http://nieer.org/docs/index.php?DocID=250)

A Challenge to You:  Early Childhood Education Professionals!

We have many opportunities in our role to advocate for the care and education of young children and families through grassroots, critically important measures.  Some advocacy methods and step-by-step instructions can be found on the Ready4K website.  Examples include:

This is our chance, our opening to join with our early childhood colleagues and stand together for children.  We hope you Take this Challenge!

 
Posted Monday, January 19, 2009 by Tracy Tepley

Being a professional within the field of Early Childhood Education is multi-faceted. Here are just a few areas where your responsibilities need to be dispersed:

  • Your interactions with children 
  • Your interactions with co-workers and superiors 
  • Your interactions with families 
  • Your dress 
  • Your speech and behavior 
  • Your presentation of yourself outside of the work setting

We are responsible for helping to form young minds and develop children in all areas. It is an enormous amount of responsibility that should not be taken lightly nor should it be underappreciated. But if we are not presenting and viewing ourselves as professionals, how can we expect other to?

As Early Childhood Professionals we should always be looking for ways to improve ourselves. In fact this is the case with every profession. Not only are we educating children but we are lifelong learners ourselves. It is imperative that we are constantly learning and improving our skills by continually obtaining professional development and keeping up with new research and trends. The children are then the recipients and are able to benefit the most when we implement our improved knowledge and skills within the classroom.

You most likely have experienced already the importance that is placed upon professional development within the field of early childhood education. Many licensed facilities require that the employees obtain a certain amount of hours of professional development each year. Professional development can be obtained through multiple ways. Some of the most common ways are through in-services, workshops, conferences, obtaining higher degrees and certifications, and mentoring opportunities. Opportunities for professional development are available often times through your place of employment, higher education facilities, community programs, professional organizations, online, and many others. 

Why is Professional Development Important? In our ever changing world it is often said that the children we are educating are passing us up faster than we expected. Improvements in technology that are occurring practically every day are one of the influencing aspects. As the world continues to change so must we as professionals in order to keep up, or else we will find ourselves left behind. In the field of education it is not an option to remain the same. Research fully supports the idea that a well educated and developed educator begets high achievement in children.

 

 

 
Posted Monday, January 12, 2009 by Regina Jackson

Oh great, what am I going to do with these infants and toddlers?  If I do an art activity with them, they're going to put it in their mouth, throw it on the floor, rip it, crumple it or better yet waste paper by coloring only a small portion of the construction paper.

Have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind?  Then you're not alone.

So why bother doing art with infants and toddlers?  Infants and toddlers naturally are curious and want to explore the world around them.  Why not support their growth and development by providing simple everyday art experiences.  Developmentally appropriate art activities allow infants and toddlers to safely and freely explore materials through their senses.  When we provide a variety of materials for infants and toddlers to try things in their own way, we encourage learning.  So, get messy and have fun-- bring out the pudding (finger painting), gelatin mix (makes for nice water coloring), or come up with something new.
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Posted Sunday, January 04, 2009 by Tammy Hopps

Our Rasmussen College Early Childhood Education Program’s Mission Statement (2008) includes the phrase “We value diversity, inclusion, professionalism, collaboration and research-based practice.” (Rasmussen College, 2008).   

There’s the “R” word—RESEARCH.

Let’s face it—sometimes people mistake what we do as babysitting.  They do not understand that being an early childhood educator requires much more than simply caring for children.  To educate, we need to understand child development and the research-based theories that correspond to this crucial period in the lives of young children.  We need to be able to talk about the information and use it in our work.   

Ask yourself some hard questions.  Can I speak accurately about theories like Piaget and Vygotsky?  Do I keep up on the latest information about topics like brain development?  Do I know when research is needed, where and how to get it?  Do I cite sources correctly? 

Why is all of this important?  Do we REALLY need to have this information literacy skill?  Yes—and here’s why… Early Childhood Professionals support their viewpoints with credible evidence rather than focusing solely on feelings.  Part of being viewed as a professional means demonstrating the skills that professionals possess.  Information Literacy (research) is one of those skills. 

See yourself as a researcher.  Imagine the impact when you can respond to a parent’s question by stating “I did some research on the topic and found…”   Think of providing theoretical information to a coworker who needs help with a behavior guidance issue.  Be empowered by knowing that when you have a question about something, you can rely on your own research skills to find the answer.   

We know we are not babysitters.  We can make sure there is no mistaking what we do for anything other than professional, research-based practices by using the “R” (research) word as a foundation in our work.  

Refresh your memory by looking at our ECE Mission Statement from a previous BLOG (27 October 2008) .  Look for the "R" word--it's in there.