Leigh's Little Life: April 2011

NAEYC

I.1.4 - To appreciate the vulnerability of children and their dependence on adults.

I feel like nowadays children are expected to grow up so fast and become mini adults. We are not letting our students lead the learning by their discovery and curiosity anymore.

P.1.5 - We shall use appropriate assessment systems, which include multiple sources of information, to provide information on children's learning and development.

Standardized testing is not the only way to make sure a child is progressing in school. It makes me sad that one test taken in 2 or 3 days is used to determine how a child has learned throughout the entire school year. We need to find other avenues for students to show us what they have learned.

P-3C.4 - We shall inform employees whose performance does not meet program expectations of areas of concern and, when possible, assist in improving their performance.

Part of the reason our school system is failing is because poor performing teachers are allowed to stay in the classroom with no training or assistance to help them improve. It frustrates me when I see a teacher who is struggling and they are receiving the same scores on their evaluation as I am. We need to start being honest and help teachers improve in the areas they are lacking.

DEC

* We shall honor and respect our responsibilities to colleagues while upholding the dignity and autonomy of colleagues and maintaining collegial interprofessional and intraprofessional relationships.

We are teaching in frustrating times. I have seen the frustration trickle down to professional relationships with colleagues. We need to remember, we are all in this together. We need to help each other not fight against each other.

* We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services.

We need to make sure new teachers are ready for this demanding profession. Mentoring programs need to continue past the first year of teaching.

* We shall recognize and respect the dignity, diversity, and autonomy of the families and children we serve.

We need to be careful that we do not rush to judge the families and kids we work with. We need to look at them with an open mind and heart. Things are always as they seem.

Part 1: 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/dapNAEYC. (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://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 May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdfNote:

Part 2:

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://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php

World Organization for Early Childhood Education http://www.omep-usnc.org/Read about OMEP’s mission. Association for Childhood Education Internationalhttp://acei.org/about/

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

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