Sharing Web Resources

The website I chose was www.naeyc.org, The National Association for the Education of Young Children.  This site is full of wonderful articles, links, ideas, and other information for early childhood professionals.  “The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) was founded in 1926; it is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, and a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional affiliates.  NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.” (Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org) 

When you first pull up the site, there are two rows of links across the top that cover everything from the vision of the association, to membership information, to resource links.  At the top, there is a “Conferences” link that gives information about the NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo held every year.  There are also 4 columns down the front that highlight important news and events, periodicals, and quick links to other early childhood sites.   My favorite link under the “Resources” tab at the top of the screen is the “play” link.  It has information about the value of play in the early childhood classroom.  What I love about this link is that is has 3 smaller links within it.  Links to play information for parents, teachers, and my personal favorite, play information for policymakers.  There are articles and excerpts from books discussing the importance of play in the classroom and ideas for integrating standards into engaged learning and play.