Thankful Appreciation

At this time I am feeling so thankful for each of you in my first Walden University course. You have furthered my thinking and have made me realize that I am a professional in this great field of early childhood education. I am thankful for all I have learned and will continue to learn. Thank you for making this course such a wonderful online learning experience.

Examining Codes of Ethics

I spent time looking at NAEYC’s Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment. While doing so I felt like I was being validated in my actions and inspired as well. The first ideal that struck me was I-1.1 – “to be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.” This one ideal is what has driven me to continue my education and what makes me look to the future and consider getting my PhD.

I-1.2 reads, “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”. This I feel is my main goal daily. Every lesson plan, every situation, every child is taken into consideration. My struggle when is comes to this ideal is making sure my staff are also on the same page as I am, and that the children we serve are getting the best we can offer.

The one ideal I feel that my program hits out of the park is I-1.10 “to ensure that each child’s culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and valued in the program.” I know what it can be like to feel like you are not valued in your class or your culture is less. We ensure that this particular ideal is achieved and with the help of parents we are very successful with our outcome.

The last ideal I would like to address is one I feel I need to work more on. I-1.6 – “to use assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purposes for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children.” My biggest professional struggle at this time is finding an assessment tool that works for the children, our program and myself. There just does not seem to be an assessment tool that provides me the feedback I am looking for. As of now I am still searching.  

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved February 17,   

     2012, from

     http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Growing My Collection of Resources

This is a list of resources I find very helpful and some I use on a daily basis. 

As new information a becomes available or new resources that come to light,

I will be updating this list. 

National Association for Family Child Care http://nafcc.org/

Foundation of Early Learning http://www.earlylearning.org/       

Child Care Resources http://www.childcare.org/     

The Montessori Foundation http://www.montessori.org/ 

NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children form birth through age 8. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap


NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf


World Organization for Early Childhood Education 
http://www.omep-usnc.org/
 


National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/ 


The Division for Early Childhood
http://www.dec-sped.org/


Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/


National Child Care Association 
http://www.nccanet.org/


National Institute for Early Education Research 
http://nieer.org/


Journal of Child & Family Studies

Multicultural Education

Early Childhood Education Journal

Journal of Early Childhood Research