Saturday, December 18, 2010

NAEYC and DEC codes of ethics

National Association of Education of Young Children and the Divison of Early Childhood 
Both organizationsare commited to the advancement and development of children starting from birth. Reviewing both codes of conduct I will only discuss three points: one from DEC and the other two from NAEYC.

DEC -
     Enhancement of Children's and Families' Quality of Lives
    
     2. We shall recognize our responsibility to improve the developmental outcomes of children and to
     provide services and supports in a fair and equitable manner to all families and children.

I am personally appreciative of this portion of the code because of my best friend's daughter. Moments after she was born, she began to have ceasars that left her without normal speech, and the use of her body as a normal child. Although her mind was that of a normal child, it was EC professionals that were dedicated to her developement that assisted in preparing her to attend grade school with the general population of students. She became a straight A student (with a specialized computer and nurses aid) until she graduated from high school with honors. She has even now decided to move out. EC professionals were her first encounter with formal education.

NAEYC -
     Ethical Responsebilites to Colleagues
 —To share resources with co-workers, collaborating
       I-3A.2
       to ensure that the best possible early childhood
       care and education program is provided.

      Responsibilities to Employees
    —To encourage and support continual development 
      I-3C.4
      of employees in becoming more skilled and
      knowledgeable practitioners.

As an administrator these two portions of the NAEYC code stand out for me. Before a child enters the classroom our staffing must be prepared to assist him/her. At one time our center had experienced serious communication issues between the staff members and also between the administration to the staff members. Teachers would carry their materials around and wouldn't share their expertise to assist others. Other instinses were that administration would pass information to the staff but the staff members wouldn't receive it and vice versa. The entire atmosphere of the center was affected by this.  It is important that all members of the facility cooperate with each other to complete the goals.

Before this class I felt that each teacher was reponsible for thier own advancement.  My thinking was off centered as I was solely relying on them to become more skillful.  As I look back over the years, I can see where this mistake may have caused us to lose good teachers. I believe our turnover rate of teachers can be deminished if we help guide teachers to achieve greater skills in the field.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Resources for the Early Childhood Professional











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.


Journals/Magazines
  • YC Young Children
  • Childhood
  • Journal of Child & Family Studies
  • Child Study Journal
  • Multicultural Education
  • Early Childhood Education Journal
  • Journal of Early Childhood Research
  • International Journal of Early Childhood
  • Early Childhood Research Quarterly
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Studies
  • Maternal & Child Health Journal
  • International Journal of Early Years Education
I use these resources monthly as administrator:
Illinois State Board of Education

Illinois State Board of Education/nutrition

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
http://www.state.il.us/dcfs/daycare/index.shtml

Added throughout the course
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/council/

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Quotes from Early Childhood Advocates

Dr. Bredekamp: 
If the first three years of life are deprived in terms of stimulation and interaction with warm, nurturing human beings, it's going to be real tough for the child to acquire the depth and breadth of verbal language needed to build reading abilities.

But even teachers with degrees don't necessarily have preparation...

Doug Lemov: 
When you tell a student to pay attention, does the student know that that means sit up, get your eyes on me, and put your feet on the floor?

because teaching is, I think, the most important job in the world, and it's such hard work. 


Marcy Whitebook and Laura Sakai:
The rate of turnover among teaching staff influences the quality of care that centers provide, and affects children’s social-emotional and language development.
 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Personal Childhood Web

My personal childhood web starts with my parents. I look and sometimes act just like my father.  His given name is J.E. and he named me Jayme. As a child I never imagined that I would be in his profession, traveling and preaching.


J.E. and Tecola Moore.
My parents at their 45th appreciation dinner given by the church he pastors.
My parents at the national church convention supporting the youth rally.  Dad was too cool to put on the T-shirt. Previously he would put on the t-shirt over his dress shirt and tie, and then put back on the suit coat. 

My Dad started pastoring when I was 2 years old. I don't have many pictures of him at home relaxing or doing anything else but church work. Dad is the presiding bishop of our church international affiliation. He is also now working on his second doctorate (online for this one). He expected us to watch him and follow in his steps of constant self improvement with higher learning.


 Mom with her name sake, my niece Tecola.
After me and my siblings had all started grade school, my Mom went to college and became a teacher. She won several teacher of the year awards for her work and her students' test scores.  She is very graceful and lady like.  But as children we called her 'the hulk' (behind her back); because you wouldn't like her when she was angry. :-D 

My Mom juggled full time college, housework, a part time job, church 3 days a week, 5 children and a spoiled husband until she graduated. She is a strong and wise woman.



My maternal grandma, Colena Williams
Grand seemed more like an aunt to me since she was pregnant at the same time my Mom was pregnant with me.  She is still a sassy lady in her 80's.  Most of my time spent with her was at church and she taught me all about missions and helping the less fortunate.

These are my brothers and sisters (Greg, Robin, James and Edyth). Yes, we are stair step children. At the time of this picture my Mom was pregnant with my baby sister (bottom picture).  I am the eldest and often watched after my siblings as much as I could.  While watching after them, I learned organizational and administrative skills. My Dad made sure that we had sports toys.  I was the one teaching my siblings to play in the yard, baseball, kick ball, volley ball (against the house) and so forth. Imagine my horror the day 2 of my siblings decided to jump off the roof to try flying (Robin and James).         

My baby sister (Edy) and I doing what we do best together, having lots of laughs.




Saturday, November 13, 2010

English As A Second Language

The neighborhood of our center is vastly changing. Staff was concerned when we added a client who spoke no English. She came to N. America when she was pregnant.  Although we have Spanish speaking teachers the concern was that the toddler would not respond to them as her environment was only Spanish speaking.  However, last week all of the staff were encouraged that their efforts of assisting the child to adjust in the classroom environment is profitable.  She is now responding to English without a problem and trying to repeat words and singing with the class. It is going to be interesting to watch her development.

Friday, November 12, 2010

A site that has almost everything a person needs in early childhood .....

Founded in January 1991, Child Care Resource & Referral serves Will, Grundy, Kendall and Kankakee counties as part of the Illinois Statewide CCR&R System of IDHS. CCR&R is a not-for-profit agency providing child care information and services to families, child care providers and employers.
We hope that our information is helpful to you. Child Care Resource & Referral strives to ensure that all clients are satisfied with our service. Please contact us if you are unhappy with our service or have a problem with any of our education materials, website, or staff.
Phone: 815-741-1163 
http://www.childcarehelp.com/