Final Blog Assignment

           Over the last eight weeks, we have explored a variety of websites, listened to podcasts, fostered and shared our professional growth about international early childhood. These resources have enriched my professional development and broadened my view of the early childhood field. 

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development included: 

• different options available to support young children and their families, therefore, support and organizations should be universal 
• cultural differences
• different expectations

One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations is to continue spreading awareness about young children and their families and the importance of expecting mothers to have the care and support they need to provide to their baby. 

Thank you to my colleagues who have supported me throughout this class, Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field through the discussion boards and blog posts and leaving positive and encouraging responses. I wish you the best of luck in the next course and  I hope you use this valuable information to make a difference in the lives of young children and their families!

Professional Goals, Hopes and Dreams

       Cultivating mutually fulfilling professional relationships with colleagues is a process that offers opportunities to share hopes and dreams, ask questions, share information, and support each other in times of professional challenges.

         My professional hopes and dreams is to help young children and their families be successful by supporting them academically, building positive relationships, being a role model and providing resources to support different each families diverse needs.

It is important as teachers to provide high quality services to all children no matter their background and to continue learning and growing in the field of early childhood to use updated strategies and practices in your classroom.

         In the county I work for, we have mandatory professional development at the beginning of the school year before the students start and throughout the school year that is built into the school calendar. The county also offers continuing professional development courses that you can sign up for to focus on essential skills and knowledge to enrich your performance and influence as a professional.Some course topics consist of Differentiating Instruction to Accommodate Learning Styles, Teaching Students with Special Needs, Early Childhood Literacy for ELLs, and Best Practices in Classroom Management: Increasing Academic Engagement.

Sharing Web Resources

Over the last six weeks, I have had the opportunity to navigate through the organization called Zero to Three.

I followed some of the outside links that I have not yet explored and they lead to more resources that are available to learn about how powerful early connections are in every child’s life. Zero to Three has advocacy tools available on different topics including strengthening the Infant-Toddler Child care workforce, early head start social graphics, early head start talking points,  research on early head start improves outcomes for children and families,  early head start policy recommendations and why does quality care matter?.

I thoroughly searched one area on the site called parenting. In this section, Zero to Three has resource, tools and information available to empower parents and help them in developing their own ways to promote their children’s growth and development. Within this topic, there are several articles on different topics that provide valuable information. Topics include:  preparing for parenthood, fatherhood, military and veteran families support, positive parenting approaches, parent favorites, discipline and limit setting (Zero to Three, 2020)

The website contains information that adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education. Under the section called policy, Zero to three has a topic called Early Childhood Systems where it discusses the importance of children having access to high quality, reasonable child care and education, health and family support services (Zero to Three, 2020).

This past week, I have learned new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field. According to Zero to Three, programs are only successful and strong when they have a supportive system (2020). Therefore, in order for early childhood to provide high quality services, states need to provide inclusive, organized, well-funded systems of high-quality services to expecting mothers and their families through 8 years old to promote success in school and life (Zero to Three, 2020).

Zero to Three. (2020). Early Childhood Systems. Retrieved from https://www.zerotothree.org/policy-and-advocacy/early-childhood-systems

Issues related to excellence and equity in the early childhood field

New Insights and Information learned: 

According to Harvard University, consistent gaps continue in education in regards to SES worldwide. (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2020). By the age of five, there are about 200 million children who fail to reach their full potential ( Center of the developing child at Harvard University, 2020). 

Additional information about issues of equity and excellence I have acquired from international sources:

Excellence and equity of Care and Education for Children and Families Part 1, I found it to be very interesting. It was eye-opening to hear Ms. Vasquez talk about standards in the early childhood environments, issues of school readiness and achievement gaps. As teachers, it is critical to understand child development and how to implement strategies and lesson plans to support children's success in early childhood. Assessments are critical to understand where a child is and to see what the next is in scaffolding, planning and how to support their development and learning (Laureate Education, Inc., (2011).

References: 

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/ 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Issues and trends in the early childhood field. Excellence and equity of care and education for children and families- Part 1. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

Sharing Web Resources continued

Zero to Three is relevant to my current professional development in my ways. The organization has resources available to caregivers, professionals, and individuals who support young children and their families. I find the resources very beneficial and informative. 

Zero to Three has a designated area called Policy and Advocacy which supports how you can take action to support critical connections for infants and toddlers (Zero to Three, 2020). There is an article on Child Welfare which discusses how young babies are vulnerable to the effects of maltreatment and the effects of moving between different foster care placements (Zero to Three, 2020). 

The website adds to my understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support positive social change through the early childhood field in a variety of ways. They have a topic on brain development that informs readers on how to make healthy brain connections with your infant every day (Zero to Three, 2020). It also discusses facts about brain development between birth to five years old and how the brain is influenced by many factors such as relationships, experiences and the environment ( Zero to Three, 2020). 

Reference

Zero to Three. (2020). Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1685-how-should-organizations-think-about-cultural-sensitivity