Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Through environmental scanning of the research of the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education, for over twelve years, stayed in front of emerging needs and issues in school improvement and student achievement, accumulating a valuable knowledge base linking policy and effective practice. From this, the Society was able to develop a visionary research agenda, providing independent analysis of government initiatives and promising local innovations across Canada. Each Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education study offered thoughtful analysis of the implications for policy and practice along with the findings of the research.

The most important work of Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education was field research in Canada’s public schools. With generous support from Canadian foundations, they commissioned a range of studies to expand the knowledge base about school change and effectiveness.  They studies were rigorously designed and reviewed, conducted independently, and their findings shared widely across Canada.

Sharing Web Resources

Most experts believe computers are not developmentally appropriate for children under the age of three (Elkind, 1998; Haugland, 1999; NAEYC, 1996). However, these same experts believe children three years old and older can begin to effectively explore and use computers. To evaluate whether computers are developmentally appropriate for children over age three, we need to determine the developmental needs of these children. Children this age are developmentally within Piaget’s preoperational stage. This means they are concrete learners who are very interested in using newly learned symbolic representation - speaking, writing, drawing (including maps and geometric figures) and using numbers. Further, children this age are extremely active and mobile. They often have difficulty sitting still; they need frequent changes in learning modalities; and they want a variety of physical experiences involving dance, physical play, climbing and sports. Preoperational children are also are continuing their mastery of language, and exploring various facets of social behavior.

Clearly many of these developmental needs match up well with appropriate use of technology in the classroom, especially exploration, manipulation of symbolic representation, matching alternative learning styles, and quickly changing learning modalities that individual students can control and pace to meet their individual needs. It is also a very powerful tool for students with specific learning disabilities.

The danger, however, is that computers will be used only to reinforce the national trend toward earlier and more academic skill acquisition, and that other important developmental needs will be ignored. Further, there is a danger that developmental needs not met through technology will be ignored or radically compromised: physical play, outdoor exploration of the community and of nature; art, music and dance; learning specific social skills and moral values, and experiencing diversity in a myriad of ways. Some also believe the easy access of information through computers will prevent our children from developing the persistence, ingenuity, tenacity, social adeptness and hard work needed to survive in the world (D. Wardle, nd). These are all realistic fears, based on the pressure of politicians and most parents, and the ever-present reality of very limited resources in most early childhood programs and elementary schools. And, finally, there is the reality that, all too often, computers are used in ways that are simply developmentally inappropriate - most often used for drill and practice purposes (Haugland, 1999). So, how can we implement computers into the curriculum in a positive way?

Use of technology in the early childhood program must not be a goal unto itself: the purpose is not to teach children how to use computers; they can do this as they get older, just as they can learn to drive a car later in their lives (Wardle, 1999). Appropriate use of technology in the classroom is to expand, enrich, implement, individualize, differentiate, and extend the overall curriculum. And, obviously, curricula goals change with age, and differ from program to program. If a goal of the literacy curricula for a certain age child is to learn to write personal journals, then the computer can naturally support that through writing software, digital cameras, and other methods.
Elkind, D. (1998). Computers for infants and young children. Child Care Information Exchange. 123, 44-46.

Haugland, S. W. (1999). What role should technology play in young children’s learning? Young Children, 54 (9), 26- 30).

Wardle, D. (Nd). Throw out the computers! Position statement on computers. Elka Park, NY: Plough Publishing House.

NAEYC (1996). Position statement on technology and young children - ages three through eight. Young Children, 51 (6), 11-16.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

My convocation was with one of my friend’s who is the supervisor at the Oliver Gospel Mission here in Columbia SC. Their mission is to see that the broken and homeless are sheltered, given the gospel of Jesus Christ, and equipped to live responsibly.   This area is, surrounded by corn and soybean farms that often employ migrant farm workers, is a few miles away from one of the most impoverished communities in the state. A state that historically has had a very high poverty rate.  We are fighting poverty by adhering to the ideology that poverty is self made by those individuals who refuse to work and can only be undone by deciding to work and the impoverished neighborhoods a short distance away is a public university that graduates about 800 teacher education students per year, 80% of which come from its surrounding communities. I often wondered what situated knowledge my students bring into teacher education courses regarding issues of poverty. How do they build understanding about poverty, what discourses influence their understanding and what impact might this have on their professional practice as teachers?  Understanding the discourses of poverty is crucial for teachers.

I learn that the poverty rate in our community is large then I was thinking. Some of the information I was told I could not post but it was very sad. The number of children I told me that com though his program was 259,429 (24.4%). As a teacher, what do we do? Early Heat Start was form to combat this problem but it seems as if the problem is keeps growing larger.   

I learned so much this week about poverty and our children.

Sharing Web Resources

The purpose for the Center for Child Care Workforce is to provide a voice for individuals that work in the child care field.  In addition, this site provides them with the most recent information on early childhood for personal and professional growth.  The mission of this site is to, formidable the nature and expanse, continues to be transformed by policies and practices that are, more often than not, conceived, developed and evaluated by people who are far removed from the actual work and day-to-day realities of working with children and shaping their young lives (CCW).

            This website is user friendly, it is structured in a way that anyone can use it even you. Yes you! Once entering the site you will see across the top six tabs that are window to other areas of the site. The first tab is the home tab; this will always bring you back to the home page of the site.  Next is the About Us tab, here you will find the mission statement and developed trainings. Following that you have Research and Resources tab; under that tab you will find Early Childhood facts, Wage Data, State Compensation Initiative, Special Populations, Parent Outreach, Licensing Requirements, Quality Rating Systems and Oral Language Development. Right next to that you will see a tab marked Take Action with in this tab you will find, Worthy Wages and Worthy Wage Tales. Fourth is the tab labeled Public Policy under this tab you will see Federal and State Initiatives. The last tab on this page is the News to Use under here is Latest News, Articles, Newsletters and Books.  This will guide you to each link on this side and you can learn some many things about the child care workforce.

            The information available on this site will help you with better understanding child care, resource to help you become a better early childhood educator and show you how to be a voice for your center and early childhood.  The best way to navigate your way in this site is to start with the mission of the site, then go from left to right to get the best results from the page.  Each tab is a guide for the next tab on the page to help you better grasps what the website has to offer.  

I’m going to highlight three areas on the site I will be News to Use, Research and Resources, and Take Action.  Under the tab News to Use they have great articles on early childhood that can assist you in many ways then one. Next is Research and Resources it gives very helpful tips, in addition to fact on child care. The third on is Take Action, this tab gives helpful information when it comes to Wages in child care.

For me this website opened my eyes to a lot of things going on in child care.  It let me know that I have a voice also and it should be heard.

Website:

Center for Child Care Workforce

 http://www.ccw.org/

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I emailed Haiti's Step by Step Program and is waiting on a reply from them. Once i get a reply I will post it on my blog page for the class to read. I chose them because I know that they are still trying to rebuild from the earthquake. Reading about this program gave me and idea that i will be taking back to my center and we will be sending them books in the spring.

Haiti
Step by Step Program / Tipa Tipa
Dominique Hudicourt
Email: tipatipa@hainet.net

I was able to pull information from each of these site to use to better my center. Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families is helpful because my center is expanding that unit so it gave us some up to date information to us. I post all them on my blog so that other people will be able to develop connections with out key players in the field of education


National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencieshttp://www.naccrra.org/  (Newsletter: http://capwiz.com/naccrra/mlm/signup/ )
Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Familieshttp://www.zerotothree.org/   (May have to use http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ )
(Newsletters:
http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and
http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )

National Black Child Development Institutehttp://nbcdi.org/
(Newsletter: http://nbcdi.org/support/sign-up-for-nbcdi-newsletters/ )
National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/ 
(Newsletter: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php )

The National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/ 
(Review also the position statements: http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements )
Pre[K]Now: A Campaign of the Pew Center on the States
http://www.preknow.org/ (Newsletter: http://www.preknow.org/signupform.cfm )
Harlem Children’s Zone
http://www.hcz.org/  (Newsletter: http://support.hcz.org/site/PageServer?pagename=signup )
National Head Start Association
http://www.nhsa.org/  
(Newsletter: http://www.nhsa.org/news_and_advocacy/advocacy/legislative_eupdate )

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators
http://www.naecte.org/ (Newsletter: http://www.naecte.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=29 )
The Division for Early Childhood
http://www.dec-sped.org/  (Review also the position statements: http://www.dec-sped.org/About_DEC/Position_Statements_and_Concept_Papers )
Children’s Defense Fundhttp://www.childrensdefense.org/ 
(Newsletter: http://www.childrensdefense.org/newsroom/enewsletters/ )
Center for the Child Care Workforcehttp://www.ccw.org/ 
(Newsletter: http://www.ccw.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=78&Itemid=72 )
Society for Research in Child Developmenthttp://www.srcd.org/ 
(Newsletter: http://www.srcd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=238&Itemid=543 )