Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I have chosen to follow is Early Childhood Australia (ECA). ECA is an Australian early childhood advocacy organization.  From their website (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/) I found the following information:

OUR VISION: Every young child is thriving and learning

'Our role in achieving this vision is to be an effective advocate for young children and a champion for quality outcomes in early childhood education and care'

From reading the latest ECA VOICE newsletter I learned about a Productivity Commission inquiry which is connecting with the Australian early childhood learning community. They are looking at ways of achieving a more productive community. Some factors related to early childhood education included…

·         Quality programs best support children and the outcomes continue until adulthood

·         Early childhood education allows parents to work which increases workforce participation

The goal of the ECA is to reach 90% early childhood education attendance by the year 2020. They are also working to supplement out of pocket costs to low income families and increase subsidies for middle class families. If you’d like to read more about these issues you can view this newsletter at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Voice_1401_screen.pdf

Good news! This week I received an e-mail from Éva Izsák from the International Step by Step Association (ISSA). She said the following:

I will get back to you soon with details of your Friends of ISSA registration and let you know as soon as I have a contact person regarding your questions.

I am really looking forward to connecting with an early childhood professional from the ISSA (probably from the Netherlands). Good luck to my colleagues this week as you’re making international connections as well!

Establishing Professional Contacts

Monday marked the first day of my fourth course in my Master's program. EDUC 6162 is called Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field. One of my first assignments is to begin making connections with early childhood professionals and organizations around the world. Here's a quick glimpse of my progress this week...

Thursday, March 6th:

• Through the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children I found resources for the International Step by Step Association (ISSA) which originated in the Netherlands.

• I sent an e-mail to membership@issa.nl requesting to have access to the ISSA website and to become a member. I also asked if there were any early childhood professionals that would like to connect with me via e-mail.

• Sent an e-mail to the Director of the Network Early Childhood Program with a request to connect through e-mail. This e-mail, unfortunately, was sent back to me saying "delivery to the recipient failed." 

• Subscribed to the National Institute for Early Childhood Research (NIEER) online newsletter 

Friday, March 7th: 

•  Subscribed to the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) newsletter. I also received an e-mail confirming my subscription 
• Subscribed to Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Web Watch

• From the UNICEF website I found contact information for representatives in the Philippines. I sent an e-mail asking if someone would consider connecting with me through e-mail. 
• Through the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children website I found information about a school called Ajoke International School in Nigeria. I e-mailed the director asking if she would answer a few of my questions through e-mail. 

It is now Sunday and I haven't yet heard back from any of my e-mails. If by next week I still hear nothing, I will subscribe to some podcasts through the World Forum Radio. I have now subscribed to two different newsletters and haven't yet received one. By next week I will decide if I am going to focus more on the EECERA or the ECA. I'm looking forward to learning about the issues and trends that are going in in early childhood programs around the world!

My Supports

I have been incredibly blessed to have a great deal of support in both my personal and professional life. To me, support in this context means someone or something that encourages and helps you to become a better version on yourself. God is my number one support and next being my incredible family. My husband supports me in numerous ways, always helping me to stay positive when things don't go as planned. Throughout my life my family, friends, teachers and pastors have helped shape who I am today. I am also blessed to have wonderful co-workers to support me and a job that supports me financially.

My family enjoying a picnic under a willow tree. (summer 2013)

For this week's assignment I am to imagine that I have a challenge that I currently do not have. I know I would have many challenges if I did not grow up in a family that supported and encouraged my education. If I did not think I could get into college or afford college my life would be a lot different, and would certainly not have the same job that I do now. Money may be a struggle. I would certainly depend on my family to help me financially.

It's good to think about the struggles that others face in our community. As educators, we work with all different types of families. It's important to research and understand supports that are available in the community to help people in need.

My Connections to Play

“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” -  Fred Rogers

 The three pictures above represents some essential play items from my childhood. I spent countless summers running through the sprinkler with my sister, Sarah, in the backyard. I remember my parents playing with us too. Sometimes Sarah and I would giggle as we'd run around the house and back to our parents who would be spraying us with a hose. Sarah and I also spent a lot of time with our neighborhood friends. Chris and Kevin lived across the street from us and had a tree house in their backyard. Each summer we would work on fixing it up. The neighborhood girls and I would look forward to decorating it to make it look more beautiful. When the weather didn't allow us to be outside, I really enjoyed playing games with my family. The Memory Game was one of my favorites and still is to this day.

Play was supported and encouraged all throughout my childhood. Lucky for me, it wasn't just the kids. My parents played with us, told us stories and acted silly with us. I have so many great memories from my childhood. When my Grandmama watched my sister and I, she would teach us to play games with each other without getting upset if we "lost." We took turns, learned to share and congratulated the other when we "won."

Today, play can be similar to the play that was part of my childhood. I love seeing children in my neighborhood playing outside. They go sledding, ride bikes and build forts in the "woods" behind my house. At a recent townhouse association meeting I attended, a number of residents were upset by all the children in the street and running through yards in my cul-de-sac. I spoke up and reminded everyone how great it is that they are actually outside and not in their homes playing video games. I think the new world of technology certainly has brought some change in the world of play. While positive skills can be developed through certain games or programs, I feel strongly that children need lot of time to play, invent and create away from screens. They need ample time outside to learn about the world around them. We're lucky to live in places that have so many opportunities for outdoor experiences.

I hope that my future children will enjoy spending their summers building forts, running through sprinklers and playing games, lots and lots of games.

Relationship Reflection

"Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development." ~Shonkoff & Phillips

My assignment this week is to focus on relationships within my own life and to reflect upon ways in which my experiences help me to be an effective early childhood professional. 

Today I spent part of my morning doing an observation at a local preschool. My focus for this observation was family partnerships and cultivating relationships. I watched students and parents as they entered the building. One teacher was stationed in the entry room as the greeter. The teacher smiled as she greeted each child and parent by name. She was enthusiastic warm and friendly, gave her students hugs and gave them encouraging words as they worked to undress from their snow gear. When appropriate, she made small talk with the parents. She asked and answered questions. I could tell that the children and parents were genuinely happy to be in her presence.

On my way back to work after my observation, I was thinking about how good it must feel for those parents to drop their children off at school with someone they have a positive relationship with. I thought about all the things the teacher I observed did "right" and what made her an effective communicator.

I feel very fortunate to have positive relationships with a great deal of wonderful people. I have strong relationships with my family, friends and co-workers. In order to develop and maintain these relationships I (and we) have needed to...

• show kindness
• respect
• trust
• encourage
• share
• smile
• listen
• ask questions
• be inclusive
• initiate contact
• speak kindly of each other to everyone

Knowing these attributes of a good friend/family member/coworker has been helpful for me as an early childhood professional. I want children and families in my program to feel welcomed, accepted, appreciated and supported. I have worked to get to know them as individuals and have treated them with kindness and respect. Modeling these positive relationships will enable children to develop healthy relationships as well. Love and kindness can go a long way... 

When I Think of Child Development

When I think of child development I think about the potential each child has to grow and develop to his/her full potential. In this video, Vivian Gussin Paley does a beautiful job explaining the importance of allowing children to develop through imaginative play. She also explains the enormous role each parent and educator has in helping our children to feel loved and valued. When a child is loved and supported, his/her future is full of endless opportunities!

Child Assessment

What is the most effective way to measure children’s minds and abilities? The answer to that question is widely debated. In the United States, standardized tests are frequently used to measure children’s academic achievement. However, many experts believe that standardized testing does not effectively measure whole child development.

According to Edutopia:

“A knowledge-based, highly technological economy requires that students master higher-order thinking skills and that they are able to see the relationships among seemingly diverse concepts. These abilities -- recall, analysis, comparison, inference, and evaluation -- will be the skills of a literate twenty-first-century citizen. And they are the kinds of skills that aren't measured by our current high-stakes tests. In addition, skills such as teamwork, collaboration, and moral character -- traits that aren't measured in a typical standardized tests -- are increasingly important. Businesses are always looking for employees with people skills and the ability to get along well with coworkers.”

I agree that assessing skills such as teamwork and collaboration could positively benefit our young children. Rather than focusing on standardized testing, there are other methods that could better measure the “whole child.” Performance based assessments allow children to do tasks that are meaningful and engaging. Some schools include student portfolios and presentations to measure student understanding. Rather than filling in the circles to multiple choice tests, students should be able to build, invent or lead a presentation to show what they know.

School-aged children around the world are assessed in different ways. I was curious of how students in Singapore have been assessed. The main purpose of testing in Singapore is determine student placement within their education system. The students are often required to memorize a large amount of information. Students here want to do well in their national exams which will greatly affect their futures. In Singapore, the top performing schools receive cash awards. This award is a big incentive for teachers.

Just tonight, I was reading in the newspaper about some schools in Dakota County (in Minnesota) that are experimenting with new school models.  These schools are using project-based learning which will allow students to progress at their own pace. In this article, a school board member named Tera Lee said “Let’s figure out how we can meet the need of students for the world we live in – not the world of 100 years ago.” Children in these schools are not grouped by age, but by academic needs.

I would love to visit one of these schools to learn more about this model of learning. I love to see schools moving away from the traditional school model as they learn how they can best meet students’ needs. 

Resources

http://www.edutopia.org/comprehensive-assessment-introduction

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/196021/chapters/What_is_Performance-Based_Learning_and_Assessment,_and_Why_is_it_Important%C2%A2.aspx

http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/SED610/Leadership/Leadership%20Reader/Assessment%20Around%20the%20World.pdf

Magan, C. (2013, December 8). Reinventing the classroom. Pioneer Press, pp. A1, A8.