Thank you

It has been interesting and fascinating to be working with all of you. The past 8 weeks of learning have been a great experience for me and I enjoy reading your discussions and blog entries. Thanks to some of you for sharing your personal stories with us so that we have a deeper and more practical understanding on the topics. Thank you all for sharing your valuable experiences, ideas and insights to enrich our learning. I wish you all the best in the future career. 

 “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” ---by James Baldwin

Week 6 blog assignment

It is very important to view children holistically, especially for young children. Cognitive, social/emotional, physical and language developments, as well as representation/symbolic thinking are essential areas for teachers to view a child. Children change rapidly during early years, for example, their body parts, the brains, and so on (Berger, 2009). By viewing the children holistically, early childhood educators will not miss any part of a child' development. Since every child is different and unique, it is crucial to provide developmentally appropriate practices for individual children to maximize their ZPD. 

In China, children are measured mostly by their academic performance, even for young children. They need to do "exams" for entering preschools and kindergarten. Teachers will test their speaking, writing, math abilities, and other things. Children will have to answer a set of questions. (http://ysx.eol.cn/zexiaogonglue_11097/20110223/t20110223_580226.shtml, in Chinese) It is just unbelievable to see how Chinese parents push their children for the best. I grew up in a traditional Chinese family and I experienced the same thing myself. I was not happy as a young kid and luckily this stopped after we moved to Canada. Social/emotional development is one of the most important areas in children's life. However, not a lot of people in China realize the importance and this area has been ignored for many years until now. Nowadays more people in China care about their children's social development and also more workshops and advertisements concerning children's social/emotional development are presented to parents. 

Reference

Berger, K.S. (2009). The Developing Person through Childhood. New York, NY: Worth Publishers

http://ysx.eol.cn/zexiaogonglue_11097/20110223/t20110223_580226.shtml

Nutrition

The topic Nutrition interests me because I work in an international school and have seen a lot of children having unhealthy snacks and food during the day. As working in an international school, I have met lots of busy families with parents constantly travelling along different countries and having to leave their children with nannies. When children come to school in the morning, they bring sweet treats such as chocolates, candies and all the other junk food including fast food and soda drinks. What I do is to take away all these unhealthy food, talk to the parents and/or nannies to make sure these kinds of food will not be brought to class anymore, and also send home copies of the school nutrition policy, information about food groups, as well as some examples of healthy food. I understand that not only parents and nannies should learn about healthy food choices, the children should also be responsible for what they eat. So I usually plan a food project once in a while to show and remind children the importance of healthy food.

NAEYC has an article called "The Food Friends - Encouraging Preschoolers to Try New Foods" providing a lot of useful information about children's nutrition and some strategies to encourage children eating healthy food. According to Birch (1998), "Children establish food preferences and dietary habits during the first six years of life" so it is very important to provide children with many opportunities to try different food at an early age. The article gives some useful strategies to encourage children to try new foods:

• Make food fun

• Keep offering new foods

• Be a good role model by eating new foods with children

• Let children choose new foods

• Help children learn about new foods

• Try offering one new food at a time

• Avoid forcing children to try new foods

Currently I'm offering an after school activity class about healthy food and these strategies work perfect for me. I especially agree that teachers need to be good role models when cooking with children because children are good observers and quick learners. I will implement these ideas into my activities to support children with eating healthy food.

Reference

Bellows, L. and Anderson J. (2006). The Food Friends: Encouraging Preschools to Try New Foods. Retrieved January 14, 2012 from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/BellowsBTJ.pdf

A personal birth experience

I have not given birth myself, and I haven't had opportunities taking part in any child's birth, so let me talk a little bit about my birth. My parents didn't tell me much about my birth. As a lot of people already know, Chinese government have had the one child policy since around 1980s. So at the time when I was born, my parents knew that they would probably have me as their only child for their whole life. I was born in a hospital, surrounded with a lot of my parents' relatives and friends. My parents were very happy and they provided me with the best environment to support my healthy growth. In my earliest memories, I remember not only my mom took care of my everything, but my dad also spent a quality of time playing, reading, and chatting with me. They helped me build a secure and confident childhood, and become a happy and thankful person.

In Hong Kong, most people choose to go to hospital to give birth. They have a complete list of government and private hospitals to choose from. Home-birth is very rare because it is difficult to manage and keep both mothers and babies safe. The hospitals provide pre- and post-natal checks for moms, and some hospitals offer weekly baby groups for mothers and newborn babies to support them with knowledge such as breastfeeding and other useful information such as vaccination. The birth in Hong Kong is similar to my experience, except that the government provides a lot more groups and workshops for mothers and babies born in Hong Kong.

Examining Codes of Ethics

Code of Ethics - NAEYC

Ideal 1-1.1 – To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.

This is very important for us because we need to be responsible for our children and the families. To stay informed about what happen in the field, such as new policies, events, and so on, can help us be good leaders and advocates. It is crucial for my growing and learning.

Ideal 1-1.3 – To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.

I believe in this ideal because i know that children are our future. They have different needs, abilities and personalities. As early childhood professionals, we need to respect their differences and treat them according to their potentials and it's our responsibility to provide the best learning environment for them.

Code of Ethics - DEC

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

This is important and meaning for me because working with children requires responsibilities to support children and their families. We want to provide the best learning outcomes for our children and they should be equal to all the children and families.

Resources for Early Childhood Professionals

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

   * NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

    * NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf

    * NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf

    * NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

    * NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf

    * NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

    * Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller

    * FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf

      Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.

    * 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.

      Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title. 

Part 2: Global Support for Children’s Rights and Well-Being

    * Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

      

    * Websites:

          o World Forum Foundation

            http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us

          o World Organization for Early Childhood Education

            http://www.omep-usnc.org/  

          o Association for Childhood Education International

            http://acei.org/about/

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

    * National Association for the Education of Young Children

      http://www.naeyc.org/

    * The Division for Early Childhood

      http://www.dec-sped.org/

    * Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

      http://www.zerotothree.org/

    * WESTED

      http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm

    * Harvard Education Letter

      http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85

    * FPG Child Development Institute

      http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm

    * Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference

      http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/

    * HighScope

      http://www.highscope.org/

    * Children’s Defense Fund

      http://www.childrensdefense.org/

    * Center for Child Care Workforce

      http://www.ccw.org/

    * Council for Exceptional Children

      http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

    * Institute for Women’s Policy Research

      http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm

    * National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education

      http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/

    * National Child Care Association

      http://www.nccanet.org/

    * National Institute for Early Education Research

      http://nieer.org/

    * Pre[K]Now

      http://www.preknow.org/

    * Voices for America’s Children

      http://www.voices.org/

    * The Erikson Institute

      http://www.erikson.edu/

         

Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

    * 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

Additional Resources

1. Book - "Who Am I in the Lives of Children? An Introduction to Early Childhood Education" by Stephanie Feeney, Eva Moravcik and Sherry Nolte

2. Quote - "Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world." By Maria Montessori

3. Web link - "The Professional Resources for Teachers and Parents" http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/articles.aspx?ArticleID=282

Quotes from early childhood professionals

"Students not only need to know how to use a skill but also when to use it. They need to learn to recognize for themselves the context in which the skill might be useful and the purposes it can most appropriately serve."
                                                                                                          - Sylvia Chard


"The greatest enemy of children today is poverty. We're not doing enough." 
                                                                                                          - Edward Zigler

"I had a built-in passion that it was important to make the real contribution to the world, and to fix all the injustices that existed in the world, and i wanted to do that through teaching...So the passion I had when I started is just as great now, as it ever was, maybe greater, because I've seen the wonderful impact that using when I call it "Anti-bias" approach has, not just on the children, but on the teachers, who have to kinda figure out who they are, and understand themselves and uncover their own discomforts and missed information. So I fought, I see adults finding their voice, as a result of doing this work. It's like they reclaim and heal things that happened to their own childhood that maybe no one had helped them work with when they were young. So the passion to create a safer and more just world for all kids is there, and I suppose I will be there until I die..."    

                                                                                                       - Louise Derman-Sparks

"We, as professionals in the early childhood field, have the opportunity to shape a child's life for the better so that's what makes me passionate about this work." 
                                                                                                       - Sandy Escobido