Thank You!!!

Wow I cannot believe that 8 weeks just went by.  I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and for sharing such a wonderful thoughts with me.  Everyone of you are great professionals in the field and helped to affirm my passion for working with children and families.  I enjoyed reading through your blogs each week and your comments were of a great value to me.  I look forward to continue working with you throughout the program and I hope to meet  you all at the graduation ceremony.  Best wishes to all and have a great and Happy Holidays!!

Codes of Ethics

We shall demonstrate our respect and concern for children, families, colleagues, and other whom we work, honoring their beliefs, values, customs, languages, and culture.

As professionals in the early childhood field, we all need to respect each family and child individuality.  We need to be non-judgmental of how other families do things and how they raise their children.   We need to create an environment to open communication with families and discuss with the parents any concern we may have before we create assumptions.   We also need to create classrooms that welcome diversity and represent the families of the children in your care.

We shall be responsible for maintaining the appropriate national, state, or other credential or licensure requirements for the services we provide while maintaining our competence in practice and research by ongoing participation in professional development and education activities.

Professional development is very important for teacher and administrators growth in the early childhood field.  Teachers should always be looking to acquire the next level of education.  Administrators should be responsible to motivate teachers to continue their education in the field, and should provide flexible schedules to allow staff to attend school and professional development events.

To use assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed that are used only for the purpose for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children.

Assessments tools are essential to individualized based on children needs and  areas that children need enforcement.  Each high quality early childhood program must use an assessment tool to be informed of the outcomes of the program.  Assessment gives so much information to teachers and administrators.  Results of the assessment can be used for training, to raise a concern about a child’s development, to lesson planning, to curriculum planning, and to  share valuable and vital information  with parents during parent/teacher conferences.

Additional Resources

Early Childhood News- http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/default.aspx

Florida Association of the Education of Young Children - http://www.flaeyc.org/

 UCLA Club House- http://www.semel.ucla.edu/clubhouse/resources

Helpful Resources

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:

World Forum Foundation
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the video on this webpage 

World Organization for Early Childhood Education
http://www.omep-usnc.org/
Read about OMEP’s mission. 

Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/about/
Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.

More Quotes from Early Childhood Experts

"I am not here to save the world I am here to make a difference in the community that I am working"

-Raymond Hernandez-

"I see early childhood education, all education, really, as a civil rights issue"

-Renatta Cooper-

Inspirational Quotes

“Part of being who you are has to do with feeling your feelings, which means you'll have a wide range of emotions--not just constant sunshiny happiness.” 

 -Janet Gonzalez-Mena-

Doing what's right isn't the problem. It is knowing what's right.

-Lyndon B. Johnson

PERSONAL CHILDHOOD WEB

The person who most influenced my life and cared the most about me was my mother.

Marta Vazquez- was my mother.  She is not between us anymore, but I can still feel her presence and the influence she made in my life.  She raised me an independent, strong and caring woman.  Many things that I do are because I learned from her.  We had a special connection, and we truly loved each other.

Josefina Feliciano-She was my grandmother.   My grandmother was not a very affectionate woman, but that was not necessary for me to feel that she cared about me.  She would always cook me my favorite food and bought me candies.  She provided me with advice when I needed.  She taught me the values that govern my life.

Edith Vazquez-She was my aunt.  My aunt supported me with my education.  She helped me to study.  She was a seamstress, and she always sews clothes for me.  I spent many vacations with her and my cousins.  She is one of the people that guided me to choose education as my career.  In the present time, she is one of people that must encourage me to continue my education and professional growth.

Fraya Vazquez-She was also my aunt.  When I think about my aunt, immediately comes to my mind a little girl sitting on her aunt’s lap.  She used to let me sit on her lap and read stories and sang songs to me.  I believe that she is the person that initiated my passion for working with children and families.  She was very nurturing, caring and sweet to me. She has always supported me during the rest of my life.  When I am around her, I feel that little girl again.

Evelyn Velez-She was my mother’s best friend.  She loved me and cared about me.  We went on vacations, and trips together, and I spent a lot of quality time with her children and husband.  She was just my mom’s friend, but I loved her like an aunt.  She helped and supported me during difficult times of my life.