Codes of Ethical Conduct

The three ideals that are of great importance for me and my professional life are:

I-1.5 To create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development and that respect their dignity and their contributions.

I-1.9 When we have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, we shall report it to the appropriate community agency and follow up to ensure that appropriate action has been taken.  When appropriate, parents or guardians will be informed that the referral will be or has been made.

I-2.9 To participate in building support networks for families by providing them with opportunities to interact with program staff, other families, community resources, and professional services.

I think these ideals help support my goals and will help me become a strong advocate in the early childhood field. 

Course Resources

http://hypermedia.educ.psu.edu/k-12/edpgs/su96/ece/TITLE.html

www.earlychildhoodnews.com

www.preschoolrainbow.org/book-themes.htm

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://www.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. 

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://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
  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.

 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/
     

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

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

"If you don't like the way the world is, you change it.  You have an obligation to change it.  You just do it one step at a time."  Marian Wright Edelman

"I want to fix all the injustices of the world by teaching young children."  Louise Derman-Sparks

Personal Childhood Web

My childhood web consists of several people.  Those people are my mom, grandmother, grandfather, and sister. 

My mom was a single parent, but she provided my sister and I with a loving, nurturing, and supportive environment. My mom also wanted me to pursue the things that made me happy.  I really enjoyed horseback riding and my mom dedicated many years of her life to taking me to the horse farm.  Even now as an adult my mom is very supportive of my decisions and encourages me to better myself.

My grandparents worked together as a team.  They both impacted my life tremendously.  They were there to help my mom.  My grandfather was the male figure in my life.  He was the one who was a chaperone for all of the school field trips, take me to my dentist and doctor appointments, and would pick me up from school everyday, so I would not have to be home alone until my mom got home from work.  I used to spend a lot of time with my grandmother.  We would go on nature walks and she taught me how to cook.  Unfortunately she passed away when I was 14 years old.  The most important thing that I learned from her was to be kind to others and to help out people who are less fortunate then yourself. 

My sister is my bestfriend.  She and I are complete opposites, but we balance each other.  She has always been supportive of me, even when she thought I was making choices that were not in my best interest.  I think we formed a strong bond starting when we were children and I want that bond to continue forever.

This week I come across an interesting article titled Me? I am just a teacher By Victoria Robinson. I am including the link in case anyone wants to read it.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-11-21/news/ct-perspec-1121-teacher-20101121_1_school-social-studies-teacher-teaching-salary-american-students

I love the book One Winter's Day by Christina Butler.  This book is great for introducing winter vocabulary and the storyline demonstrates what goes around comes around and how everything we do is appreciated. 

"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world"  Maria Montessori