Thank you for your support

Here is to thank a pool of early childhood professionals I meet in EDUC 6005 in Walden University. Haley, Krista, Uyiguosa, Alma, Karen, Denise, I really appreciate all of your professional support when I start my journey in Walden and EC filed as well.And I thank Dr. Hampshire a lot for the patience and kind help in my professional learning of APA and the inspiring questions during the discussion.

All of your colorful and deep insights, dreams, professional work give me many ideas in EC field, and inspire me to learn more in this field. I feel I am not alone in the journey. I heard a quotation of Benjamin Franklin, and I summarized here. There are three kinds of people in the world, unmovable, movable, and moving, with people moving, it would be a movement, with more and more people moving, the movement will become a revolution. With our love and caring to children, I hope we will have a movement in the near future and even a revolution. With everyday learning and change, we will achieve this later on.

I do hope one day I can invite you come to China for a visit, and we can work together in the real world to improve the EC quality in China, especially for those children from poor families. I advocate more and more people pay their close attention to those children's development.

Love you all!

three ideals of Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment, NAEYC

I choose the 3 following ideals I would like to pay much attention to and follow. Of course all the others are also important, but these three are the most important ones with my understandings to the present situation.

1. Ideals to children:

“ 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. “. For 99% of Chinese parents, they focus on children’s cognitive development much more than social, emotional and physical development. Especially for emotion of a child, it is not usually mentioned. If a child cry, the adult will stop it quickly and focus on how not let him cry, like distract his attention, bribe or punish. The children learn to hid his own feelings from very young, they find out it is not proper to cry, to express their emotion. Sometimes even if he is very happy for something, the adults will teach him not to be proud, and tell them there are higher goal to achieve, so the children learn to be not satisfied with everything he has, and always achieve more. It will cause competition, greedy and other problems. So setting a balanced environment for a child is very important.

2. Ideal to family:

 I-2.5—To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure,culture, language, customs, and beliefs. This draws my attention because we really should respect each family’s dignity and preferences. With the urbanization of China, people especially the peasants start to move out of their hometown and start to live in the cities. The problems come along with it. With limited knowledge and skills, they have to choose simple or physical work to do. In China, the beliefs that the brain workers take a higher social level and be paid higher than physical workers have a long tradition. The education of the children from these new immigrants to city is a big and urgent problem now. Even the state spends a lot on it, but it’s far more than enough and the big problem is still there. The biggest problem is the society has no respect to these families. The main stream of the city regard them as enemy or try to isolate them from their own circle. You can imagine for the children in the new immigrants families, they live in an unfair and isolated world because their parents’ social status. I do hope this will be changed somehow in the near future.

3. Ideal to Community and Society

 I-4.2—To promote cooperation among professionals and agencies and interdisciplinary collaboration among professions concerned with addressing issues in the health, education, and well-being of young children, their families, and their early childhood educators. China really needs this idea and practice. I have heard about the cooperation among all sectors for a long time, but there are always policy barriers, people from different sectors hold different powers and it seems difficult to balance and cooperate with other people from different sectors for the healthy development of children. I give an example here, if you want to deliver a baby in a hospital but your Residence Permit is not local, you have to travel to your Residence place for collecting some permissions no matter how far the hometown is. It’s the same for a child whose residence permit is local when entering the primary school. I hope everyone in China will pay attention to the problems and do something for it.

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

learning resources on week 5, EDU 6005 Foundation in ECE

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://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf

·       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.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

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
This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage

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

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

Note: Explore the resources in Parts 3 and 4 in preparation for this week's Application assignment.

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/

·       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/

·       Institute for Women's Policy Research
http://www.iwpr.org/

·       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.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067

·       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

Tip: Use the Journal option under Search & Find on the library website to find journals by title.

·       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 ones:

http://www.unicef.cn/cn/

http://www.ccc.org.cn

http://www.ccafc.org.cn

http://www.childrenshope.org.cn

www.earlylife.com.au
www.nifplay.org
http://www.edutopia.org/richard-davidson-sel-brain-video
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/play_resources
 

words, quotes of several famous early chilhood filed contributors

 

"Finally, learning occurs within the context of social relationships with other members of the community who have similar, if not identical, issues and concerns from the realm of practice."                  -Virginia Buysse (http://jennalisa77.blogspot.com/p/quotes-to-remind-us-why-children-matter.html)

 
“Providing families with information and assistance in selecting high-quality child care services will increase public awareness of this issue, create a demand for more high-quality child care options, and strengthen the role of parents in informing public policy and improving practices”(Buysse, Grant & Skinner, 2001).
Buysse, V., Grant, S., & Skinner, D. (2001). Toward a Definition of Quality Inclusion: Perspectives of Parents and Practitioners. Journal of Early Intervention, 24(2), 146-153,155-161. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from ProQuest  

 

 

When we strengthen families, we ultimately strengthen the community. Our goal is that parents everywhere work with supportive providers, feel confident in their parenting role, and form strong, resilient attachments with their children. To help achieve this, providers must be responsive to parents, knowledgeable about child development, and eager to see every parent succeed.   -T. Berry Brazelton, MD （http://www.brazeltontouchpoints.org/about/vision/） 

 

Self-esteem does not refer to an inflated view of one’s self. Instead, it is the capacity to hold onto a basically hopeful view of one’s self while facing and integrating experiences that challenge this view. The development of healthy self-esteem in a child allows her to confront her mistakes without taking apart her positive feelings about herself, so that she can mobilize these positive feelings (confidence, faith in her potential, etc.) to find the courage to learn from and overcome her mistakes. The result is not a skewed view of one’s self, but a realistic one in which both strengths and weaknesses can be acknowledged and accepted. -T. Berry Brazelton（http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/dr-brazelton-on-self-esteem-discipline-and-learning-from-your-kids/?_r=0 ）

 

"We are decision makers. As adults caring for children, it is our responsibility to seek out and intentionally plan the best opportunities for children that support their over-all well being and healthy development. Developmentally appropriate practice, commonly known as DAP, is a comprehensive educational perspective that supports optimal healthy development for every child. Understanding DAP - its meaning and intentional practices - is essential in guiding the decisions we make for young children".                                            -Susan Bredekamp 

 

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed. -Maria Montessori

“Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world.”

-Maria Montessori

 

 

 

Central. (Document ID: 1144126011).

Personal Childhood Web

When I think of my childhood, I have experienced both love and hurt in my heart. Honestly, I always don’t want to think of my childhood, the strong memories about childhood look like more hurts than love and caring. I appreciate at the beginning of the study, I have to chance to look at the deep of my heart, face it, feel it, and healing will start from look it and face it.

I was born in a small town with about 200 families and lived there until 10 years old, each family has more or less some kind of connection to another family. The town is really a complicated Mesosystem system for me (Keenan, T., & Evans, S. (2009)). Besides my parents and younger brothers, grandparents, the aunts, uncles, it’s difficult to say who else gives me more important support or effect when I was young.

I will talk about my mother, my father, my youngest brother (though he is not with us any more), my grandmother and my first kindergarten teacher.

First, the most important person in my life is my mother. She doesn’t finish her primary school study because her parents need her to take care of the 5 younger brothers and sisters. She always works very hard and seems she doesn’t need sleep. She is very generous to poor people, and she always likes to help others. She is very clever and deft, before I was 14, every year she would knit at least 3 or 4 beautiful sweaters for me, I seldom see the same patterns from other kids’ sweaters. She encourages me to get better achievements but not “sleep” on the achievements I have got. I still can remember a scene, one night when I was in grade 1, she taught me how to solve my math problem. I am affected by her attitudes when facing difficulties, and she showed me how to solve problems with intelligence and wisdom. And the most important thing is she is my mother, I know she loves me, whenever I come to her, I feel safe and calm with her.

Second one is my father. He is a tall, thin, silent and handsome guy. I described him in my grade 2 composition, “my father has a big nose, like a foreigner.” He laughed when I read this to him, and I felt he must feel proud of me because I can use metaphor in the sentence. Like other families in China in early 1980’s, my family was very poor. He took his responsibilities to raise up the kids and never complain anything. He just bared the difficulties by himself. He told me few years ago, for our better living, he went to the mountains to cut woods in midnights, and sometimes he was so frightened to hear the wolf shouting. The other families will let their kids stop their study in school when they finish their middle school or even primary school, but my father always told me: knowledge can change your fate, as long as you want to study in school, I will support you forever. In China, we always said: father’s love is like mountain, strong and firm, he supports my spirit to overcome all the challenges in my life.

My youngest brother was my sweetest heart in the world. He is so warm and tamed, always would like to being around with me. In his short life, I always would like to take care of him, he let me feel I am responsible for the family, feel I am an important part of the family. I developed my caring personality by taking care of him. It's very painful to memorizing him, so I will not say too long here. He takes a big impact in my life, he inspires me every day in my life to work hard, to live a meaning life. Then, one day, when we meet in heaven, I can tell him I didn’t waste my life.

My grandmother is a traditional Chinese grandmother. She always have bright smile in her face, I like to attach to her, and I feel she loves me 100%. She and my grandparents are the only 2 people I can feel they love me 100%, even my parents don’t give me this feeling. She always took me to her home, cook for me and let me be with her. Her love to me let me believe there is true love in the world and I am unique in this world because there is someone really truly love me. When I am hurt, I will remember her love.

The last one I want to mention is my first teacher, named Sanmei. She is warm-hearted, love children, with sweet voice. She taught me singing, dancing and other art work. She took me to a different level of the stage, and she always praised me, said I am a talented child. She encouraged me to solve problems in different ways and showed to me how it worked.

There are many other people also took very important role in my early childhood life, I will seriously think about their impact to me, and how my perspectives formed in early childhood affect my present life, even future.

Reference:

Keenan, T., & Evans, S. (2009). Theories of development. In An introduction to child development (pp. 35-43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.