COURSE RESOURCES SECTION

The greatest genius will never be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources.

--Johann von Goethe

 •Course Media: Five early childhood professionals discuss their preferred and trusted resources.

 Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Foundations: Early Childhood Studies [DVD]. Resources  for Early Childhood: Narrator; Ron Snow.

 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

◦World Organization for Early Childhood Education

  http://www.omep-usnc.org/.

◦Association for Childhood Education International
  http://acei.org/

 Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

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/

•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

Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to "How Do I...?", select "Tips for Specific Formats and Resources," and then "e-journals" to find this search interface.)

 •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 Four:

1.      Research and Training Center on Early child Development:  Evaluation of the Games for Growing Tool Kit for Promoting Early Contingency Learning. Retrieved May 29, 2012http://www.researchtopractice.info/

2.      Early childhood Investigation(May 31, 2012) The Goldmine of Self-Sustaining Mentoring Practice in early childhood education.

             http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.org

3.      Information Books In Early Childhood by Nell K Duke(May 31, 2012)

http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200303/InformationBooks.pdf

4.      The developing child in the 21th century- book by Sandra Smidt

Quotes from the two contributors

 ‘’Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which they must do everything, as something lacking an inner guide and in constant need of inner direction. . . . An adult who acts in this way, even though he may be convinced that he is filled with zeal, love, and a spirit of sacrifice on behalf of his child, unconsciously suppresses the development of the child's own personality.’’ Maria Montessori

‘’Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.” Maria Montessori

‘’If formal instruction is introduced too early, too intensely and too abstractly, the children may indeed learn the instructed knowledge and skills, but they may do so at the expense of the disposition to use them.’’ Lillian Katz

‘’Each of us must come to care about everyone else’s children…., I think this is huge! Our children’s success impacts positively on other children and by extension the wider society and our children’s failure impacts negatively on other children as well as the society.’’ Lillian Katz"Delete

Quotes from the media segment in week two.

"My passion is to make sure that all children were taught in environment that truly nurture their ability to grow and develop to their fullest potentials’’-Louise Derman-Sparks

 I always wanted to be a teacher. I had, I think, a built-in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world, to fix all the injustices that existed in the world. And I wanted to do that through teaching."
-Louise Derman-Sparks

 ‘’We, as professionals in the early childhood field, have a unique opportunity to shape a child's life for the better."
-Sandy Escobido

‘’My passion comes from intrinsic motivation I get from the work I do.’’ Raymond Hermandez

‘’I am not here to save the world but to make a difference in the community that I’m working, making a difference could mean helping one child to be successful.’’ Raymond Hermandez

‘’Early childhood education makes you ready for optimal life experiences.’’ Renatta M. Cooper

‘’I believe women should have a choice to stay with their children or use child care facility.’’-- Renatta M. Cooper

‘’When I think of the word passion and the meaning to the word passion, what comes to mind are what are my values, what are my beliefs, what are the ideas that lead me to action, what do I do so naturally that perhaps seems natural to me but may be challenging to others.’’

--Leticia Lara, LCSW,

‘’My passion is to bring my ideas in action, into changing policy, into changing practice and influencing research.’’ --Leticia Lara, LCSW,

My childhood web

1                    The first people that influenced my childhood are my two elder sisters Mrs Chinyelu Obi and Mrs Nonye Nworah who baby seated me.  As the last baby of the family they showed me so much love, They taught me how to do domestic chores and  helped me become thegood cook that I am today.

2                    The second person is my mother Mrs Christiana Ibe; being the last baby out of her nine children made me special to her. She was a trader and got me involved in her business at early age. She taught me that there is dignity in labour,  One of my cherished memories is our family anthem: Proverb 13 verse 20. ‘He who walks with the wise men will be wise but the companion of fool will be destroyed’ (NKJV). We were meant to say it during family times. She believed that education will empower us for greatness, enabling us to do things she could not do because she was not educated. My mother is my hero; she taught me numerous things that continued to guide my life for example to insist on good family values, chose friends based on cherished values, be proactive and to always lend support. Last year, I received award for outstanding business woman from Junior Chambers International. This is a result of business skill I learnt from her. She is 80year now and I am proud to still consult her for wise counsel.

3                    The third person is my head teacher in my primary school Mrs Nwozuzu. She helped to bring out the leadership skill in me by always encouraging me to lead groups. Once she escorted me to an external competition with another school and I won in that competition and received a one year scholarship as a result of that. I cherished that memory and she taught me to always persevere and believed in myself.

4                    The fourth person is the priest of my local church Monsignor Otteh Emmanuel. As a growing child, we must attend the brief mornings mass (church service) every morning before going to school. He taught us the way of God. i will not forget that he selected me to represent our church in a catechism competition at state level and I won the first position bringing trophy to my local church and received a heroic welcome and a hand shake with the bishop. It was every child’s dream then. As Catholics most people get the bishops hand shake once in their life time during confirmation ceremony. This experience built my confidence in my abilities. He also exposed me to helping the needy which often makes me to look out for the less privileged around me and offer help.  

5                    The fifty person was my father, before he pass on he was a subsistence farmer and taught us how to farm. We enjoyed the beauty of having our own small farm and nurse the crops and vegetables. He guided us through and I cherished that farm. The daily or weekly changes in the things we planted were an exciting discovery. This helped me to learn to be patient with people and work with timing.

6                    The sixth person was my grandmother, we always looking forward to traveling to the village during long vacation in September. She usually take us to the village river, we joined her to farm and helped in rearing the animals. The folklore she told us helped us to apply life principles in our relationship with others.

There are several other people that affected my childhood that are not included in this web. These ones listed above represent my family, my school and the community (my church). They helped me grow into a responsible adult today. I am proud of them all. Owing to my recent relocation to Brunei Darussalam, all I have here with me are armature picture of my mum with my elder sister Chinyelu Obi and the award plaque from JCI.

A child drawing

Looking at this child drawing, you will notice that the child is able to concentrate in what she is doing, hence the thinking ability, is being developed.

Art is a very important medium in child’s development. Art work helps a child to discover the joy of translating thoughts and imagination to visual impression.  Drawing helps a child express itself and be creative. Drawing is a natural mode of communication that children rarely resist and that offers a way to express feelings and thoughts.

Early years education and the brain

"Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don't begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten."
- Robert. L. Ehrlich