Early Childhood Education

When I think in terms of the whole child, my mind immediately shift focus on the well-being of that child. This can include their health, safety, their support system, how they are engaged and even how they are challenged. A standardized test in my opinion only measures the child’s skill level as it pertains to a subject. I think their ability to cope with any given situation whether good or bad should be assessed. Many families face stressful situations, including parental depression, community violence, and poverty. Adversities like these can be painful for the children in these families. But the hopeful news is that research on children facing such problems has shown that many children show resilience and do surprisingly well. Resilience is the ability to cope with the stress caused by such challenging situations. You can encourage resilience in your child and develop it in yourself. Remember, even those children who are facing the most difficult life situations do not all turn ou...

Poverty creates long-term disadvantages for children. The consequences of poverty—emotional issues, delayed development and lower academic achievement, among others—put a child behind peers who do not struggle with poverty. Poverty affects an increasing number of children every day. As a child and even some of my adulthood I lived in poverty. I can remember countless time my mother struggling to get the bills paid. My mother was a single parent raising four children on her very small salary. It wasn’t until I started living on my own I realized I too was living in poverty. I would attend school in the day and work at night to maintain my household. It was a struggle trying to make ends meet. I was determined to break the barrier of poverty that had held so many of family members hostage. I worked extremely hard and earned my bachelor degree.   I was able to maintain employment that release some of the burden off my family. For this week, I decided to focus on Indonesia....

SIDS SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than one year old. Some people call SIDS "crib death" because many babies who die of SIDS are found in their cribs. SIDS is the leading cause of death in children between one month and one year old. Most SIDS deaths occur when babies are between one month and four months old. Premature babies, boys, African Americans, and American Indian/Alaska Native infants have a higher risk of SIDS. Although health care professionals don't know what causes SIDS, they do know ways to reduce the risk. These include: This information is meaningful to me because so many people are not even aware SIDS. It is so important that families be educated on the safe sleep habits when it comes to their infant. Compared to rates in other developed countries, the U.S. SIDS rate remains high. For example, in 2005, the U.S. rate ranked second...

I was extremely scared of childbirth. I DO NOT handle pain well at all. I had been fortunate enough to avoid any kind of surgery or stitches. I cry every time I get a needle. My entire pregnancy I heard my doctor tell my mom because of my age I would have a C-section. My mother would respond, "I promise you everything is going to be okay." Then I would proceed to tell her just how scared I was, but I was determined to get through the pregnancy. My childbirth experience began at the early age of 15. I had no idea my life would change so drastically. August 23, 1993 was the day I gave birth to my first child. I remember going through the hospital doors and up to labor and delivery. I was just a child myself and was about to experience a life changing event. I got moved into my room and my induction got started. I, amazingly, only shed a few tears after they finally managed to get the IV into my hand. They started the meds to induce labor and I felt fine. The contractions...

NAEYC Ethical Responsibilities to Families I-2.3—To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program. As educators we should recognize the importance of family members involvement to the education process of the child/children. I-2.4—To listen to families, acknowledge and build upon their strengths and competencies, and learn from families as we support them in their task of nurturing children. It is their strength and self-desire that will get them through. 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. Everyone is worthy to be respected. DEC Code of Ethics Professional and Interpersonal Behavior 3. We shall strive for the highest level of personal and professional competence by seeking and using new evidence based information to improve our practices while also responding openly to the suggestions of others.   We must continu...

              Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices 1.     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 2.     NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf 3.     NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf 4.     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 5.     NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an ef...