COURSE 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 media segment 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/
    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/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

New Feature Added

In an attempt to share and gain information and knowledge, I have added to the left under my profile a list of my trusted resources. I will continue to add to this list as we go along. I hope you find these resources as valuable as I do, and will share with me those you consider priceless.  

WORDS OF PASSION AND DEDICATION FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONALS shared by Lisa Martin

Louise Derman Sparks, Professor Emeritus at Pacific Oak College, CA said of her career choice....

"It became my life long work - early education. The passion to make sure all children were taught in environments and in ways that truly nurtured their ability to grow and develop to teir fullest potential."

Leticia Lara, Regional Manager, Outreach and Professional Development for Zero to Three said...

"My passion has been evolving... it grows. Today my passion as a professional is to bring my ideas and actions into changing policy and to changing practice, and influencing research."

Both these women have expressed goals and desires near and dear to me.

QUOTES FROM INSPIRING CONTRIBUTORS IN EARLY EDUCATION by Lisa Martin

Lev Vygotsky once said...

“Through others we become ourselves.”

“... People with great passions, people who accomplish great deeds, people who possess strong feelings, even people with great minds and a strong personality, rarely come out of good little boys and girls.”

Lilian Katz once said...

“Please do not confuse excitement with learning. You can be addicted to excitement and that is a dangerous thing.”  

“Curriculum is not delivered. Milk is delivered.” 

Stressors: The Effects of Poverty on Childhood Development

Poverty can be precursor for so many other stressors like hunger, disease, isolation, and violence. A child living in poverty can easily feel alone in the world since no one seems to be coming to their rescue. A child living in poverty often does not have enough to eat, and definitely does not have adequate nutrients in their diet. Chances are their living arrangements are unsafe, and environmentally unsound; and theirs is a community infested with criminal activity and violence. According to United States Census Bureau information gathered in the 2011 census taking, “shows the number of people living in poverty in the US to be 46.2 million, having increased for the fourth consecutive year. The poverty rate for children also increased from 20.7% in 2009 to 22% in 2010” (United States Census Bureau, 2012).

When I was in kindergarten I remember having a classmate who was obviously much poorer than the rest of us in the class. She was always hungry and her clothes were worn, and sometimes not so clean. Back then kindergarten was only a few hours, a half day, and all we received in the way of food was juice and crackers or pretzel sticks. My mother worked in the school and sometimes she would take my old clothes and give them to Maria’s mom, along with food. There was a movie a few years back called City of God that dealt with poverty in Brazil and showed how the poorest people were moved to the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, beyond the city limits so they would not come into contact with or interfere with the glamorous tourism. At its core is a story of children who turn to lives of crime to eat and survive. As I watched that movie I thought about all the unseen communities here in the United States filled with families like Maria’s. Maria never became a criminal, though I heard one of her older brother went to jail, she survived her poverty and is now a nurse.

Today in the City of God, government officials use police units to take the slums out of the control of the drug dealers.  “These units must act as police and social workers as they devote themselves to winning over the residents, scarred by violence – some at the hands of the police” (de Almeida, 2010). Maria did not live in a lean to or play in streets filled with garbage and animals, next to a river filled with more garbage and smelling of human an d animal waste, but just as the government turned their back on City of God, and tried to pretend those people did not exist, on some level we in this country do the same thing. the new units is part traditional policing, part social work. They devote themselves to winning over City of God residents scarred by decades of violence — some at the hands of the

References:

De Almeida, L. (2010, October 10). In rough slum, Brazil’s police try soft touch. The New York               Times. Retrieved from                                                                                                                        http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/10/10/world/americas/20101010-BRAZIL-

 United States Census Bureau. (2012). Social, Economic, and Housing Division; Poverty.                                     Retrieved from  http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/index.html

REMEMBERING THE MANY FACES OF CHILDHOOD

MY CHILDHOOD WEB

           Growing up in the midst of an extended family was truly a blessing. It afforded me numerous human relationships that “influenced my development intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically, behaviorally, and morally” (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004, p. 1). My childhood was a system of healthy and thriving mesosystems supporting a strong microsystem. A microsystem and mesosystem that made it easier to withstand the harsh blows delivered by the exosystem, while strengthening the macrosystem. I cannot tell you about all the wonderful people who cared for and nurtured me, making me feel loved and special. For me to do so would mean weaving a very large and intricate web, reminiscent of Charlotte.

         I will tell you that I had more teachers than I can count on my fingers that facilitated my learning in all areas, and left a lasting impression on me. There were neighbors and dear family friends that taught me lessons I remember to this day. I had coaches and counselors who fostered in me a more positive self-concept and increased self-confidence, because their message to me was always yes I could, I only needed to try. To this day I push and challenge myself to reach higher and dig deeper thanks to these people.   

          Of course, there was my family, a source of constant unconditional love, guidance, support and protection. Four of the five people in my web are family member whose teachings and life lessons, along with their support and encouragement are responsible for the adult you know today. My web does not include my uncles who taught me how to play chess; how to play and understand the rules of football, baseball, and basketball; how to drive when I was old enough to learn; and made me feel as though instead of having an absentee father I had three dads – not sure how my cousins would feel about this. I cannot leave out my sisters, because my relationship with them was indeed training for many relationships to come.

Let's Talk About Nutrition

Nutrition and malnutrition are key factors in a child’s health and development. “It has long been recognized that the nutrition of the individual is perhaps the most ubiquitous factor affecting growth, health, and development” (Birch, 1972). Poor nutrition in an infant or young child can impair brain development, produce an ineffective immune system, and lead to a variety of diseases. “The worse disease directly caused by malnutrition is marasmus, where due to severe protein calorie malnutrition during early infancy growth stops, body tissues waste away and eventually the infant dies” (Berger, 2009,  p. 157). We hear this and imagine children starving in the Congo or other parts of Africa, and other underdeveloped countries, but the truth is lack of proper nutrition is a major problem here in the United States.

Look around and chances are you will see an overweight child. Childhood obesity in this country has reached epidemic proportions; capturing the attention of the First Lady and causing a big city mayor to want to outlaw supersized sugary drinks. Look again and you’ll see an overweight adult nearby. “Children’s food preferences and eating behaviors are influenced by the adults around them” (Robertson, 2010, p. 214). If we are going to improve the nutrition children receive we must first educate parents and adults. There are many websites devoted to providing important nutrition information. Two of my favorites are http://www.nutrition.gov/ and http://www.nutrition.gov/.  We must also make healthy food choices accessible and affordable for everyone. We know that in large part poor nutrition is attributed to poor socioeconomic conditions. You don’t see many organic farmers markets in poor inner city neighborhoods, but there is always a fast food place on the corner.

The whole idea of children being malnourished ties into my passion for leveling the playing field, so all children have the same opportunities – which makes the subject of nutrition of great interest to me. Not to mention, “there is increasing research that shows the relation of nutritional factors to intelligence and learning” (Birch, 1978). It is one of the factors for healthy development we can definitely control. We need people to advocate for better nutrition in schools, and use their clout as consumers to get the kinds of services they want and need in their community. People open up organic produce shops in upper middle class neighborhoods because they think they are the only one interested in eating right, and thus will buy their product.

Malnutrition remains a significant public health issue in many countries, even with the efforts of UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/), the Red Cross (http://www.ifrc.org/), the World Food Programme (http://www.wfp.org/). While Guatemala remains the country with highest rate of malnutrition, the number of children in Pakistan suffering from malnutrition is on the rise due to floods and the ongoing conflict. UNICEF along with other humanitarian organizations has begun an initiative to help provide food to this region. You can read about this at http://www.unicef.org/media/media_65150.html.  

 

References:

Berger, K.S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5^th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishing.

Birch, H. G. (1972). Malnutrition, Learning, and Intelligence. American Journal Of Public Health, 62(6), 773-784.

Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworh Cengage Learning.

This is me channeling Audrey Hepburn

One of my favorite children's books is

The Princess and the Pea. Written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora.

I love this story because it removes the stereotypes usually associated with princesses, white with blond hair and blue eyes, and replaces it with someone with whom little girls like me will be able to identify. This will help boost their self-esteem and improve their self-concept.

This book was not around when I was a child, but I had other great writers like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker to help me learn to appreciate my differences.



My Favorite Quote Concerning Children

I guess if I had to really choose a favorite quote it would be the one from Forest E. Witcraft that hangs in my home.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

I have been asked to post my favorite quote about children, but I have several and do not consider one better than another. I will share a few of them with you.

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
                                                                                              Proverbs 22:6

"Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each."
                                                                                                   Plato

"Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
                                                                                                  James Baldwin

It took me a while to decide on a region or country to look at birth traditions, and compare it to my own experience. I decided to go with Iran, only because they often come up in my political discussions, and I figured it would be very different from the United States. I was shocked to find that the number of cesarean births was steadily increasing in Iran not due to medical necessity, but because it is being viewed as a status symbol, only poor women should undergo natural childbirth. “The wealthier the province the higher the percentage of births by c-section; all without any medical indication for the surgery” (Sinaiee, 2009). I think this is the height of foolishness and the medical community in Iran needs to do a better job of educating women on the justification for cesarean birth. The icing on the cake is that insurance only pays for a small percentage of the c-section so these families are spending money they may really be able to afford just to keep up social appearances.

When I think back to how much I feel I missed out on by not being able to have a natural childbirth, it makes me somewhat angry to think that these women are taking one of life’s greatest experiences and reducing it to a show of socioeconomic status. Another big difference is that while my husband was by my side during my cesarean section, in Iran they are just beginning to let men into the delivery room period. I am sure their culture plays a big role in the men not going into the delivery room, and many Iranian men have no desire to watch their wife give birth.