Sharing Web Resources Part 2: NAEYC

On the NAEYC website, I find many helpful resources for myself currently as an educator. I enjoy the articles and am able to access information that I can share with the teachers at my school. We are dealing with a pandemic that none of us have any experience with, so the articles are helpful for us to help the children (and ourselves) cope with this trying time.

Also, there are articles with other issues described that can be helpful for all educators, and parents. My daughter currently has some big feelings that she is trying to work out because of me and her dad splitting up, and the NAEYC website has many sources and ideas to help a newly single mom.

This section of the website has multiple resources for teachers of all different backgrounds.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/covid-19

 

One article that really jumped out at me is called “There’s No Going Back: Child Care After Covid-19” by Rhian Evans Allvin and Lauren Hogan. In this article, the authors list six ways that states can help support child care programs during the shutdown because of Covid-19.

1.    1.  Count by Contract, Not by Child

2.    2.  Cover the Cost of Quality

3.    3.  Pay Early Childhood Educators What They Are Worth 

4.    4.  Use the Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Education Profession

5.    5.  Rethink Our Investments to Drive Quality

6.    6.  Incentivize Employers to have Skin in the Game

Ultimately, if we could meet these 6 items for each program, all schools might be more successful.

References

Allvin, R. E., & Hogan, L. (2020, May 6). There’s No Going Back: Child Care after COVID-19. NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/theres-no-going-back-child-care-after-covid-19.

Coping with Covid-19. NAEYC. (2020). https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/covid-19.

Getting to Know International Organizations

The Global Fund for Children (www.globalfundforchildren.org) is the "only global nonprofit dedicated to discovering, funding, and coaching truly community-based organizations that empower children and youth." (Global Fund for Children, 2020)

Through this website, I was able to learn that this organization works with 57 different organizations and 21 different countries to help the 124 million children that are not in school. This begins in preschool and continues all the way through secondary education and higher. They believe that all children deserve the right to an education and a better future, despite the boundaries and roadblocks that they are living in. 

What I really appreciated on this website is that children's books are an important part of GFC's mission. Books empower children. The founder of Global Fund for Children is Maya Ajmera. She has authored over 20 children's books. One important book that she co-wrote is "Back to School," which illustrates what school looks like for children all over the world. How interesting for children here in the United States! I would use this book in my preschool classroom to educate children of Montgomery County, PA about different parts of the world.

These books seem like such a benefit to use for children of all ages, but especially early childhood. It is something I will look into purchasing for my school.

I appreciate the efforts of GFC as education and the well being of young children is so important for everyone, I feel that sometimes the world forgets that children are still people with intelligent minds. Imagine how much better the world could be if we put more effort into molding the minds of young people instead of arguing over nonsense.

References

Global Fund for Children. (2020). https://globalfundforchildren.org/.

Sharing Web Resources

 The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is an important association for early childhood educators. NAEYC sets the standard for quality early childhood education. This association offers training and guidance for teachers abound. 

"The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. We advance a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and support all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. The association comprises nearly 60,000 individual members of the early childhood community and 52 Affiliates, all committed to delivering on the promise of high-quality early learning. Together, we work to achieve a collective vision: that all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they reach their full potential." (NAEYC, 2020)

At my previous school where I worked for 9 years, we followed all NAEYC standards. Some schools in the corporation were NAEYC accredited and the ultimate goal of our school was to reach that goal. 

At my new school, we follow Pennsylvania state standards and most of these are in line with NAEYC standards. I find it so important to follow these standards as they are defined as the best for all young children nationally.

One item I found to really love on this website is an assessment tool that educators can use to help evaluate the best ways to help all children in their care. Using this tool, we can see the best approach to help children of varying abilities and diversities. 

There are several important Diversity posts on the NAEYC website. I have listed a few below with hyperlinks to the website.

References

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.naeyc.org/about-us

Expanding Horizons/ Resources

This week, I chose to explore the website, Save The Children. Within this site, I found a podcast that really interested me. I am recently out of a long-term, abusive relationship, so when I found "Girls on the Move in South Africa," it spoke to me. I am by no means a feminist or preach girl power, but something spoke to me about this. We have to empower young girls to know that it is okay to stand up for yourself, no matter the situation. 

Please take a moment to listen for yourself.

https://www.listennotes.com/embedded/e/5bd78257392341f7a9c597e4da2b90cd/

I also want to continue learning about the organization, Pippi of Today. By empowering our young girls, we are setting them up for success in the future. This is something that I feel very strongly about. 

Expanding Resources

The website that I chose to really delve into is The Center for the Study of Childcare Employment. This is because I find that it is extremely important to hire exceptional teachers to teach in the field of early childhood education. Often times, childcare is viewed as a stepping stone for teachers until they can get a "real" job. But, childcare and early childhood education are so important, that we need to hire quality teachers to help shape the minds of the next generation.

Another issue that is addressed on this website is that parents pay an outrageous amount of money each month for childcare and childcare workers make so much little. It is almost an unlivable wage. And if we are preaching that early childhood is so important to all children, why are we not showing our early childhood teachers that they are valued and are as important as we are saying? There needs to be compensation for these teachers.