Thank you!

I want to express my gratitude to Dr. Longo and all of my classmates who have enhanced in my entry into early childhood studies this semester. I am extremely grateful for the ideas, skills, and backgrounds we shared over these past weeks that I can now use to strengthen my own experiences and progression through the MSECS program.
I wish you all the best of luck in your exciting and unique journeys ahead!

Caitlin

Code of Ethics in the Educational Workplace

According to NAEYC, an ideal reflects the aspirations of practitioners in education. Their commitment to support children development, learn to live, play, and work cooperatively while respecting individual differences, NAEYC has formed ideals as codes for ethical conduct.

I-1.3—To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child. 

This ideal impacted me because it's so important to recognize the uniqueness of each child as an individuals, and to help each child to learn to recognize their own qualities and gifts as they grow and development in their education and home.

I-1.12—To work with families to provide a safe and smooth transition as children and families move from one program to the next. 

This is a concept that comes about a lot in our school and childcare center, especially in the youngest groups ranging from 6 months to 3 years. Depending on the child's abilities, they will transition up to the next class level. Making this an easy and smooth process is important for both the child and the family taking this new step together.

"The Code of Ethics of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a public statement of principles and practice guidelines supported by the mission of DEC."

The following is a code developed by DEC:

We shall honor and respect our responsibilities to colleagues while upholding the dignity and

autonomy of colleagues and maintaining collegial interprofessional and intraprofessional

relationships. 

This ideal is essential for a group of people working together. Recently, we've been dealing with an employee who has shown passive disrespect and disregard for the guidelines set in place for all employees and has begun to create a "clique" of certain teachers. It's put a lot of strain on the workplace when staff neglects consideration for the whole and focus too much on a certain selection.

Additional Resources

This is the additional resource from Week 6 that I would recommend for those interested in child development and the educational policies that are put in place based on scientific studies surrounding this topic:
Pinto, Kristina. (2007). Growing up Young: The Relationship between Childhood Stress and Coping with Early Puberty. The Journal of Early Adolescence. 27:4, 509.

Below are a few other resources that I came across while looking through the Walden library database and the Internet. The Week 5 resources are listed at the bottom of the page as well.

The following is an article I came across on the ProQuest database. It talks about the importance for young boys to develop their language skills as toddlers to help them also develop their self-control.

Pediatrics; Building language skills more critical for boys than girls

Anonymous. NewsRx Science. Atlanta: Oct 10, 2010. pg. 47

Two books that I know our teachers have peeked through every once in a while are written by Maryln Appelbaum that I thought maybe someone else might like to check out.

Appelbaum, Maryln. (2009). How to Handle Hard-to-Handle Preschoolers. Corwin Press: Thousand Oaks.

Appelbaum, Maryln. (2006). 167 Startegies for Excellence Reach, Teach, and Motivate Difficult and Defiant Children. Appelbaum Publishing: Sugar Land.

The last resource is an website that I came across whie doing a general search for "child care support." This resource is a terrific way for families to located child care centers in their area that best fit what they're looking for in a program, using referrals for providers, licensing and registration rules, and Keystone Stars information for assistance:

http://www.philadelphiachildcare.org/