- Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead?
The website I have been exploring is www.zerotothree.org.
ZERO TO THREE’s podcast series, Little Kids, Big Questions, addresses some of the most common (and challenging) issues facing parents of babies and toddlers, such as: helping a baby learn to sleep through the night; dealing with a picky eater; and learning to set limits on children’s behavior.
- Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find?
I found a variety of podcasts about issues parents face when raising children.
One of the podcasts is called:
Beyond “Use Your Words!”: How Babies Begin to Develop Self-Control in the First Three Years Featuring Brenda Jones-Harden, Ph.D. from this podcast I learned that you have to teach your child how to label emotions and put feelings into words. Brenda said that you should say to a child that I know you are upset and angry but you should use words instead of hollering and getting out of control. Sometimes the parents need to take a timeout for themselves. Brenda said that when the parents take care of themselves they are doing a great favor for the child as well.
Another podcast I found is called:
Across the Generations: The Role of Grandparents in Young Children’s Lives Featuring Barbara Bowman, M.A.
From this podcast I learned grandparents have to be there for their grandchildren and be present in their lives or else they are just considered strangers. Skype has been a great thing for connecting grandparents to grandchildren that live far away. It is important for grandparents to stay grandparents and not try to take over parenting. It can cause a tension between parents and grandparents.
- If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available?
One of the issues I have been studying is availability of early care. I found an article about adults that are advocating for young children. Over 1,000 adults’ ages 50 and older are raising their voices on behalf of policies that help children and youth thrive through Generations United’s Seniors4Kids initiative. Each state in the article identifies specific early childhood issues on which to focus. Kentucky wants to increase the availability of quality early care and education and home visiting programs. Pennsylvania wants to increase the availability of quality early care and education.
Additionally, find out if the site you selected at the beginning of this course offers any information about the issue of this week:
- Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education?
In one of the links on zerotothree I found an article called Oklahoma: Early Head Start Initiative. The Oklahoma Early Childhood Program uses public and private funds to enhance and expand high quality early care and education opportunities for children birth through age 3. One of the program standards is to have pay equity. They believe that lead teachers with a bachelor’s degree must be paid a salary comparable to a public school with similar experience.
I found another article called Changing Practices In Early Childhood Programs. This article talked about the importance of professional development and maintaining high-quality early education. There are six strategies presented that will guide professional development. These strategies include:
Strategy #1: Shared ownership and active involvement from all levels of the organization
Strategy #2: Understanding that a culture of continuous improvement leads to excellence
Strategy # 3: Significant, reciprocal community collaborations and productive partnerships
Strategy #4: Time to plan and implement new skills and strategies, to practice, and follow up
Strategy #5: Administrative support
Strategy #6: A clear purpose and direction
All good educators never want to stop learning. There is always something new to learn during professional development.
What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?
An issue in the early childhood field that I got to look deeper into was maltreatment. Child maltreatment and other interpersonal violence to can be a source of trauma, as the sudden or violent loss of a loved one, and natural and human-caused disasters. The maltreatment section looked into child abuse and neglect, impact of trauma, and building strong families and healthy communities. The article that intrigued me the most was called Child Abuse and Neglect. I was curious about learning more about child abuse and neglect. I was surprised to find out that infants and toddlers are disproportionately at risk for maltreatment. They account for over three-quarters of child maltreatment fatalities. Because these early years set the stage for all that follows, they hold the greatest danger for long-term damage and the greatest potential for successful intervention (Child Maltreatment, 2007). I was also surprised when I read about the Impact of Trauma explored how trauma affects young children differently based on the traumatic experiences and the presence of risk and protective factors in the child, family and community. There are many different types of trauma. While there are many types of trauma experienced by children, the most common forms typically occur at the hands of their parents and caregivers. Neglect, physical and sexual abuse are often combined with emotional abuse and exposure to domestic violence. The effects of trauma can be pervasive, impacting on school readiness and performance, diminishing cognitive abilities, and leading to substance abuse, crippling mental disorders and costly physical health problems. Hopefully the future will bring help for young children that are being mistreated.
References
Child Maltreatment, 2007.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm07/chapter3.htm#sex
Defining Trauma and Child Traumatic Stress
http://www.nctsnet.org/nccts/nav.do?pid=faq_def
http://www.zerotothree.org/maltreatment/trauma/traumaresources.pdf
Knapp-Philo, J., Hindman, J., Stice, K. & Turbiville, V. (2006). Professional
development that changes practice and programs: Six successful
strategies. Zero to Three (26)3.
Brittani Fahrman 
Hello,
Thanks for your details. Truth to be told, I learned a lot every time after reviewing your blog.
I am really interested in how baby develop their self-control. I think, initially, the parents should think about whether they develop their self-control well. Thinking about if the parents do not know what is real self- control, how they cultivate and help the children develop this important ability.
No doubt, the parents can ask help or rely on teachers, however, parent are the first teachers for their children.
Good job!
Carolyn
Brittani,
Like Carolyn I have gained a lot of informative information from your blog and I thank you for sharing. You have done it again in detailing your steps in the way in which you have gained your knowledge through connections. Thank you and look forward to reading more.
Brittani,
you had a great post! You shared alot of information with your group mates. I think Let me start by saying that Zero to Three is a awesome website. this website has a great support system for children and families. Zero to Three is beneficial and provides research based info for families and educators. you did great provide all the resources you did. Zero to Three was my favorite one. Thank you.
Ashley Baldwin
Brittani,
I too have selected Zero to Three as the website organization to focus on. It offers so much information that some of the information you wrote about I have not yet read or listened to. I love the podcast series, Little Kids, Big Questions. I found them very easy to listen to and extremely informative. It is something easy that you can share with the parents. I had not listened to the podcast Across the Generations: The Role of Grandparents in Young Children’s Lives Featuring Barbara Bowman, M.A., until just now. I can relate to this issue with my own children and their grandparents. Although it is important for grandparents not to take over parenting, many families rely on grandparents for childrearing. In effect, some grandparents spend more time with young children than their parents. It’s becomes difficult to distinguish the parenting role.