As I mentioned previously, I am currently following the website for the Center for the Child Care Workforce. I really like this website because it not only advocates for ECE professionals, but it provides readers with valuable research and a list of ways that you can get involved.
There is a tab on the website labeled Public Policy - State Initiatives. Under that tab there is lots of information that I find relevant to my professional development. There is scholarship information that I find useful, as I can distribute this information to my employees. There is also wage data that I can use to help my school stay competitive, attracting the most qualified teachers.
While surfing the site, I learned that only a small percentage of ECE professionals receive fully paid health care benefits. When comparing pay rates and health care benefits of ECE professionals to public school teachers, ECE professionals fall to the bottom. I believe that ALL teachers deserve to be paid well. We need to increase the pay of our public school teachers and begin to pay ECE professionals on the same pay scale as we do our public school teachers. Paying them all on the same state level I believe will bring recognition and respect to ECE professionals. It will also attract more people to work in our field and in turn, we will receive more educated and qualified teachers.
We learned this week why economists, scientists, and politicians support the ECE field. CCW states the same information under their tab titled Research and Resources - Early Childhood Education Facts. Here is where you will find statistics proving that children that have access to quality early childhood education have higher graduation rates, more economic productivity later in life, and less dependency on welfare later in life. The increased economic productivity is exactly why economists, scientists, and politicians want to invest in ECE.
Overall I gained a lot of valuable information from this site. Unfortunately it is not regularly updated. The latest wage data is from 2010. I'm hoping that I can bring more traffic to this website so that they will continue researching and collecting data, helping ECE professionals everywhere.
11.15.2013
International Contacts
I have successfully made two international, professional contacts. The first is Chris Hussey who is a researching practitioner for The British Association for Early Childhood Education. Prior to his current position, he was a ECE teacher for several years. He was able to provide me with information regarding government assistance for child care in the UK. He also informed me that all 3 and 4 year olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free early childhood education for 38 weeks per year.
My other international contact is Martha Friendly. Martha is the executive director of the childcare resource and research unit for the National Alliance for Children and Youth, a Canadian organization. Martha is a contact that I just made so I do not know much more about her nor have I had the chance to learn from her. I do, however, look forward to sharing more information with you as soon as I can!
On a different note, this week we studied poverty and its affect on children. Not only did I look at poverty on a national level, but I also got to research poverty in my home town. When looking at poverty as a nation, I was shocked at what I saw. I was so blind to how much poverty is actually in my country. My state, the state of NC, actually has a higher poverty rate than the national average which is saddening. Not only did this fact alarm me, but the demographics of families and children in poverty was also very eye-opening. Latinos make up a large percentage of families in poverty and I think that we as a state and a country need to work at helping these families live better lives.
My other international contact is Martha Friendly. Martha is the executive director of the childcare resource and research unit for the National Alliance for Children and Youth, a Canadian organization. Martha is a contact that I just made so I do not know much more about her nor have I had the chance to learn from her. I do, however, look forward to sharing more information with you as soon as I can!
On a different note, this week we studied poverty and its affect on children. Not only did I look at poverty on a national level, but I also got to research poverty in my home town. When looking at poverty as a nation, I was shocked at what I saw. I was so blind to how much poverty is actually in my country. My state, the state of NC, actually has a higher poverty rate than the national average which is saddening. Not only did this fact alarm me, but the demographics of families and children in poverty was also very eye-opening. Latinos make up a large percentage of families in poverty and I think that we as a state and a country need to work at helping these families live better lives.
11.09.2013
The Center for the Child Care Workforce
The Center for the Child Care Workforce is an organization that I am currently following, found at http://www.ccw.org/. Their mission is to "improve the quality of early care and education for
all children by promoting policy, research and organizing that ensure
the early care and education workforce is well-educated, receives better
compensation and a voice in their workplace."
One main issue that CCW addresses is the low compensation for early childhood education teachers. They began a campaign in 1991 called the Worthy Wage Campaign. The National Worthy Wage day is May 1st and CCW provides you with ideas on how you can act in your community.
CCW works with and promotes many other organizations such as Family Initiative, NACCRRA, NAEYC, and many others. I really like their mission statement and their involvement within the early childhood education field.
One main issue that CCW addresses is the low compensation for early childhood education teachers. They began a campaign in 1991 called the Worthy Wage Campaign. The National Worthy Wage day is May 1st and CCW provides you with ideas on how you can act in your community.
CCW works with and promotes many other organizations such as Family Initiative, NACCRRA, NAEYC, and many others. I really like their mission statement and their involvement within the early childhood education field.
11.01.2013
Establishing Professional Contacts & Expanding Resources
This week we had the task of setting up international professional contacts. I am so excited about this assignment and feel it will give me valuable insight. However, I didn't know that it would be so difficult! I researched various organizations and sent out what feels like 50 emails, to only received one reply back, so thus far, I have one contact. His name is Chris and he works with the British Association for Early Childhood Education. I have not had a chance to gain too much information from him yet, but will update as soon as possible.
As for any other contacts, I'm waiting for responses and am still hopeful that I will hear back from someone.
Aside from attempting to set up international contacts, I have also been researching various organizations, both within the United States and internationally, to see which website I will study. This was a very difficult decision for me, as there are so many great organizations out there! I decided to go with one that I am not familiar with, the Center for the Child Care Workforce. Their mission is to promote quality early childhood education, encouraging highly trained and educated teachers while providing better compensation for early childhood education teachers.
Anyone with tips on how to gain more international contacts, I would greatly appreciate it!
As for any other contacts, I'm waiting for responses and am still hopeful that I will hear back from someone.
Aside from attempting to set up international contacts, I have also been researching various organizations, both within the United States and internationally, to see which website I will study. This was a very difficult decision for me, as there are so many great organizations out there! I decided to go with one that I am not familiar with, the Center for the Child Care Workforce. Their mission is to promote quality early childhood education, encouraging highly trained and educated teachers while providing better compensation for early childhood education teachers.
Anyone with tips on how to gain more international contacts, I would greatly appreciate it!
9.29.2013
My Supports
I am fortunate enough to have a huge support system in my life. I have tons of emotional support from my husband, mom, family members, and close friends. They listen to my problems, offer me advice, help me rationalize situations, and are just overall there for me when I need them.
I have professional support from my immediate supervisor/close friend and other Goddard directors in the area. My supervisor encourages me when I need it and offers advice/suggestions to help me succeed. She listens when I have issues and is someone that I can easily relate to. Other Goddard directors in the area share great ideas and suggestions to problems via a discussion board that we regularly post to.
Physical support come from my husband who does so many things for me. He moves heavy boxes, reaches things that I can not reach, helps with the house cleaning, does grocery shopping, and picks up wherever I left off. He's awesome.
I get practical support from more things than I realize. I rely on my iPhone to wake me up in the morning and remind me of upcoming events. It also allows me to check my email as often as I need to. My iPad lets me quickly access event ideas for work or recipe ideas for dinner from Pinterest. I use my laptop to complete all of my school work mainly. And I could not get around the big city of Raleigh without GPS.
Taking all of these supports into account, I think that it would be very difficult to live without them. I would feel depressed without my emotional supports and alone without my professional supports. Not having physical support would leave me feeling overwhelmed while not having practical support would honestly leave me feeling lost. I am so incredibly lucky to have the amazing support system that I have and rely on them all so much.
The challenge that I imagined involved myself having major surgery. This surgery would leave me out of work for at least 2 weeks (with no pay) and I would be on bed rest. I would rely on my emotional supports to keep me sane. I would need someone to talk to and keep me in the loop of what was going on in the family and with friends. I would also want to know from professional support what was going on at work as I rarely miss work and it's a huge part of who I am. I would definitely rely on the physical support of my husband, more heavily than before as I would not be able to leave my home. My practical support would be used to entertain me as I was on bed rest. And because I wouldn't be receiving pay, I would rely on someone in my emotional support group to temporarily help me out if need be. Without these supports I'm not sure how I would function. I could make it without the professional support in this situation. But how on earth would I manage without physical support? I'm not sure that I would be able to. All of my different supports are important to me but I think that they physical support and emotional supports would be the most beneficial in this situation. Without them I am not sure how I would survive this type of situation.
Reflecting on my support system has opened my eyes to how incredibly lucky I am to have the people that I have in my life. I am supported by so many people in so many ways and I am so thankful for that.
I have professional support from my immediate supervisor/close friend and other Goddard directors in the area. My supervisor encourages me when I need it and offers advice/suggestions to help me succeed. She listens when I have issues and is someone that I can easily relate to. Other Goddard directors in the area share great ideas and suggestions to problems via a discussion board that we regularly post to.
Physical support come from my husband who does so many things for me. He moves heavy boxes, reaches things that I can not reach, helps with the house cleaning, does grocery shopping, and picks up wherever I left off. He's awesome.
I get practical support from more things than I realize. I rely on my iPhone to wake me up in the morning and remind me of upcoming events. It also allows me to check my email as often as I need to. My iPad lets me quickly access event ideas for work or recipe ideas for dinner from Pinterest. I use my laptop to complete all of my school work mainly. And I could not get around the big city of Raleigh without GPS.
Taking all of these supports into account, I think that it would be very difficult to live without them. I would feel depressed without my emotional supports and alone without my professional supports. Not having physical support would leave me feeling overwhelmed while not having practical support would honestly leave me feeling lost. I am so incredibly lucky to have the amazing support system that I have and rely on them all so much.
The challenge that I imagined involved myself having major surgery. This surgery would leave me out of work for at least 2 weeks (with no pay) and I would be on bed rest. I would rely on my emotional supports to keep me sane. I would need someone to talk to and keep me in the loop of what was going on in the family and with friends. I would also want to know from professional support what was going on at work as I rarely miss work and it's a huge part of who I am. I would definitely rely on the physical support of my husband, more heavily than before as I would not be able to leave my home. My practical support would be used to entertain me as I was on bed rest. And because I wouldn't be receiving pay, I would rely on someone in my emotional support group to temporarily help me out if need be. Without these supports I'm not sure how I would function. I could make it without the professional support in this situation. But how on earth would I manage without physical support? I'm not sure that I would be able to. All of my different supports are important to me but I think that they physical support and emotional supports would be the most beneficial in this situation. Without them I am not sure how I would survive this type of situation.
Reflecting on my support system has opened my eyes to how incredibly lucky I am to have the people that I have in my life. I am supported by so many people in so many ways and I am so thankful for that.
9.28.2013
My Connections to Play
"Life is more fun if you play games."
- Roald Dahl
"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."
- Diane Ackerman
Toys that I loved as a child:
All I remember from my childhood is playing. Playing outside as much as I could. My Grandma played a huge part in my childhood and she encouraged play often. We used to play in the creek and catch salamanders. We would feel them and talk about what color they were. She would explain what they eat and how they have babies. I learned so much by playing with her. When it was rainy outside we would play inside. We would build a fort in the living room and I would take all of the babies to their "new house." She would encourage me to do all types of things such as cooking and cleaning. She even taught me how to sew at an early age. My mother encouraged outside play. She was always telling me to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. We would ride our bikes, hula hoop, bounce around in moon shoes, and climb trees. I remember us pretending to be all kinds of people. Princesses, Power Rangers, characters from Captain Planet...we had so much fun!
I think play is very much different today than it was when I was growing up. Kids don't roam the neighborhood like I used to because in many places it just isn't safe enough to do that. Outdoor play seems to happen less as more children would rather play video games or computer games.
I think that play made my childhood awesome and I plan to make sure that my children experience the same joy. I also think that my childhood made me the person that I am today. In many ways, I am fearless, which I contribute to all of the trees that I used to climb and giant hills that I used to roller blade down. I am also playful. I love to go skiing and snow tubing. I still love to ride bikes and do so often with my husband. I also enjoy things like amusement parks and state fairs, all of which make me think of my childhood, and how excited I used to get about these things. I feel that having a play filled childhood has contributed to my having a fun, adventurous adulthood full of not just work but...play!
- Roald Dahl
"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."
- Diane Ackerman
Toys that I loved as a child:
All I remember from my childhood is playing. Playing outside as much as I could. My Grandma played a huge part in my childhood and she encouraged play often. We used to play in the creek and catch salamanders. We would feel them and talk about what color they were. She would explain what they eat and how they have babies. I learned so much by playing with her. When it was rainy outside we would play inside. We would build a fort in the living room and I would take all of the babies to their "new house." She would encourage me to do all types of things such as cooking and cleaning. She even taught me how to sew at an early age. My mother encouraged outside play. She was always telling me to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. We would ride our bikes, hula hoop, bounce around in moon shoes, and climb trees. I remember us pretending to be all kinds of people. Princesses, Power Rangers, characters from Captain Planet...we had so much fun!
I think play is very much different today than it was when I was growing up. Kids don't roam the neighborhood like I used to because in many places it just isn't safe enough to do that. Outdoor play seems to happen less as more children would rather play video games or computer games.
I think that play made my childhood awesome and I plan to make sure that my children experience the same joy. I also think that my childhood made me the person that I am today. In many ways, I am fearless, which I contribute to all of the trees that I used to climb and giant hills that I used to roller blade down. I am also playful. I love to go skiing and snow tubing. I still love to ride bikes and do so often with my husband. I also enjoy things like amusement parks and state fairs, all of which make me think of my childhood, and how excited I used to get about these things. I feel that having a play filled childhood has contributed to my having a fun, adventurous adulthood full of not just work but...play!
9.14.2013
Relationship Reflection
There are many types of relationships that I have come across during my life, all of which I feel are important to who I am today.
My husband, Mikey as I call him, is the most important relationship that I have. He is my number one fan and biggest supporter. He is my partner in crime and the best friend that I have found. In order to maintain our relationship we have found communication and honesty to be the most important factors. I consider my relationship with my husband to also be a partnership because we must live together and make decisions together. In order to do this effectively, we have to be partners and agree on things.
My mother, Traci, is another very important relationship for me. She is always supportive of me but is also my voice of reason. She gives me advice when I need it and helps me to see farther down the road when I can't. Maintaining a relationship with my mother has not been a challenge for me at all, as I am lucky to only live 2 hours away from her. We talk on the phone often and we visit each other about once a month.
My grandmother, Joyce, is also an important relationship in my life. She helped raise me as a child and has never missed a game, band concert, etc. She listens to my rants, offers words of wisdom, and tells me outright when I am being ridiculous about something. She doesn't sugarcoat anything for me, she just tells me like it is and I love that about her. I live 2 hours away from her and my grandaddy as well, so our relationship is rather easy to maintain. We talk on the phone and visit often. Our favorite thing to do is shop and the craft store and make new things like wreaths or holiday crafts.
My grandaddy, Robert, plays an important part in my life, as he has been and still is my father figure. He has always been a part of my life and has made sure that I have had everything that I could ever need and often want. He isn't the kind of guy that likes to talk on the phone but we like to get together and chat about politics. He also likes to email back and forth with me. Grandaddy encourages me to reach higher, dream bigger. He is my motivator and I love him for that.
My best friend, Amber, is the last relationship that I am going to write about today. We have been friends for 14 years and have been through our ups and downs. She is my ultimate rant listener, no judgments ever. She is also my girly date go-to girl as we love manicures, pedicures, nice restaurants, and shopping; and the mother of my God daughter, Sophia. Keeping our relationship strong over the years has been hard as we have not lived in the same state for many years now. We try to visit each other whenever we are in the same home town for holidays and talk on the phone at least once a week. I think that the importance that each of us holds for the other, has kept our relationship going. We always set and keep our phone dates and never miss a chance to see each other. Our dedication to our relationship has really helped to keep it going. I also consider my relationship with Amber to be a partnership. Anything she needs, I'm there, and vice-versa. I would take care of her child as my own and I know that she would do the same for me when that day comes. I consider our relationship a partnership because we relate so much to each other, we're always on the same page.
The challenges that I have faced in maintaining relationships over the years seems to be location and the busyness of life. It is easy to get caught up in your own life and the day to day things that you are focused on, quickly forgetting to make time to call a family member or friend. This is something that I really had to learn how to balance when I moved away to college.
Another challenge that I, personally have faced with several people is compromise. As an only child, I wasn't very good at this at first. I had to learn, with help of my mother, that I have to compromise with other people, especially people that I care about, in order to maintain a good relationship.
I think that the relationships and partnerships that I have developed and maintained over the years will help me to be successful in the early childhood education field because they have all taught me something valuable. I've learned how to deal and compromise with people different from myself, how to support people, and how to easily relate myself to others. These are all traits that I feel are important when working with families.
Side note: I almost forgot to mention the relationship that I have with my fur-babies, Marley (right) and Millie (left). My pups do so much for me. They calm me down, cheer me up, make me laugh, motivate me to exercise, and most importantly, give unconditional love. I love them dearly and yes...I am THAT doggie obsessed mom ;)
My husband, Mikey as I call him, is the most important relationship that I have. He is my number one fan and biggest supporter. He is my partner in crime and the best friend that I have found. In order to maintain our relationship we have found communication and honesty to be the most important factors. I consider my relationship with my husband to also be a partnership because we must live together and make decisions together. In order to do this effectively, we have to be partners and agree on things.
My mother, Traci, is another very important relationship for me. She is always supportive of me but is also my voice of reason. She gives me advice when I need it and helps me to see farther down the road when I can't. Maintaining a relationship with my mother has not been a challenge for me at all, as I am lucky to only live 2 hours away from her. We talk on the phone often and we visit each other about once a month.
My grandmother, Joyce, is also an important relationship in my life. She helped raise me as a child and has never missed a game, band concert, etc. She listens to my rants, offers words of wisdom, and tells me outright when I am being ridiculous about something. She doesn't sugarcoat anything for me, she just tells me like it is and I love that about her. I live 2 hours away from her and my grandaddy as well, so our relationship is rather easy to maintain. We talk on the phone and visit often. Our favorite thing to do is shop and the craft store and make new things like wreaths or holiday crafts.
My grandaddy, Robert, plays an important part in my life, as he has been and still is my father figure. He has always been a part of my life and has made sure that I have had everything that I could ever need and often want. He isn't the kind of guy that likes to talk on the phone but we like to get together and chat about politics. He also likes to email back and forth with me. Grandaddy encourages me to reach higher, dream bigger. He is my motivator and I love him for that.
The challenges that I have faced in maintaining relationships over the years seems to be location and the busyness of life. It is easy to get caught up in your own life and the day to day things that you are focused on, quickly forgetting to make time to call a family member or friend. This is something that I really had to learn how to balance when I moved away to college.
Another challenge that I, personally have faced with several people is compromise. As an only child, I wasn't very good at this at first. I had to learn, with help of my mother, that I have to compromise with other people, especially people that I care about, in order to maintain a good relationship.
I think that the relationships and partnerships that I have developed and maintained over the years will help me to be successful in the early childhood education field because they have all taught me something valuable. I've learned how to deal and compromise with people different from myself, how to support people, and how to easily relate myself to others. These are all traits that I feel are important when working with families.
Side note: I almost forgot to mention the relationship that I have with my fur-babies, Marley (right) and Millie (left). My pups do so much for me. They calm me down, cheer me up, make me laugh, motivate me to exercise, and most importantly, give unconditional love. I love them dearly and yes...I am THAT doggie obsessed mom ;)
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