I.1.1- To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and traning.
I think this is a very important skill to have, regardless what field of study one may work in. Every year, my job requires that each employee to obtain a minimum of 24 hours of training and workshop hours in our content area. During my quarterly evaluation, I always manage to score high in that particular area, because I try to attend all trainings and workshops that sound interesting. I love learning and also like to stay up to date with current policies, laws, rules, and practices. Once I attend those trainings, I then take bits and pieces from each presenter and incorporate it into my curriculum, lesson plans, and classroom.
I.1.0- To ensure that each child's culture, language, ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and valued in the program.
This idea is also another very important skill to incorporate; not only within your classroom, but also in the entire program. Recently, the influx of international children have increased almost double than years previously, and it is important to instill into the children the meaning of diversity and why we recognize it. There are so many different ways in how you can incorporate diversity and different cultures into the classroom; such as, having family members come in and read a story or share something from their culture with the class, posters and pictures of children from different countries, or you can take a virtual field trip to the different countries that are represented within your class on a computer or white board. All of this can be done, to teach young children that there are different cultures that make up the world, and how to accept and appreciate difference.
I.1.2- To work with families to provide a safe and smooth transition as children and families move from one program to the next.
In my HeadStart program, it is our responsibility to ensure that all children entering the program is able to make a smooth transition into the program, not only for them but also for their families. Our policy states that two weeks prior to the school year beginning, the teachers are to go into the community and conduct an home visit to each of the children's homes that are pre-registered in each class. By doing so, the children are able to meet their new teachers, the teacher is able to see how the home life is setup and flow of how the parent and child interact, and lastly the teacher gets to sit down with the parent to learn some information and facts about the child that can be useful upon the child entering into the program; ie: if this will be the child's first time away from mommy and daddy, and to expect some crying for the first few weeks, the child's been having potty training accidents lately, or if the child only speaks their "native" language. Then the child's actual first day of school, all parents are required to attend with their child that will encourage a smooth transition for both parents and child.
Resource
NAEYC (2005 April) Code of Ethical and Statement of Commitment http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf
Sherrell great Codes of Ethics the one on transition also caught my eye. I also work for Headstart but never had the chance to visit the children homes before the school year begins. Maybe this is something that I need to look into.
ReplyDeleteSherrell, Great post! I too work for a Head Start program. We have to do our home visits within the first two weeks of the child entering the program, but doing them two weeks before the child even starts makes much more sense.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of doing a virtual tour of each country that is represented in your class. I'm deffinitely taking that idea back to my center. Most of our children are from Mexico (it's a Migrant Head Start), but we could break it down into the different regions of Mexico. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Sherrell,
ReplyDeleteIt is so wonderful to have so many Head Start employees in this class who can identify with what you have posted. I too work for Head Start and I loved your posting this week. I also loved the transition piece which involves doing home visits prior to children entering school. It's is a great way to help the transition from home to school and to assist with the parent/child attachment piece. I have found that when children enter school for the first time, it can be just as difficult for parents as it is for the child. Thank you for some great insights on other ways we can help make this process easier for our families.
Thank You very much ladies for your comments and kind words. Having been in the "Head Start" field very long, I must say that was one thing that I always mentioned to other center that they should do prior to the new school year, but always seemed to fall on deaf ears. I'm so glad each one of you found my ethics important and also informational.
ReplyDeleteThanks Again, Sherrell
I think that the second item you posted is very important in this time of diversity. Children should be taught to embrace those people who are different from them, not to fear or otherwise criticize the differences. While it can be a hurdle for educators to overcome the teachings in the home environments (and I do believe that a lot of learning goes on in the home), so ideals such as tolerance and acceptance should be taught in everyday life. There are so many opportunities to teach children about how wonderful other cultures can be.
ReplyDeleteSherrell,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great blogs and the information you shared about your Head Start program. It was great to pick up information which we can use within our programs. I want to wish you the best with this journey you've undertaken. I'm sure that once you've finished, those who refused to listen before will respect and value your opinion and suggestions regardless of your length of employment. We all have so much we can bring to improve our programs if only we had those who would give us a chance. I know you will be successful, you're already on the right track. All the best.