Sharing Web Resources

Originally, I had chosen the National Association of Early Childhood Teachers but after reviewing their website I gained no additional insight.  In order to review the two journals on their website you had to become a member.  Therefore for this class it was of no benefit to me and probably many others that chose not to spend the little we are paid in ECE to fund these agencies.  As program coordinator I couldn’t even support spending my grant funds to become a member because there is so many other free evidence based resources on the web.  I then chose to research more information on Zero to Threes website. 

When reviewing the policy section on the Zero to Three website I came across their Infant & Toddler Policy Framework.  I compared the differences between the Infant & Toddler Framework to the economics of framework Human Capital Theory.  The human capital theory, while being an economic model, provides insight into the likely impact of policies on skills development and in a broader sense helps to link the seemingly separate areas or elements of early childhood policy, such as developmental stages, nature vs nurture and skills development, and better understand their multi-layered relationship (RAND, 2008).  Infant & Toddler covers the domains of health, family strengthening and early learning together to build good health, strong families and positive learning experiences for all children (Zero to Three, 2010).  Human Capital Theory is looking at the economics and future investments for investing in children while the Infant & Toddler Framework is looking at the whole child and how one would benefit  all domains that affect a child’s well-being.  The Infant & Toddler Policy Framework  is a “comprehensive early childhood systems equation of services(accessible, high quality, culturally responsive, inclusive) +  define & coordinate leadership, recruit & engage stakeholders,  finance strategically, enhance & align standards, create & improve improvement and ensure accountability) infrastructure=system”. (Zero to Three, 2010).  This framework I feel is relevant and can be utilized be all early childhood education programs regardless of the services we are providing.  It is so much more in line with child-centered care and focus on the family versus focusing purely on a child as a tangible economic source. 

Currently, I am working on developing goals and strategic plan for this 2014-2015 grant year with my program.  The Infant & Toddler Framework will set the tone for things that I would like to see progress in my program.  By providing this to staff will also enable them to develop their personal goals as well as develop a programmatic goal.  Overall we need to increase our services to meet the needs of children and families as their needs and goals progress each year.  

In this week’s Monday Memo from Raising Special Kids there was a link on the Attorney Generals Eric Holder and his message to combat bullying.  I like that the campaign was geared directly to children and posted on Cartoon network.  It is called “I Speak up”(The United States Department of Justice, 2014).  I appreciate that they are targeting this message directly to children and to a cable channel that children engage in.  The challenge is get to one million people to speak up against bullying.  These days this type of message will spread across social media as children love to do challenges.

The RAND Corporation. (2008). What does economics tell us about early childhood policy? (Research Brief). Retrieved fromhttp://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/2008/RAND_RB9352.pdf 

The United States Department of Justice. (2014).  Justice News.  Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-holder-records-message-cartoon-network-s-i-speak-campaign-combat-bullying

Zero to Three. (2012).  Infant and Toddler Policy Framework.  Retrieved September 27, 2014, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/AgendaMar5.pdf?docID=7921