Dynamics of Early Childhood Policies and Systems

The healthy development of children is the reason for Early Childhood Policies and Systems, the next course on the journey of my doctoral program. Upon first learning of the course, I wondered what control I have over policies and systems. I am employed in the public school system; a system of policies established by legislatures, superintendents, administrators and district personnel. Policies that range from attendance, to code of conduct, to curriculum and grade reporting.
Further reflection led me to the realization that I and other educators can have effect on policies. These policies are usually school base and include such things as school wide behavior initiatives, arrival and dismissal procedures, and participating in the School Advisory Council. At the district level teachers are invited to join committees and have a voice in policy changes. I have served on committees related to curriculum in both science and math. To be more effective, I need to gather more knowledge about the policies and systems within the public school system.
When I look at voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) I am more familiar with the policies as the program is smaller and educators are aware of the mandates. By state regulations, the school district must provide VPK. My district chooses to do so in the summer. For students to be eligible for the program the families must obtain a voucher from the Early Childhood Coalition. The parents are required to sign a contract which has an attendance clause. The VPK students receive individual assessment at the beginning of the summer and the end. The data is analyzed and stored on the state Bright Beginnings website. Starting this current school year and expanding next school year, VPK will be available at selected Title 1 schools which will provide the funding.
Two of the three professional goals that will drive my work in this course are related to VPK. I have been in contact with the district specialist for VPK and asked if there was policy issues that I could provide support. The answer was a resounding yes. The first goal is the development of the problem solving team process for VPK. I will be researching response to intervention in VPK, handling challenging behaviors and identifying resources that are available in the community. The second goal is the development of parent involvement/support program. I am interested in developing a parent and child reading program that incorporates the arts as well as other curriculum areas. Early childhood educators know that parents are the child’s first teacher and it is imperative to include them in their child’s formal education.
The third professional goal is for the future. I have envisioned an early childhood learning center that I would love to open. In that regard, I will use this course to gather knowledge of all the policies and systems necessary for the opening of a center. Children are the future and it is up us to lay a strong foundation through the establishment of effective policies and systems.

The Influence of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood course was very insightful. The most surprising information was the novel “The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors and the collision of two cultures” by Anne Fadiman. This eye opening novel provided insight into how different cultures have different values and beliefs. I became more sympathetic on the plight and strength it must take for a family to travel to a new country and encounter multiple change. The novel opened the way for discussions on biases, biases that exist due to culture, language, race, ethnicity and sexuality.

The values and beliefs of one’s family develop the child’s identity. Early childhood professionals need to take into account family dynamics and societal norms when working with young children. It is important to display all family structures in the classroom and include literature that depicts family structures. One must also include the language of the home within the school environment this aids in building reciprocal relationships. These relationships between home and school are vital for the ultimate growth of children.

Another aspect from the course that aids in student growth is the development of resiliency. I connected most with the Resiliency Wheel by Nan Henderson. The resiliency wheel provided research behind the items that I promote in my classroom and throughout the school. These items include setting and communicating high expectations, providing care and support, setting clear and consistent boundaries, providing opportunities for meaningful participation, increasing prosocial bonding and teaching ‘life skills’. I have learned throughout my years as an early childhood professional that children will live up to expectations within boundaries that are set in a caring and supportive manner.

Children that grow up in a caring and supportive family build secure attachments. I learned through researching the challenge of giftedness in early childhood education that secure attachments lead to young children reaching their full potential. When a child feels safe, they are more apt to be curious of their environment and explore their surroundings. The child cultivates self-confidence and persistence, skills that are necessary for lifelong learning. These secure attachments should be developed between the child and the teacher as well. Mimi Wellisch stated, “Secure attachment may be the gatekeeper to unlimited possibilities” (2010. p. 124). The development of children that are lifelong learners is currently an aspiration and will continue to be an aspiration in the future.

One area that I hope to further investigate and will motivate me in the profession is the identification of and development of effective gifted programming for young children. “Karnes and Johnson (1987a, p. 198) suggested that rather than cognitive goals, suitable objectives for gifted preschoolers include:
(a) a healthy self-concept and good self-esteem;
(b) appropriate interpersonal skills;
(c) a high level of curiosity and motivation to learn;
(d) ability to persist as task;
(e) willingness to take risks;
(f) ability to engage in creative and productive thinking;
(g) acquisition of higher level thinking process; and
(h) ability to work independently and in groups (as cited in Walsh, Kemp, Hodge, & Bowes. 2012. p. 122-123).
These objectives will be used as the foundation in the development of an early learning center. A center that nurtures self-reliance, problem solving, cooperation and self-esteem while building children’s gifts and talents through challenging and stimulating activities of interest.

Reference:
Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Resiliency.com. (n.d.) Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.resiliency.com/free-articles-resources/crisis-response-and-the-resiliency-wheel/

Walsh, R., Kemp, C., Hodge, K. and Bowes, J. (2012) Searching for evidence-based practice: A review of the research on educational interventions for intellectually gifted children in the early childhood years. Journal for the Education of the Gifted 35(2) 103-108. DOI: 10.1177/0162353212440610.

Wellisch, M. (2010). Communicating love or fear: The role of attachment styles in pathways to giftedness. Roeper Review 32(2) 116-126. DOI: 10.1080/02783191003587900.

Giftedness in Early Childhood Education
The interview process and the presentation

The interview process is going well. I interviewed a primary gifted teacher. She works with kindergarten, first and second grade students. Currently she teaches 12 first graders and 5 second graders. Through the interview process, I learned her view on the placement of students in the gifted program. The most fascinating information gathered was her challenge and triumph which happened to be the same. The educator worked with an emotionally behavioral distributed (EBD) gifted student. She learned how to deal with his behaviors and gifts. After seeing the change in the student during the two years, he became her triumph. The key to the successful interview was providing the questions ahead of time.
My second interview will occur next week with the district placement specialist. I hope to gather information on the identification of gifted children to include the Plan B which deals with placing low socioeconomic and second language learners. I will also inquire about parents’ perceptions in placing students in a specialized program. My other goal is to gather information on resources that are available in the community to assist families with young gifted children. I have sent the questions to the interviewee and believe this interaction will be quite informative.
My course project to date, giftedness in early childhood education, is still in the thought processes. I have successfully completed 3 out of the 4 annotated bibliographies. I must admit finding current research in the specified areas, within the last five years, has been challenging. Between the literature review, a few books on giftedness and the interviews I believe I have what it takes to complete the written assignment. My question or concern deals with developing the presentation with audio narration. I am not that comfortable with technology. I will let you know I contacted student services at the beginning of the course to find out about Kaltura media. I was informed the only way to access was through an assignment box. You can save the information without submitting. What program or programs are you using to develop the presentation? Are any more user friendly than others? Thank you for any support.

Giftedness in Early Childhood Education

Do you work with children that are curious, self-motivated, creative, and possess unusual leadership? Or students that have advanced vocabulary, exhibit high performance intellectually or are great problem solvers? If the answer is yes, you may be working with a gifted and talented child.

Often times when an individual thinks of ESE (Exceptional Student Education) they think of children that are struggling academically or behaviorally. Students that are excelling and possibly behavior issues due to boredom also fall under the ESE title. These children are referred to as gifted and talented.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines gifted as having great natural ability and revealing a special gift. These children with their special gifts and their parents with their questions are the challenge I have chosen for my course project. Specifically the challenge is children with varying abilities with the sub-topic of giftedness in early childhood. I have chosen this topic to look at the brighter side of education. I also want to give a voice to a group of children that are sometimes left to their own devices as schools focus on struggling children. Gifted and talented children need to be provided opportunities to maximize their potential.

My initial questions deal with identification of children that are gifted and talented. I am specifically interested in the identification of these children in unrepresented populations: various races, low socioeconomic and English language learners. A second question is resources available to support the families of gifted children. If the child is identified as gifted, does my child have to attend a different school and how will this affect the family? The final area to be addressed is gifted and talented children that are not challenged and thus become behavior issues.

References:
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online. (2013). Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Childhood and Play

Childhood is a period of exploration and learning. Babies play by exploring the world within their reach and thus learn about the world. Babies from different cultures have a variety of experiences but develop in similar fashion. Babies in Africa play in the dirt, in Mongolia babies can crawl amongst the animals, in the United States babies crawl in a safe, clean and probably risk free environment. This poses an interesting question; have the “safety” restrictions hindered natural growth and development of children?

While pondering this question, listen to the video The Benefits of Risk produced by Alliance for Childhood and KaBoom. Here is the link: http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/node/96 .  The short video has four professionals discussing the benefits of risk. In general, the professionals share that children learn from their own efforts and mistakes. Struggling is a part of childhood and setbacks build perseverance and confidence as mastery is achieved. This struggling can be the result of mastering a piece of playground equipment to climbing a tree to learning to make new friends. The professionals discuss how the United States culture is obsessed with safety and the real problem is accepting the possibility that a child might get hurt. Trying to make a child’s life risk free is a mistake as life is not risk free. Tom Mullarkey, Chief Executive, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, states “We must try to make life as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible.”

Joe L. Frost, University of Texas at Austin states, “The American Journal of Play promises to change the common view that play is frivolous and unimportant. Play builds and heals minds and bodies. It is nature’s way of ensuring competence and fitness.”  You can access the journal learn more about the importance of play for all ages at the following link: http://www.journalofplay.org/

A day full of play which heals minds and bodies is International Mud Day coming June 29, 2013. Check it out http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/get-ready-for-mud-day-2013/ The mission of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children is to re-connect children with the natural world by making developmentally appropriate nature education a sustaining and enriching part of the daily lives of the world’s children. A day set aside for enjoying the outdoors and a good ole fashion mud pie. I remember building mud pies as a child and as an adult with my children. It sure did heal the mind and body. An excellent website for gathering more information and resources about Mud Day is http://www.muddyfaces.co.uk/mud_kitchens.php 

We can view the value of play through quotes from some famous people.

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” Fred Rogers, 1928-2003

“Play is the highest form of research.” Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

Inspiring approaches to fostering learning

Early childhood education is constantly in flux as research on brain development and global sharing of best practices keep educators on their toes. Some cultures believe children learn best through a play-based curriculum and others through didactic instruction. I believe children learn best through experiences. Experiences in which teachers integrate curriculum and scaffold instruction. Carollee Howes in Culture and Child Development in Early Childhood Programs states "Effective teaching requires teachers who can engage children in warm, sensitive, and meaningful interaction" (2010, p148).

Two examples of innovative and inspiring approaches for fostering learning during early childhood are Auburn Early Education Center and Lucy School. I learned of the Auburn Early Education Center (AEEC) when searching the internet for kindergarten programs. "The mission of AEEC is to provide meaningful, integrated experiences that nurture a child's natural curiosity necessary for life-long learning." AEEC is a public Title 1 school that provides kindergarten in Auburn, Alabama. I feel having a school that is just kindergarten is an innovative approach to education. Kindergarten is unique in their standards and curriculum. Administrators in K-5 elementary schools focus on the testing grades due to accountability even though they realize addressing needs in K and 1 would be more beneficial. You can learn more about this unique school by going to http://www.auburnschools.org/auburn_early_ed/

The second innovative school is Lucy School which I learned about from a fellow colleague in my Walden Studies. The Lucy School is an Arts based school and teacher training center in Middletown, MD located on a 17-acre farm. "The arts, in all their forms, bring that meaningful context to the classroom. When individual students make connections between what they are studying and the physical and emotional world they live in, that learning "sticks". The arts integration allows the student to engage their brain and their heart. You can learn more abouth this unique school by going to http://www.lucyschool.com/

Are you familiar with any innovative schools? Schools that are changing with the 21st century? What do you believe is important for early childhood education? Please share.

Play of the Past

A quote on play from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "It is a happy talent to know how to play."

Play is an activity that has changed over time according to  George Rollie Adams, historian, former teacher and led the development of the National Museum of Play. American Journal of Play interviewed Mr. Adams. Mr. Adams shared that in the past, play was more open and free. Rules were developed to meet the situation. Play objects were the stuff you found and turned into something new. In Mr. Adams case, a delivery crate into a truck. Mr. Adams shared, "We had no idea at the time that we were learning to negotiate and to adjust our system to the environment in which we were operating. Turns out those are invaluable management skills." His statement shows the value of play and how play led him to developing a museum.

In my introduction post, I shared how I played a teacher in a school play and then became a teacher. My father in law shared with me how his play experiences led him into a career with the US Army. As a child, he enjoyed playing war games with his brothers and neighbors. He was intrigued by the strategy he had to form to evade his friends and that set the foundation for his career. What play activities did you indulge in as a child? Did they lead you to your career?

Alliance for Childhood is a research and advocacy group that "promotes policies and practices that support children's healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living." Their website has videos that promote play. One video is Prescription for Play and is narrated by Dr. Ken Ginsburg, pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Dr. Marilyn Benoit, Chief Clinical Officer at Devereux Behavioral Health. The two individuals share how play is the work of childhood. Dr. Ginsburg shares that success is related to happiness and creativity and that play is a big part. Follow the attached link to view Prescription for Play.
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/prescriptionforplay

What is your prescription for play? Play has changed over time, do we need to prescribe more opened play?

Thank you for sharing your views.
Sharon Lloyd