Early Childhood (EC) Smart

How Much I Have Missed You! Upcoming Early Childhood Topics to Ponder

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:17:00 +0000

Changes in my personal (and professional life) prevailed since last post! However, I am looking forward to recommitting some even better posts to nurture some deep (and possibly heated) discussions about what is new in the Early Childhood field.

While I am looking forward to bringing new life to EC Smart, I just wanted to give you a "sneak preview" of what we have in store for all of you this fall.

Here are some things I am working on:

-The Pressure to Measure - Reflections on the training I recently attended at Teaching Strategies for the new Teaching Strategies GOLD assessment system and what's new for The Creative Curriculum

- Nurturing the Most Important (and Least Measurable) Skills - Can you quantify a child's progression of their social and emotional skills? We talk about how some groups make an attempt at this and just graze the topic of how we are stuck in a hyperfocus on quantifying skill development in general

-Nurturing Our Coaches to Ensure Program Success - Who is monitoring the administrators of the EC programs where you work or send your children to school? Many times the education and work experience of these individuals can vary. We talk about how funding and support can't ignore the administrators and their need to be EC Smart!

EC Smart On Hold!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:32:00 +0000

As many of you have already noticed, I haven't submitted a new post for some time. For this I apologize and want to stress that I haven't forgotten about my blog friends who have been such a great support to me.

However, I'm going to formally put EC Smart on hold as of today and look forward to returning with a brand new set of topics more specific to the ECE field. This time, I'm going to focus more on the assessment, evaluation and monitoring going on in the field and the policy that dictates this. Also, I'd like to spend more time discussing a larger topic--do you think Early Childhood Education should fall under the state and federal Departments of Education or Health and Human Services?

Ah, some thoughts to brew upon as I leave you for some time......

Take care,
Michelle

Links for 2009-05-15 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Education Week: Quality of Evaluations Draws New Attention As Stimulus Aid Flows

The "Real" Bailout Plan of the United States of America: Quality Early Education

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Early Stories mentions the Fortune Magazine article revealing President Obama's support for Early Education is directly related to the research and talk that educational achievement=economic progress.

Hmm......We knew that.....

26% of States Are Tied for LAST in Report Measuring "Quality" of Preschool Programs

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:34:00 +0000

I hadn't yet been able to take a look at NIEER's State of Preschool 2008 report. However, I did see the NACCRRA the New York Times articles which both recently offered details related to it, including which states the report has placed at the bottom of the barrel.

However, while it's important to see where we may need improvement--it's also important to recognize how far we have come....so in an effort to recognize both--here are a few stats (from NIEER's State of Preschool 2008 report):

More than 80 percent of all 4-year-olds attend some kind of preschool program (approxiametly half public and half private)
Oklahoma is OK! In Oklahoma nearly 90 percent of the 4-year-olds receive a free public education. This is opposed to the as few as 10 percent which are enrolled in public programs in some other states.
Thirty-three of the 38 states with state preschool programs increased enrollment. The 12 states with no state programs still don't (they are: Indiana, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii).
Twelve states improved on NIEER’s Quality Standards Checklist. Only two states fell back.
The states at the "top" serving 4 year olds include: Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Vermont, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New York, Maryland, and South Carolina. Those at the "top" for serving 3 year olds include: Illinois, Arkansas, Vermont, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Where do we go from here?
Even the best (and definetly the worst) could still use more state mandated quality control with access to support and education for their teachers, directors and staff.

Additionally, I think we still need to work on how we communicate the importance of early childhood education and the impact a child's development during the early years has on their later years---socially, emotionally and then academically.

We are still climbing the mountain, but at least we've got a good strong, solid start and more support than we've ever had before.

If We Don't Start Offering Support...Someone Else Will! The "Expert" Myth

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Gotta go to class this afternoon, but if you ever doubted the importance of providing parent support or nurturing quality parent-school relationships...here's something you need to see.

Research has shown that parents, especially first time parents, reach out to those around them for support and advice regarding raising their child, child development issues, etc. When that support isn't there, they move on to that which is most accessible to them--namely what they see or hear on television or in the media.

This is especially scary when "experts" from television, magazines, often don't carry many credentials....

This is today's scary example: Real Housewives of New York City's Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen--who are writing a parenting book titled, "The Urban Parent: Family Adventures from a Real House in New York City." Don't believe me....read the article here.

Teacher Tchotches (pronounced: Chach-keez)

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +0000

I'm hoping Teacher Tchotches will be a series I can continue as I spend time blogging...

To begin this series, I have been wanting to highlight this groups products for a while. If you have ever attended a NAEYC conference, you may have seen them in the exhibits. Syracuse Cultural Workers is a "peace and justice publisher and distributor." They offer great books, posters, buttons, clothing, resources. Here are just a few of my favorites:

"Childhood is a journey, not a race" t-shirt

"Children should be seen and heard and believed" bumper sticker

"Celebrate Community Honor Diversity" poster

Next time....favorite toys for the classroom (don't expect me to include bob the builder)

To Be A Great Teacher...You Need To Stay Open to Learn!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:30:00 +0000

A friend and I had a brief conversation regarding USA Today's recent article on the anticipated cuts that will be made by thousands of districts in effort to survive due to the tough economy. She had mentioned to me that it was unfortunate that in many cases non-tenured teachers would be the victims of the cuts. She inferred that it was unfortunate that the quality of the teacher's work may not be considered, or the amount of effort, or how she/he contributed to the school's environment or teams--just the amount of years she/he's been in the district.

Reflecting on her comment, I too wondered about this. We all know excellent teachers who are tenured, long-term teachers, who make great mentors. However, I can also guarantee that most of us also know teachers who might not be able to put forth the effort needed anymore, who might not be willing to try something new or go beyond what they learned in school 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

These are the teachers, which in most cases, are getting paid the most and who are protected by unions the most. Again, I stress in many cases tenured teachers are mentors, role models, and examples for all of us. However, research and interventions change and I'm not sure why even tenured teachers wouldn't be expected to continue professional development in effort to stay fresh and up to date.

In Illinois, teachers with standard or master's level teaching certificates have ten years to complete one of the following:

Complete an advanced degree,
Meet Illinois criteria for becoming highly qualified in another teaching area,
Complete National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process,
Earn eight semester hours of college coursework in an education-related program,
Earn a subsequent Illinois certificate or endorsement,
Complete four semester hours (three if Master's level) of graduate coursework preapproved for this purpose in either Self-Assessment of Teaching Performance or NBPTS preparation, or
Earn CEUs/CPDUs in activities (120 CPDUs for Standard/40 Master).

These options are the same for those with an initial certificate, except that Standard level teachers have 5 years to complete one of these options...Master level teachers have 10 years! Additionally, Master level teachers also have a 2/3 deduction in number of CPDUs or one hour deduction from semester hours of graduate coursework.

My question is: If I'm a tenured teacher, what is my incentive to continue my professional development if I'm already getting a higher rate of pay with no increase in level of responsibility?

Here's an even BIGGER question: As a preschool teacher, unless you work in a public school system or live in a state where lead teachers have to have a certificate, individuals need to attend professional development sessions but may never be offered pay increases and if there are increases, they are minimal (child care, some state programs, private programs, etc.). What incentives does this create for teachers to provide quality care and education to her students? to stay at her center?

Links for 2009-02-15 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

"Making It Work" In This Economy

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:05:00 +0000

I recently wrote an article for a publication called, Positively Naperville and it described how recent studies have shown how financial stress effects all members of a family.

Here is my article, "Decreasing Stress by Increasing Play!"

When I wrote this, I reflected on how the economy's downturn has effected my own family. Bill was laid off twice last year, following my own position being eliminated the year before. We took it one day at a time, and learned that although it was tough we'd "make it work." (In fact, everytime something would come up that we were not sure how we'd make it through we'd say, "make it work" ala Tim Gunn). We found fun in shopping at the discount grocery, we'd take nature walks instead of going to the movies, etc. It took our minds off the stress we were dealing with and worked out--we were lucky enough to find other jobs in our field...

As of this week, I'm in the same position again. Unfortunately, our Museum's funding is not there and they were forced to make some cuts. Although funded by grants, they had to eliminate positions and reallocated funds to save itself from having to make more drastic cuts. They were gracious about it and I know it was a hard decision to make albeit without warning. Did it make it easier to understand? Yes. Did I know what I was going to do? No.

So, yet again, I'm unemployed. I keep reminding myself of Bill and I's mantra ("make it work"). So here are my plans to "make it work" and keep myself playfully optimistic...

Take this opportunity to write more. I've missed writing about what I want to write and not what others want me to. I miss writing and giving my own personal opinions without any agenda.
Investigate schools and study for the GRE. I'm going to get my Ph.D (although I'm not sure when) and this is a great opportunity for me to research programs and study for the dreaded GRE.
Get some wedding details out of the way. While I might not be able to nail down much since we are on a smaller budget, I can still take time to plan songs to include on our list, fix our registry details, and do things I was procrastinating before.
Be thankful. I'm thankful for a supportive family, wonderful friends and past co-workers, and for my health. While I'm not going to lie, it's tough...it could be a lot worse.

How do you "make it work" through the tough times? Anyone have anything ideas for fun on the cheap or free side of life?

FYI: My resume can be seen here http://www.box.net/shared/d7r4x59npx

Link to Dr. Katz's presentation 1/22/09

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:58:00 +0000

Here's the link to Dr. Katz's presentation (audio from site and podcast versions) for DCM on 1/22/09. I heard this presentation was better than the one she made at CMAEYC.

http://childrensmuseumblog.blogspot.com

Links for 2009-02-03 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

"Md. Offers Child-Care Inspection Data Online: Reports Give Parents Details on Services" By Donna St. George
Maryland parents will now be able to peruse inspection reports from child-care homes and centers across the state with a new online records system that advocates and officials say will bring another layer of accountability to day-care decision making.

Links for 2009-02-02 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

Links for 2009-01-28 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

An Incredible EC Leader-Dr. Lilian Katz

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:13:00 +0000

I will be posting soon the link to an audio file from last Thursday's presentation by Lilian Katz, Ph.D. I was able to start my day with being introduced to her and she was a fabulous speaker. In the next couple of weeks, I'll share some of her thoughts from the presentation. If you aren't familiar with her, she co-authored Young Investigators with Judy Harris Helm. She is an international leader in the EC field and FYI will be hosting a summer institute at Univ. of IL. I will post this info asap as well.

Links for 2009-01-13 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Why Nature (and Recess) Might Help Kids Learn

Links for 2009-01-07 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST

Today’s K-W-H-L Chart

New Year, New Resolution: Expanding EC Smart - On Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:31:00 +0000

So, I'm not sure how I feel about the new trend of media--being able to access anyone anytime with tools like Twitter and Facebook mobile. (Do you really want to get a hold of me any time of the day?) Therefore, I can't promise I will always be there 24/7 to answer any question.

However, I do love the opportunity to create more relationships with others who are or want to become EC Smart!

In that case....you can now "tweet" me at ecsmart. Stop by and say hello when you get the chance.

Jane Healy, Ph.D "Brain-building experiences..." and MORE!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:33:00 +0000

Click here to listen to Jane Healy, Ph.D's entire presentation hosted by DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville, IL. It is a wonderful presentation on what are quality "brain-building" experiences for children.

Then, check out Melitsa's discussion about similar topics at her blog: http://play-activities.com/blog/

Additionally, has anyone seen Rae Pica's new site? Click here to check it out! She has had a wealth of really great interviews, including Kathy Hirsch-Pasek and one of my new favorite authors, Ginger Carlson (who by the way has two great blogs, one here).

What are your thoughts about celebrating the holidays in your classroom?

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:36:00 +0000

I have fond memories of our grade school Christmas Pageant and going to "Santa's Workshop" every year. However, I went to a parochial school and also didn't realize all the other holidays that individuals of other religions/cultural backgrounds celebrated. It wasn't until I was in high school that I felt like I missed out on learning about these important events that go on throughout the world.

Holidays are important to children, but so is making every child feel respected and understood.

In a future post, I want to know what your thoughts are on this topic: Should we celebrate holidays in the schools? I'll also share my ideas on how to make every child and family feel welcome throughout the year by providing anti-bias curriculum activities. You might be surprised to know, many children and families can share their traditions with the class without making others feel left out.

Michelle

Quality Play Experiences that Build Children's Brains

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:19:00 +0000

I attended a lecture by Jane Healy, Ph.D last week on the importance of quality play experiences and their impact on brain development. Here are the top three thoughts I took away from the presentation:

1. What is the point of childhood?
She asked those of us this question in relation to the fact that many of us get caught up in the hurried, rushed world we live in and how many parents feel their child needs to achieve. She asks, is childhood simply a means to an end where it is simply a time for them to achieve what will eventually happen. Or, is childhood a essential time period where children should be allowed to learn with their senses, take note of the world around them and develop skills that will help build resilience and a strong foundation and become ready for the life they will lead?

2. Play should be 90% child and 10% toy.
This was a quote she shared from Joan Almon, of the Alliance for Childhood. Are we providing children with quality experiences that they can then lead on their own and take what they need from them or are we constantly leaning and focusing more on the educational values of toys and materials instead? Much of the toys today are closed-ended and do not allow children the opportunity to learn more than just rote concepts and fail to provide chidren with the stimulation they need, the opportunity to use their own minds to create, build and explore.

3. Is it the process or the product of childhood that is worth more?
Related to question one, Healy ended the presentation with this thought. The same thought that many quality educators and parents need to think about as they nurture their child's development. As far as educators are concerned, we need to provide children with experiences that may not necessarily have a "cute" end product, but a intentional process (one that is much more important than the product) and we also need to communicate how the process is much more than the product to parents. A cute cut-and-paste product looks good in a child's keepsake box, but its sad to think about how many other children have the same, indistinctive product in their keepsake boxes as well. Parents might actually enjoy knowing that while a quality experience may not have the "cookie cutter" look to it that may be aesthetically appealing, it may have a lot of meaning to their child because they used their creativity and skills to do it "all by themselves!"

Near Chicago? Listen to Jane Healy, Ph.D on Thursday!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Jane Healy, Ph.D (author of Endangered Minds, Your Child's Growing Mind, and Failure to Connect is speaking at a DuPage Children's Museum event on Thursday (October 23). If you are interested, the details can be found here.

If anyone lives near Chicago, this presentation should be excellant. Additionally, I look forward to their presentation with Lilian Katz in January.

More updates are on their way--Don't forget to vote Nov. 4!

EC Smart Reading: 5 Articles You Should Read

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:17:00 +0000

1) Classic Games Help Improve Self-Control in Children

2) Child Beatings in Early Ed Classrooms

3) a recent Wall Street Journal article the Reason Foundation's Shika Dalmia and Lisa Snell argue that pre-k programs don't work or, worse, actually harm kids

...and the rebuttal from another blog: Protect Our Kids from Preschool Hype

4) Top 5 Reasons It's Okay for Kids to Take Risks

5) Toys and our children

A Few of My Favorite Parenting Sites That EC Smarts Might Enjoy As Well

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:50:00 +0000

As EC professionals, it is so important to remember our responsibilities to not only educating young children, but also families.

By educating, I mean spreading the word about the importance of early education, play, what quality programming means and developmentally appropriate practice. Helping parents understand the relationship between classroom activities and their impact on children's development will encourage parental involvement and also their engagement at home with their child.

Currently, I've had the opportunity to research several parenting blogs and many provide great ideas for activities to do with children but also integrate concepts like the arts, science and more.

Take a look at how these parents communicate with not only one another but also are actively participating in their child's development by providing awesome activities at home. For those of us without children, its good to keep insight....we aren't good teachers if we don't open ourselves up to learning something everyday!

Play Activities
The Artful Parent
5 Minutes for Special Needs
Unplug Your Kids
Not-Quite Crunchy Parent
Thinking Outside the Recipe and The Wondershop

Now, these are just a few of my favorites...I'm sure I share more later. Do you have any favorite blogs?

Right Back at Ya! Play-activities.com

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:23:00 +0000

Click here to see what Melitsa thinks of EC Smart....Thanks for the love!

If you are looking for some quality home-grown, easy and developmentally appropriate activities(you know how much I love talking about this), check out her blog for great ideas and suggestions on how she facilitates the activities with her "little man." She also does a great job on sharing WHY the activity promotes development.

P.S. Her blog is also on my list, for future reference.

Cool Mom Talking About Separation

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:39:00 +0000

Just wanted to share this book, I recently came about by Nancy Balaban. It's called Everyday Goodbyes. The reason? Well, its for those of you teachers or parents who have been in the same issue as Cool Mom. Separation can be tough (if you've been there, you know it). However, I and other bloggers shared our best material with her and it sounds like it has worked.

Check out the book...it's a keeper.

Blog List--Check Out the Great Resources We Have!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:32:00 +0000

A couple notes:
1.) I added a Blog List. I've been addicted to Google Reader to the point where I almost can't even keep up with all the chat going on about EC online. Please check out these blogs. You might also notice that there are a few parenting sites. These are very funny and just overall great sites that I use to keep in touch with the breeder bunch. I'm also hoping that once I have a few of my own, these sites are keeping me well prepared for what is ahead.

2.) Notice the calendar? I'm not really using it right now. However, it is up for a few days while I demonstrate its use at work.

You've Got to Be Kidding Me!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:56:00 +0000

Can anyone tell me why early childhood (and I mean all the way through 2nd grade) students should even have to worry about "homework" beyond play and exploration of their world?

Read this: Homework for Preschoolers?

Think About the Message This Sends to The Child: You've Been Kicked Out of Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:08:00 +0000

Have you ever been witness to a child in your class or center being kicked out? What was the reason?

I'm a firm believer that its a lack of teacher support and education that leads to preschool expulsion--its never the child's fault. Never. Read this: Kicked Out of Preschool?

The number of preschool expulsions and corporal punishment usage is a PLEA to our governments to increase professional development/education training for teachers AND create a efficient model of quality control that ensures quality in EC programs.

Where's Waldorf in EC?

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:19:00 +0000

During my graduate work, a woman in my class introduced the ideas of Waldorf education to me. She had mentioned that she was interested in teaching in a Waldorf school and that she really felt passionate about their curriculum.

My reaction? What in the world is Waldorf?

However, after some investigation throughout the years I learned quite a bit about the curriculum. While I stress I have never taught in a Waldorf classroom, I must say there is quite a bit to like about the curriculum in terms of its commitment to individualized lesson planning, integration of nature throughout, and rejection of high-stakes testing, negative discipline and ignoring of a child's interests and feelings.

You might be saying to yourself---"yeah, but that's not going to work where I teach." I agree, public schools (where I worked an Integrated EC classroom), child care preschools, and other early childhood programs might not be able or ready to take on such an intense of a program like the one Waldorf education provides.

HOWEVER--We can take pieces from this model to improve what is there already!

Here's just a few things I took from the Waldorf curriculum:

cooking activities that I planned based on some of the children's interests/ideas from conversations in the classroom (and yes, they did actually cook and cut vegetables)
domestic tasks related to the upkeep of the classroom and classroom pets (yes, I had pets), including washing the dishes after we cooked
art activities that children can imitate (weaving, "sewing" (we used plastic needles and yarn through plastic/nylon netting), painting with tempura, fingerpaints, watercolors, mud and water, etc.)
gardening (we planted fall mums outside and pumpkins/squash the first week of class and by the first week of october had a great patch), we also did flowers in the spring
meditating on seasons instead of holidays--I know this is an adjustment for some teachers and some parents, but I'm passionate about this topic.

**By the way, this doesn't mean you tell children "shhh" if they mention they sat on Santa's lap over the weekend (we talked about holidays when the children mentioned them all the time). But...it does mean instead of making cut and paste Christmas trees, we made evergreen smelly jars and hot cocoa with peppermint sticks.

Does anyone else know anything about Waldorf education they might want to share? Any ideas on how to incorporate some of the ideas from Waldorf classrooms into a public school or child care EC classroom?

New Math Connections neighborhood at DCM

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:23:00 +0000

The new Math Connections neighborhood has arrived at DCM!

With many wonderful interactive, hands-on opportunities to explore math, the DCM Math Connections neighborhood is the perfect way to nurture children's emerging and early math skills. Exhibits feature activities related to patterning, sorting/classification, shapes/colors, early addition/subtraction, fractions, symmetry, size, counting and one-on-one correspondence and more....

The DuPage Children's Museum website is: http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/

Yay for Play!

noreply@blogger.com (EC Smart) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:12:00 +0000

The following is a great piece recently aired by NPR regarding the importance of play and how the past couple decades' focus on technology and other "busy work" has lessened the focus on pretend play and outdoor play.

What a great article. I am very pleased to see who was involved in the discussion.