Welcome to Reaching for New Horizons!!!!!

This blog was created to share my experiences as I journeyed toward my then Master of Arts degree to my now doctoral degree in Early Childhood. Feel free to share your great experiences in this great field.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Reflections.....


As I reflect upon this course on global perspectives, there has been so many valuable resources presented for discussion.  One resource I felt was very thought provoking was the article, Children's right to play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell.  I felt this article provided a great explanation of the importance of play for children.  According to Lester and Russell, “children’s play represents a primary form of participation, being interwoven into everyday life.”  Play helps children better understand the world around them.   As I have researched this subject and other topics I have been most inspired by the work done by the National Association for the Education of Young Children; specifically their position statements on a variety of topics.  Their position statements and research on topics such as developmentally appropriate practices has greatly influenced my thinking on what is appropriate for young learners both typically developing and special needs. Most recently I have been moved by the research done by the Center on the Developing Child Harvard University on toxic stress in children and building adult’s capacities to improve child outcomes.

Finally the poem that most move me when I think about the early childhood field is

Unity
I dreamed I stood in a studio
and watched the sculptors there.
The clay they used was a young child's mind,
and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher;
the tools he used were books, and music, and art.
One, a parent with a guiding hand,
and a gentle, loving heart.

Day after day the teacher toiled,
with touch that was deft and sure,
While the parents labored by his side
and polished and smoothed it o'er.

And when at last their task was done,
they were proud of what they had wrought.
For this thing they had molded in the child
could neither be sold nor bought.

And each agreed he would have failed
if he had worked alone,
For behind the parent stood the school
and behind the teacher, the home.


--Author Unknown-


Reference:
Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.a). Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes: A Theory of Change. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/theory_of_change/

Lester, S., & Russell, W. (2010). Children’s right to play: An examination of the importance of play in the lives of children worldwide (Working papers in early childhood development, No. 57). The Hague, The Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.bernardvanleer.org/Childrens-right-to-play-An-examination-of-the-importance-of-play-in-the-lives-of-children-worldwide

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Innovative Practices in the Early Childhood Field


One innovative practice I have the awesome pleasure of being apart of was as a Preschool Director of a preschool program that collaborated with a school district.  One of the strategic goals of this particular school district was to begin to close the achievement gap between black and white students.  The school board felt one way to begin this process was to offer an early learning program serving children six weeks to Pre K to residents living within the school district.

The thought process was to provide a program where children would experience a high quality program from the infant classroom to twelfth grade.  Parents could be involved in the school district during their child's education as young as six weeks to their senior.  It was felt that children would be provide a consistent education that was build on a solid foundation of learning.  I enjoy this experience because there was a true sense of community and connection between the early learning center, elementary schools, middle school and high school.  Parents were able to develop consistent relationships that would last throughout their child's school career.  Eventually this same concept was utilized by another district to address the learning needs of preschools.  It is great to see this concept being look at by other school programs.