The Harris Early Learning Center

In today's society, early childhood education programs have become an almost expected first step in every child's life. Studies have shown that when children attend they children who attend a preschool program are exposed to numbers, letter, and shapes on a daily basis. They also begin to learn many life skills, like how to socialize, share and separate from their parents. These first steps of learning are so important that now forty states in the U.S. now offer state funded pre-k programs (Kanter, 2016). With some many different preschools and early childhood programs, how do parents know if the programs are being held to a certain standard? The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) is one comprehensive assessment tool available. Using this tool while quietly observing a preschool classroom, will help to define areas of strength as well as areas needing to be strengthened. The scale has thirty five different areas that are divided into six subscales, that will be observed. Each question is yes or no answer to a specific question and example.

In the book Early Childhood Education Today 11th Edition, we read that “Family-centered practice is one of the cornerstone features of early childhood special education. This follows the fundamental notion that children’s development is influenced by their environment: their family, teachers, school, town, media, governmental systems, and so on.” (MORRISON, 2009) The first thing we as teachers must do is acknowledge that the children’s families are the first and most important teachers of their children and recognize the long-term effect families have on the attitudes and accomplishments of their children . For the edification of today’s youth there are potential positive responses to be obtained through working with a child’s parents as

Education has come a extensive way from the times of Plato and Aristotle, but from each new era came a person with a concept that effected the world of education eternally. Sisters, Margaret and Rachel McMillian influenced education through their development of the Open-Air Nursery School in more way then one. Not only had they introduced the idea of starting education at a younger age then the fledgling kindergarten program, but their school was devised for kids from low- income areas that needed the extra care as well. A unique concept of the time that grasped my interest and made me want to discover more about their program and it’s effect on Early Childhood Education.

This research report presents an analysis of and conclusions drawn from the experiences and perspectives of two educators that work in the early childhood setting. The main objective is to identify key elements and issues in relation to the families, diversity and difference. In particular how an early childhood educator implements, different approaches to honour culture and diversity, and to advocate for social justice in an early childhood settings. As such, it allows an insight into the important role that families and their background plays in the everyday lives of the children and educators within early childhood settings. In today’s ever-changing growing society it is essential for educators to be flexible to the

Throughout our career as childhood educators, we observe the significance of the National Association for Young Children or NAEYC. It is recognized as “the nation’s premier organization for early childhood professionals-setting research based standards and providing resources to improve early childhood program quality” (Copple & NAEYC, 2001) for teachers, students, and families. Despite exercising the knowledge of what NAEYC means for our classrooms and the students in them, some may not know who or how the organization was founded. Knowing the background of NAEYC is important because it has a reputable history of providing universities and educators with high quality, researched, information. In order to ascertain a further purpose to why these standards matter and the importance of NAEYC in education, we must learn its history and its founders.

My field work was done at two different locations. One location was at Anne Hutchison Elementary School for grades 2 and 5 in Eastchester, New York and the other location was at a daycare called “Kidz Korner” in Mamaroneck, NY for pre-school children. The student’s behavior, student/teacher relationships, level of cooperative learning and level of instructional techniques were different.

My centre, HeadStart Early Learning Centre is located at 6-8 Wattle Street, West Ryde, NSW 2114 Australia, north-west of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD). It is built on a quite suburban street surrounded by houses and apartments, as well as a park across the road. The community in the suburb of West Ryde consists of many cultures ranging from Chinese to Lebanese and Italian backgrounds.

The center in which I am conducting observations at is the Metro Gateway Child Development Center. The director of the center is Kelly Magallanes and the assistant director is Kristen Krauss. The child development center serves about seventy students; public center. I will be assessing the toddler room for the ITERS observation; the lead teacher of the classroom is Ms. Rose and the assistant teacher is Ms. Sonia. There are eight toddlers in total.

1. My niece fits into the infancy stage. She is not even a year old. I can see the oral-sensory mode with her. She is constantly taking in the world around her by trying new things with her senses and trying to put things in her mouth. At this stage she is experiencing basic trust vs mistrust. She is trying to trust the world and the people around her. I see this as the basic issue. Hope is another issue that is present. I believe with the help of her supportive parents she is being to develop hope and not withdrawal. She is very open and not withdrawn in any setting. Understanding her basic concerns of trust and mistrust helps me better understand her needs. Although she cannot talk yet, I can use this information to better connect with her

The early years learning environment is dominated by a play- orientated pedagogy. That is, a child’s learning is enhanced in an environment where there is an equal balance between child and adult initiated activities. The role of the practitioner is to create this balance while planning for the activities to incorporate the statutory framework.

Relations between home and school can be strengthened by multiple strategies developed by the teacher and the parents to benefit the child. The friendship between the school and the home of the child is crucial. The open communication between the school and parents is important because it allows the teachers to gain insight and understanding of the child’s development and behavior. In the book, A Child Goes Forth A Curriculum Guide for Preschool Children by Barbara Taylor, it suggests sending a daily note home with the child, so the parents are able to read about their child’s day. Along with that, a newsletter is also recommended to post weekly and/or monthly about the classroom to keep the parents up-to-date and inspire questions or comments

12 boys, including 1 special Ed, 2 dislectic boys, 8 girls including 2 dislecitc girls, and not including the female teacher.

These parents are faced with the barriers mentioned throughout the literature. A specific barrier that has been observed with the parents living in the area – are the parents themselves. Parents enroll their children into pre-kindergarten but remove them before the school year ends or keep the child home excessively. This can become a hindrance on the child’s learning, cognitive and social development. Research supports the importance of parent involvement during the early year. The overall goal of establishing an early literacy intervention for parents is to prepare young children to begin school at or near grade level. Parent involvement is key in preparing children for school readiness. This intervention can provide an understanding and awareness of what parent involvement requires for families who need the encouragement, empowerment and the most support. There are many barriers that can stand in the way but little things like conversations, reading a book together, singing the alphabets or nursery rhymes, watching educational programs can make a big difference in a child’s perception of

Early Education Programs has increased during the past years. According to Pianta (2012), “Early education programs typically aim to improve children’s academic skills including improving language and early literacy abilities, as well as developing knowledge and skills that relate to math and science” (p. 4). As early educator, we utilize a Creative curriculum where it has different types of activities for physical, math, social emotional, language and literacy. We implement different activities where we have in mind each child’s needs. They are available in Spanish and English language. Teachers are being sent to have their degree for they can be prepared to provide the necessary help to children. Children’s that participates in these early learning programs has the opportunity to succeed better in school due to what they have learned in these early year programs.

Early childhood is a time full of curiosity, exploration, creativity, excitement, and rapid development. During these formative years, children develop attitudes about education that remain with them for the rest of their lives (Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, 2011). High quality early childhood education programs and highly effective, passionate teachers or care providers will not only promote young children’s development and academic achievement but will also foster a lifelong passion for learning. ECE programs and educators utilize learning centers to contribute to young children’s acquisition of literacy, numeracy, creative thinking, problem solving, and motor skills as well as a number of other skills and knowledge (Jarrett, 2010).