Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sharing Web Resources



Robin C. Miller
Blog Assignment – Week 4
Dr. Johnna Darragh

            I use the site Zero to Three the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
(http://www.zerotothree.org/). The site is very useful. One specific section that I like is the Care & Education tab. In this section you will find an explanation of why all children even infants benefit from early learning. You will also find sub-sections for Child Care, Family, Friend & Neighbor Care, and School Readiness Interactive Birth to 3. The interactive section is the one I favor most because it is a web-based interactive tool that helps parents and care givers introduce learning to children by learning certain skills such as language skills, cognitive skills, and more.
            I haven’t come across anything that struck me as controversial yet. But, there is a section that I am currently researching through that caught my interest. This is the Temperament & Behavior section in the Behavior and Development tab. I have been finding it difficult lately to understand the behavior of some of my children in the center and even with my own child. I am going to use this information to help me gain a better understanding of behavior and temperament and possibly learn something new.
            I listened in on a webinar on the topic of expanding State Initiatives to Expand Early Head Start and it seems as if that a lot of professionals in the field are ready and willing to help with the expansion of early education but it will be costly in the beginning. A few of the challenges that are described in the webinar is finding qualified professionals, community resources, and funding. Getting others who are not exactly involved in the early education field to understand why it is imperative to start learning at an early age is proving to be a difficult task but many educators are continuing to fight for the rights of our young.
Here is the link for the webinar if anyone would like to listen to it:
            One of the other many sections that I like from this site is the Public Policy tab. In this section you will find, if you scroll towards the bottom of the page, Zero To Three Policy Pocket Card. This download helps gives you an understanding of what you can do as an advocate for helping others understand the importance of early education. I would say it’s a MUST do download. It’s a very good resource. Here is the link:

3 comments:

  1. Hi Robin,

    I enjoyed the utilizing the interactive section on the www.zerotothree.org website. I find this very resourceful for parent and families to utilize when encouraging healthy development in children. The webinar you included in your post ties in to the trends/issues for this week. I think investing in early childhood education would be ideal closing the achievement gap, preparing for school readiness, and future outcomes. And the best part about it all is that high-quality learning will be available for all children across the nation. What is your opinion?

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  2. Dionna, I think that it is great that people are pushing universal pre-school/early education. Your right, the best part is high-quality learning and education.

    Now if we can get the policy holders to understand that early educators are underpaid professionals that would be great as well! Why not properly pay the educators that teach and invest in the children of the future? Just a thought!

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  3. Hi Robin,
    I have read several articles witten by Zero to Three writers.I am always excited about the new insight they offer. The last article I read by them( Dual Language Learners), was very helpful, and it gave me a desire to research the subject further. Thank You for the resources.
    Magretta

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