I am excited to share my personal stories with you regarding my international contacts. My Kenyan contact responded with a very warm email. A kindergarten teacher from the University in New Zealand has made contact via email already. I also have two more contacts via a family in my program. They are early childhood professionals in the Philippines. I am looking forward to hearing of the trends and policies within their regions.
The website I chose was NAEYC. This is the national voice for high quality early childhood education. It is the worlds largest organization that works on behalf of young children. The website offers information on current events within the field as well as policies and trends. It encourages accreditation for all childcare centers. This sets the center apart as highly qualified. It is a clearinghouse for ideas, jobs and publications.
There were many hot topics covered but the one that stood out to me was one that I am learning more and more about due to its exposure in the news. I chose to read about this topic further:
The Common Core State Standards is an initiative to develop common core standards in English language arts and mathematics for grades K-12. As of August 2012, 46 states have adopted the Common Core. The Common Core is being implemented in schools across the country. Its implementation affects early childhood educators teaching in grades K-3 directly, and may have implications for early educators working with children in the years prior to kindergarten entry. NAEYC is developing resources to engage in a dialogue to ensure that the Common Core standards reflect our best understanding of education in the early years.
There is much controversy to these new standards. It is nice to have this information available to members so that we can be up to date on current trends so we can articulate these things to families that have questions.
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