Professions in early childhood development are unique in such a way because not many other career paths involve the direct care of an individual. Law enforcement personal, doctors, nurses, EMT’s all help people in extraordinary ways but the early childhood field often involves the direct care and supervision of a young child for many months on end and very intimate and caring relationship often develop over the course of the care takers term of service (C, 2011)
. It is because of this very intimate and detail oriented care that it is imperative and a huge challenge that the early childhood professional keep current with new changes and updated procedure in the field.
According to Jean Piaget there are four stages of cognitive development; the sensorimotor stage. The preoperational stage, the concrete operations stage, and the formal operations stage (Morrison, 2006). The primary stage in which early childhood professionals will aid in development is the sensorimotor stage. This stage has many sub stages but the knowledge an infant gains from this stage is primarily gained from physical interactions and experiences. In the past the role of the care taker would be simply to watch over the child and provide a safe and nurturing environment. This would also often be accompanied by interactive games and the learning of shapes and symbols. There is nothing wrong with this type of loving care but in the age of ever-expanding knowledge due to the internet and ongoing research many parents are expecting more from childcare professionals and also more for their money for as many of us know quality child care often comes with a lofty price tag.
Sue to the increased awareness amongst parents and early childhood professionals of new way...
... middle of paper ...
...singly challenging for those currently working in this professional, but ultimately it is the children who benefit most from the continued effort to not only care for children but to try to prepare them for life’s challenges as early as possible.
Works Cited
C. (2011). What Can I Do With This Degree? California State University. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from http://www.csuchico.edu/chld/studentResources/whatCanIDo.shtml
Nemeth, K. (2011). Understanding the changes to the Head Start Outcomes Framework. Early Childhood Investigations. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.org/2011/02/understanding-the-changes-to-the-head-start-outcomes-framework-by-karen-nemeth/
Morrison, G. (2006). Education.com. Retrieved February 4, 2012, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/new-direction-early-childhood-education/
Barnett, W.S. & Hustedt, J.T. (2003). Head Start’s lasting benefits. Infants and Young Children, 18(1), 16-24.
Child care is a rewarding and yet demanding career. These demands come from an abundance of sources: consistent changes to rules and regulations, requests from parents, and the forever evolving needs of a child in your care. Not only should these demands help solidify you as a growing early childhood professional, there are also plenty of other demands that can significantly affect your career choice. These include educational levels, levels of hands-on training, personal interests, family obligations, values, abilities, and your individual professional priorities.
meeting educational, health, social service, and parental needs. “Head Start also wants to help bring about a greater degree of social competence in these children (Mallory and Goldsmith, 2002).” The program has met a goal of impacting child development and day care services, and the increasing availability of services offered to low-income families and their children (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2002).
In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children. Why the Need for Universal Preschool Two-thirds of 4-year-old children in the United States attend preschool, as well as 40% of 3-year-olds (Tejada, 2010). Half of those are enrolled in a public program, such as state prekindergarten (preK), Head Start, or special education, and the other half are in a private program (Adams, 2009). Despite such a large enrollment of children in these programs, there is still a handful of children who are missing out on obtaining a head start in obtaining a good quality education.... ...
To add on, families will have a better understanding of the programmes and will be able to differentiate and choose the best quality education and care services for their children.... ... middle of paper ... ... Early childhood professionals leading today and tomorrow. Marrickville, NSW: MacLennan & Petty.
First and foremost, attachments between an infant and the caregiver develop within the first nine months of the life due to consistent, sensitive love and care. This allows the baby to start healthy social, physical, emotional and cognitive developments (Brown, 2001). Quality caregiving is crucial for a healthy outcome during infancy. Infants need their discomfort
When selecting childcare for your child the foundation of early learning has offered some tips that they believe will be helpful in the process. The foundation says that parents have always known that good early experience was important for their child. Now scientist and researchers are confirming how critical these first years of life are to your child’s healthy development (Selecting child care, 2002). Because the brain matures in the world rather than in the womb, the brain growth and development of infants and young children is deeply affected by their earliest experiences. In a childcare environment the relationship your child has with the caregiver will also affect how that child feels about himself and the world around him and as he grows up (Selecting child care, 2002). I ...
Head Start does an adequate job at meeting the needs of children in the manner in which it was originally founded. The Head Start program is not bad and should not be done away with. But, from what I have learned through this study, amendments could be made to increase the longevity of the desired results. In this paper I will discuss the Head Start program. How Head Start has succeeded. The way it attempts to influence children’s behaviors. I will also discuss some of the shortcomings of the Head Start program and ways to make the program more effective.
If a child is looked after or in care, their opportunities in general may be restricted. This in turn leads to their development being affected in many different ways.
Every teacher has this potential whether they are aware of it or not. I have been a teacher for nine years in early childhood education and within those nine years I have become very aware of how powerful the smallest act of caring can turn a person’s life around or even just make someone’s day a little better. Being a preschool teacher has brought me great pleasure to my life simply brightening a child’s day and knowing that I am making a difference in their life. Through my journey as a teacher I have thought about how I can advance in my career field and still be active with children on a daily basis and continue making a difference in each child’s life as well as their parents. With plenty of thought and research I have come to the conclusion and gained the interest to become a preschool and childcare director.
It is common knowledge that a parent is considered the most efficient caregiver for their children. It’s also known that with daily responsibilities of caring for a child financially, parents partake in full-time and/or part-time employment. While needing to do so, many children attend daycare/preschool facilities. Granted, it is the parent’s responsibility to cautiously select where they decide to take their children. This is because parents know that while they are away for numerous hours of the day, their children are in the hands of another care provider and that their care would have an enormous impact on their children. At a young age, a child’s social and cognitive skills are continuing to take shape and the amount of time spent in these facilities has a resilient impact on a child’s development. With proper and superior care no matter the time spent, such positive effects on a child’s development should endure in a child’s cognitive and social development. In other words, there is a great benefit of childcare/daycare attendance on a child’s development.
When seeking a career, it is important to see the future growth of the job and the salary. It will determine how difficult it will be to find placement. Early childhood educators are the first people to truly show an impact on children and will always be needed. The projected growth of early childhood lead educators between 2014 to 2024 is 7% (Elrick). They will be needed in the upcoming future and the projected growth is said to go up even further. The median annual salary in the United States is $28,120 (Elrick). Many people do not choose this career because the salary is very low compared to the amount of hours spent. Early childhood educators spend a lot of time and energy for these children. They also have to understand that their pay is considerably low compared to many other
Pediatrics is an exciting and challenging field which I consider the only career choice for me. My interest in the discipline was reinforced during core pediatric clerkship rotation, when I was particularly attracted by the special bond between the pediatrician, the patient, and the parents, while working for the best outcome. I graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Aleppo University in Syria with very good overall average. Then, I was accepted to the Pediatric Residency Program at Damascus University Children 's Hospital which was the only pediatric tertiary center in the country. Ultimately, in 2001 I became the youngest licensed pediatrician in Syria. Afterwards, I worked in primary, secondary, and tertiary centers, in Syria and Saudi Arabia until 2013. In 2014, I joined McMaster NICU as a clinical fellow, where I upgraded my technical neonatal skills, and became more familiar with the Canadian health system.
Children may also need help in having their attention directed towards significant features of a task or a situation, when left alone, they might not make the right connections. The interventions by the knowledgeable give the child a structure within which to formulate meaning (Smith, Cowie, Blades, p510). Based on this I believe that it is important that our children’s development should begin at day care and pre-school age. So that developmentally they are not left alone and not making the correct developmental connections. Many times we leave our children alone and it sets them up for failure. As teachers and parents we should not fail to build on prior knowledge, as some of our day care centers do, but we should build on the foundations of knowledge at an early time. Not in the 3rd and 4th grade when its too late.
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).