Sharing Web Resources

The specific sections that seem particularly relevant to my current professional development of new voices supporting early care and education are “Behavior & Development” and “Care & Education” sections. These two sections highlight the submission of the new voices.  Behavior & Development section talks about Brain Development, Early Childhood Mental Health, Early Development, Health & Nutrition, Play, School Readiness and so on.  Early Care and Education section talks about Child Care, Family, Friend & Neighbor Care, and School Readiness Interactive.

The resources on the website that made me think about an issue in new ways is “School Readiness Interactive” from birth to 3.  The resource is an interactive learning tool to assist parents and caregivers in encouraging early learning for their young children.  The tools used are: information about the development of school readiness skills and support needed from adults; video clips showing children learning the skills; and interactive activities between parents and children providing fun to children’s school readiness skills.  The video clips actually made me see the practical aspect of helping young children develop skills and how easy it is for mothers, especially, to miss this aspect of their child’s life.

The information from the website that adds to my understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field with the issue of high-quality early learning opportunities for children during their first five years is that of Play.  The article states that a lot of learning happens during playtime of looking, lifting, dropping, bouncing, knocking down, and more.  The article also states that the true work of childhood is play, and when adults join in such play, the child learns love and gain the confidence needed to build loving and supportive relationships in life.

I gained some new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field while exploring the website some of which are as follows; Promoting social emotional development is said to be as important as the child’s brain and physical development, and that the desire to connect with others motivates a child to learn. I also learnt that how much and how well a child learns, and the quality of the relationships built with others depends largely on the child’s sense of who he/she is in the world. Therefore, those who the child comes in contact with early in life need to help the child build a positive notion and image about self.