assignment

  

A-C IN THE FRIST SECTION MUST BE COMPLETED. A-C IN THE SECOUND SECTION MUST BE COMPLETED. PLEASE READ CARFULY. THIS IS A SHORT ESSAY REVIEW

Resources Short Essay
 

As an early childhood educator, it is crucial to identify resources around the community to create a quality early care and education program. 

Our communities provide resources for families and early care and education programs to support children’s development.

The Internet is a virtual tool that provides access to many resources. 

As a professional, you will need to evaluate the resources for quality and credibility.
 

For this assignment, you will write a three- to four-page paper providing a review of a community resource and two virtual resources that are available to you.  Please include:

a. One community resource to share with parents and to use as an early childhood professional to support children’s development.

b. One virtual resource to share with parents.

c. One virtual resource that you can use as an early childhood professional.

For each of these resources, please provide the following:

a. A summary of what the resource includes and how it supports children’s development.

b. A rationale explaining why this resource is valuable to educators and to parents.

c. An explanation of how you will use this resource as an educator or how you will encourage parents to use this resource.

Your paper should be three to four pages in length (not including the title and reference pages) and must be formatted according to APA style. 

You must include one community resource, two virtual resources (websites), the textbook, and one additional scholarly source, all formatted according to APA style. 

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED FILE ON SO IDEAS FOR RESOURCES.

PLEASE USE THE ATTACHED FILE, IT IS INFORMATION FROM MY TEXTBOOK, USE THIS AS A SOURCE.

Use of the Community to Support Initiative

There are many community resources that families and early care and education programs can use to support children’s need for initiative (Wardle, 2007). According to Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1995), the community is part of the microsystem. Further, interactions and cooperation between various components of the microsystem belong in his mesosystem. Not only can community resources be used both by families and the early care and education program, but each can inform the other of existing resources and their value for young children. Use of these resources depends on knowing they exist and having access and transportation to them. Parents and caregivers need to explore all the rich possibilities in their communities, and discover the ways these resources can be used for the benefit of children ages 3 to 5. The early care and education program should develop strategies both to inform parents and other caregivers of the resources they can use with their children within their communities, and to allow the program to learn about different community resources from parents and other caregivers.

An adult or older child must always accompany children at this age. When early care and education programs go on field trips, parents and other caregivers from the home should be invited to help with this supervision. For families, supervising children as they explore these outdoor areas presents an opportunity for a parent, grandparent, or other adult in the home to spend time with one or more of their children. Not only will the adult delight in learning what the child likes to do and how he or she sees the world, but the adult can teach the child about nature and wild things. Some adults know all about wildflowers, while others are tree experts. Others know all about the birds and animals in the area. This is a wonderful time to teach this wisdom to a young child. Of course, this is also an important time for adults to teach children important health and safety information (Martin, 2011).

Museums

Most communities have a collection of museums, including nature and history museums, art museums, regional museums, state museums, and museums dedicated to a single concept, such as the Black Cowboy Museum, the National Railway Museum, and the Agricultural Hall of Fame. Many of these museums have a section dedicated to families, and some provide regular events to attract families. In some cities, these museums even offer free admission on certain days. Many museums work closely with early childhood programs and schools (some have websites and additional curricular materials that can be used when the children return to their programs and homes).

Many large cities also have children’s museums, which have exhibitions and activities that young children enjoy and provide activities for children as young as toddlers. These museums change their exhibits and activities on a regular basis and also provide a variety of special activities such as children’s authors reading their books, cultural activities, magic acts, and opportunities for children to engage in dramatic play and play with unique toys.

Outdoor museums are favorite places for families with young children. When children visit outdoor museums, they learn a great deal about growing and caring for plants and animals and how people used to live. Examples of outdoor museums include farms from the 1800s that feature old buildings (homes, stores, and one-room schoolhouses), a collection of farm animals, and periodic historical activities in which children can participate, such as making wallpaper using color dyes and vinegar and making apple butter. These outdoor farms provide many seasonal experiences for young children, from observing baby pigs and lambs in the spring, to harvesting corn, pumpkins, and potatoes in the fall.

Cars are kept off the premises of such museums, and there are always staff members—often dressed in period costumes—on hand, so they are very safe places for children to explore. Outdoor museums are great places to visit on a regular schedule throughout the year. On each successive visit, children can revisit familiar sights and activities, while also learning about new ones.

Learning About Nature

Nature is of immense interest to young children (Keeler, 2011; Louv, 2006). Many cities have a series of public trails and greenways that allow children without easy access to rural or undeveloped areas to experience nature. Greenways are natural areas set aside for birds, waterfowl, animals, and vegetation to grow more naturally than in traditional city parks. While these parks might have meadows and large grassy areas, they do not have formal ball fields and carefully manicured grass. They often contain wetlands for waterfowl and migrating birds. These areas provide natural habitats for a vast variety of wildlife.

Children aged 3 to 5 are very curious about everything! They love to take risks, and they need concrete materials to learn about the world, such as water, stones, trees, flowers, insects, and animals. Greenways and trails provide an ideal place for the preschool child to explore. Many city parks and recreation departments provide guided tours and educational field trips to their greenways and trails. Early care and education programs should become familiar with these opportunities, develop a relationship with their city agency, and utilize free programs with their children. Families can, of course, access these greenways and trails whenever they choose.

Hiking trails and greenways provide wonderful environments for children to engage in more complex and sophisticated forms of play (Louv, 2006). As discussed earlier in this chapter, there are different forms of both social and cognitive play. Play is not just about swinging on a swing and climbing on a ladder. Children also like to play with water, draw in the mud, build constructions with sticks and stones, play together in a little shelter they have just built, or pretend to be explorers. They are exploring the world and trying to figure out where they fit in it.

City Parks and Playgrounds

Cities and towns throughout the United States have a variety of parks that can be enjoyed by programs and families with young children. Most city parks contain traditional playgrounds with swings, slides, climbers, and sand. These playgrounds are designed to match the physical development of children at this age (Johnson, Christie, & Wardle, 2005). Because 3 to 5-year-olds are fascinated with physical play and are developing their gross and fine motor abilities, these playgrounds are great places for them to play. Preschool children tend to enjoy playing in the sand that surrounds most playgrounds and making friends with other children their own age while playing.

Programs without access to their own playgrounds, or to playgrounds that are age-appropriate, can opt instead to use city park playgrounds. However, most city playgrounds provide only equipment that matches the first level of cognitive play—functional play. Parents and caregivers should be aware that children soon become bored with basic functional play such as swinging, sliding, and climbing. Thus, families and programs should bring toys and other materials with them that encourage constructive and symbolic play, and natural materials, such as sticks, stones, pieces of wood, and leaves, that can be used by the children in their play on these playgrounds.

City parks also have other play opportunities. Most have some kind of water source—either streams that wander through the park, or a pond or lake. Children in the initiative versus guilt stage generally love playing in water. They throw stones, watch sticks float under a bridge, play in the mud, observe tadpoles and frogs, and watch the variety of wildlife that ponds and lakes attract. While supervision is always critical with young children, it is hypercritical when water is involved (Martin, 2011).

Libraries and Bookstores

Children at this age are fascinated by books, pictures, artwork, and stories. They love predictable stories with highly repetitive scripts, like The Three Billy Goats Gruff, the Three Little Pigs, and fairy tales. They like stories about things they can relate to in their own short lives. Finally, they want to exercise their newly developed, and still developing, complex language skills. Thus, the preschool age is an ideal time to expose children to books and reading and to instill in them the love of books and reading. Exposing children to books, stories, and print can be accomplished through frequent, positive experiences to libraries and bookstores, and through positive experiences with books and reading at home and in the early care and education program.

Staff members in local libraries are very good at working closely with early care and education programs. They often have programs designed specifically for young children and will arrange reading activities for groups of children from various programs. Programs should work closely with libraries to provide program classrooms with books that they can use to augment specific curricular themes and activities. Finally, many libraries put on special events for young children.

Families can access libraries in their neighborhoods. Visits to libraries with children aged 3 to 5 build a strong disposition in children toward reading and learning. The exposure to books can then be reinforced when children bring home books that their parents read to them and that they can begin to learn how to read themselves. Involving the entire family in these visits, and not simply leaving library visits up to the early care and education programs, is absolutely critical, because it shows children that education and the use of books are supported and modeled at home (Bandura, 1977, 1990).

Many bookstores cater to families with young children. These bookstores not only stock children’s classics and the newest children’s books, but they also have staff members who are extremely knowledgeable about the different kinds of children’s books that are available. A parent who is looking for books to match the specific interests of a child will find these books in children’s bookstores. When children visit bookstores, they learn that people view books as important aspects of their lives, so important in fact that they will go to a store, enjoy looking at books in the store, and then actually pay for the books.

 Resources for Families and Programs Working with Young Childrenand Their Families

Many agencies, professional and government organizations, educational institutions, and advocacy groups provide a vast array of advice, materials,  training, and other support, both for parents of young children and for teachers, caregivers, and directors working with young children and their families. Some of these organizations are international, others national, and many are local.  However, some of the nationalgroups also have local offices and agencies. The following are some of these  organizations.

National and International Resources

Many national and international resources provide  wonderful materials to assist teachers and caregivers working with young children. These organizations provide online materials, written  materials, and direct advice in areas in which they specialize (e.g., the U.S. Department of Education/Special Education can provide information  about the services families of children with disabilities can receive, including those whose children are in private and religious programs). Some of the national and international programs include the following:

· Head Start/Early Head Start. There are two organizations: the National Head Start Association, which is a  membership organization(www.nhsa.org), and the Head  Start Bureau, which is the federal administration (

www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/

).

· Zero to Three. This organization provides research,  training, and materials on infant, toddler, and family  issues (

www.zerotothree.org

).

· National Association for the Education of Young Children. NAEYC is the largest professional organization for caregivers, teachers, anddirectors who  work in programs that serve children from birth to 8 years old. NAEYC also has a parent initiative (

www.naeyc.org

).

· UNESCO. This is the branch of the UN dedicated to  serving young children and their families, worldwide (

www.unesco.org

).

· Early Childhood News. Free materials can be retrieved  from this website (

www.earlychildhoodnews.com

).

· High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. A variety of materials, training, and curricula is provided by High/Scope (

www.highscope.org

).

· The Council of Exceptional Children (CEC), Division of  Early Childhood (DEC). DEC is a national organization  dedicated to serving andsupporting young children with  disabilities, their families, and staff who work with them (

www.dec-sped.org

).

· U.S. Department of Education/Special Education. This  federal office provides assistance with legal matters  regarding serving young children with disabilities and disseminates materials,advice, and best practices (

http://idea.ed.gov/

).

· Child Care Exchange. Exchange publishes a magazine,  books, training materials, and trend reports covering all aspects of the earlychildhood field. It also sponsors the World Forum, an  international  conference, every year (

www.childcareexchange.com

).

· Collage. Collage is a free resource provided by Community Playthings, the makers of wooden toys and equipment for infants and youngchildren (

www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/index.html

).

Local Resources

Local resources, of course, depend on the location of a  program and family. However, most programs, particularly those in or surrounding majorcities, will have access to a variety of resources that programs and parents can use to support  the development and learning of young children:

· The local school district administration offices

· Regional federal offices (for local Head Start information  and subsidized child care, WIC  programs, federal  Indian Centers, and other federal programs for low-income families)

· City agencies (employment and training, parks and  recreation, city early childhood initiatives, museums)

· Mental health centers

· Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers

· Local Head Start and Early Head Start programs

· Local disability councils for children with disabilities  under age 3

· Community college departments of early childhood  education

· The city’s children’s museum

· Local libraries (most have wonderful programs for young  children)

· Early childhood resource, referral, and training programs (these are located in different agencies such as  community colleges and county governments)

· Local children’s hospitals and health clinics

· Local WIC programs

· Food banks and food distribution centers closest to  programs and families

· Programs that specialize in serving children who have specific disabilities, such as autism or learning disabilities

· Local federal Indian health centers

· County social service programs (adoption, foster care, a  variety of programs for low-income families)

· Museums (especially cultural museums)

Wardle, F.  (2013).  

Collaboration with families and communities

 [Electronic version]. Retrieved from

https://content.ashford.edu/