Pixar's 'Inside Out'

After watching Pixar's 'Inside Out' and reading a couple of articles on other people's views on the subject of feelings and how they were depicted in this movie, I have made some conclusions of my own. Although everyone has the five different emotions of fear, sadness, disgust, anger and joy within themselves, each individual is different because of which emotion controls them the most or has the most impact on their actions. The entire movie impacted the way I think about not only how I handle my own feeling but also how I react to the feelings of others, especially children. An adult has years of practice on how they handle and react to different situations, but with a child every situation is a first and the outcome is unknown. Setting a standard for how they are supposed to react is unfair. They must acknowledge how they are feeling and be guided on how to work through it, not just ignore and move forward. Suppressing one's emotions only makes them build until they are no longer manageable. I believe the underlying message of the movie is to accept all of your emotions because they all have a place within you, and as much as you may want them to- "emotions can't quit".

History of Early Childhood Education

The history of early childhood education goes back hundreds of years. If you want a specific history you must be specific on the area to which you want to know about. Each geographic area, country and neighboring town has had a different path that has led us to where we are today. Starting with childcare for the royal and wealthy to necessity for the working family’s during the Industrial Revolution in our own country. War has played a huge part as to how and who educated children. Fathers were going off to war and leaving mothers to work to keep the family in food. This created a need for outside care. The age at which children were taught by others outside of the family has greatly changed over the years as well. Official schooling was not started till age 7 or 8 for boys and not at all for girls if you were at a lower income level. Never having a formal education was common for poor families because everyone worked to help out. Richer families had nannies and tutors for their children from birth. As time has passed we have seen the need to educate all children. Still there is a gap in the quality of care and education depending on how much you can afford to pay. Free programs are full of under staffed and uneducated teachers. This is not to say that all state and federal programs are bad. Some are lucky to have truly committed teachers who care for the future of their students. We have come a long way from where early childhood education was started but we still have a long way to go. Not all changes have been for the best, but change on a large scale is good because it shows that ideas are always changing and willing to learn from past mistakes.

"Catch a Bubble"

After watching a video titled "Catch a Bubble" @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2dLPFaehV0&feature=emshare_video_user, I am upset and even a little teary eyed. I can very much see it as offensive from a child's point of view to be told to catch a bubble in order to tell them to be quiet or zip it. It is the equivalent to telling them to shut up. We want children to learn to use their words, but then we tell them not to. Yes, we do need to have their attention at times but yelling at a child is not the way to do it. We must capture their focus with song and take the time to talk to them as another individual who deserves respect. Just because they are young does not make them less. You wouldn't tell an adult to "put a bubble in it" during a board meeting or any time you are trying to speak. Children learn by example and this is not a lesson we want to teach them.

Road to NAEYC Accreditation

NAEYC Accreditation is a long process but very worth while. There is a lot of information on their web site http://www.naeyc.org/academy/pursuing/fourstepoverview, but here is a copy of their main page just to give you an idea.

The Four Steps help programs prepare for each stage of NAEYC Accreditation, and ensure that the crucial components of program quality are in place along the way.
Programs pursuing initial accreditation must complete the Four Steps. Currently accredited programs will pursue a new term of accreditation through the renewal process.

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Step 1: Enrollment/Self-Study

Align your program with the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards

• Submit enrollment form and fee
• Register for TORCH
• Use Self-Study tools in TORCH to evaluate program quality and to inform quality improvement efforts
• Plan your program’s accreditation timeline, considering submission deadlines for reaccreditation if applicable

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Step 2: Application/Self-Assessment

Compile evidence on how your program meets the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards

• Submit application and fee, selecting a Candidacy due date for Step 3
• Use Self-Assessment tools in TORCH to document that your program meets the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards
• Gather documentation that your program meets the Candidacy Requirements
• Download Candidacy Materials eight weeks prior to self-selected Candidacy due date
• Complete Candidacy Materials

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Step 3: Candidacy

Demonstrate key components of high quality programming and preparedness for site visit

• Submit Candidacy Materials and fee on or before Candidacy due date
• “Fine tune” program improvement efforts in preparation for site visit
• Receive Candidacy decision from the NAEYC Academy

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Step 4: Meeting the Standards Demonstrate how your program meets the standards by allowing an NAEYC Assessor to observe your program in action and review evidence collected in Self-Assessment. For programs accepted as Candidates for NAEYC Accreditation: Receive contact from NAEYC Asessor(s) Provide NAEYC Assessor(s) with your program’s calendar and selected exclusion dates Submit changes in staff to NAEYC Academy (if applicable) Receive notification of 15-day window in which the site visit could occur Receive notification of site visit one business day prior to the visit Receive site visit within six months of Candidacy due date Receive accreditation decision within three months of site visit Accredited Programs: Celebrate your Accreditation Decision!

Step 4: Maintaining the Standards Demonstrate continued compliance with the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards. Submit Annual Report on first through fourth anniversaries of accreditation anniversary date Update NAEYC with new information, including major programmatic changes, licensing/regulatory updates, and incidents that did or could have compromised the essential health or safety of any child. Submit to additional verification or random unannounced visits to demonstrate continued compliance with the program standards

Our Community Resources

When opening your own center you not only have to find the most qualified people possible but also have resources for your team of educators and for the children's caregivers to learn and expand their knowledge of early childhood education. Here are a few resources that I have come across that will help in this journey with hiring, evaluations and professional development for not just teachers but also caregivers who are interested in early childhood education.

• Merit-https://apps.del.wa.gov/merit/
• Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD)-www.psesd.org/
• Washington State Department of Early Learning (WSDEL or DEL)-www.del.wa.gov/
• Child Care Aware-wa.childcareaware.org/
• Early Achivers-www.del.wa.gov/care/qris/
• Child Care Check-www.del.wa.gov/check
• Local school districts:

1. Franklin Pierce Schools- fpschools.org/
2. Tacoma Public Schools- www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/
3. Bethel School District- www.bethelsd.org/
4. Clover Park School District- www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us/
5. Fife School District- www.fifeschools.com/

• Local colleges:

1.  Tacoma Community College- www.tacomacc.edu/
2. University of Washington- www.tacoma.uw.edu/
3. Clover Park Technical College- www.cptc.edu/
4. Evergreen State College- evergreen.edu/tacoma/home.htm
5. Bates Technical College- www.bates.ctc.edu/
6. Everest College- www.everest.edu/campus/tacoma
7. Pacific Lutheran University- www.plu.edu/
8. University of Puget Sound- www.pugetsound.edu/

 

Program Assessments

 Let us talk program or classroom assessments for a minute. There are four that I have taken the time to look at and they are all similar but with subtle differences.
 Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) are the closest in similarities because they were created by the same people and are just for different age groups. ITERS is for birth to 30 months while ECERS is for 24-60 months or 2-5 years of age. The ITERS scale consists of 39 items and the ECERS consists of 43 items both organized into 7 categories including; space and furnishings, personal care routines, listening and talking (language-reasoning for ECERS), activities, interaction, program structure, and lastly parents and staff. Each item has a rating based on what it should look like. It is a very simple scale to use and leaves little to no gray areas as to what a rating is. The scale ranges from a 1.1 which is Inadequate to a 7.4 that is Excellent.
 The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) observational tools objectively measure the quality of teacher–student interactions. They also have different versions for infant, toddler and Pre-K age groups.The CLASS tools help pinpoint areas of strength and areas for growth, providing critical information programs and schools can use to guide improvement efforts.
 Lastly we have the Rating Observation Scale for Inspiring Environments (ROSIE). This is an observation rating scale that has teachers examine classrooms in a totally new way with an eye for what is aesthetically beautiful and inspiring.
 I personally like the ITERS and ECERS the best because I think it has a broad "cover all" things feel to it.

The Importance of Quality Educators

To provide quality care for infants and toddlers you must have quality educators in place to nurture and help these young children grow both physically and intellectually.

 In order to ensure that they are quality educators you must make sure they have both a healthy mind and body themselves. Having a teacher that is mentally unhealthy can not see to the mental needs of their students. Same goes with their body. A teacher needs to be able to get down to the eye level of their students which means up and down off the floor and bending over, as well as being able to lift and carry the little ones. A quality educator is able to find resources that will help not only the child but the child's entire family. Things like WIC, dental care, health and medical care, childcare, free or low cost food and clothing, Early Head Start and home visiting information, specialists for special needs children, and community activities like mommy and me classes, local parks and museums or swim lessons at the YMCA. Lastly a quality educator is a person who has established skills in communicating, interacting and reacting to both children and their families. You have to be able to talk, work with and solve problems on many different levels with many different types of children and their families on a daily basis.

Having quality educators is important at any level of teaching but having them in the classrooms for infants and toddlers is where they are needed the most in my opinion. This is the age that needs to be nurtured the most for future development. Parents need all the help they can get as it really does take a village to raise any child. Leaving a child at risk without proper support at this vulnerable age truly sets them up for failure. Every child deserves to have a quality teacher to help them reach their full potential.