If you’ve been following my posts, you know that I have been reviewing the Zero to Three: National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families website.

There is a new section on the website that I have found relevant to my current professional development. It is called “Little Kids, Big Questions: A ZERO TO THREE Podcast Series on Early Childhood Development”. It is a podcast series will developmental topics pertaining to early childhood. I am very excited about these podcasts because they focus on my passion: early childhood.

Some of the podcasts are titled:

“Creating Healthy Connections: Nurturing Brain Development from Birth to Three”

“Night-Night…or Not: Talking about Babies, Toddlers, and Sleep” – This one is particularly relevant to me because I have a five month old baby!

and

“Beyond “Use Your Words!”: How Babies Begin to Develop Self-Control in the First Three Years”

If you are interested in listening to these podcasts you can go to:

http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/parenting-resources/podcast/

Other Information:

I read a very interesting article from the Zero to Three newsletter. It was about young children watching television and using other types of media. I learned that infants under 18 months do not really benefit from watching educational narrative television. I think that this topic is controversial because there are so many companies out there promoting “educational” videos and media for young infants.

Dr. Wartella states that “We’re finding that children in these early ages are engaged by very simple attempts to teach children language labels for objects. So, things that are very loud, and have a lot of sound effects, and are fast-moving are probably not very good for this really young age” (Wartella 2012, p. 19).

Insights I gained from this article:

I learned that TV for young infants is alright as long as it is only a short amount of time and that personal interactions are much more effective than media interactions. “So you want to spend time with your babies interacting with them more than you want to put them in front of a screen” (Wartella 2012, p. 19).

References:

Wartella, E. (2012). The Influence of Media on Young Children’s Development. Zero to Three, 18-21.

Throughout the next couple of weeks I will be listening to podcasts from World Forum Foundation Radio. 

The podcast that I listened to focused on Susan Lyon. She began her teaching career when she was 22 years old. Since then she has done a great deal to better the field of early childhood education. 

Susan Lyon

“Susan Lyon was intrigued by a small child’s conception of the word “city”, and began pondering how children think, eventually visiting Reggio Emilia and then bringing the “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to the San Francisco Bay area on two occasions. She initiated the Innovative Teacher Project, and began working with the Presidio Child Care Center and the San Francisco public schools. Currently she is working with an Italian architect to rehab a San Francisco structure into the first Italian immersion preschool” (World Forum Foundation, 2012). 

Susan Lyon believes that you should really listen when children talk to you so that you can learn how to help them. 

References:

World Forum Radio. (2011) Episode 10, Susan Lyon. Retrieved January 17, 2011 from http://ccie-media.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/WFR_10_SusanLyon.mp3

As I mentioned previously, I will be reviewing the Zero to Three National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families website. If you are interested in checking out the website yourself, here is their link: 

http://www.zerotothree.org/

The Zero to Three National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families organization focuses on providing important and relevant developmental information to parents and educators about the childhood years from birth to three years old. I like this website because it specifically concentrates on the first three years of a child’s life. It provides multiple resources for anyone interested in the early childhood years. The following quote is from their website:

“ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. Our mission is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers.”

An interesting feature from the website that caught my eye is the "Baby Brain Map". It is an interactive tool where you can choose various ages, then click on areas of the brain, and you will receive developmental information. They give you tips and strategies on how to best develop certain skills. 

An issue of interest that I noticed is the issue of finding a quality childcare program. It can be difficult to find quality childcare. The section discusses what quality child care is and what parents should look for in a child care program. Here’s a link to the article:

http://www.zerotothree.org/early-care-education/child-care/choosing-quality-child-care.html

Research Early Childhood Organizations

Part One:

In the past I have had to try to contact and communicate with professionals outside of the United States. It was very difficult to coordinate our schedules because of time differences. The teachers that I was able to contact were extremely busy and didn’t always find the time to respond to my questions. This made it difficult for me to complete my assignments.  Because of these past experiences I have decided to choose the alternative option for part one of our assignment. I will be listening to podcasts and monitoring educator’s communications from the World Forum Foundation. The World Forum Foundation sounds like a wonderful organization and I am excited to begin learning about their views and concepts in the early childhood education field.

Part Two:

I had a difficult time deciding which organization to research for part two of our assignment. I reviewed and explored several websites from the list before making my final decision. I decided to research the Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families website. I have subscribed to their newsletter and can’t wait to receive the first one. I will keep you posted on what I learn!