EDUC 6162 Week 4 Shared Web Resources

The site that I previously chose was the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI). Even though this is a good site for general information and information relevant to the struggles of Black children, I have found that they only keep certain information on their site current and relevant; it does not change with the news, current policy, or have the global implications that would hold my interest.

I have decided to focus on the “early” of early childhood education and research information relevant to our birth to age 3 year old population. This age population has had so much press in recent years due to the growth of technological advances in brain research, that we are finding out more about the young brain, effects of toxic stress on the brain and how the young brain is wired and the influences that produce positive healthy brain development. The site that I have been studying is Zero to Three http://www.zerotothree.org. Below is a copy of their Mission and Value statements:

“Our mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. At ZERO TO THREE, we envision a society that has the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential. We value…

1. Passion and persistence in helping infants and toddlers thrive
2. The centrality of healthy positive relationships, including:
   • A commitment to family in our work and in staff work-life balance
   • Consistent and authentic collaboration
   • Respectfulness, inclusiveness and diversity
3. The highest standards of excellence in our work, including:
   • Integrity, openness, honesty and transparency
   • Opportunities for leadership and professionalism
   • Evidence-based learning and reflection
   • The freedom to make and learn from mistakes”

This site is so inspiring and encouraging. I used this site when I was a home visitor for Healthy Families It has so many awesome resources for parents, caregivers and service-delivery providers, and policy makers alike. ALL stakeholders have something that they can take away from this site. Developmental ages and stages charts, the latest scientific research as it relates to this age group, resources for mental health and early intervention detection and services and a section specifically for military families.

So to catch myself up to this weeks blog activity, I chose to explore one of four of the tabs located under the heading, “Explore our Resources”. Th four subcategories are Early Development and Well Being, Early Learning, Parenting, and Policy and Advocacy. I chose Advocacy until the “Policy and Advocacy” tab. What I discovered was a wealth of networks, groups and access to state, local and federal advocacy tools if I wanted to become more involved and be a voice for young children. There is even a policy video library!!!

Though in my current field as a preschool teacher, the Zero to Three site may not seem as useful, but it actually is. I have several parents in my classroom who have younger children and could greatly benefit from me just passing along the website or even taking it a step further and printing out information specific to their need. The Zero to Three site also refers you to various other websites that provide resources for children of all ages. They also have their resources in a variety of different languages.

Reference:

http://www.zerotothree.org