What information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?
As a new professional in Early Childhood Development, I find everything relevant, but if I were to choose one topic that interested me, I would choose the topic of behavior and development. The page has a tab dediacated to behavior and development, and under the tab you will find different breakdowns. I choose to focus on the Challenging Behaviors tab for this blog assignment. Being at a brand new center, I have many things to get used to. The children and the environment are new to me, and the environment and myself are new to the children. Some of the children came over from a previous center, so they already know each other. More children are entering the program, so they will be brand new to these children already in my care for the week.
Challenging behaviors do not just refer to the defiance and aggressiveness some children have, but to the other behaviors we might not even consider. Such as sleeping, and the slow to warm up children. A big issue when it comes to toddlers is biting, and I feel it is important to understand and accept this behavior. It will be helpful to educate the parents as well, so they understand this is a typical behavior of a young child.
Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or the e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in a new way?
I will continue to refer to the challenging behavior section, because when i think challenging behavior I always just think of aggressive children, or the defiant children. It is rare that a child who refuses to sleep, is slow to warm up or just does not participate as a challenging behavior. It is just as difficult to work with a child who is slow to warm up as it is to work with a child who is aggressive.
What information does the website or e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientis, or politicians support the early childhood field?
The website has a section under public policy where they offer more information on how policies affecting children are working in congress and at federal levels. They even have a public policy blog, which keeps parents up to date on important policy developments that impact infants and toddlers.
What other insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or the e-newsletter?
After looking at all the links under challenging behavior, I wanted to continue with the focus and decided to explore more on temperament and challenging behaviors. I feel that economists, neuroscientis, and politicians need to look at the children as a whole, and understand that challenging behaviors that parents and caregivers might encounter are not just aggressive or defiant children. Programs or resources should be readily available to parents of children who exhibit other challenging behaviors.
Resources:
Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Familieshttp://www.zerotothree.org/
6 comments:
Cassie,
I agree with you completely with the same interest of behavior/classroom management. I think with the recent incline in children being diagnosed with a variety of mental disorders including autism has created it more challenging for teachers to have good classroom management.
Cassie, After doing this class and learning about issues and trend I never thought about the behavior. I work with special education right now but to deal with a child that is biting would be new to me. Behavior is a good subject to study about with children in early childhood.
Cassie,
In today's classroom, children behavior and classroom management are something that the teacher has to learn from experience. The website: http://www.zerotothree.org/
would be a great resource to use to help overcome these challenges in the classroom.
leadabinCassie I hope you will have a successful year at your new center you work at. And it does take a while for children and teachers to get used to one another and being in a new building. I also agree with you that parents should be educated or trained on the behavior of their child or children.
Nice Post Cassie. Biting is such a issue with little ones and with their parents. I cringe when I hear parents say that they bite their own children back.
Challenging behaviors are definatly a driving force in young children. Speech challenges and developmentally delayed children all factor in to this. The zero to three website is a great one. I have turned to them frequently in my career. Even though I have been working with children my entire life and have been a teacher for many years. There is a big difference between working with a behavioral three year old than a behavioral 8 year old.
Post a Comment