Sharing Web Resources

          The early childhood website I followed was Zero to Three at http://www.zerotothree.org/.  I browsed some of the outside links that I have not yet explored.  One of the links was resources for parents.  I clicked on early experiences counts which discussed how emotional development unfolds starting at birth.  I look for related information which led me to Early Head Start.  On the link it led to an orientation page of Early Head Start’s National Resource Center.  Some of the links to this page were on Early Head Start, School Readiness, Child Development and Education, Comprehensive Services and Systems, Program Options and Initiatives. There were also five pages that scrolled across the page.

One on the pages that scrolled across referenced an e-newsletter that individuals may access.  The e-newsletter provides individuals with “news you can use”.  The areas of focus are categorized by school readiness and learning environments.  Some of the topics related to school readiness include developmentally appropriate practices.  When I clicked on the PDF on developmentally appropriate practices, the article defined developmentally as the development of infants and toddlers to include physical, brain, language, social-emotional and thinking skills.  Appropriate was defined as something that is considered to fit or be right.  What individuals may think is appropriate depends on their culture and beliefs.  Lastly, practice is defined as what is done at home or in the classroom.  The article provides supports of how to put the learned information together.  The importance of relationships developed during early childhood to include providing consistency in care is also discussed.  At the end of the article individuals are provided with examples of words they can use ("Developmentally Appropriate Practice", 2011).   Providing understanding of how to support children and assist with meeting their educational needs supports individual’s awareness by providing information about early childhood to individuals working with children and families (Matthews & Ewen, 2010).

Below this page are other links to access information about Early Head Start, School Readiness, Multimedia, Birth to Three Initiatives, Products A-Z, and Events and Conferences.  From this list I clicked on Program Options and Initiatives.  This gave me new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field (Laureate Education, 2011).  I clicked on About Early Head Start.  I learned that the program supports infants and toddlers of low income families.  The program also supports families and women that are pregnant.  Early Head Start has goals that consist of meeting children’s developmental needs such as cognitive, social, physical and emotional needs of infants and toddlers.  The support is intended to help children in the future.  The support provided is also for the father and mother with the goal of helping them meet goals they have set and achieved.  The program also works to mobilize communities in order to provide resources and environment that supports families.  The programs also helps to ensure that high quality is provided to families with staff that cares and is trained.  Early Head Start has program options including center based, home-based, family child-care services, and combination services ("Zero To Three", 2014). 

           From this page I clicked on Program Options and Initiatives.  I clicked on EHS-Child Care Partnership.  This led me to click on promoting local partnership between child care and EHS: Ideas for State Leaders which is a PDF file titled Collaboration Considerations for State Leaders.  The article focused on developing high quality child care across the country.  To fight equity in early childhood the incentive programs that are suggested in the article is one way to support programs meeting the needs of being a high quality program by providing financial initiatives.  According to Collaboration Considerations for State Leaders  (2011), “Many states are looking at building financial incentives into the child care payment systems, including CCDF subsidy payments, bonuses connected to Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), and individual compensation or bonuses attached to higher educational attainment” (Provide financial incentives and supports for providers and grantees to join and maintain partnerships).