A note to thank my colleagues

To the five colleagues that began this experience with me,

I extend a gracious and sincere thank-you to you all for the level of professionalism and support you have shown my blog postings during this term. I have learned much about each of you as an early childhood professional and a few of you, I have learned about you personally. I am excited to know that this field is supported by others who share my value system on early childhood learning and hope that each of you continue to post to your blogs periodically.

With kindest regards for your future endeavors,
Liz

Importance of Ethics in Early Childhood

In many fields of educational study, ethical practices are highly respected, reviewed and enforced. When working with the littlest of people ethical measures need to be held at a much higher state and represented by all working in this field. Young children often cannot speak for themselves or often do not know what is well and just practice in their every day. When I review the NAEYC code of ethics, I am inspired to hold my center to these regards daily. These codes are in place not only to protect the child but also to guide teachers in teaching the whole-brain child so we are creating well-adjusted people in our world.

Three points that I identify with as an early childhood professional are the NAEYC’s ethical responsibility to children, ethical responsibility to families and ethical responsibility to the community and society. Although theses points are broad, it is important to value a child’s safe learning environment and provide him or her with knowledgeable and research driven developmentally appropriate activities that challenge and inspire young children to continue to inquire about the environment that surrounds them. However, teaching and learning cannot stop with just the child but needs to expand into the home environment of the child. Respecting the parents values and practices allow an early childhood professional to invite the parents to become an active teacher for their child. Furthermore, creating a community of teachers that surround the child and embrace their experiences so each child feels like all people values his views, experiences and questions who surround him. By doing this, we all work to create a better living environment for all people and children.