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I am a thirty one year old Montana gal. I am fiercely independent and enjoy quiet time just as much as I love to spend time with my friends and family!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community


The National Association For Early Childhood Education is always been at the top of my list of well respected national organizations for early childhood education.    One of the first teaching jobs that I held was in a NAEYC accredited facility and their standards for quality care and education have been engrained in to all of my practices ever since.  NAEYC’s first goal within their mission is “Improving professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education” (naeyc.org, 2012).  This is one of my own personal, primary goals that I have for my work in this field.  So, it is only natural that they are one of the national organizations that I choose.

Currently, NAEYC has a position of Accreditation Coordinator that I would absolutely love to make as my profession.  This position assists NAEYC customers with the accreditation process via phone, email and site visits.  The qualification include; a BA in early childhood education, several years of teaching in an accredited facility and strong understanding of the accreditation process; all of which I have.  However, all NAEYC positions are held within the Washington D.C. area and I do not know that I would be willing to move clear across the country at this point in my life.

The second national affiliation that I am interested in is the Council for Professional Recognition.  The council governs and monitors the CDA credentialing system.  Previously, I have taught the core class work for individuals working towards their CDA.  The CDA is a Child Development Associate national credentialing system that works toward improving and recognizing individuals in the field of early childhood education (cdacouncil.org, 2012).  This credentialing certificate is often the first step to catapulting educators further along the educational path within the field.

The Council does not currently have any employment opportunities at this time however, this is definitely a program that I will continue to monitor for opportunities.

Finally, there is the National Association for Family Child Care.  This is a national organization that promotes quality family child care while also focusing on promoting family child care as a profession (nafcc.org, 2012).  The community that I work in is very rural and the survival of many families is depended on access to child care.  Much of that child care comes from home based providers.  It is vital that these early years of children’s lives be based off of quality care and education even if they are in the comfort of someone’s home.  This is where NAFCC comes into play.

I was also unable to locate any employment opportunities within this organization however, there are a plethora of resources available including resources, accreditation information and conference information.

Cdacouncil.org

NAEYC.org

NAFCC.org

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Exporing Roles in the ECE Community


The exploration of the various roles that I could take on in the early childhood field is something that I have greatly been anticipating.  Upon obtaining my Master’s degree I most definitely want to begin working for one of these various organizations.  The opportunity to explore several great agencies has shown me the multitude of options available.

The three organizations that I researched are all very related.  The relation between the type of programs they are was not diverse but they all serve the communities that they reach in ways that I hope to accomplish in much the same way.

The first was the Nurturing Center at nurturingcenter.org, based out of Kalispell, Montana.  Their mission statement is "Strengthening Families, Sustaining Communities!"  With a name such as this and a mission statement like that - what more do you need!  This is a diverse organization that offers a multitude of services to the community that it serves however, the service of training to providers is something that drew me in.   I was searching for teaching positions on the Montana Early Childhood Project's website (mtecp.org) job board and came across the position of Early Childhood Professional Development Specialist.  This is a position that offers training and technical services to local child care providers in the area - which is exactly something that I want to pursue in my area.

The second organization, which is also advertising for a similar position was Child Care Resources in Missoula, Montana.  These two organizations are both hiring for a training position to bring in, recruit, train and offer support and assistance to families and teachers in their communities.  They are both under the umbrella of the Child Care Resource and Referral Network or CCR&R which many of you will find familiar in your areas as well.

This brought me to investigate the National level of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies or NACCRRA.ORG.  This is a national level of the child care resource and referral agencies that works to accredited this agencies, provide support to these agencies and provide training and technical systems to providers, teachers, community members and families throughout the country.

As I mentioned, the first two organizations both have job opportunities that are exactly what I am looking to do in the near future.  I currently hold the skills and the requirements for both positions which is; Bachelors degree, level 5 on the Practitioner Registry and experience teaching as well as experience in teaching adults.   However, they are both a ways a way and would be a significant physical move for me which is just not an expense I want to handle right now.  However, I will keep my eyes and ears open for something to come much closer to my home town!

Early Childhood Resources

  • http://nieer.org/
  • http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
  • http://www.ccw.org/
  • http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
  • http://www.childrensdefense.org/
  • http://www.dec-sped.org/
  • http://www.erikson.edu/
  • http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
  • http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  • http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
  • http://www.highscope.org/
  • http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
  • http://www.naeyc.org/
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
  • http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
  • http://www.nccanet.org/
  • http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
  • http://www.omep-usnc.org/
  • http://www.preknow.org/
  • http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
  • http://www.voices.org/
  • http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
  • http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
  • http://www.zerotothree.org/
  • http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller