The first organization that appeals to me is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The mission of the NAEYC is to "serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources (NAEYC). They work to improve professional practice and conditions in early childhood, work to achieve high quality care centers, and work to improve and promote excellence in early childhood education for all young children. They focus not only on the child, but on the professionals involved with the children.
All the jobs for the NAEYC are located just outside of Washington D.C. There were 3 jobs openings at the NAEYC organization. Customer Care Associate, Quality Enhancement Coordinator and Communications and Information Specialist. The Communication and Information Specialist sounded pretty interesting. They would be in charge of developing and maintaining online resources for programs pursuing accreditation, coordinating communication channels and clearly conveying information to a variety of audiences. This seems like more of a computer job, but it was the only one that sounded fairly interesting to me. After looking under a difference section of job seekers on the website I found a local job in Oklahoma as a Director in a Child Development Laboratory Center. The job is an administrator at Rose State College Child Development Laboratory Center (CDLC), which serves 56 children ages 3 months to 5 years. It involves teaching 2 courses in the Family Service/Child Development Program. Minimum Qualifications are a Masters in Family services and Child Development, or early childhood education.
The second organization I found and really enjoyed reading about is the Alliance for Childhood. "The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Our public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic, and ecologically responsible future" (Alliance). There were several articles here about why children need play, and inspiring play. There was also an article about "Is the Common Core Developmentally Appropriate?" One of the articles opened like this, ""The trend in early education is to move from a play-based curriculum to a more school-like environment of directed learning. But is earlier better? And better at what?" (Alliance). Another one stated this: Dr. Entin writes, "Play time is in short supply for children these days and the lifelong consequences for developing children can be more serious than many people realize." (Alliance). This website has some awesome articles for me to use on my Capstone Project. I know that I would love to be one of the advocates and speakers who researched and discovered all the effects taking away play has on children. Under "OUR WORK" section, it talks about how they are restoring play in early childhood. The Alliance works with other organizations and individuals in a multi-pronged campaign to restore play. I would love to work alongside them. I found some jobs available at certain centers such as at the Early Connections Learning Center where I would Assist the lead teacher in the overall classroom operations. Responsible for maintaining an appropriate classroom environment that signifies best practice for children. Meets Colorado Minimum Rules and Regulations for Early Childhood Teacher. Must be willing to further your education by working towards a Child Development Associate, Associate of Arts Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, or a related field. This job is more of a teachers aide type job. This would be taking a step back instead of forward for me. I do think it would be a great job to assist a teacher instead of be in the lead and in control all the time. This is a job I might like when I was older and after retirement (haha).
The next organization I found was the Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. I think this is an interesting organization because it is nice to know what these children need to do or learn and how they learn before they come to pre-k. Their mission is to ensure that babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. I do believe this is the importance to succeeding in later life. The way a child's life begins can have an effect on them for the rest of their life.
The jobs this organization has available are also located in Washington D.C. There were three available: Senior Program Associate, Senior Financial Analyst, and Senior Writer/Trainer Specialist. The Sr. Program Associate job is to responsible for supporting the early head start resource center efforts to provide training to early head start programs and assist with planning and developing meetings. It is only required to have a Bachelors degree for this job.
"The Senior Writer/Training Specialist position is responsible for supporting efforts to develop and maintain a comprehensive system for coordinated communication and knowledge sharing with the EHS and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) community that incorporates cultural perspectives of American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) program staff and families. This position will lead the development of up to 3 EHSNRC deliverables (i.e. webcasts, webinars, podcasts, TA papers, tip sheets, etc.); and is responsible for designing and conducting trainings for Federal staff, technical assistance (TA) providers, and EHS/Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program staff" (Zero to Three). It is required to have a Masters in Early Childhood Development.All the jobs for the NAEYC are located just outside of Washington D.C. There were 3 jobs openings at the NAEYC organization. Customer Care Associate, Quality Enhancement Coordinator and Communications and Information Specialist. The Communication and Information Specialist sounded pretty interesting. They would be in charge of developing and maintaining online resources for programs pursuing accreditation, coordinating communication channels and clearly conveying information to a variety of audiences. This seems like more of a computer job, but it was the only one that sounded fairly interesting to me. After looking under a difference section of job seekers on the website I found a local job in Oklahoma as a Director in a Child Development Laboratory Center. The job is an administrator at Rose State College Child Development Laboratory Center (CDLC), which serves 56 children ages 3 months to 5 years. It involves teaching 2 courses in the Family Service/Child Development Program. Minimum Qualifications are a Masters in Family services and Child Development, or early childhood education.
The second organization I found and really enjoyed reading about is the Alliance for Childhood. "The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Our public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic, and ecologically responsible future" (Alliance). There were several articles here about why children need play, and inspiring play. There was also an article about "Is the Common Core Developmentally Appropriate?" One of the articles opened like this, ""The trend in early education is to move from a play-based curriculum to a more school-like environment of directed learning. But is earlier better? And better at what?" (Alliance). Another one stated this: Dr. Entin writes, "Play time is in short supply for children these days and the lifelong consequences for developing children can be more serious than many people realize." (Alliance). This website has some awesome articles for me to use on my Capstone Project. I know that I would love to be one of the advocates and speakers who researched and discovered all the effects taking away play has on children. Under "OUR WORK" section, it talks about how they are restoring play in early childhood. The Alliance works with other organizations and individuals in a multi-pronged campaign to restore play. I would love to work alongside them. I found some jobs available at certain centers such as at the Early Connections Learning Center where I would Assist the lead teacher in the overall classroom operations. Responsible for maintaining an appropriate classroom environment that signifies best practice for children. Meets Colorado Minimum Rules and Regulations for Early Childhood Teacher. Must be willing to further your education by working towards a Child Development Associate, Associate of Arts Degree or a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, or a related field. This job is more of a teachers aide type job. This would be taking a step back instead of forward for me. I do think it would be a great job to assist a teacher instead of be in the lead and in control all the time. This is a job I might like when I was older and after retirement (haha).
The next organization I found was the Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. I think this is an interesting organization because it is nice to know what these children need to do or learn and how they learn before they come to pre-k. Their mission is to ensure that babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. I do believe this is the importance to succeeding in later life. The way a child's life begins can have an effect on them for the rest of their life.
The jobs this organization has available are also located in Washington D.C. There were three available: Senior Program Associate, Senior Financial Analyst, and Senior Writer/Trainer Specialist. The Sr. Program Associate job is to responsible for supporting the early head start resource center efforts to provide training to early head start programs and assist with planning and developing meetings. It is only required to have a Bachelors degree for this job.
Resources
Alliance for Childhood. Retrieved from: http://drupal6.allianceforchildhood.org/home
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from: http://naeyc.org/
Zero to Three. National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Retrieved from: http://www.zerotothree.org/
