Julie's Early Childhood Studies

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Finish Line? Not!

The Finish Line?

In June 2011, I began a journey that I never would have considered several years ago. I enrolled in a Master’s Degree program. For a couple years I had been considering enrolling but, was unsure of degree program I would want to follow. I was very close to enrolling in a Master’s of Social Work program. But, felt my passion for young children was the fuel that gave meaning to my life. One day I was surfing the net and found this online program in Early Childhood Studies. I enrolled that night without even discussing it with my husband.

I have learned so much about myself as a leader, teacher, and lifelong learner.

As a leader in the field of early childhood care and education I have the responsibility to advocate for the well-being of young children in everything I do. I also am tasked with developing the future leaders of the field I am so passionate about. It will take dedicated leadership to improve the quality and standards of care and education within our field. I have a personal role and responsibility to lead others appropriately.

Along with leadership I must teach others how to work with children and families to support growth and development of all children. Understanding how adults learn and being culturally and linguistically responsive will help me become a superb adult educator.

I must maintain my early childhood knowledge, skills, and ability to teach adults effectively. As a lifelong learner it is my responsibility to sustain knowledge in best-practices which are developmentally appropriate. Through research we are constantly analyzing how children learn. I must be adaptable and willing to except change, if I am to be an effective leader and educator my must be willing to continuously learn and grow myself. Let us not consider the completion of this program as an end of our journey, but rather the beginning of endless possibilities.

My Goal

In the near future I want to write books, to help the early childhood program staff, offer the best possible care and education to our young children and their families. I would like to become a speaker and travel the country advocating for quality programming for our young children.

I Bid Thee Farwell

This journey has been amazing. I am astounded by the knowledge and commitment of the professionals I have encountered throughout my journey. I have learned a great deal from all my colleagues. I hope that we can all stay in touch to support, learn, and grow from each other. You have all made this process an amazing journey, but the adventure is not over we have a long road to go, to accomplish our goals. But we cannot do it alone. Please consider me a person who can walk beside you and support you in your cause. Please keep in touch ttfnjulie@yahoo.com. or Face Book: Julie Pelletier Haffner.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Worthwhile Organizations

Save the Children is an amazing community of practice. It is dedicated to improving the way children are treated throughout the world. It is focused on taking action to aid children in times of disaster. Save the Children’s mission is to create sustained change in the lives of children.

FHI 360 sounded like an interesting organization to research. I was puzzled for a bit, as I tried to figure out what “FHI” stood for. I finally figured it out and decided I should look further into this organization. I share the same values as Family Health International (FHI). Innovation, mutual respect, passion, accountability, commitment to excellence, and teamwork are all aspects which are very important to me. I believe those characteristics would make for an outstanding work environment. FHI strives to help people reach their full potential. I agree with FHI as they believe the key to improving lives is in generating, sharing, and applying knowledge. FHI seem like an exceptional organization which pair with other organization to ensure success in their mission.

Unicef has always been an organization which interest me. They participate in so many worthwhile endeavors which positively affect the lives of children. Unicef is an international organization committed to change the lives of children through educational, health, nutritional, emergency, and protective services. I especially like their early childhood initiatives. I can appreciate their belief that children need the best start in their earliest years to be able to grow up healthy.

Career opportunity which interest me:

Project Director, Early Childhood Care and Development Program - Mozambique
Location:	Mozambique - Maputo
Division:	International Programs

This position sounds like it would be very challenging and rewarding. I believe this job would put me in the forefront of change in the international scene. I would need to obtain some international studies skills and learn Portuguese. That may take me a while. I believe I would be able to make a difference in the lives of children in Mozambique.

References :

FHI 360 (2013) Retrieved from http://www.fhi360.org/about-us/our-360-perspective

Save the Children (2013) About Us, Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6146405/k.C7E9/About_Us.htm

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (2013.). Retrieve from http://www.unicef.org/

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Organization for Administrators and A Job I Want

The Association for Early Learning Leaders is an organization which serves child care owners, directors, and administrators. This organization works with administrators as they work toward ensuring quality within their programs. A membership provides member a great deal of resources to improve practices. It discusses how successful directors lead their programs. There are forums, trainings, free webinars, and conferences to network with other administrators. This would be an excellent way to improve leadership skills.

http://www.naccp.org/

McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership is another organization which I believe will help administrators within the early childhood field. The McCormick center is dedicated to building the leadership capacity of the early childhood workforce. They focus on four areas of development. They offer professional development to increase the knowledge and competency of early childhood leaders. They also provide evaluations to measure and improve the quality of early learning programs. They conduct research to enhance the knowledge base on key workforce and professional development issues, and public awareness to promote greater understanding of the critical role of early childhood leaders in the provision of quality services for children and families.

http://cecl.nl.edu/index.htm

The National Woman’s Law Center is an excellent organization which can offer the early childhood professional with wonderful resources. They have published a document entitled A Count for Quality: Child Care Center Directors on Rating and Improvement Systems. This publication would help guide program administrators on their journey to improved child care programs. It describes the role of the director in the process of improving the quality of the child care program.

http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/ACountforQualityQRISReport.pdf

The Job Hunt

A job that may be interesting to pursue is the Educational Program Specialist with the Department Of Health And Human Services, at the National Institutes of Health. It sounds like a fascinating, challenging, and meaningful position. I have all the qualification for the position, but I would have to learn a great deal about contracts and funding.

https://my.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/335294500

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Community of Practice

San Angelo Early Childhood coalition is a group of early childhood professionals working together to improve the local child care practices. We meet as a community of practice to plan professional development events to offer the child care workforce throughout the area.

Texas Early Learning Council (TELC). Is a community of practice which advocates best-practices in early childhood education. We work toward improving Texas standards. The goal of the council Is to improve key aspects of early care and education in Texas. It works to parent outreach and communication as well as staff development.

Council of Professional Recognition is a community of practice to build professionalism with the early childhood field. It is a wonderful entry level credential, which sets early childhood care professionals begin their journey toward furthering their education and advancing within the field.

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/334734000

A position I am interested in pursuing is post on USA Jobs. It is a Child Care Program Specialist with the Department of Health and Human Services. It is located in Kansas City, Missouri. It seems like an excellent opportunity to expand my knowledge, skills, and abilities within the early childhood field. I am currently qualified for the position. However it will provide opportunities to use skills, I do not normally use in my current position. I will need to utilize the research skills we learned in this master’s program. I believe however, that the position will allow me to be more involved in many facets of the early childhood field.

My Supports

Within my daily environment, I find the computer and
internet to be supportive to my needs. It supports me within my private and professional life. While at work I use the internet to receive training, seek professional development opportunities for our staff, find resources for families, search for websites to help with curriculum development, find out
information about possible field trip locations, print maps, keep current in NAEYC accreditation updates, and receive newsletters from professional organizations.
Within my private life, the internet provides my schooling,
recipes for healthy meals, weight loss tracking, shopping, keeping in touch with friends and families, maintaining my pet’s certifications, and entertainment.
The benefits of my computer and the internet are numerous. I
am able to sustain relationships from people in distant locations; I can further my education, maintain good health, saves time, and energy, and be more resourceful at my job.
If I did not have my computer or internet, I may not be able
to continue my education in the field I desire because the local university does not offer the course of study I wanted.
If I had to go to the library or elsewhere to do my schoolwork, it would take me away from my family for many hours during the week. If I did not have my computer or internet at work, I would not be as resourceful to staff, families and children.
If computers and internet service was not available to me at
any location, I would have to drive to the different helping agencies in my community to find resources. I would have to call NAEYC for updates and resources. I would probable talk a great deal more on the phone. I would attend expos and conferences to learn about companies who have goods and services for children as well as attend the workshops.

I am often nervous about completing homework
on Sunday’s. I often have physically debilitating migraines, which effect my cognitively as well, as physically. My thought processing is inhibited and I have to hibernate in a dark room. I take a daily preventative medication, which lessens the frequency. However but, still several times a month I get excruciatingly bad headaches.
I have incredible support from my family, doctors, and medication. My family supports me by taking on the responsibilities of the house, being quiet, providing me
with medication, and a cold compress for my head. My husband and daughter will pick up the medication from the pharmacy, or bring me to the Emergency Room if
the medication does not provide relief. My doctors are amazing. My neurologist is very thorough through diagnostic test and experimenting with a variety of medication. She is trying to improve my quality of life. The Emergency Room staff
provide a quiet dark environment, and medication which relieves the pain within a few hours.
The benefits of these supports allow me to recover more quickly, fell loved, and allow me to finish
any required work. Without the support system I have for my migraines, I would be in pain for a number of days, losing work and unable to complete homework assignments. Without my daily medication, I would have more frequent and
intense migraines. I would be isolated in my bedroom without being able to engage with my children or husband. Without my husband and children as supports, I would feel isolated and helpless. I would not be able to complete homework by
the required due date. The ramifications of not having quality supports would prevent me from furthering my education.
Without the reassurance of my supports, my life would be a great deal more secluded, hinder my professional growth, and inhibit my quality of life.

Quotes to Inspire

On Parenting:
"Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it."
Dr. Hiam Ginott

On Teaching:
" I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element int the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized."
Dr. Hiam Ginott

On Respect:
"Respect according to [people] should not depend upon the way in which they spend their working hours. In a social sense there shuld be only one class- The great class of humanity."
Eglantyne Jebb

On War:
"All wars are waged upon children."
Eglantyne Jebb

On Passion:
"I have a passion to create a safe and just world."
Louise Derman-Sparks

On Motivation:
"It's an instrinsic motivation, knowing the work I do will benifit the lives of children."
Raymand Hernandez MS Ed

Personal Childhood Web

Having a large family has been a complete blessing to grow up in. I have 4 brothers and 4 sisters. My parents we married for over 50 years. My dad passed away 5 years ago and my mother is still living in Plattsburgh Ny in the same house we lived in when I was growning up. My dad was 1 of 4 and my mom 1 of 7. I have 56 first cousins who I know very well growing up. It is difficult to pick just 5 people who influenced me the most. But here goes;

My dad was a hard working small business owner. He worked hard and provided for his large family. We had everything we needed and then some. He was French Canadian Indian with dark brown hair and a bushy mustache. He taught me how to work hard. He taught me many life skills, which help me throughout ever given day. I have manners and a lot of common sense. I can eat at fancy restuants and talk about world politics, realigions, and travel destinations. We watched 60 Minutes together every week and also snuck in a bit of Sunday Morning before Church. He taught me to dress up if I was going to the bank, lawyers or doctors. Most importantly he taught me patience.

My mother is a short little woman who while growing up always had a belly. She is French and Irish. Mom taught me to believe in Jesus Christ. She always had food in the pantry and on the stove. She taught me hospitaility. She also taught me how not to cook.

My brother Bryan is a short little guy with a bit of a belly on him. He is just a couple years younger than me and we think he has William's Syndrom. but he has never been diagnosed. He taught me to be tolerant and accepting of everyone. He taught me that playing your air guitar and dash board piano is perfectly acceptible for an adult as you drive down the road.

My Aunt Delima was my dad's sister. She died only a year before my dad. She was a large woman with jet black hair and a loud voice. She lived about a half hour from us but, we got together quite oftern. She taught me that family was always worth your time. She came to every family gather no matter how small. She baked the most amazing Christmas goodies and to this day Christmas is not the same. She taught me the importance of family.

About Me