Thanks Bill for the great information. You can sign up for NAEYC's Children's Champions E-Mail List to receive regular updates and action alerts on federal and state early childhood policy issues.
Here's a link with more information:
http://www.naeyc.org/policy

Andra,

First of all thank you for your dedicated years supporting the growth and development of children.
First let's get you informed about this issue.

"The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is the nation’s leading public policy center dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and well-being of America’s low-income families and children." I borrowed this right from the National Center's Facebook page. Please go on line and have a look at the Center's mission, focus and research.

I think the National Head Start Association is another important organization you could look into as they have a long history of supporting young children and families who are economically challenged.

I would suggest you join Zero To Three's, The Baby Monitor, Policy and Advocacy News.
And I would also include NIEER which is the National Institute for Early Education Research which is out of Rutgers University.

And of course your involvement in NAEYC, take a look around the Website, and type in Effective Advocacy Resources. This is another very important way to help in your interest to support children so they don't "Fall Through the Cracks".

Do let me know where you end up in your venture to support young children! All the best!

Craig!
The issue on men in the lives of young children is actually the MAY 2010 issue. Also there is a short video on-line http://www.naeyc.org/yc/pastissues/2010/may.
Bill

Hi Craig!

Men in Early Childhood Education. At one point in my work, I had three men in the child care center, one in the Two-Three’s classroom, one in the Three-Four’s classroom and one in the Four-Fives! How exciting was that! I agree with you that we need a variety of strategies and approaches to get more men involved! Any time I’ve had men in my courses I have provided them with the Men in Education Interest Forum information and asked them to subscribe to the MenTeach e-Newsletter. Here is the website for Men Teach www.menteach.org. I appreciate that over the years, NAEYC has supported gender equality in our field and promoted articles in Young Children. See the July 2010 Issue.

Getting men involved on campuses across the country is another challenge! I know that promoting the activities of the Early Childhood Clubs and Organizations on campus and making sure the faculty also promote the activities is very important. I think inviting male early childhood educators (who are working in the area child cares, pre-schools, elementary schools) to “talk shop” with the students at their club meetings is another eye opener. I like to invite the entire AEYC Board to come to campus and hold their evening meeting at the school. We invite all of the EC Majors, EC Club members, Faculty, Staff of the Child Development Center as well as our Dean to come and share. It is a great beginning for the EC Club Executive Board to reach out to the local and/or state Affiliate to “come to campus”! By the way! Broadcast the heck out of that fact on the College/University Webpage, Newsletter, and get pictures! Students/Faculty/ Affiliates Building Cooperative/collaborative relationships! And any time there is a male student on the Facebook Site: Student Interest Forum of NAEYC we recommend MenTeach.
Cheers Craig!

Hi Susan!
I love your question!
I’m excited that your school is moving toward the Accreditation of the AA/AS Degree in Early Childhood! Bravo! Let me provide you with a number of ideas that might “spark” the students in your program. “If you feed them, they will come!” We always started our college year with a Fall All Major “cookout” sponsored by the EC Department AND the Early Childhood Club! (By the way, we also had all of the faculty, staff, work study students, etc. and we always invited the Dean, and or VP of Academic Affairs and VP of Student Affairs! Great PR) It’s a great way to Meet and Greet, it’s a fun way to get to know people and we always played vollyball, which was a riot because noone could play at all! We laughed A LOT!

We had the EC Exec Board call and email all of the new students to say “Hello and Welcome to the EC program!” We made sure they knew about the EC Club and when we met…we always had snacks/juice, goodies!
EC Club Workshops…A must! Have the faculty present their favorite EC Topic. We invited the local AEYC to come and talk to us about what the National AEYC, State AEYC and Local AEYC was all about and Why we should (could) join as students.
Student Teacher Pizza Panel! A must! Have the graduating student teachers who are currently doing their student teaching or have just completed it and have them come and talk about what it’s REALLY like in the classroom, how it is working with the cooperating teachers, college supervisors, etc.

Fund Raisining Events are always a great Team Building event. Meet to talk shop about what is going on in the community (both on campus and in the community surrounding the college). How do you want to raise money? For what cause? OH! And don’t forget to get everyone’s emails and make sure you can email or Facebook or Twitter…And ask if you can have an EC Club Page on the college’s website! Hope these few ideas work! You can also get on Facebook and go to Student Interest Forum of NAEYC and become a friend. Have the EC Club post on the Facebook page…it goes out across the country and other clubs and organizations get on and share too!
Have a great Summer Susan!

I wanted to post a link to the Historical Overview of NAEYC on the naeyc website:
http://www.naeyc.org/about/history

Amanda!
This is a great question...here's a little bit of back history first...
"NAEYC's roots extend to the 1920s when professional researchers and educators began organizing nursery schools for young children. Concerned about the quality of the proliferating programs, Patty Smith Hill identified a multidisciplinary group of 25 individuals, among them Arnold Gesell, Lois Meek (Stolz), and Abigail Eliot, to consider the need for a new association. A public conference was held in Washington, DC in 1926. By 1929, the group was organized as the National Association for Nursery Education (NANE)". This came from NAEYC at 75: Reflections on the Past, Challenges for the Future. If you also go on the NAEYC Website and put in NAEYC History Timeline it provides you with a timeline from 2000s all the way back to the 1920s!
Yes! I would say there has been quite a bit of change in 82 years. Have a look!

Nancy,
I appreciate your perspectives and thoughtful reflection on how we sound as teachers. It is interesting that when I go out and visit early childhood programs, public schools etc., I like to listen to the center. Listen to the classroom. I even mention this to parents who are looking into programs for their children. When I go into a program, I like to hear the laughter, the conversations, the comments, questions, interations of children, adults and staff. Sure at times things get busy, the volume gets turned up in the classroom...how does the volume get turned down and everyone is comfortable again? I really enjoy it when I go into a classroom and the teacher and children are laughing, enjoying conversations, comments, questions asked, and the teachers enjoyment in the classroom "chatter". Setting the tone, allowing for comfortable conversation, interactions and communications...How do we sound in our classrooms? Bravo Nancy, listen to the enjoyment in teaching!

Rotaractor, Odubela Abiola Paul,
This is an important question and one that you need to explore with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education. What is their current view of Early Childhood Education? Here is an article I will refer to you, African Journal of Political Science and International Relations Vol. 5(3), pp. 159-163, March 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpsir

Here is the title and other important information for you
Early childhood education: Its policy formulation and
implementation in Nigerian educational system
E. D. Nakpodia
Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.
E-mail: edwardnakpodia@yahoo.com. Tel: 08033862036.

I hope this can lead you in the right direction.
All the best.

Hi Brionne!
Try this!
Go on Facebook and go to the Student Interest Forum of NAEYC Facebook page. This is interesting because a number of clubs and organizations have become friends and put up information and things they are doing! (A great way for clubs to connect with other clubs from across the country!) And of course they connect at the National Conference at the Student Networking Center (SNC) an actual location at the conference!

Also my understanding is there will be some great resources for you, students, faculty and AEYC Affiliates. Watch for more details coming out on the NAEYC Website! Don't I sound like a commercial!?
Cheers!

Hello Megan!

Great Question! I think one critical task for our current Early Childhood Education Leaders is to know Where we have been, Where we are now, and Where we are going in the future. And inorder to do this, it is to know and understand our Future Leaders, our “up and coming professionals.” I think that what is important is that college students today are getting the theory, research and best practices; they are building their knowedge, building their skills and building their dispositions to know and understand that they are part of the “Quality Improvements” in our field. It is important for the students to have the practical experiences, the opportunities to have direct experiential contacts through their pre-practicum work, their student teaching experiences and in working with a diversity of mentors, cooperating teachers, faculty advisors, community members and professionals like you, who are in a state wide Continuous Quality Improvement initiative.

On another note, it is the community engagement of the members of the college and university Early Childhood Education Clubs/Organizations both within the campus community and greater local community that provides the students with opportunities to see, experience, and learn “in the trenches”. I know one group of students that met with their local legislative representatives to learn more about what public policy is doing to support young children and their families. I see more Early Childhood Education clubs connecting with their local or state affiliate of NAEYC, building cooperative collaborative relationships! It is exciting to see the kinds of outeach beginning to happen with leaders just like you, who are reaching out to support Future Leaders in Early Childhood. You are “paying it forward.” Thank you Megan.

Linda,

I so appreciate your mentoring story. I think that mentoring/guiding/coaching/supervising and sharing real stories is so important. I also think that your mentor, by being "human", acknowledging that she would like to get your input, your thoughts, your perspectives was such a powerful teaching and learning tool as well. Being open to ideas, sharing information, trying out new strategies and approaches and then stopping to look and see how effective they are, is such an inclusive way to model and mentor. Bravo!

Hi Pradeep!

Thank you for your question! NAEYC's revised draft of Technology and Young Children position statement is focused on use of technology and not on software- it gives criteria regarding how to select software using developmentally appropriate practice. Use of all digital media - ipad, ipod, smart phone, white board, video camera, digital camera, microscope and all such tools - used intentionally and appropriately can enhance learning for young children. Technology is just another tool just like blocks and paint... it provides another way in addition to traditional educational tools for young children.
I hope this will help future leaders to take the challenge of using digital media intentionally and appropriately with young children - and ensure that adults teaching young children are very knowledgeable of how to integrate digital media in their work with young children.

I also want to share with you what I have done in my college courses…First, I think that the 18-21 year old students I now see, have been exposed to a diversity of technology from the time they were 3 years of age! Whoa! I often have the students go into a number of "educational internet sites" to evaluate and explore what those sites have on them. I also have them determine if these sites and the games, activities, etc. would be appropriate for young children and at what age. The college students have been very good at evaluating, assessing, analyzing and comparing the diversity of on-line educational sites directed to young children.

Kaila!

Wow! Great Question! Thanks for thinking more deeply about professional development. Incentives! What are the incentives for the staff to continue their growth in building their knowledge, skills and dispositions? Why continue to grow, learn and become a more effective as a teacher of young children? Everyone wins. The children get a professional who is thinking about how best to teach, how best to incorporate new learning, new understanding, new skills to help young children to grow, develop, learn and yikes, have fun! I know that a number of early childhood programs provide “PDP’s”
Professional Development Plans for their staff. This provides the staff with the fact that in their particular early childhood program, everyone, staff, administration even parents are provided with opportunities to learn, expand their understanding and professional status. Question: “If I continue my professional development initiatives, like, go to workshops, seminars, symposia, conferences, take courses; will this result in a new job title? (Which also includes a salary increase?) Incentives! And in your early childhood agency, the professional development opportunities are funded, transportation included and meals! Where do I sign up????

I also made sure that in the annual evaluations of staff, the staff member and I would “talk shop” about their professional growth and development, what their “PDP” looks like, where they are in their own investment in growing as an early childhood professional. This is all from the staff person’s perspective. What does professional development mean to the staff? Just some things to think about! Cheers Kaila!

Kaila,
It is all about Worthy Wages and the best way to get caregivers excited about training is to solve the wage issue. (and of course make the training relevant)

Hey Jo Ann!
Cool! Future Leaders in Early Childhood Rock! Thanks for this question! Bravo! Now let me first start with a statement from Matt Seiler, Affiliate & Membership Manager of NAEYC, "NAEYC has a set of resources that you can reference on their soon to be released online student resource center". Taa Daa! So NAEYC has created a new resource…"With the collaboration of students, Affiliates, and faculty leaders from across the country, we are pleased to announce that an online Student, Faculty, and Affiliate Resource Center will launch May 1. This resource center will be a living and growing central site where students, faculty, and Affiliates can find and share resources to help develop emerging leaders." Very Cool!

OK back to your LEAP Course and final paper on “creating a student chapter of NAEYC”. Let’s fix this part. Early childhood clubs and organization first and foremost come from colleges and universities. That is where they originate and begin! All of the clubs and organizations I was faculty advisor for, were all officially recognized clubs. When I say officially recognized, they are officially sanctioned and approved by the Office of Student Affairs/Office of Student Activities/Office of Student Life of the college/university. This means, a constitution, mission statement, purposes, officially recognized board, officers,(minimum of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer), Faculty Advisor, members and membership, financial statement (yes, the club does make money!). Be careful here! I’ve seen clubs make lots of money only to discover it did not go where the students had hoped it would….it ended up in the “general fund”. They didn’t use their fund in time! (Academic Year calendar)! Yikes! These students had hoped to use their funds to purchase new educational toys and games for the Child Development Center and to provide seed money for a scholarship for one child to attend the Child Development Center.

OK…Once the EC Club/Organization is fully up and running, constitution, officers, meetings, faculty advisor, members, fund raising, web page on the college’s website and I mean running for at least a year or two….THEN the outreach to the community (college and university) and the greater community comes into play. Hello AEYC! Are you out there?

Here’s another important statement from Matt Seiler, “…student clubs cannot become and are never NAEYC Affiliates. They are separate entities that we support having connections to the Affiliate, but they cannot become an NAEYC Affiliate on their own…They create the club on their campus independently of the Affiliate, then they connect with their Affiliate informally and work together... We have resources that will define this connection as well as provide actionable ideas on how student clubs can connect meaningfully with their Affiliate.” (Matt Seiler, personal communications, May 20th, 2011).

So you now have the club up and running, it is “official” and the club now begins its outreach efforts to the AEYC, in your case the Worcester Area AEYC! (You Go Central Massachusetts!) “Hello Worcester AEYC? Can you come over to our college? Our Early Childhood Club would love to meet with your AEYC officers, President, etc. and have you talk to us about what the Worchester Area AEYC is and how our club can be involved with your work.?” I hope we get an A on our LEAP paper! Hope this helps! Contratulations and thanks for all of your efforts and energies on the Worcester Area AEYC board.
DB (Dr. Bill) (My students loved to call me that!)

Hi Reggie!

You are the Faculty Advisor! Awesome! Thanks for your questions about “catalyzing authentic excitement among students to get involved”! OK…So? Here are the questions that my students have often asked, “Why should I get involved with the club? What’s in it for me? How does this benefit me? Incentives! The EC Club provides students with:

-opportunities to socialize and get to know other students (first year to four year, or first and second year students, AS/AS Degree students).

-try out leadership roles on committees, officer positions, and operating an officially recognized club/organization on campus.

-attending workshops and programs offered by the club to build my “portfolio of ideas, lesson plans, activities, songs, etc. to try out in my pre-practicum and student teaching.

-Snacks, munchies, and eats! We always had snacks etc. “If you feed them, they will come!”
- getting to know the faculty, their research, writings, special projects (through the faculty guest speakers at the club meetings).

- fund raising for good causes (as seen by the club/organization).

- End of the year EC Club Celebration Dinner with Graduating Student Teachers, Cooperating Teachers, Faculty Supervisors, etc. (we always invited the VP of Academic Affairs, Dept. Chair, etc. Even principals!)
- Brain Storm Session on what gets the students “charges up”, authentically excited (as you put it!)
All the best Reggie!

Hi Dorothy,

Thank you for your note President Elect!  Let’s go back to your constitution, your meetings, your schedules…what works? How often do you meet? Let’s plan out a schedule! Better yet…let’s plan out the schedule WITH the officers! ;-) Everyone is involved. What if they don’t show? For how many meetings? If you miss two meetings, are you then asked to remove yourself from the board? What works? Also think Incentives!
Can I get something “Cool” if I attend all of the meetings? (Reward for outstanding attendance?), (Can we as an Exec. Board go out for a breakfast meeting? Yum-O-Rama, getting off campus!) So you have some things to play with Dorothy? Does the club have a budget? Can you do a Cook Out for the Members, Officers, New In-coming Students?

The Exec Officers meeting once a month.
The President meets once a month with the Faculty Advisor (on the recommendation/request of either the President/or Faculty Advisor)
The General Meeting of the EC Club is Once a Month.
Food? Snacks? Coffee? Tea? Breakfast? Dinner?

One club I know met at 4:00-5:00pm….this way the Day Student could meet and the Evening Division Students could join in too! It didn’t interfere with the Day Students dinner hours and the Evening Division Students classes started at 5:30pm so this gave them a chance to be involved in the club too! The evening division often gets “Dissed” because they can’t make the meetings!

Just some ideas! I’d like to suggest you “toss up your ideas” and questions on the Student Interest Forum of NAEYC Facebook Page too! Some other clubs may have some great ideas too! All the best this next fall President! DB
OH! And don't forget NAEYC has a new resource for students/faculty/affiliates. See comments above!