What Is Assessment?

“Teaching without assessment is like driving a car without headlights.”Teaching in the dark does not benefit you or your children. Assessments   spreads  light on what children know and can do. It is an invaluable tool to guide your teaching and your students’   learning.

Assessing  the Head & the Hands 

          Your children’s lives, both in and out of school are influenced by your assessment and the assessment of others. As an early childhood professional, assessment influences your professional life and is a vital part of your professional practice. Effective assessment is one of your most important responsibilities.

       Assessment is the ongoing, continuous process of collecting, gathering, and documenting information about children’s development. Learning, health, behavior, academic progress, need for special services and achievement in order to make decisions about how to best educate them. Teachers and early childhood programs are informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and informal assessment approaches to provide information on children’s learning and development. These assessments occur within the context of reciprocal communication with families and sensitivity with cultural contexts in which children develop. Assessment results are used to benefit children by informing sound decisions about children, teaching, and program improvement.

http://www.getreadytoread.org/screening-tools/supportive-materials-for-elors/assessment-in-early-childhood

Individual Differences in Children

A  factor to consider in relation to development is the concept of individual differences. Children develop at different rates. This, in turn, creates variations among individuals (i.e., individual differences). Again, these differences can be either qualitative or quantitative. For children in any preschool classroom setting, the differences in temperament, personality, intelligence, achievement, and physical factors such as height and weight, are noteworthy and reflect a wide range of normal variation. Some children grow rapidly and others grow more slowly. There also are racial and gender developmental variations. During the fetal stage, for example, females mature faster than males do. Further, at birth, the skeletal development of females is about 4 weeks ahead of that of males, and African American children show more rapid skeletal maturation than white children do (Puckett & Black, 2004; Russell et al., 2001; Tanner, 1990).

It is important to understand that the concept of individual differences is the basis upon which one child is compared to another. Also, the existence of these differences constitutes the fundamental premise underlying the development of standardized educational and psychological tests. An understanding of individual differences provides the foundation for recognizing normal variations as well as extreme differences among children and, thus, for identifying those who may have special needs. In general, understanding of the various developmental levels is enhanced by familiarity with the concept of individual differences. 

 We must remember this on the tough days...

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Who Is An Early Childhood Professional?

        

It is a fact that ,you(as an early childhood education  teacher) are preparing to be a highly qualified and effective childhood professional ,who teaches children from birth to age eight. You are going to work with families and the community to bring high quality education and services to all children. How would you explain the term early childhood professional to others? What does professional mean?

Preparation is key for the professional preschool teacher!

A high quality early childhood professional has the professional characteristics, knowledge   and skills necessary to teach and conduct programs so that all children learn and the ability to inform the public about children’s and families’ issues . Early childhood professionals are those who promote high standards for themselves, their colleagues,, and their students-they are continually improving and expanding their skills and knowledge.

So, professionals also think about and reflect on their teaching and collaborations with colleagues and families. Being a reflective practitioner is an important part of being a professional. A last piece of advice, go more in depth of your role as a reflective professional.                                                                                                                                                 

Changes In The Early Childhood Profession

  Dear teachers and parents, 

 It is an exciting time to be a member of the early childhood   education

profession. Early   childhood education, which includes children from birth to eight, has changed more in the last ten years  than in the previous fifty years, and more changes are in store. Why early childhood undergoing dramatic transformation and reform?

Well, there is  a tremendous increase in scientific knowledge about young children and the ways they grow ,develop, and learn. This new knowledge enables professionals to view young children as extremely   capable and naturally eager to learn. Moreover, educators have developed research-based  programs and curricula that enable children to learn literally from the beginning of life. In addition to this all, influential research, such as the HighScope Perry Preschool Project, validates the theory  that high quality education in the early years has positive and lasting benefits for children throughout their lives. The way children are reared and educated in the early formative years makes a significant difference in the way they develop and learn. When families , teachers, and other caring adults get it right  from the start of the children’s lives , all of society reaps big dividends.

In short, the demand for teachers and ongoing public and professional attention will continue to focus attention on early years and the importance they play in lifelong education.