To advance physical and intellectual development

             To advance physical and intellectual competence, I incorporate age appropriate activities in my classroom. These activities provide infants and toddlers with daily opportunities for growth and development. One way I support physical advancement in non mobile infants is by encouraging them to roll from front to back. I do this by placing the child on the floor, bending one knee and arm and then gently rolling the child. With older mobile infants I provide activities such as fill and dump items on a low table so that the children may stand and play. This will help children to learn to keep their balance and stand alone. To promote physical development in toddlers I encourage the use of their feet to move riding toys. I even use meal time for strengthening fine motor skills, as I encourage toddlers to fold napkins at lunch time, praising them for their efforts.
To support advancement in cognitive learning I provide a variety of age appropriate activities that will promote curiosity, exploration and problem solving. An activity that I perform with young infants is the game peek-a-boo. This improves infants cognitive skills by teaching them object permanence, or that an object still exist even when not in sight. With older infants I enjoy playing a game called find it. With this game I let infants watch as I hide a toy, then ask if they can find it. This activity displays intellectual growth by using memory to find the item hidden. An example of creating cognitive development in toddlers is by showing toddlers a large circle. Then taking them for a walk around the room finding items that resemble a circle.
I provide several opportunities to promote both verbal and non verbal communication for children in my classroom. One way I support communication in young infants is by placing two infants on the floor. I provide a variety of interesting toys that the infants may rattle, squeeze, or bang. This allows infants to verbally coo and babble at one another or simply just watch and smile. For mobile infants I encourage language by having family pictures posted on a family board. I point to family members and say "mama and dada". I then encourage infants to repeat me. I support language and communication practices with toddlers by singing songs and interacting with finger plays. I provide a diverse atmosphere utilizing songs from different cultural backgrounds.
To support creativity I provide many experiences for children to express themselves through play, art, music and rhythm. I know that it is the process not the product that is truly important. I allow children to see the world through their very own eyes which may include purple trees, pink skies, and even frogs that fly. I ask many open ended questions to allow children to imagine and create leaving their mind to hold the endless possibilities.

To Maintain a commitment to professionalism

          *Please Use this only as a guide to help you write your competency statements and goals for your CDA*

          To maintain a commitment to professionalism I welcome opportunities that provide professional growth, serve as a children's advocate and follow NAYEC ethical guidelines for the early childhood field. As an early childhood professional I believe that teachers are life-long learners. In my junior year in high school I enrolled in a two-year occupational childcare course. This course gave me a hands on experience, working directly under a teacher in a preschool setting. I supervised snack, created art activities, and lead the class in circle time. After finishing high school I went on to  receive my Early Childhood Certification from Cardean University. I am Medical Administration Training (MAT) certified, and  First aid and CPR certified as well. I attend childcare training seminars whenever they are available in my area. I subscribe to parenting magazines that have lots of information on children's development and timelines of milestones. This magazine helps provide me with ideas to use in my classroom. I also share these magazines with the parents in my class. I feel I have acquired the knowledge and skills to work successfully with all children and families including those with special needs and multicultural backgrounds.

          I serve as an advocate for children and strive to encourage parents to become advocates for their own children as well. I value keeping the communication lines open with parents and I encourage them to be involved in decisions made around the center. This includes decisions that both affect their child directly as well as the center as a whole. As an advocate myself I stay involved in the early childhood decision making in my state. I write letters to encourage or discourage decisions that are being made on the behalf of children. I also help my coworkers get involved in advocating. I share new information I have learned with them and encourage them to share new information with me.

          As a professional I adhere to all NAEYC code of ethics and am dedicated to the statement of commitment. I keep all parental information shared with me confidential. I also uphold all health and safety regulations and make children's well-being my top priority. I remain trustworthy to children parents and staff at the center. I also respect family diversity. This includes but is not limited to cultural differences, orientation, or economic status. I encourage individuality in children. I treat each child with respect and help them to build a positive self image.