Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

Executive function skills develop through positive adult interactions and positive learning experiences early on in life and are entwined with emotional well-being (Blair & Diamond 2008, Florez, 2011). The Center on the Developing Child refers to executive functioning as, “the ability to hold onto and work with information, focus thinking, filter distractions, and switch gears…like an airport having a highly effective air traffic control system to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple runways,.” Executive functioning and self-regulation skills rely on: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control (Center on the Developing Child, 2011.).   Biologically the brain is prepared and expecting to be shaped by experience according to Dr. Jack Shonkoff at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Young children develop higher mental functions as they learn from others and their environment (Tools of the Mind, 2013). Specificall...

Navigating the research and policies regarding learning outcomes, competencies, goals, standards from federal and state organizations can be quite overwhelming. The documentation exceeds the field of early childhood and special education to include public health, medicine and more. With good reason, many educators are wary of standards for their “one size fits all” notions, but standards are dynamic not static. They can empower children and educators and offer professional preparation “more valuable than a list of rules to follow,” (NAEYC, 2009, p. 2). The question remains, how do we work together effectively to implement standards and coordinate professional practices? The United States Office of Planning Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families (OPRE) released Conceptualizing and Measuring Collaboration in the Context of Early Childhood Care and Education offering some suggestions. Professionals working one-on-one, in classrooms, and in state-level agencies...

Opportunities to learn more about the New Early Learning Standards are coming... Check out the following website  to see what trainings are available in your region.  Many resources exists for professionals and families.  A few in NH are: Early Learning New Hampshire (ELNH) http://www.earlylearningnh.org/ Spark NH http://sparknh.org/ New Hampshire Family Voices http://nhfv.org/ Parent Information Center NH (PIC) http://www.picnh.org/ NH Preschool Technical Assistance Network(PTAN) http://ptan.seresc.net/ Early Education and Intervention Network(eein) http://www.eeinnh.org/

Early childhood education is making some great gains and has even greater potential for funding and developing to enhance public access in 2014. Recently, I received an email from NAEYC Children’s Champions  in mid-January with the title: A Big Funding Win for Early Childhood – But We Need to Get it Passed by  January 18 !. According to NAEYC, the United States Congress needed to pass appropriation bills for the 2014 fiscal year, and with this came an omnibus ( proposed law covering diverse or unrelated topics from multiple agencies) bill. Within this bi-partisan bill was $1.5 billion increase for early childhood education, post-sequestration levels, investing in access and quality. Some of the highlights from the bill, from the NAEYC website , includes: $1.025 billion increase for Head Start – this includes $400 million for Head Start and another $100 million for COLA, $25 million for re-designation activities, and $500 million for the expansion of Early Head Start and ...