The GAP – Early Childhood education and Compulsory Education

I was reading my text for my ECE program delivery class when a section of the chapter stood out to me. (The book is called Early Childhood and Compulsory Education: Reconceptualizing the relationship. Edited by Peter Ross)

The chapter was based on a interview Peter Ross and Gunilla Dahlberg had. The chapter talked about the gap between ece and the school system. Stating that both fields need to acknowledge common traits and the discourse in equality, which is partial due to parents lack of recognition that ece is a legitimate field of professionals and the difference in salary.

I found this interesting as premier Wynn just raised ECE pay in the province of Ontario.I wonder if this is Ontario’s start to legitimizing the ece profession? Will society begin to transition us from caregivers( a nicer word for babysitters) to actual educators? Maybe if these type of government initiated actions are continued, theres hope in the next 20 years?

A fellow ece student commented and asked me, “Do you think that higher wages will help acknowledge the ECE field as a legitimate profession? or do you think that society needs to be informed more accurately on what the ECE profession truly brings to the table?  ….From my experience I get alot of “All you do is take care of kids….. how hard can it  be?” or you get paid XYZ for watching kids all day?  haha I dont think many people actually understand the ECE field…. or maybe they do?…. -shrug- “.

I replied this to her:

I think both, and even then there’s more aspects that need to be address in order for us to be “recognized” in the manner our profession would like. Along with educating the public there are a lot of members currently in the field that need to upgrade their own knowledge (the ECE program is not the same as it was 10 years ago- even five years ago). Also keep in mind that there are people in are field who are just in it because they want to be higher paid babysitters (ive encountered a few) or people with little education that claim to be ECE’s and are not. None the less, with anything in life, things take time. This is just another thing, that is going to take time to get use to, acknowledge and implement. As ECE’s our job is to educate and correct negative attitudes towards our profession. It sucks but it’s something we got to do.

What are your thoughts?

Catching Kayla- Inspiration for Everyone

I hope to inspire the children I teach to never give up and install a positive attitude to problem solve when faced with challenges. As life is not one smooth ride, we must prepare children with the tools for success. This is an inspiration for me as a teacher, as a member of society and as a person. I hope to strive to be more like this girl and her coach in all I do. Nothing but inspiration.

My Review on an Educational App

I recently downloaded an app on my son’s galaxy tab 3. It was called “Kids ABC Letters”, an app created by Intellijoy. This app is compatible with android, iOS and blackberry devices. Recommended for children ages 3- 7 years old, my son is 3yrs old. It contains Four Categories in which a child can explore or play games; Naming Letters– learn the name and the appearance of each letter.  Kids can tap on the letters to verify that they’ve learned the names correctly. Forming Letters– children create letters by sliding colorful puzzle pieces into place. Recognizing letters– children help a cat catch fish with letters written on them, helping children learn appearance and pronunciation of the letters by heart. Identifying letters in context- teaches children how to recognize letters as they appear in words, reinforcing the concept that words are made up of letters.

I really like this app, I would recommend it to teachers and professionals alike. More and more we are seeing technology brought into the classroom, but there are so many apps/programs out there it can make a person feel discombobulated just looking for the right program.  I read an article by June S Gyone, called Practical guidelines for evaluating educational software. In this article it explains that like teaching there is no one direct model for learning situations, when it comes to an educational software program. “Just as there is no one teaching model or strategy that works for all learning situations, there is no one type of software program that is best for all learning situations” (Gyone, J., McDonough, S. & Padgett, D. 2000).  Gyone also explains that software can range from drill and practice (behaviorist learning) to problem based (Constructivist) software.  This app in my opinion has a drill and practice type of style, however depending on the child; you can install a less supervised environment for them to explore the app. For myself personally I was able to leave my son to explore; Naming Letters, Forming Letters, and Identifying letters in context sections with after instruction and doing it with him once. Recognizing letters for my child requires a one on one supervision to help him get the concept of when to click the fish to grab the letter he wants.

This program in my opinion doesn’t provide children room to explore through various activities, definitely not a hypermedia style program, “Hypermedia puts learners in control of their own learning experiences, allowing them to select the content, methods, materials, and activities that suit their own needs, interests, and abilities” (Gyone, J., McDonough, S. & Padgett, D. 2000). My reasoning for this is out of the four categories, each has one game/activity associated with it, no room for alternate games with the same context, no room for higher or more challenging activities. Unless the adult downloads the app that is the next step up. This is not nesscarly a bad thing, as a parent and ECE, I would use this program as reinforcement to a child’s learning and understanding of the alphabet.

As we move further from the original framework of educating (instructional-behaviorist approach), we still need to take into consideration that practice is need (drill and practice approach) is still very important, as being a component of the learning process, “Cognitive research has shown that through extensive practice, information becomes automated for the learner,” (Gyone, J., McDonough, S. & Padgett, D. 2000) This is why I would suggest to Intellijoy, that it would be beneficial if they added in a type of review system for parents and educators to see if the child is getting the concept and if practicing in one area is needed more than another. They can do this by, having it be in a section of the app or installing an monthly or bi-weekly email system.

All in all this app gets a thumbs up from me.

   

Gyone, J., McDonough, S. & Padgett, D. (August 2000). Practical guidelines for evaluating educational software. The Clearing House. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zz11UpsJbdemjt_Q29tW28CG96-O1dO76i27Aaq-pv4/edit

Attack of the MEMES!!!!

        

Tablet based learning system available-

Now priced at $359, the Amplify System is a complete mobile learning system designed by and for educators. Featuring the rugged Amplify Tablet, instructional software, vetted K-12 content and expert support, our system is easy for educators to implement and see real results. I love the fact that there are tools being made to teach the ever changing, and evolving future generations, however (this coming from a cheap person), I am not comfortable with the price. It cost $395 before taxes and shipping fees and after one year $60 to maintain software and updates. So that means educational systems that can afford this are the only ones that can benefit from this new tool. Public system school and even catholic system schools are left behind. Hopefully one day SOON, a company that is not so money hungry can see past the dollar and look towards the betterment of all children not just ones that can afford it.