Three early childhood professional organizations that an educator could join are the National Association for the Education of Young Children, or NAEYC (available at the url: https://www.naeyc.org/), Georgia Head Start Association (at url: https://georgiaheadstart.org/), and Childhood Education International (at url: https://ceinternational1892.org/).

Having tiered membership costs ranging from $30 for Entry to $150 Premium Level, NAEYC offers educators such as myself the benefit of learning from one of the most trusted authorities and advocates in Early Childhood Education through their various literature, resources, and events. Another especially useful organization is the Georgia Head Start Association, which offers the benefit of training programs and networking opportunities in conferences with the collective goal of bettering underprivileged children’s lives. Membership for students such as myself costs only $5. To expand influence beyond the United States, the organization Childhood Education International offers their membership for $35 per year to individuals. This covers access to over 90 years of their childhood education publications and research as well as opportunities to share new ideas and publish articles for the improvement of educational practices.

 

Five qualities an early childhood professional should exhibit are perseverance, compassion, ingenuity, an ability to teach, and a willingness to continue learning. Educators who persevere are better able to face various challenges that may present themselves in the field; such educators who are “in it for the long haul,” as the saying goes, will find a sense of fulfillment when they witness the results of their continued efforts. Equally, if not more important, is an educator’s ability to show compassion to all children unconditionally, which is vital to a child’s development in confidence and a positive self-image (Gordon & Browne, 2016). Additionally, ingenuity is a significant skill for anyone working with youth; real-life moments in early childhood call for imagination and inventiveness, because no two days with a group of children will be exactly alike. Sometimes educators will have to try different methods to fix certain behaviors or to teach the class a new concept. On that note, the ability to teach is also a skill not to be taken for granted. Information should be shared in ways that can be received and digested by the students without difficulty. Lastly, but not least of these qualities, teachers should nurture a willingness to continue their own education. The field of education is (or at least should be) ever-improving, which means there is always something new for an educator to learn and utilize in a learning environment for the benefit of children, parents, and anyone else involved in early education.

Gordon, A., & Browne, K. (2016). Beginning essentials in early

 childhood education. Cengage Learning.

1c. Using developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children

3a. Understanding the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment – including its use in development of appropriate goals, curriculum, and teaching strategies for young children.

3a. Understanding the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment – including its use in development of appropriate goals, curriculum, and teaching strategies for young children.

3d. Knowing about assessment partnerships with families and with professional colleagues to build effective learning environments.