Sharing Web Resources-part 2

The organization that I have been researching is the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  Their website is very informative, well organized, and easy to navigate.  The section that really stands out to me and that seems relevant to my current professional development is the section titled “Publications”.  Clicking on the publications tab takes you to a listing of articles related to educating young children.  I am currently a preschool teacher working with 3 and 4 year olds and I found several of their articles to be beneficial to my current teaching style and lesson planning.   

There is an article on the website entitled “Tender Topics: Using Read-Alouds to Explore Sensitive Issues”.  The title of the article made me want to read more on the topic.  I use read-alouds throughout my lesson plans to help improve listening skills and logic reasoning skills, therefore this article really stood out to me.  I also encounter situations within my classroom considered “tender topics” that are difficult to explain to children such as, divorce, child abuse, bullying, and homelessness.  I have several children in my class that have divorce parents and some of them don’t even know their dads, and it’s difficult for me to explain to them and the other children why both their parents are unable to attend “family picnic day” or why some children make father’s day cards and others don’t.  This article discusses ways in which we can address these tender topics with our class by using read-alouds and having class discussions. 

The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s website offers insight into how early childhood professionals can provide quality childcare through training and publications.  It’s a wonderful resource to use in gaining knowledge on the best childcare practices and policies.