Early Childhood Education
Licensing in Wisconsin:
Child Care Information Center
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/ccic/
Welcome to the Wisconsin Child Care Information Center! CCIC is a mail-order lending library and information center serving anyone in Wisconsin working in the field of childcare and early childhood education. CCIC provides free information services, library services, and adult learning services to help Wisconsin child care professionals give the best possible start to Wisconsin's children. CCIC is sponsored by the Office of Child Care, Division of Workforce Solutions, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, and is administered by the Department of Public Instruction's Reference and Loan Library.
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services – Licensing in Child Care
http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/rl_dcfs/INDEX.HTM
This is the web page that explains the rules that need to be followed to become a licensed childcare provider in the state of Wisconsin. Many related links are also offered near the bottom of the page. General information for parents is located at the top of the page. The site is easy to navigate.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/
This is the official website for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, this is an excellent resource for teachers, librarians, private and public schools and libraries.
Associations:
National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade. The NAEYC also publishes a magazine entitled “Young Children”, full-text articles are not available on the website but a list of the current issue articles are. Being a member of NAEYC allows greater access to every area of the website.
National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
http://naccrra.net/
This is the mission statement for the NACCRRA, “To provide vision, leadership, and support to community child care resource and referral and to promote national policies and partnerships committed to the development and learning of all children.” In the broadest sense, community-based childcare resource and referral defines its mission as "doing whatever it takes to make child care work for families and communities." The NACCRRA is a website worth looking at just to see if there are any services Wisconsin early childhood educators can benefit from.
Curriculum, Projects and Ideas:
The Early Childhood Educator's Resource Page
http://eceresources.iwarp.com/
This is a personal website created and maintained by an Early Childhood Educator. With that said the website offers many ideas and projects for Early Childhood Education. The website has nine categories, Dramatics Play, Art Area, Science Area, Block Area, Quiet Area, Circle Time, Small Group, Water/Sand Play, and For Teacher. The Water/Sand Play and For Teacher pages are not completed yet so the buttons are there but the link is inactive. The website also offers a mailing list where topics on Early Childhood Education is discussed.
EarlyChildhood.com
http://www.earlychildhood.com/
EarlyChildhood.com is a website that offers not only activities but also curriculum ideas. Each curriculum idea is divided into four age groups, Infant, Toddler, Preschool, and School Age. EarlyChildhood.com also offers Arts & Crafts, Sharing
Boards, Reading Center, News, Ask Our Experts, and Classifieds. The website has many things to offer and is worth taking a looking if in need of ideas.
The Idea Box
http://www.theideabox.com/
The Idea Box offers many ideas for activities. The activities are sorted mostly by a theme, which goes around holidays and seasons. For example the month of November is about Thanksgiving and fall. The website offers an idea of the day, which can include crafts, songs, craft recipes, recipes and games. The Idea box also offers a web site of the week, a weekly newsletter and a number of message boards.
Jan Brett's Home Page – A Great Place for Ideas
http://www.janbrett.com/
This is the personal website of Jan Brett, a well-know childrens book illustrator and now author. Ms. Brett has offered a number of activities that can be printed from the website and children can decorate. These printable projects include, bookmarks, stories, pictures, placemats, advent calendars, and many other ideas. Is worth taking a look at.
Kindergarten Kafe
http://www.kkafe.net/
On Kindergarten Kafe there is a bi-monthly e-newsletter, which covers three different themes per issue. Each theme has a list of books, and activities appropriate to the given theme. The issues date back to 1996 and covers every month except June and July.
Resources:
Child Care One
http://www.childcareone.com/
Child Care Worldwide (CCW) brings together a world of tools and resources for parents and child care professionals from across the globe to contribute to the field and learn from each other.
Child Care Quality: Does It Matter and Does It Need to be Improved?
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/ccquality00/ccqual.htm
Child Care Quality is an article discussing the issue of childcare quality in the United States. The article discusses how the quality of childcare is measured, what is the quality of childcare in the United States and what can be done to improve childcare. The article touches on some interesting aspects of childcare in the United States and would be worth reading.
ECE Web Guide
http://www.ecewebguide.com/
Provides childcare professionals with up-to-date Internet resources. There are eight main categories to choice; Child Development, Anti-Bias Resources, Discipline and Guidance, Health and Safety, Learning Environment, Professionalism, Program Management, and Resources for Planning Educational Themes. On the Educational Theme page there is a link for lesson plans that are available for use.
Education Advisors Online – Early Childhood
http://www.edvisors.com/
Education Advisors Online offers a list of 35 online resources for early childhood educators. Near the bottom of the page on the right-hand side is a “See Also” section. Under the “See Also” section there are three more topics available under Early Childhood, they are as follows, Teaching, Child Care, News and Publications.
National Center for Early Development and Learning
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/#
National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) is a national early childhood research project supported by the US Dept. of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. NCEDL focuses on enhancing the cognitive, social, & emotional development of children from birth through age eight. The website offers links to the research the NCEDL is performing and many publications covering many aspects of the early childhood topic.
National Child Care Information Center
http://nccic.org/
The National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), a project of the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is a national resource that links information and people to complement, enhance, and promote the child care delivery system, working to ensure that all children and families have access to high-quality comprehensive services. At the top of the page there is a link to childcare topics, the page offers a wide range of topics in the childcare field covering some topics that might not be discussed on other websites. The National Child Care Information Center also offers links to online publications on childcare and early childhood development.
