Early Childhood Belief Statement

Children are the future of our society and they have a right to a quality childhood which includes

• An accepting environment that responds to and promotes individual differences, appreciation of individual capabilities, and respect regardless of a person's health, developmental, economic, or social status or their cultural background
• An environment surrounded by caring and responsible adults who help them develop self-confidence and the ability to make appropriate choices and decisions
• An environment that promotes and supports good health and nutrition
• An environment in which they can express their feelings, joy, curiosity, hunger, fear, happiness and receive an appropriate response from adults
• A nurturing environment that provides opportunities for meaningful relationships with both children and adults
• A supportive environment that fosters development at a pace appropriate to each individual child and where children can explore and initiate their own learning
• A rich and responsive language environment, both verbal and written
• An environment that reinforces and celebrates their developmental accomplishments and guides the practice of newly acquired skills
• A dependable environment that will serve to counter the stress of insecurity experienced by all children during normal growth and change
• A nurturing environment that protects them from inappropriate disapproval, teasing and/or punishment

Parents/families are the child's first and foremost teacher and accomplish this by

• Nurturing their child's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development
• Preparing and committing the time, energy, and resources needed for good parenting
• Accepting the responsibility to develop parenting skills and abilities
• Seeking and utilizing support for the difficult task of parenting
• Responsive, respectful, reciprocal partnerships with professionals

Communities need a comprehensive system of early childhood services in which

• Everyone in the community shares a responsibility/role for all children's well being (i.e. social, emotional, physical, and intellectual)
• The nurturing, care, health and education of young children are inseparable
• All citizens are viewed as both learners and teachers
• Responsive, respectful, reciprocal partnerships are built with parents
• Partnerships are developed within the community for children to be successful
• Systems, especially schools, are ready to serve all children based on the child's development rather than expecting children to be prepared for a fixed school curriculum
• Assessment is based on multiple and longitudinal measures and is used with resources in the best interest of the child
• Services are nondiscriminatory, multicultural and have integrated curricula that meet the needs of those served.

Public Policy must be redesigned to

• Recognize the childhood experience as a major determinant of a child's later success or risk of failure
• Reduce fragmentation and develop a comprehensive early childhood system that addresses the whole child
• Value and support the needs of families with different compositions, cultures, and build on the strengths of existing delivery models/service systems
• Allocate and provide incentives for prevention, partnerships, and foundation building
• Reflect and encourage the collective participation of all major stakeholders in the community
• Value early childhood professionals (including monetarily) on a basis comparable to other educators for their contributions
• Design a common early childhood certification system, to "bridge" career opportunities, and improve the quality of services to young children