ZERO TO THREE

The organization’s website I chose to explore is http://ZERTOTHREE.org.

This is a national non-profit organization for parents, professionals, and policy makers to become knowledgeable about the development of infants and toddlers from birth to 30 months.  Their mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.

The website has information and articles on prenatal development, brain development, language, social/emotional, attachment, etc.  They have podcasts funded by MetLife, downloadable resources, a bookstore, and professional development courses.  They also have a bi-monthly downloadable newsletter that covers current issues and trends for families, caregivers, and policy makers – a subscription is $79 yearly.

The current issues having focus on the home page are the new Presidential Budget Proposal with heavy investments in early learning for infants and toddlers and the proposed Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (FAMILY).  The current issue of the journal is about Maternal Depression and how to work with it during home visits.

While at ZEROTOTHREE.org, I looked for the topic I picked for this week – cultural responsive care and education.  There were many articles and journal entries.  One article in particular talked about including Infants and Toddlers in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems.  It went on to say that curriculum and environments should reflect the culture and language of every student served.  By doing this two goals are achieved: continuity of care from home to school that is important to developing a strong sense of self and contributes to the issue of basic trust between family and school for the parent/caregiver relationship. To have a high quality program, the environment must reflect all students in it or the program cannot be considered high quality.  “Quality is quite tenuous if diverse populations cannot see themselves and their cultures reflected in the caregiving program” (ZerotoThree.org, 2008, pg.5).

It is so very important for infant and toddlers to experience cultural diversity early.  Children from birth to three grow and learn so rapidly.  If the caregivers practice cultural responsibility during the early years, children will develop an understanding that will stay with them always.  As the children grow from toddlers to preschoolers, they will develop tolerance and acceptance; and will continue learning from other cultures and each other to nurture a cultural responsibility they will need later in life.

ZEROTOTHREE.org. (2008). QRIS Issues Meeting White Paper September 2008. Including Infant and Toddlers in QRIS, National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative. Retrieved May 15, 2014 from http://zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/nitcci/qris-issues-meeting-white-paper.pdg