I have spent the last few weeks looking deeper into the NAEYC website.  I still haven't received a newsletter from the organization, even though I have signed up for it several times.  I spent some time this week looking into the links on the NAEYC website that take me to outside places.  I think that my favorite link is the one that helps me to find accredited programs.  This is such a great tool, especially for parents.  It can help them to find programs that they can be sure follow certain expectations and guidelines.
     I mentioned before that although my program is NAEYC accredited, I really didn't fully know what that meant to me or to my families.  I felt that exploring the NAEYC website could give me a better knowledge of this and that it would help me, not only for this class, but for my job also.
     While exploring the site this week, I did find information that helped me in both areas.  NAEYC has 10 standards and accreditation criteria that must be met by all programs that wish to be NAEYC accredited programs.  These 10 standards were updated in 2006 to not only address programs serving children birth though kindergarten, but also to make sure that standards were more evidence based on what early childhood programs need to be in order to be most effective.  Reading through all of this really helped me to make a connection of equity and excellence and how the NAEYC standards help to ensure both.  The 10 standards address 10 different areas: relationships, curriculum, teaching, assessment of child progress, health, teachers, families, community relationships, physical environment, leadership and management.  Reading through these helped me to understand that if all programs started following standards such as these, it could create a united force that would all be on the same page of providing equity and excellence to children.  These standards and criteria help to ensure best practices in our field.