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i AM PROUD TO USE THE TITLE early childhood educator As that denotes all children 0-8 years of age

If you believe that all people/entities provide the same level of care, I can see why you would even broach this subject. All the names you mentioned are still appropriate names. In my opinion there is still different levels of care provided. I would not want to have have one name that is all encompassing.

Within the Seventh-day Adventist education system, we have chosen the name Early Childhood Education and Care to describe the services we provide to families of young children. We use the term Early Childhood Programs to decribe the facilities.

We consider ourselves to be:

Early Childhood Educators
Early Childhood Specialists
Early Childhood Teachers
depending on the position you hold. However, I think Early Childhood Educators sums up all of them.

Many early childhood professionals have debated and discussed the nomenclature issue in past years. Keep in mind that naming is never a band-aid stuck on a field of endeavor. The name emerges from the characteristics and contents of the field it seeks to summarize in a few words. We have two tasks:

1. create a broad working group that will negotiate a name, such as early childhood care and education (ECCE) per the OECD reports called Starting Strong.

2. complaining nicely when reporters, writers and policymakers use the terms from ancient times, such as day care and family day care.

These tasks are a work in progress and working together among organizations in the U.S. and around the world will move us ahead to a new era.

I too believe that the word Daycare is a bit degrading for what we do. I have always said that those who provide this service are first and foremost teachers/educators. Unfortunately many in the field don't see themselves this way. In looking for the proper terminology I took the definitions of development, learning and education and this is what I came up with.

To promote the growth of children by providing the proper instruction allowing them to gain knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

Thus Early Learning and Developement

Please remember that early childhood development goes beyond those in pre-k programs of child care and pre-school. Those of us with early childhood philosophies are also in kindergartens, 1st, and 2nd grades across the nation. We are much much more than child care and pre-school.

I believe Early Childhood Development best captures the position of our role in educating the young and providing care both of which stimulate their development.

Hello,

My name is Marietta Begay and I am a Teacher at Little Learning Center in Early Childhood Development. Our center is a 27/7 child care program for working parents at the Jackson Rancheria Indian Casino. We provide afterschool program and child care services for ages 18mos in the toddler dept., preschool, pre-K, and school-age with 50 teachers in 3 shifts.

Today I would like information regarding, WORK ETHICS AS ECE TEACHER..

Thank you, Miss Marie

WE ARE ALSO HIRING FOR TEACHERS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS of education and/or experience.

Thank you, thank you for taking up this issue! This has been a "pet peeve" of mine for a long time. Personally, the term "day care" has a very negative connotation for me, and sounds hopelessly unprofessional. Others in the field use the term freely, though, so I often think perhaps I am alone in finding it so outdated. For me it evokes images of a fledgling field, struggling with inadequate staffing and resources, that had not yet reached the level of quality we now consider standard.

This name was not on the list.

Early Education and Care

While the name indicates the purpose of the business, most of those who use the business could care less. Most families refer to child care as BABYSITTING. Even the care givers say they BABYSIT!

What the industry needs is to EDUCATE those who use the services of the business.

We do provide early care and education. It is what is needed for our children to become productive citizens in years to follow.

I like the thought of being Early learning Centers.

My choice for a standardized name is "Early Childhood Services." To me this encompasses the various elements involved in caring for children. We cater to the whole child and his or her family. Educational, physical, social, and emotional needs of the children are met daily, so our name should indicate this.

Ten years ago we changed our name from St. Michael's Day Nursery to St. Michael's School and Nursery. It was an historic move because we are an historic organization incorporated in 1890. (We are one of the oldest early schools in the country.) The change had just the effect we desired. Today, everyone understands that we teach and provide nurturing care. Our families are proud of the name and respect us as educators. Our faculty appreciate the directness of this honest approach. And the children love their 'school' dearly. I believe we should not shy away from the word school. It helps people to understand our work. Everyone knows we care for little children, and they now understand that we are teaching, too. While 'School and Nursery' remains our formal name, we use St. Michael's School for our daily business and it's a great fit for us. Our industry should not be afraid to use the word that the public already understands. With full day KG, Pre-K and wrap around programs proliferating, everyone is educating and caring. For us, 'school' is where this happens.

I believe we should advocate for "early care and education" as a moniker for our profession. In striving to be viewed as professionals we need to think beyond "daycare", after all we don't take care of days, and childcare seems to imply we "just" care, altho those of us in the field understand that the implications of quality care are huge and entail..education. On the lighter side...what about Technology Experts...as we're wiring young brains for the future?