Please complete all parts

Part 1

• In what ways does Walden University support you and your colleagues?
• In what ways are you and your colleagues connected, and how can you support each other?

Then, summarize:

• At least three connections that you believe will provide the most effective support with regard to your success as a student at Walden, and why
• Ways in which you intend to support your colleagues in this online learning community and how you hope your colleagues will support you

Assignment length: approximately 1 page

Part 2

• What passion, motivation, and wisdom do you bring to your studies and to the early childhood field?
• In what ways did the professionals in the media segment inspire, affirm, and/or enhance, your passion, motivation, and wisdom?
• In what ways do your professional goals reflect your passion for early childhood, your motivation, and your wisdom; and in what ways might you refine these goals in light of your current thinking?

Assignment length: approximately 1-2 pages

Part 3

This assignment provides an opportunity to apply what you have learned about the characteristics of family systems to your own family, to the family in which you grew up, or to a family you know well. In preparation for this assignment, carefully review the article “Understanding Families: Applying Family Systems Theory to Early Childhood Practice,” paying particular attention to the six characteristics-boundaries, roles, rules, hierarchy, climate, and equilibrium”and how each affects the ways in which family members interact and how the child, then, interacts with the outside world.

For this assignment:

• Briefly summarize three of the six characteristics that strongly resonate with you.
• Provide an example that illustrates how each family systems characteristic you chose shaped the interactions within your own family, the family in which you grew up, or a family that you know well, as well as the way the child in that family interacted with the outside world.
• Explain why understanding these characteristics and their consequences is essential to people who work with children and their families.

Assignment length: approximately 1-2 pages

Part 4

• Identify up to five people who nurtured and cared about you.
• Describe each person and briefly state your relationship to each person, in what ways each one has influenced your life as a child, how they nurtured you, cared about you, and how they made you feel special.

Part 5

You are chairing a committee that has been tasked with creating a mission statement for the field of early childhood-one that represents the overarching goals and perspectives of the five main sectors: Head Start; Child Care; Health and Well-Being of Children and Families; Research and Academia in the Early Childhood Field; and Public Early Childhood Education. A person new to early childhood should be able to read the mission statement you create and understand the mission of the early childhood field.

For this assignment, write:

• A summary of the main goals of each of the five sectors
• A brief explanation of the commonalities
• A mission statement for the field of early childhood that respects and communicates the common connections, the overarching goals, and the various perspectives of the five sectors you studied this week

Assignment length: approximately 1-2 pages

Part 6

• Select and summarize two of the five required readings for this week.
• Discuss in what ways the specific ideas presented in each of the readings have broadened and deepened your understanding of young children, families, and/or the early childhood field. (For example: In the article about the value of investing in children, what are the specific reasons provided in support of early childhood, and in which concrete ways have these reasons expanded your understanding of young children, families, and/or the early childhood field?)
• Explain the ways in which the information, ideas, and suggestions in the readings you selected affect your professional goals and/or deepen your passion for the field.
• Identify one additional resource you would suggest to others in the field that focuses on a specific early childhood issue, trend, or development.

Note: You are required to write your paper in APA format, including references in APA style. Refer to the Walden University Writing Center (http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/) as needed. The Writing Center offers help with academic writing, plagiarism issues, tutoring, and the intricacies of citing and references in APA style.

Assignment length: approximately 2 pages

Part 7

Write a paper that addresses the following:

• Identify two of your strengths and briefly discuss how each contributes to your growth as an early childhood professional.
• Identify two areas in which you would like to develop further, and describe how you plan to grow.

Assignment length: approximately 1-2 pages

Part 8

Post 2 brief notes of professional thanks and support a student blogs. (just submit two paragraphs as if you read a blog)