 Early
Childhood Resources
The American Academy of Pediatrics
is dedicated to the health of all children and committed to
the attainment of optimal physical, mental, and social health
and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and
young adults.
The Center for Early Childhood
Leadership is dedicated to enhancing the management skills,
professional orientation and leadership capacity of early
childhood administrators.
The Child & Family
WebGuide describes and evaluates web sites that contain
research-based information about child development.
An organization of regional Child
Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies serving
communities throughout the state of Illinois.
The Children's Book Council
is dedicated to encouraging literacy and the use and enjoyment
of children's books.
Children's Literature
offers information on authors and illustrators, recommended
books by theme, book award winners, etc.
The Circle of Inclusion
web site is for early childhood service providers and families
of young children. This web site offers demonstrations
of and information about the effective practices of inclusive
educational programs for children from birth through age eight.
Civitas is a national
not-for-profit communication group that works to provide educational
tools to all adults who live and work with young children.
The CLAS Early Childhood Research
Institute collects and describes early childhood/early
intervention resources that have been developed across the
United States for children with disabilities and their families
and the service providers who work with them. The materials
and resources available on this site reflect the intersection
of culture and language, disabilities and child development.
The Division of Early Childhood
(DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is a nonprofit
organization advocating for individuals who work with or on
behalf of children with special needs, birth through age eight,
and their families. There is also an Illinois
Subdivision for the Division of Early Childhood (IDEC).
The Early Childhood
Educators' and Family Web Corner contains articles, teacher
pages, family pages, etc.
EdWorld.Resources
covers a variety of areas of Early Childhood.
ERIC provides research-based
information and articles in the field of early childhood.
I Am Your Child
is a national public awareness and engagement campaign to
make early childhood development a top priority of our nation.
The Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services web site for
information on day care licensing, etc.
The Illinois
Department of Human Services Early Intervention site contains
information for parents and service providers, including Child
and Family Connections contacts. .
The Illinois
Early Learning Web site provides evidence-based, reliable
information for parents, caregivers, and teachers of young
children in the State of Illinois.
Illinois Head Start Association
information.
Lists of recommended children's books for birth to five and
Early Childhood Block Grant professional development opportunities
are available on the Early Childhood portion of the Illinois
Resource Center's web site.
The Illinois
Secretary of State's literacy program site includes grant
applications and literacy resources.
Meld offers education and
support for parents, trains family service providers to apply
best practices in their work with families and publishes a
broad range of resource materials for parents and the people
who work with them.
The National Association for
the Education of Young Children has for its purpose, “leading
and consolidating the efforts of individuals and groups working
to achieve healthy development and constructive education
for all young children.”
The National
Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect is a resource
for professionals and others seeking information on abuse
and neglect and child welfare.
The National Early
Childhood Technical Assistance Center supports the implementation
of the early childhood provisions of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Their mission is
to strengthen service systems to ensure that children with
disabilities (birth through five) and their families receive
and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and
family-centered supports and services.
The National Head Start Association
is a private not-for-profit membership organization that provides
a national forum for the continued enhancement of Head Start
services for children ages 0 to 5 and their families.
The National Institute for
Early Education Research supports early childhood education
initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information
based on research.
Ongoing update about the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHID)
study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.
The Ounce of Prevention
was established to promote the well-being of children and
adolescents by working with families, communities, and policy-makers.
The Parents as Teachers National
Center is committed to seeing that “all children will
learn, grow, and develop to realize their full potential."
The information is geared to parents but helpful to all programs
in early childhood.
The Partnership
for Reading continually creates resources and shares information
about how scientifically based research can inform the acquisition
of reading skills across the lifespan, from birth to adulthood.
Visit the Early
Childhood section.
Prevent Child
Abuse America provides leadership to promote the prevention
of child abuse and neglect at both the national and local
levels. Information is also available in Spanish.
Reading Rockets,
"launching young readers", contains resources, book
lists, and tips on early reading.
The Society for Research in
Child Development at the University of Michigan is a multidisciplinary,
not-for-profit, professional association of approximately
5,000 researchers, practitioners, and human development professionals.
The U.S.
Department of Education's Early Reading First site contains
information on the status of Early Reading First grants.
The U.S. Department
of Education main site includes information on No Child
Left Behind.
Voices for Illinois
Children works with families, communities, and policy-makers
to ensure that all children grow up healthy, nurtured, safe,
and well educated.
Zero to Three is
a leading resource on the first three years of life.
Its goal is to strengthen and support families, practitioners
and communities to promote the healthy development of babies
and toddlers.
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