Professional Resource File
Table of Contents
Part I - Autobiography
Part II - Statements of Competence
1. Competency Goal I
To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment
2. Competency Goal II
To advance physical and intellectual competence
3. Competency Goal III
To support social and emotional development and provide positive
guidance
4. Competency Goal IV
To establish positive and productive relationships with families
5. Competency Goal V
To ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant
needs
6. Competence Goal VI
To maintain a commitment to professionalism
Autobiography
Linda R. Murphy
I am the oldest daughter of eight children born in my parent’s home. My mother was
always very patient and kind to us. She influenced me the most to enjoy being around little
children. I learned to place them at a high value. My grandmother was the same way. She
was the mother of twelve children, nine of which lived to adulthood.
I like taking care of small children because I enjoy their cheerful, forgiving and
uplifting attitude. It’s rewarding to see them grow and progress. It’s comforting for me
to be close to them, rock and read to them.
I graduated from high school in Hemet, California. I had a 3.5 grade point
average all through high school. I earned a scholarship to become a nurse. I did not
use it though because my parents moved to Arkansas and I moved with them.
I attended Brigham Young University in 1975. I was studying to become a Home
Economics teacher. I took an early childhood development class at this time.
I was a missionary to Norway for 1-½ years. This helped me to learn patience
and to be aware of people’s feelings. This also helped me to learn how to help others
and to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I then married my husband. We had three children and then in 1986 I began
watching other people’s children. My husband was working on a MBA degree at Murray
State University in Kentucky at this same time. I studied many books on raising
children and I found it interesting to learn about other people’s experiences and points
of view.
I cared for children from many different backgrounds, children that came from
wonderful family home lives and those who had hardly any home life. I was happy to
offer these children a stable, happy life at my home. I also felt I was helping some
families by helping their children.
I had one more child of my own in 1987. I worked as the head church nursery
leader for children 18 months to 3 years old for 3 years between 1990-1993.
In 1997 I became a state certified Home Day Care Provider. I have a current
certification at the present time. I have learned a lot of helpful information concerning
how to care for children and how to help them progress in different stages of their
development. I feel that with a CDA credential that parents will recognize that I have
had important training to help them raise their children. This will help them to have
more trust and confidence in me. I know what quality is in childcare due to the training
that is required of a CDA candidate.
Statements of Competence
Competency Goal I
To establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment
Functional Area: Safe
Candidate provides a safe environment to prevent and reduce injuries.
My goal for young infants is to make sure anything the babies can get their
hands on is clean and will not hurt them if they place it in their mouths.
Activity: I make regular checks to keep the environment free of traffic and
dangerous toys that could be swallowed. I keep clean, bright colored toys that
rattle or are soft. I sanitize chew toys especially if they are cutting teeth.
My goal for mobile infants is to help the children learn what will hurt them and
what is safe.
Activity: I supply climbing and sliding toys and texture play such as sand and
water in warm weather. We talk about how to play so that we do not hurt each
other.
My goal for toddlers is to eliminate danger areas from their environment.
Activity: I am present to help the children learn about their environment through
exploration. Children at his age need constant supervision because they are
very curious about everything and they have not yet learned the danger of some
things. They are also very quick to move around. I use a baby gate at the door
or else, with watching six children at one time, they would easily get away from
me and hurt themselves. I talk with them about how to keep a safe environment.
My goal for preschool children is to provide materials to help promote a safe
environment and not a cluttered environment in which they play.
Activity: Containers are used to help sort materials. Duplicate materials help
children to interact with each other in a caring and safe way. Throughout the
day, we pick up toys before we move into a different activity. This helps to
promote a safe and clutter-free environment.
2. Function Area: Healthy
Candidate promotes good health and nutrition and provides an environment that
contributes to the prevention of illness.
My goal for a young infant is to gear to the nutritional needs of each baby
instead of a strict routine of what and when he/she should eat.
Activity: I feed the baby nutritious foods, as they can be introduced to the
infant. I try to keep germs from spreading by keeping toys washed often.
My goal for mobile infants is to introduce new types of nutritious foods.
Activity: Cooked carrots are introduced to the children as they get teeth and are
able to chew well. I also try to teach them not to spit on the chalkboard or glass
door. I have found they enjoy spitting at this age and of course this in not
sanitary.
My goal for toddlers is for me to role model good personal hygiene, so they can
learn to use it for themselves.
Activity: I model good personal hygiene such as hand washing after using
tissues to wipe noses, before and after eating, also before and after diapering
each child. Role modeling will help them learn as they watch and I explain about
killing germs.
My goal for preschool children is to teach them about food and good nutrition.
Activity: I introduce the children to foods they have never tried. These foods
are nutritious and fun for the children to help prepare. Sanitary skills are taught
at the same time. This participation encourages them to try something new in
their diet.
3. Functional Area: Learning Environment
Candidate uses space, relationships, materials, and routines as resources for
constructing an interesting, secure and enjoyable environment that encourages
play, exploration, and learning.
My goal for young infants is to provide a loving atmosphere so that the infants
will feel a sense of well being and emotional security.
Activity: I provide a variety of sensory experiences (soft, cushiony, rough,) that
help them want to move and be involved in active play.
My goal for mobile infants is to keep them safe while they are exploring their
environment.
Activity: I help them learn to climb the steps of a small sliding board and slide
down it. This will help them in their coordination and in developing their muscles.
My goal for toddlers is to help them begin to distinguish different colors.
Activity: The children search for a certain color like blue. They point to it and
say, “There is a blue ball.” We also play exploration games in which we search
for colors in nature.
My goal for preschool children is to encourage creativity through the
availability of different textures and by using different writing and drawing
materials.
Activity: I make glue, play dough, clay, crayons, different textures of cloth
materials, paper, and scissors available to children for them to express their
creativity through art.
Competency Goal II
To advance physical and intellectual competence
4. Functional Area: Physical
Candidate provides a variety of equipment, activities, and opportunities to
promote the physical development of children.
My goal for young infants is to allow the children to experience different
positions.
Activity: By using baby seats the children not only lie on their stomachs
or backs but they can also sit up. This allows them the ability to see
more of what is going on around them. This helps them also to use more
of their muscles so they can rest peacefully when they do lie down on
their backs to sleep.
My goal for mobile infants is to help them learn to fit shaped objects into
similar shaped holes.
Activity: Objects with different shapes are provided for babies so they
can learn to place a round shape into a round hole or square shape into
square hole.
I. My goal for toddlers is to help them learn to use small motor skills.
II. Activity: Some toddlers do not understand how to play with play
dough.
I wish to start working with them to help them learn to shape
objects.
III. My goal for preschool children is to encourage them in gross motor
play.
IV. Activities: The indoor environment is a large room with a ladder,
small slide, and two toy cars for more large muscle development. There
are many small toys for small muscle coordination and development.
The outside environment has many pieces of equipment that promote
physical development.
5. Functional Area: Cognitive
Candidate provides activities and opportunities that encourage curiosity,
exploration, and problem solving appropriate to the developmental levels and
learning styles of children.
My goal for young infants is to play and talk to them often.
Activity: I describe what they see, touch, hear and feel to help them to begin to
understand their environment. We play “peek a boo”.
My goal for mobile infants is to promote problem-solving skills through hands
on activities.
Activity: I provide opportunities for the children to figure out cause and effect in
movement. When a toy goes down a slide it goes from one place to another.
When they stack blocks very high the blocks tumble over. The children enjoyed
placing a small toy in a long tube and then watching it come out the other end.
My goal for toddlers is to use pictures and books and ask the children
questions about what is happening.
Activity: The two year olds that I watch can not say all the words that describe
what is in the pictures but they can recognize what I am talking about and they
can point to the object. An example of this would be of a picture of a child riding
a bike. I would say, “Point to the girl on the bike.” “Point to her hair.” “Where is
her mouth?” “Where are the wheels on the bike?”
My goal for preschool children is to help them learn to put together simple and
complex puzzles.
Activity: Using puzzles help children develop reasoning skills, trial and error
learning and to be patient so they can finish the puzzle.
6. Functional Area: Communication
Candidate actively communicates with children and provides opportunities and
support for children to understand, acquire, and use verbal and nonverbal means
of communication thoughts and feelings.
V. My goal for young infants is to respond to the infants’ cooing sounds.
VI. Activity: I sing to the children and imitate their sounds. I talk to them as I
change them and tell them what we are doing.
My goal for mobile infants is to encourage word development and short
phases.
Activity: I use words in all activities to help them learn the names of objects and
to form sentences.
My goal for toddlers is to use picture books to help them learn how the
characters in the story communicate with each other.
Activity: I provide picture books with items that the children can find in the
picture. An example is a truck, ball, or doll. One child can find the item and
another child will attempt to name it. The younger toddlers will need my help at
times to pronounce the items correctly. We also explore similarities and
differences.
VII. My goal for preschool children is to learn not to talk while someone is
reading or speaking.
Activity: While reading a story, I encourage children to say what the name of an
object is but we take turns and give everyone a chance to speak. Sometimes,
we raise hands and I call their names so they will know it is their turn to speak.
7. Functional Area: Creative
Candidate provides opportunities that stimulate children to play with sound,
rhythm, language, materials, space, and ideas in individual ways and to express
their creative abilities.
VIII. My goal for young infants is to share the happiness.
IX. Activity:
I smile, hug, clap their hands, sing with the cooing infants and
play to a variety of music.
X. My goal for mobile infants is to let them explore the texture of many kinds
of fabrics such as felt, velvet, cotton, wool and polyester.
XI. Activity:
I read nursery rhymes to them and wish to use books with
different textures of fabric on the pages for them to explore.
XII. .
XIII. My goal for toddlers is to provide a variety of dress up clothes for them to
use for play and pretend.
Activity: I have items for the children to play doctor and patient. We can
change a theme and be astronauts.
XIV.
My goal for preschool children is to provide toy musical instruments to
stimulate their musical talent. My daughter plays the piano when she comes
home from school in the afternoons. The children can make music also with
their toy instruments. They learn from her playing that music can be beautiful
and wonderful. They also learn first hand that an individual can create music not
only a television or a radio.
8. Functional Area: Self
Candidate provides physical and emotional security for each child and helps
each child to know, accept, and take pride in him or herself and to develop a
sense of independence.
XV. My goal for young infants is to provide basic physical care.
XVI. Activity: I diaper, dress, bathe and feed in a loving and gentle way.
I am sensitive to the individual baby’s needs.
XVII.
XVIII. My goal for a mobile infant is to always make the child feel
welcome when the child comes up to the caregiver for nurturing.
XIX. Activity: I use a loving and comforting voice. I hug the child or
stroke the child in loving and sensitive ways.
XX. .
XXI. My goal for a toddler is to allow the child to do things
independently.
XXII. Activity: I provide opportunities for the child to help him/herself
such as if their shoe comes off give him/her the opportunity to try to put it
back on.
XXIII. My goal for preschool children is to sincerely give them praise
when they have done something good.
Activities: I interact with the children very often through out the day. I
am careful to make sure that each child has a fare time of my individual
attention.
9. Functional Area: Social
Candidate helps each child feel accepted in the group, helps children learn to
communicate and get along with others, and encourages feelings of empathy and
mutual respect among children and adults
XXIV. My goal for young infants is to make eye contact with them often and to
take advantage of opportunities for social play.
Activity: During feeding, diapering, and social time I talk and sing to the infants
and give eye contact.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII. My goal for mobile infants is to let infants have the chance to see how
older children interact with other children and the caregiver.
XXVIII. Activity: I provide duplicate toys, which will cause less competition and
encourage sharing amongst the children.
XXIX. My goal for toddlers is to encourage the children to show compassion.
XXX. Activity: I help the children to learn to cooperate and to share by roleplaying. I can read a story about helping each other or other characteristics I
want to work on with the children. I can continue to work on skills throughout the
day.
XXXI. My goal for preschool children is to allow the children to feel their
decisions in their play are important.
XXXII. Activity: I help all the children feel valued as a member of the group and
to involve them in helping younger children. The children in my care are taught
to respect order to a certain extent. They learn to pick up blocks and toys in
order to do the next exciting thing they are looking forward to such as to go
outside or to watch Barney on the television.
Competency Goal III
To support social and emotional development and provide positive guidance
10. Functional Area: Guidance
Candidate provides a supportive environment in which children can begin to
learn and practice appropriate and acceptable behaviors as individuals and as a
group.
My goal for young infants is to help the children learn to trust others.
Activity: I give lots of love, warmth and responsive care to them. I talk to them
and sing songs about what we are doing.
My goal for mobile infants is to redirect the children from harm to themselves
or others.
Activity: I gently explain the limits by reviewing rules that include keeping our
hands to ourselves.
My goal for toddlers is to allow them time to find solutions for their problems.
Activity: Many times the children have the ability to solve problems and make
choices, instead of me solving their problems for them. This can be fun for the
children and does not have to give frustration to them or me.
My goal for preschool children is to involve them in setting the rules.
Activity: My childcare program uses a positive approach with the children. This
approach starts with the caregiver’s confidence that they will learn to obey and
help set the rules. I have consequences for wrong behavior. I do not become
discouraged or angry with the children when they sometimes have a hard time
following the rules because I realize that each child is at a different level in
his/her physical and cognitive development. My job is to help them to go forward
and progress from where they are at now.
Competency Goal IV
To establish positive and productive relationships with families
11. Functional Area: Families
Candidate maintains an open, friendly, and cooperative relationship with each
child's family, encourages their involvement in the program, and supports the
child's relationship with his or her family.
My goal for young infants is to exchange information often with their parents.
Activity: I talk with the parents about the baby’s home life including napping,
eating, routines, change in care and what the child likes best.
My goal for a mobile infant is to recognize that at this age the child may go
through stress of separation from parents.
Activity: I will do my best to try to comfort the child without minimizing the
feelings he/she is having.
My goal for toddlers is to discuss with the parents the toddlers’ emotional
growth stages they are going through.
Activity: I discuss the stages of growth with the parents and different ways we
want to work with the child. I do stories about similar behavior to help the child
realize growth can be interesting for everyone.
My goal for preschool children is to share ideas with parents on how the
children can help with household chores and routines.
Activity: In my childcare many times parents will come early in the morning and
stay and talk with me concerning their child or they sometimes will stay after they
come to pick up the child and discuss many different aspects of their child’s
experiences here. Sometimes they will talk about what they have recognized as
new abilities their child has achieved. I tell them about new skills they have
learned while in my care that would allow the child to help with some of the
chores at homes. I feel we are raising this child together and I do feel
cooperation with parents.
Competency Goal V
To ensure a well-run, purposeful program responsive to participant needs
12. Functional Area: Program Management
Candidate is a manager who uses all available resources to ensure an effective
program operation. The Candidate is a competent organizer, planner, record
keeper, communicator, and a cooperative co-worker.
My goal for the children in my center is to maintain up-to-date and correct
information on each one.
Activities: When a child enrolls in my program there is a lot of information that the
parents give me at this time such as: full name, address, birth date, telephone number,
mother’s and father’s place of work and phone numbers, people to contact in case of
an emergency and phone numbers, and the name and phone numbers of those I can
release the child to. I have insurance on each child and I have documents on it. I have
specific items written down about the child such as: if the child has had accidents or
operations, if the child has allergies, if the child’s activities should be restricted in any
way, if the child has reoccurring health problems and what doctor to contact and phone
number in case of an emergency. I also keep a daily record of what the child has eaten
here in my program. There is a standard level of food nutrition that must be met and
these records help to verify that the child is getting what he/she needs.
I have a notebook that I keep all the money transaction in. This includes going
out, coming in, the date of the transaction, and the person involved in the transaction.
My husband records this on the computer as well. He does my tax forms each year.
Plus we pay taxes every quarter of the year.
I have a written schedule of what is planned for the children to do from when
they arrive to when they leave each day.
Competency Goal VI
To maintain a commitment to professionalism
13. Functional Area: Professionalism
Candidate makes decisions based on knowledge of early childhood theories and
practices, promotes quality in childcare services, and takes advantages of
opportunities to improve competence, both for the benefit of children and
families.
My goals to promote professionalism are to continue my education and to use the
ITERS to evaluate my program. This gives me several small goals to work on to make
my center a better place for children.
Activities: I have enough hours at the present to get the CDA credential. I have
enjoyed this training. I just finished a class in Early Childhood Development at the
college level and I received an A in the class. The course covered:
1.
How childcare is usually set up in the real world.
2.
Understanding how childcare centers work.
3.
Goals, characteristics and assumptions in a quality program.
4.
Understanding infants and toddlers.
5.
Grouping infants and toddlers.
6.
Structuring time and space for quality care.
7.
Good care for infants and toddlers.
8.
Prime times in caring routines.
9.
Guiding the behavior of infants and toddlers.
10.
Safe and healthy environments for infants and toddlers.
11.
The learning environment.
12.
Infant and Toddlers outdoors.
13.
Interactions with infants and toddlers – the caregiver as teacher.
14.
Partnership with parents.
15.
Good places for staff.
16.
Staying good – evaluation and quality control.