After exploring the three websites I decided to use Early
Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This
website caught my attention specifically, because of the program in Uganda. It
is called Strengthening the Capacity of Grandparents in Providing Care to
Children Less than 8 Years Old Affected by HIV/AIDS. This program assists
grandparents who are left to care for their grandchildren because their parents
died from HIV/AIDS ( Early Childhood Development Virtual University
(ECDVU), 2005). The grandparents may be
in poor health themselves and are unable to financially or physically care for
their grandchildren. The program assisted grandparents in trainings on how to
care for young children and assisted them with food (ECDVU, 2005). Early care
is essential to a child’s cognitive, emotional, and physical development.
Another program this organization has that caught my eye is in Ghana. The
program is called Parents’ and Other Caregivers’ Perception of Early Childhood
Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programs in
Bawjiase, Ghana. This program addressed the creativity and understanding of
children’s needs and quality of Early Childhood development from the parent’s
perspective (ECDVU, 2005). They compared
the perspective of the parents with the perspectives of caregivers and Early
Childhood development program managers. The parent’s perception did not differ
much and it showed parents were knowledgeable about their child need to develop
(ECDVU, 2005).
A new idea I thought would be useful is training
grandparents on how to better assist their grandchildren who they care for.
There is always focus on parents, but there are many grandparents caring for
children who are not ill or whose parents have not died. Caring for young
children can be challenging, especially for the elderly who hasn’t raised
children in some years. This program can benefit many grandparents.
Other information I found interesting were studies
that addressed parent involvement in their child’s development. Parents are the
first teachers, so these studies addressed ways to implement parents into their
child’s development. It is important for parents to begin teaching their
children at home, understand what their child learned at school and to reinforce
what their child has learned.
Reference
Early Childhood Development Virtual University
(ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). (2005).
Final Major Projects
and Theses. Retrieved from
http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php
Erika,
ReplyDeleteGrandparents played such a huge role when I was in my early childhood years. It is so good to know about the work grandparents do in the lives of their grandchildren. I think it is wonderful and I am sure they feel empowered.
The family is so critical when we think of children care and education.
Vanessa
Hi Brenda and Vanessa!
ReplyDeleteI agree! Grandparents are very important and do play a huge role in the lives of children. Many grandparents care for their grand children and I think its a good idea for grandparents to also receive some training on how to better assist their grandchildren. Especially for the grandparents who are much older and haven't raised children in many years.
Erika
These sound like great and empowering programs. If you want to reach the child- you must reach their family as well. More and more grandparents are raising children in this day and age, apparently not only in the U.S. The circumstances may be different but the grandparents need the help too. It is nice that the concentration is on the healthy development of children and the healthy relationship that is being created between children and their caregivers.
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