Sharing Web Resources

As I explored other links on the Pre-K Now: A Campaign of the Pew Center on the States website I discovered information under issues. I chose the link on families.

 The link on families addresses how The Obama administration is trying to expand a voluntary home visiting program. This program will match parents with professionals who are trained to provide information and support to them while they are pregnant and throughout the child’s first three years of life.

Children have to be healthy to learn and enjoy everyday activities. Dental care is the highest unmet need among children. Pre-K Now has a dental care program that helps low-income families have access to high-quality dental care. This program has expanded the number of professionals providing this care.

There wasn’t any information that added to my understanding of equity and excellence in early child care education.

An insight I’ve gained is about the home visiting program. When the Pre-K Now center did research on the program, they found that when this program is done when the child is an infant or toddler there is better child development in pre-k. There were also better child outcomes when the child was in fifth grade, and there were more inspiring and nurturing home environments in pre-k and fifth grade. This is good to know. Family involvement is healthy for the well-being of the child. When a child starts school they should be prepared to learn.

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I explored the Global Children’s Initiative website, http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative,  and three insights I gained were their work on children’s mental health, early childhood development, and children in crisis and conflict situations.

Mental health issues in children has been an under addressed issue with major implications for the bigger health and development of children and societies. To help with this issue they are developing an intensive agenda in education, research, and public engagement to address major gaps in knowledge and delivery of service. They are assessing mental health services for children in China, to prevent mental health issues in children affected by HIV/Aids in Rwanda, they are developing and evaluating family-based approaches, and in Barbados, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, they are addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes.

Their work on early childhood development in other countries is, in diverse global environments they assess the quality in early childhood settings and programs, conduct assessments in Zambia to measure child development results related to malaria, and expanding effective interventions to improve preschool quality in Chile.

To address children in crisis and conflict they are working with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. Together they are using a science-based developmental view point into the assessment and management of the well-being of the children during man-made and natural crisis. Their focus is on immediate situations and long-term change.

As far as equity and excellence, they have a program called Education and Leadership Development (ELD). This program is to educate future leaders about health, behavior, and life-long impacts of the early years of life, support advanced and multidisciplinary research that will build the knowledge base for application of policy and practice, and provide professional development opportunities.

What a good program to ready our future leaders to help children and families have better lives.

Sharing Web Resources

The website I've been studying Save The Children, has some relevant information about education. They train teachers to involve their students through more active teaching practices. They teach the parents and caregivers how to assist their child's learning early before school starts. This organization also has a program that offers parents and community volunteers ways they can get children to read and do math when not in school.

I looked at the issue on hunger  and livelihood in a new way. Save the Children does not only try to prevent hunger, they also teach parents how important it is to provide their children with the correct variety of foods to stop malnutrition. They train smaller farms how to prevent losing crops or livestock because of floods, drought, or disease. I think this is important because we all, especially the children, need this food for survival. They teach family farmers how to grow foods that are nutritional and how to raise animals to produce eggs, meat or milk.

There  is a section on the website that addresses two senators who says that five areas are not being met when it comes to children's policy and the programs. These areas are early childhood education, economic security, K-12 education, health and safety, and permanence and stability. It goes on to say vote for these candidates who will support investments in children. This tells me again it all goes back to money and wanting the votes. They only want to be elected and the children will be forgotten about.


I admire the fact that they have programs to teach children who been abandoned or institutionalized by their parents because of a disability. The program is called Ensuring Children Have Quality Care. This program helps children get into and stay into school. They also ensure children who cannot attend regular classes will continue to learn through quality non-formal education programs. This is just one of the programs under Ensuring Children Have Quality Care. This is something great they are doing to include everyone. Every child deserves an education and one of quality.

Getting To Know Your International Contacts-Part 1

I read the information about childhood poverty and what is being done about it on the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s (CHIP) website page. Insights I’ve gained were surprising to me. It was very surprising to learn that worldwide there are 600 million children living in poverty. This comes to 1 in 4 children living in poverty. In other countries the rate is higher. That is too many children living in poverty. When children experience poverty even for a short period, it can affect the rest of their lives. When children are malnutrition it can lead to poor health and lifelong learning difficulties. Poor children can lead to poor parents once they are grown.

CHIP is working to deeply understand the main causes of poverty so they can eliminate it. They are examining social and economic factors on the international, national, and local levels. They also communicate their findings to policy makers, advocates, and practitioners. Organizations they work with are Save the Children and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC).

I haven’t been able to establish communication with anyone so I read about case study in India. A seventeen year old boy, who comes from a family of ten, had to drop out of school to work and his family could no longer afford his education. His father was sick and unable to work to care for the family. Two of his other brothers had to drop out of school to work also. He worked for two years and then he changed jobs. His father got a loan and started a carpet weaving business. The teenager wanted to finish school and get a better job, but family circumstances prevented it. His parents feel as though the carpet weaving business helped them to arise from poverty. Only one of their children was able to stay in school and receive an education.

I feel for this young man having to drop out of school when he was close to finishing. He did what he had to do to ensure the family comes out of poverty, I admire him for that. It makes you appreciate the fact that you didn’t have to endure this as a child or teenager.

Sharing Web Resources

I chose two organizations, one in the United States and one outside the United States. The one I chose in the United States is Pre-K Now: A Campaign of the Pew Center on the States. Pew is a global research and public policy nonprofit organization. They bring policy makers and experts together to   develop solutions that are driven by facts, and they conduct reporting and in-depth research across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They use evidence to determine which policies work and which policies do not work. The link to this organization is

http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067

 

The other organization I chose is Save the Children. They are an independent organization who go out in the communities to help children and families in need. When disaster strikes they go out and help with food, medical care, and education and they help communities rebuild through their long- term recovery programs. They also try to resolve ongoing struggles our children face each day like, hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy. This organization works in the United States and around the world. The link to this organization is http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6146405/k.C7E9/About_Us.htm

What caught my eye from the organization Save the Children was what they do for children who are hungry. I think it's admiral to help any child regardless of the situation. The fact that I work with children and nutrition was another reason it caught my eye. No child should be hungry with all the resources available. At the school where I'm employed we do all we can to ensure each child eats. We don't know if our meals are the only meals that they may receive for the day.

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

During the week I tried contacting several professional contacts for this assignment. I have had no luck in establishing contacts. Can someone give me a suggestion on what I can do? I chose alternative 2. I listened to some podcasts  and I have subscribed to some. I've tried to contact some early childhood professionals from the podcasts, so far no luck.

I chose two early childhood organizations for my resources, one from outside the United States, Save the Children, and two in the United States, Pre-K Now: A Campaign of the Pew Center on the States and National Head Start Association. I've subscribed to their newsletters, so far I've only heard back from one. I'm looking forward to learning more about these organizations.

My Supports

I have many supporters in my life. My daughter, parents, brother, and close friend have all been big supporters to me. My daugher helps me out around the house and she sometimes run errands for me. My parents still give me advice about issues when I need it, plus more. My mother is also the person who listens to me when I need to vent. My brother and father helps me with my car when it needs minor work. My close friend does yard work and is there for me through good and bad times. All of these people do so much more, and without them I don't know how I would make it.

My car is a big support, without it I couldn't get to work, run errands, or go anywhere for pleasure. My computer and cell phone are also big supports. Without them I could not do homework or communicate with others. I also need my phone in case of an emergency when I'm on the road.

If I was paralyzed I couldn't drive, work, or attend school. If my supporters were not around anymore, it would be difficult to function on a daily basis. I wouldn't want to feel like a burden to any of them, but I know they would help me. Paralysis limits many things a person could do. I would not  be able to bath, dress myself, play with my granddaughter, or enjoy everyday life. I can't imagine not being able to do the things I do now.