If I had to describe factors that are supportive to me within my daily environment, I would have to start with my family. This may sound funny but my five year old Abigail in many ways helps us to start the day. She is the first one up and she gets her twelve year old sister up and motivated even before her alarm goes off and she is right there to make sure she gets going every morning. I can't say that Ashley is all too excited about this but to me Abigail plays a vital role in helping the house to get up and go. Allyson and Tyler get up a little later and they are both always so quick to give you a hug and make you smile. It is the best way anyone could start their day. My husband is actually running the childcare with me now and I depend on him a lot to greet really early parents while I am getting our kids ready and running up to the bus stop twice a day before eight am. As well as my family I also have wonderful neighbors whom I see on a daily basis and are just wonderful to my whole family. They are always there for every birthday, school event, dance competition, cheering competition, family cookout, and also to talk whenever we need them. There is many times when my children were sick and I needed to get them medicine or a gallon of milk and my husband was almost an hour away at work and they would run to the store or come sit with the children while I ran out. I don't know what I would do without them. And then there is my parents who are always there when I need them and without them I would never have had the confidence to leave my career as a chemist and open a childcare.
There are many other supports that get me through the day that are not for emotional support but practical, such as my coffee maker. With four children and working twelve hour days and school, that cup of coffee is very much needed! My planner, computer, calculator, and log book are all items I use ever day not just for my house bills, to run a business but to attend school as well. Other supports would include my vehicle to transport the children back and forth, the bus drivers that transport my children back and forth to school, their teachers, dance teachers, cheering coach, other cheer moms, and of course my childcare moms who without their families and income I would not be able to run a business where I can be with my own family as much as I am.
Now that we run a business together, I could not imagine doing it again without the help of my husband and the emotional support of my family. Nor could I imagine not having my neighbors, my parents. My challenge would be for the both of us to finish the programs we are in and extend our business to include a summer Sea Lab program. Having a business that already exists and the many families we care for, we would need to keep their business and as many of them have refer us to other families who need childcare and in the years to come also remain with us through the expansion if we are lucky. We would help from the many friends and family who helped us to build our home in 2005 and we would need to be able to plan financially by setting money aside if possible and sticking to our budget with the use of the spreadsheet that was creating in evaluating the profit and loss of the business.We would need direction from our licensor along with required professional development. And an engineer to design the plans for the addition. But mainly without the need for childcare, none of this will even be a possibility.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Final Blog Assignment
After reading about the international early childhood field, it has made me very aware of all of the natural resources that we have available in the United States that I think we take for granted. After reading about malaria nets used to prevent the spread of disease after the Tsunamini and the building of new schools and vaccinating so many children who were not vacinated before the Tsunami in Sri all in contribution from UNICEF, it made me realize that things are so easy for us. Our children are given their first immunizations after they are born in clean hospitals with exceptional equipment and physicans and access to anitbiotics if needed through multiple hospitals and doctor's offices but yet with all of the resources we have, we put chemically processed foods into our bodies even that we have access to clean water and fresh fruit and vegetables. The first consequence of learning about other countries is that I am more aware of what my own family eats and have been removing all of the foods containing anything chemically processsed from our household and will make our large garden part of our curriculum so other children may receive joy from growing their own fresh foods, which we will be sharing with the families. We have all the resources, yet we are not always smart in the decisions we make. The second consequence comes from reading about the game of " sit-ball", that was invented in Rwanda to make a handicapped child able to participate in sports without being viewed as different and letting other children experience how life is different when you have a disability. This has given me more of an incentive to do exercises like this one with my own childcare children and to learn as much about learning disabilites as I can to try and understand how a child feels who has one so I may better help them. And the third consequence is that I am currently working on finding a way to make our state aware of the aspects that our current assessments do not include like dual language learners, imagination, creativity and our children's ability to play together. I am starting with our immediate school district and hoping to receive some feedback with teachers in the area. In the spirit of collegial relations, I am making more of an effort to teach children in care about the children in other countries and helping them to embrace their cultures and diversities to help them to find out more about their own cultural backgrounds so they may better understand what children in the countries they are from experience everyday.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3
I still have not received response from my international contacts so for this week I studied the " Early Childhood Care and Education" webpage on the UNESCO website and studied three papers that I felt were good resources issues that we are we are currently facing in the United States in regards to dual language learning, universal standards and curriculum, and finding funding resources to improve early childhood programs.
The first article of interest was "Papua New Guinea's Vernacular Language Preschool Programme."(UNESCO.org) Papua New Guinea is an island nation in the South Pacific north of Australia and east of Indonesia and is the of the developing countries that has a bilingual education policy, which was launched in 1995 when the vernacular language movement began and required that the formal education system included vernacular language education in the initial years of a child's education with a gradual transition in the use of English as one of the languages of instruction. (UNESCO.org) Papua New Guinea is the world's most linguistically diverse nation with 823 living languages spoken by 5.2 million with only 50,000 of the people speaking English as their first language and unless individuals reside close to towns, they have very little exposure to the English language. (UNESCO.org) In 1979, Bougainville Island expressed concern that the English only school systems were alienating their children from their own language and culture because if children did not pass secondary school entrance exams had to return to villages but were unable to integrate into village life so the Islanders proposed giving two years of preschool education in their own language before primary schooling, this scheme became known as Tok Pies Pri Skul (TPPS) or "vernacular language preschools." (UNESCO.org) During the 1980's three other communities followed the initiative and the Vernacular language preschools spread throughout the country and with involvement from the provincial government, the movement later became part of the government's Education Reform policy and remained in the realm of non-formal education from 1979-1995 and had no standard curriculum requirements, less qualified teachers who were mostly volunteers . (UNESCO.org)
Another article I found of interest was " Mandatory Funding for Early Childhood Education: A Proposal in Brazil." (UNESCO.org) Brazil has a mandatory education fund for primary education called FUNDEF (Fund for the Development of Primary Education and Teacher Development) and requires that 60% of the local governments education budgets to be spent on primary education, which helped increase enrollment in primary education from 92.7% in 1994 to 96.4% in 2000 and brought the country closer to the ideal of universal primary education and benefited children from marginalised populations. (UNESCO.org) Policy-makers were encouraged by the success of the FUNDEF program and are now drafting a Congressional Bill to establish a mandatory funding scheme for early education, 0-6 year olds, with hopes of similiar results and will expand early education in the country. (UNESCO.org) This effort takes on great challenge due to the current funding system for early education. With a three-tiered government system consisting of federal government, states, and municipalities, FUNDEF usually excedes it's 60% budget and the allocated 40% left over for early education is often diminished to very little due to municiple spending. At the level of local governments, which are directly responsible for allocation and execution of budgets for basic education including early childhood education and is currently putting the issue up to debate on whether to seperate a mandatory fund for early childhood. Recently , the President made a firm committment to fighting literacy and pledged that major investments would be coming in the area of early education but programme options have not been fully explored. But hopefully if the conviction of concerned policy-makers resonates with the public, then perhaps a bill will be passed for funding for Early Education, despite the odds against it. (UNESCO.org)
The third article of interest, titled " Curriculum in Early Childhood Education and Care," discusses the ongoing dilemna facing curriculum designers. (UNESCO.org) On one hand, there is the need to guide personnel in early childhood centers especially if they have limited training and education but must also be broad and contribute to a child's overall development and prepare them for later success in school and because of the learning patterns of young children, social-emotional and cognitive process at their own place through play and active methods so a detailed cognitive curriculum may not be the best approach so the aim is to encourage a shared sense of purpose between parents and early childhood centers to promote social and cultural values important for society ensuring a certain unity of standards. (UNESCO.org) In a study of children in the Reggio Emilia schools who utilized a negotiated curriculum which encourages identify formation, positive attitudes, communication and negotiation results in children. (UNESCO.org) The results from this study are that the learning achievements were high when conducted by well trained professionals. To conduct an open framework approach like this one staff must be well trained and well supported and requires advance knowledge of child psychology and strong pedagogical training, research in several countries highlights the link between achievement rates in programmes and these requirements but these conditions and requirements are often hard to come by in developing countries. (UNESCO.org)
References:
Wroge, D. (2002). Papua New Guinea's Vernacular Language Preschool Programme Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137383e.pdf
Choi, S. (2003). Mandatory Funding for Early Childhood Education: A Proposal in Brazil Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137406e.pdf
Bennett, J. (2004). Curriculum in Early Childhood Education and Care Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/00137401e.pdf
The first article of interest was "Papua New Guinea's Vernacular Language Preschool Programme."(UNESCO.org) Papua New Guinea is an island nation in the South Pacific north of Australia and east of Indonesia and is the of the developing countries that has a bilingual education policy, which was launched in 1995 when the vernacular language movement began and required that the formal education system included vernacular language education in the initial years of a child's education with a gradual transition in the use of English as one of the languages of instruction. (UNESCO.org) Papua New Guinea is the world's most linguistically diverse nation with 823 living languages spoken by 5.2 million with only 50,000 of the people speaking English as their first language and unless individuals reside close to towns, they have very little exposure to the English language. (UNESCO.org) In 1979, Bougainville Island expressed concern that the English only school systems were alienating their children from their own language and culture because if children did not pass secondary school entrance exams had to return to villages but were unable to integrate into village life so the Islanders proposed giving two years of preschool education in their own language before primary schooling, this scheme became known as Tok Pies Pri Skul (TPPS) or "vernacular language preschools." (UNESCO.org) During the 1980's three other communities followed the initiative and the Vernacular language preschools spread throughout the country and with involvement from the provincial government, the movement later became part of the government's Education Reform policy and remained in the realm of non-formal education from 1979-1995 and had no standard curriculum requirements, less qualified teachers who were mostly volunteers . (UNESCO.org)
Another article I found of interest was " Mandatory Funding for Early Childhood Education: A Proposal in Brazil." (UNESCO.org) Brazil has a mandatory education fund for primary education called FUNDEF (Fund for the Development of Primary Education and Teacher Development) and requires that 60% of the local governments education budgets to be spent on primary education, which helped increase enrollment in primary education from 92.7% in 1994 to 96.4% in 2000 and brought the country closer to the ideal of universal primary education and benefited children from marginalised populations. (UNESCO.org) Policy-makers were encouraged by the success of the FUNDEF program and are now drafting a Congressional Bill to establish a mandatory funding scheme for early education, 0-6 year olds, with hopes of similiar results and will expand early education in the country. (UNESCO.org) This effort takes on great challenge due to the current funding system for early education. With a three-tiered government system consisting of federal government, states, and municipalities, FUNDEF usually excedes it's 60% budget and the allocated 40% left over for early education is often diminished to very little due to municiple spending. At the level of local governments, which are directly responsible for allocation and execution of budgets for basic education including early childhood education and is currently putting the issue up to debate on whether to seperate a mandatory fund for early childhood. Recently , the President made a firm committment to fighting literacy and pledged that major investments would be coming in the area of early education but programme options have not been fully explored. But hopefully if the conviction of concerned policy-makers resonates with the public, then perhaps a bill will be passed for funding for Early Education, despite the odds against it. (UNESCO.org)
The third article of interest, titled " Curriculum in Early Childhood Education and Care," discusses the ongoing dilemna facing curriculum designers. (UNESCO.org) On one hand, there is the need to guide personnel in early childhood centers especially if they have limited training and education but must also be broad and contribute to a child's overall development and prepare them for later success in school and because of the learning patterns of young children, social-emotional and cognitive process at their own place through play and active methods so a detailed cognitive curriculum may not be the best approach so the aim is to encourage a shared sense of purpose between parents and early childhood centers to promote social and cultural values important for society ensuring a certain unity of standards. (UNESCO.org) In a study of children in the Reggio Emilia schools who utilized a negotiated curriculum which encourages identify formation, positive attitudes, communication and negotiation results in children. (UNESCO.org) The results from this study are that the learning achievements were high when conducted by well trained professionals. To conduct an open framework approach like this one staff must be well trained and well supported and requires advance knowledge of child psychology and strong pedagogical training, research in several countries highlights the link between achievement rates in programmes and these requirements but these conditions and requirements are often hard to come by in developing countries. (UNESCO.org)
References:
Wroge, D. (2002). Papua New Guinea's Vernacular Language Preschool Programme Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137383e.pdf
Choi, S. (2003). Mandatory Funding for Early Childhood Education: A Proposal in Brazil Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137406e.pdf
Bennett, J. (2004). Curriculum in Early Childhood Education and Care Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/00137401e.pdf
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Sharing Web Resources
This week upon studying the Children's Defense Fund website, I followed a link to an article in the UNICEF website titled " On the twentieth International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a call to remove barriers that prevent equal participation in society."(unicef.org) On December 12, 2012, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, individuals get together to call attention to the importance of promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and asking for support to build a more inclusive society that removes barriers to create equity for all. Individuals with disabilities remain the largest overlooked minority in the world encompassing 15 percent of the world's population including 93 million children aged 0-14 who face discrimination as a result of their disability in every aspect of their lives. (unicef.org) These barriers exist in many different forms such as negative attitudes, policies and legislation that discriminate and are not inclusive,and physical environments that are not accessible. (unicef.org) Many of the barriers that exist block many different resources available such as: acceptance into school or on the playground, access to health services, and basic nutrition or inclusion in emergency response. (unicef.org) These resources as well as many others are made unavailable to these individuals on a daily basis and prevent them from participating equally in society. (unicef.org) Executive Director Anthony Blake says in his fight to create equitable circumstances and environments, " Imagine a world where all children are included..involved. Where talents are celebrated..where contributions are recognized..where they count. That is the world towards which UNICEF is working."(unicef.org) UNICEF is working around the world with governments, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities towards creating and inclusive and accessible society for children with disabilities, which will not only benefit children and adults with disabilities but the entire population. (unicef.org)
Further research on this topic lead me to another ongoing effort creating more in equity for children with disabilities titled, " Improving schools for children with disabilities in Rwanda." (unicef.org) The story published on January 17, 2012, describes life five years ago for children with disabilities in Murama, a child friendly school in Rwanda's southern Bugasera District, feeling isolated from their classmates, unable to participate in even a simple game of hide-and-seek or football. Today, thanks to a better understanding of needs of individual children, this has changed. (unicef.org) Today there is a game called sit-ball, which is a version of volleyball that has the players sit so everyone can understand and appreciate difficulties faced by individual that cannot run or walk. (unicef.org) A recent national consensus of individuals living with disabilities found that even with improvements in legislation people and especially children face discrimination and stigma and are often treated as outcasts. (unicef.org) Currently UNICEF is collaborating with the Ministry of Education and partners to change perceptions especially in schools by training teachers to be sensitive and better able to cater to the special needs of children with disabilities. (unicef.org) Schools continue to improve and the government is working to make all schools child friendly places where children learn in healthy, welcoming, inclusive, and empowering environments. Murama is one of the few schools to have a special needs coordinator to care for the students with hearing or speaking difficulties and has also waived lunch and supply expenses for children with disabilities. (unicef.org)
On June 20, 2012 an article was released, " Children in South sudan urge greater protections for children with disabilities" which marked the Day of the African Child, which was June 16, commemorating the theme " The Rights of Children with Disabilities" and calls for more support for children learning with disabilities. (unicef.org) The need for child protection is growing more apparent in South Sudan, where child abductions, violence, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy continue to take toll on communities, while children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect (unicef.org) Mary Charles, a visually impaired girl has experienced the discrimination first hand, she explains, "Sometimes they would take me to school and leave me there for a long time, sometimes they would not take me for a month, my message to my parents is that even a blind child has rights, they should put me in school so I can learn like the other children." (unicef.org) Nathan Wojia Pitia, the Director for Social Welfare the Ministry for Gender, emphasized the role of government and partners in increasing opportunities for children with disabilities and ensure every child's needs are supported and cared for. (unicef.org) The Handicap International ,UNICEF, Right to Play, and the organization for Vulnerable Children arranged an event with 15 children on a radio program in which the children said they often help their peers with disabilities, assisting them at crossroads, accessing public transport, and using the toilets at school, the radio platform allowed their message to be shared.
My understanding from their readings is that barriers exist in many forms in all parts of the world not just here in the United States and each individual area has their own contribution as a way of creating equity amongst children of disabilities whether it be through adjusting activities amongst students, more professional development for educators, or responding in other ways such as public forums, radio announcements and meetings with legislation. The message is there, the need for more inclusive, accepting environments for children experiencing disabilities as well as the need to address ending feelings of discrimination and accepting children for their talents, and strengths, not what others may see as weaknesses. This assignment gave me hope that things are changing not just here but in other countries and that one day the barriers that exist for individuals with disabilities will be a thing of the past and the future of education will, in time, bring hope and happiness to children and adults who once felt alone, isolated, and unappreciated.
References:
On the twentieth International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a call to remove the barriers that prevent equal participation in society Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/disabilities/index_66531.html
Improving schools for children with disabilities in Rwanda Retrieved from http://unicef.org/infobycountry/rwande_61318html
Children in South Sudan urge greater protections for children living with disabilities Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southsudan_6266.html
Further research on this topic lead me to another ongoing effort creating more in equity for children with disabilities titled, " Improving schools for children with disabilities in Rwanda." (unicef.org) The story published on January 17, 2012, describes life five years ago for children with disabilities in Murama, a child friendly school in Rwanda's southern Bugasera District, feeling isolated from their classmates, unable to participate in even a simple game of hide-and-seek or football. Today, thanks to a better understanding of needs of individual children, this has changed. (unicef.org) Today there is a game called sit-ball, which is a version of volleyball that has the players sit so everyone can understand and appreciate difficulties faced by individual that cannot run or walk. (unicef.org) A recent national consensus of individuals living with disabilities found that even with improvements in legislation people and especially children face discrimination and stigma and are often treated as outcasts. (unicef.org) Currently UNICEF is collaborating with the Ministry of Education and partners to change perceptions especially in schools by training teachers to be sensitive and better able to cater to the special needs of children with disabilities. (unicef.org) Schools continue to improve and the government is working to make all schools child friendly places where children learn in healthy, welcoming, inclusive, and empowering environments. Murama is one of the few schools to have a special needs coordinator to care for the students with hearing or speaking difficulties and has also waived lunch and supply expenses for children with disabilities. (unicef.org)
On June 20, 2012 an article was released, " Children in South sudan urge greater protections for children with disabilities" which marked the Day of the African Child, which was June 16, commemorating the theme " The Rights of Children with Disabilities" and calls for more support for children learning with disabilities. (unicef.org) The need for child protection is growing more apparent in South Sudan, where child abductions, violence, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy continue to take toll on communities, while children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect (unicef.org) Mary Charles, a visually impaired girl has experienced the discrimination first hand, she explains, "Sometimes they would take me to school and leave me there for a long time, sometimes they would not take me for a month, my message to my parents is that even a blind child has rights, they should put me in school so I can learn like the other children." (unicef.org) Nathan Wojia Pitia, the Director for Social Welfare the Ministry for Gender, emphasized the role of government and partners in increasing opportunities for children with disabilities and ensure every child's needs are supported and cared for. (unicef.org) The Handicap International ,UNICEF, Right to Play, and the organization for Vulnerable Children arranged an event with 15 children on a radio program in which the children said they often help their peers with disabilities, assisting them at crossroads, accessing public transport, and using the toilets at school, the radio platform allowed their message to be shared.
My understanding from their readings is that barriers exist in many forms in all parts of the world not just here in the United States and each individual area has their own contribution as a way of creating equity amongst children of disabilities whether it be through adjusting activities amongst students, more professional development for educators, or responding in other ways such as public forums, radio announcements and meetings with legislation. The message is there, the need for more inclusive, accepting environments for children experiencing disabilities as well as the need to address ending feelings of discrimination and accepting children for their talents, and strengths, not what others may see as weaknesses. This assignment gave me hope that things are changing not just here but in other countries and that one day the barriers that exist for individuals with disabilities will be a thing of the past and the future of education will, in time, bring hope and happiness to children and adults who once felt alone, isolated, and unappreciated.
References:
On the twentieth International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a call to remove the barriers that prevent equal participation in society Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/disabilities/index_66531.html
Improving schools for children with disabilities in Rwanda Retrieved from http://unicef.org/infobycountry/rwande_61318html
Children in South Sudan urge greater protections for children living with disabilities Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southsudan_6266.html
Friday, November 30, 2012
Getting to Know your International Contacts-Part 2
Unfortunately I still have not heard from my international contacts, so for this week I researched Harvard University's " Global Children's Initiative" website. The Global Children's Initiative focuses on three main objectives:
* To reframe public discourse about the early childhood period by educating high-level decision makers about the common underlying science of learning, behavior, and health(DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
* To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects in selected countries or regions to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
* To build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low and middle class countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
The Global Children's Initiative has begun to collect information and build a portfolio in three specific domains: early childhood development, mental health, and children in crisis situations. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
As part of the the Global Children's Initiative, the Center in Brazil is launching Nucleo Clencia Pela Infancia, which in collaboration with local efforts is aimed at using the science of children's health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and families in Brazil. Together these organizations will build a scientific agenda and community of scholars centered around early childhood development, synthesize and translate scientific knowledge for application to social policy, strengthen leadership around early childhood development, and adapt the Center's existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
In Zambia, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination council of Zambia, UNICEF, and the Developing child at Harvard University launched the Early Childhood Development project (ZECDP) in 2009, which is a collaborative effort to measure the effects of ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children's development in Zambia. In order to measure the full effectiveness of the program, the ZECDP created a comprehensive instrument for assessing children's physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout the school careers. After two rounds of collecting data, 1,686 children in 2004 were assessed between July and December 2010 with a follow up in 2011 of 1,250 children and another planned follow up for June-August 2012. The early stages of this project demonstrate that ongoing child assessments are possible within standard population based household surveys. The collaborators of this project hope that the outcome of the collected data will not only improve understanding of child development but also help to understand interventions towards improved outcomes in the rapidly changing world. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
In Chile, a collaborative project called " A Good Start" or Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), was created to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of education offered to four to six year olds particularly in language development. Other goals of the project were to intervene in critical health issues, improve school attendance, contribute to better social emotional development of children, and involve families in their children's education. This project received funding from the Center of the Developing Child and is an example of the integrated child development work designed by the Center's mission. The project began in 2007 with only four demonstration sites will eventually grow to reach 60 schools. The project will take part in collecting data from 60 sixty schools and be the first longitudial evaluation in early education in Latin America and will place Chile at the forefront of demonstrating the impact of high-quality early education. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
Reference:
Harvard University's "Global Children's Initiative" website. http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/
* To reframe public discourse about the early childhood period by educating high-level decision makers about the common underlying science of learning, behavior, and health(DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
* To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects in selected countries or regions to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
* To build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low and middle class countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
The Global Children's Initiative has begun to collect information and build a portfolio in three specific domains: early childhood development, mental health, and children in crisis situations. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
As part of the the Global Children's Initiative, the Center in Brazil is launching Nucleo Clencia Pela Infancia, which in collaboration with local efforts is aimed at using the science of children's health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and families in Brazil. Together these organizations will build a scientific agenda and community of scholars centered around early childhood development, synthesize and translate scientific knowledge for application to social policy, strengthen leadership around early childhood development, and adapt the Center's existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
In Zambia, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination council of Zambia, UNICEF, and the Developing child at Harvard University launched the Early Childhood Development project (ZECDP) in 2009, which is a collaborative effort to measure the effects of ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children's development in Zambia. In order to measure the full effectiveness of the program, the ZECDP created a comprehensive instrument for assessing children's physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout the school careers. After two rounds of collecting data, 1,686 children in 2004 were assessed between July and December 2010 with a follow up in 2011 of 1,250 children and another planned follow up for June-August 2012. The early stages of this project demonstrate that ongoing child assessments are possible within standard population based household surveys. The collaborators of this project hope that the outcome of the collected data will not only improve understanding of child development but also help to understand interventions towards improved outcomes in the rapidly changing world. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
In Chile, a collaborative project called " A Good Start" or Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), was created to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of education offered to four to six year olds particularly in language development. Other goals of the project were to intervene in critical health issues, improve school attendance, contribute to better social emotional development of children, and involve families in their children's education. This project received funding from the Center of the Developing Child and is an example of the integrated child development work designed by the Center's mission. The project began in 2007 with only four demonstration sites will eventually grow to reach 60 schools. The project will take part in collecting data from 60 sixty schools and be the first longitudial evaluation in early education in Latin America and will place Chile at the forefront of demonstrating the impact of high-quality early education. (DevelopingChild.Harvard.edu)
Reference:
Harvard University's "Global Children's Initiative" website. http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Sharing Web Resources
In reviewing the Children's Defense Fund website, the information that seemed relevant to my current professional development was the quality rating and improvement systems. This system was put into place in the state I live in recently in the last few years and was actually part of the driving force for me to enter into a masters degree program in early education. With this system in place, it allows for individuals and programs in early childcare to access their programs and identify areas of improvement and in some cases apply for improvement grants that allowed for continuing education for individuals interested in pursuing professional development or even a bachelor's degree program in early education. The quality improvement systems are composed of five common elements: standards, accountability measures, program and practitioner outreach and support, financial incentives, and parent and consumer education efforts. (CDF, 2012) The goals of the program focus not only on assessing quality but improving quality by providing financial incentives, professional development, and improved information to families. (CDF, 2012) The program gives families a consistent, straightforward way to distinguish quality in early education programs and make informed first educational programs experienced by their programs. (CDF, 2012)
This program was a real eye opener to me in the fact that in early education, my degrees in molecular biology and biochemistry were not going to be sufficient if I truly wanted to provide young children with the best early educational experience I could, but with it's guidance and lots of paperwork, slowly I am completing certain aspects of my professional development with my graduate school classes along with continual professional development through the network of early education that we belong to.
An issue that I struggle with as a parent and educator is kindergarten programs becoming a mandatory full day in many states. I know all of the benefits as an early educator; advances in cognitive learning, creative problem-solving and social competence. (CDF, 2012) And with the adoption of common core standards in 45 states, kindergarten students are being held to more rigorous academic standards. (CDF, 2012).
The part I struggle with is parents being forced to put them in full day programs at such a young age and having to give up nap time, at least where I live. It happened to us this year, we were registered for half day along with one of my childcare children and then the state was given a grant and the half day program went bye bye along with the bus. Both of the children have exceeded academically from my program and are doing first grade math and are both reading so that was not an issue but the school environment is not nuturing and has been emotionally stressful for both girls. I just don't feel that it should be a forced issue. Many stay at home parents are reading to their children and putting them in preschools and activities to help develop social skills and as long as the children are prepared academically, I personally just do not feel that children five years of age should be forced into full day programs. I have no issues with the standards and testing but it is my understanding that children could still attend half day programs and receive the academics they need and let parents have some say in the decision rather then having it forced upon us. I just feel like with how crazy this world can be, family time, which to me is of highest priority, is often neglected and unfortunately hard to come by and we should savor as much of it as we can when our children are young. They grow up so fast......
There are many examples of how policy makers have helped to support early education but the information I would like to share is about the early learning challenge fund. (CDF, 2012) In 2009, to try and bridge the inconsistencies between different childhood programs, the U.S. House of Representatives released a competitive grant program for the states using an innovation and evidence based practices to improve quality in early education settings. (CDF, 2012) With the creation of a coordinated system of standards to promote quality education, the hopes is that the most vulnerable children that often miss out on beneficial early learning experiences with have opportunity to enter into quality education programs without cost being an issue. (CDF, 2012) To read more about the program look at http://childrensdefense.org and under early education care, early learning challenge fund.
The new program that I have learned about is the CDF Freedom Schools Program. This program was created to provide summer and after school enrichment that helps children to fall in love with reading. (CDF, 2012) The program helps to increase children's self-esteem, and creates a positive attitude towards learning. (CDF, 2012) In this program, children are taught using a curriculum model that is centered around five central components: high quality academic enrichment, parent and family involvement, civic engagement and social action, intergenerational leadership development, nutrition, health and mental health. In the summer of 2012, the freedom schools partners served more than 11, 500 children in 83 cities and 25 states and is working hard to ensure that each child is equipped with necessary skills to grow and prosper in life. (CDF, 2012) Schools can apply to become part of this program by going to the Children's defense website, http://children's defense.org and under programs and campaigns CDF Freedom Schools program.
Reference:
Children's Defense Fund (2012) http://childrensdefense.org
This program was a real eye opener to me in the fact that in early education, my degrees in molecular biology and biochemistry were not going to be sufficient if I truly wanted to provide young children with the best early educational experience I could, but with it's guidance and lots of paperwork, slowly I am completing certain aspects of my professional development with my graduate school classes along with continual professional development through the network of early education that we belong to.
An issue that I struggle with as a parent and educator is kindergarten programs becoming a mandatory full day in many states. I know all of the benefits as an early educator; advances in cognitive learning, creative problem-solving and social competence. (CDF, 2012) And with the adoption of common core standards in 45 states, kindergarten students are being held to more rigorous academic standards. (CDF, 2012).
The part I struggle with is parents being forced to put them in full day programs at such a young age and having to give up nap time, at least where I live. It happened to us this year, we were registered for half day along with one of my childcare children and then the state was given a grant and the half day program went bye bye along with the bus. Both of the children have exceeded academically from my program and are doing first grade math and are both reading so that was not an issue but the school environment is not nuturing and has been emotionally stressful for both girls. I just don't feel that it should be a forced issue. Many stay at home parents are reading to their children and putting them in preschools and activities to help develop social skills and as long as the children are prepared academically, I personally just do not feel that children five years of age should be forced into full day programs. I have no issues with the standards and testing but it is my understanding that children could still attend half day programs and receive the academics they need and let parents have some say in the decision rather then having it forced upon us. I just feel like with how crazy this world can be, family time, which to me is of highest priority, is often neglected and unfortunately hard to come by and we should savor as much of it as we can when our children are young. They grow up so fast......
There are many examples of how policy makers have helped to support early education but the information I would like to share is about the early learning challenge fund. (CDF, 2012) In 2009, to try and bridge the inconsistencies between different childhood programs, the U.S. House of Representatives released a competitive grant program for the states using an innovation and evidence based practices to improve quality in early education settings. (CDF, 2012) With the creation of a coordinated system of standards to promote quality education, the hopes is that the most vulnerable children that often miss out on beneficial early learning experiences with have opportunity to enter into quality education programs without cost being an issue. (CDF, 2012) To read more about the program look at http://childrensdefense.org and under early education care, early learning challenge fund.
The new program that I have learned about is the CDF Freedom Schools Program. This program was created to provide summer and after school enrichment that helps children to fall in love with reading. (CDF, 2012) The program helps to increase children's self-esteem, and creates a positive attitude towards learning. (CDF, 2012) In this program, children are taught using a curriculum model that is centered around five central components: high quality academic enrichment, parent and family involvement, civic engagement and social action, intergenerational leadership development, nutrition, health and mental health. In the summer of 2012, the freedom schools partners served more than 11, 500 children in 83 cities and 25 states and is working hard to ensure that each child is equipped with necessary skills to grow and prosper in life. (CDF, 2012) Schools can apply to become part of this program by going to the Children's defense website, http://children's defense.org and under programs and campaigns CDF Freedom Schools program.
Reference:
Children's Defense Fund (2012) http://childrensdefense.org
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Childhood Poverty in China
I am sorry to say that I have not heard from the contacts that I have tried to make but I am still hopeful so I used the childhood poverty link to view childhood poverty in China.
At the current time, 4.2 Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.(childhood poverty.org) During the 1990's, the proportion of children living in paverty has declined. Education and health levels in China are higher than many other countries with a life expectancy at birth being 71 years. (childhood poverty.org) Recent studies have shown that new reforms in health and education are reducing poor families'access to vital health care services and it was discovered that in Beijing, China's richest city, poor families could not afford education costs , while 50 percent of poor families in Shanghai had no medical insurance and were unable to acquire coverage with it's high cost. (childhood poverty.org)
Due to structural changes in the economy, the social security system in China had to adapt to portect families from different forms of poverty. Only people without work, no savings, and no family members to depend on were elligible for any times of assistance (childhood poverty.org) In 1997, China developed the minimum living standards which were too small go meet the most standard needs for families basic needs such as food, clothing, health, and shelter. (childhood poverty.org)
Anti-poverty programs have been in place since the 1980's but mostly focusing on rural areas but shifts in government policy have given new hope for community antipoverty initiatives but only on smallest level of priority at the current time. (childhoodpoverty.org)
Reference:
Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Center. Retrieved from http:/www.childhoodpoverty.org/
At the current time, 4.2 Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.(childhood poverty.org) During the 1990's, the proportion of children living in paverty has declined. Education and health levels in China are higher than many other countries with a life expectancy at birth being 71 years. (childhood poverty.org) Recent studies have shown that new reforms in health and education are reducing poor families'access to vital health care services and it was discovered that in Beijing, China's richest city, poor families could not afford education costs , while 50 percent of poor families in Shanghai had no medical insurance and were unable to acquire coverage with it's high cost. (childhood poverty.org)
Due to structural changes in the economy, the social security system in China had to adapt to portect families from different forms of poverty. Only people without work, no savings, and no family members to depend on were elligible for any times of assistance (childhood poverty.org) In 1997, China developed the minimum living standards which were too small go meet the most standard needs for families basic needs such as food, clothing, health, and shelter. (childhood poverty.org)
Anti-poverty programs have been in place since the 1980's but mostly focusing on rural areas but shifts in government policy have given new hope for community antipoverty initiatives but only on smallest level of priority at the current time. (childhoodpoverty.org)
Reference:
Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Center. Retrieved from http:/www.childhoodpoverty.org/
Saturday, November 10, 2012
March 2011 Children's Defense Fund
In researching the Children's Defense Fund's website, I came across a newsletter from March 2011 that just instilled in me the fear of what young children can encounter given the wrong environment, the wrong influences, not enough supervision, or just the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The newsletter entitled, " How many children must die?" (CDF, 2011) was the result of a study released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the state of America's gun laws and addressed the issue of gun control and violence in young children and teens in America. The results were extremely saddening to me. In the years 2008 & 2009, 5,740 children and teens were killed by guns, one child or teen every three hours, eight every day, 55 every week for two years. (CDF, 2011) If these children were alive today, they would fill 229 public classrooms. (CDF, 2011) The article goes on to address more staggering statistics. More children and teenagers were killed by guns in those two years then the total number of U.S. personnel killed in Irag and Afghanistan and the number of preschoolers was double the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2008 and 2009. (CDF, 2011)
America is the world leader in gun violence and in a study of 23 industrialized nations, 87 percent of the children under age 15 killed by guns lived in the United State. (CDF, 2011) What sad statistics for the country that we call home? The article goes on to address that in 2008 & 2009, gun homicide was the leading cause of death amongst Black teenagers 15-19 years while for White teens 15-19 years of age, the leading cause of death was motor vehicle accidents followed by gun homicide and gun suicide. (CDF, 2011) And in 2009, these statistics showed that Black males were eight times as likely than White males to be killed in a gun homicide. (CDF, 2011)
It would interesting to look at where these studies originated and to see if in the more prominent areas of violent occurrences there is more or less diversity, lower income, and less opportunity for better education or the availability for a moral, healthy, happy start as in part of the mission statement for the Children's Defense Fund. (CDF, 2011) This article caught my attention for the reason that I felt it addressed unfortunate and preventative issues that affect our children as well as addressing differences in diversity of children researched. For more information on this newsletter or others from the Children's Defense Fund, the webiste address is:
http://childrensdefense.org/
Reference:
Children's Defense Fund (2011). How many Children Must Die? Retrieved from http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=27441.0&div_id=0
America is the world leader in gun violence and in a study of 23 industrialized nations, 87 percent of the children under age 15 killed by guns lived in the United State. (CDF, 2011) What sad statistics for the country that we call home? The article goes on to address that in 2008 & 2009, gun homicide was the leading cause of death amongst Black teenagers 15-19 years while for White teens 15-19 years of age, the leading cause of death was motor vehicle accidents followed by gun homicide and gun suicide. (CDF, 2011) And in 2009, these statistics showed that Black males were eight times as likely than White males to be killed in a gun homicide. (CDF, 2011)
It would interesting to look at where these studies originated and to see if in the more prominent areas of violent occurrences there is more or less diversity, lower income, and less opportunity for better education or the availability for a moral, healthy, happy start as in part of the mission statement for the Children's Defense Fund. (CDF, 2011) This article caught my attention for the reason that I felt it addressed unfortunate and preventative issues that affect our children as well as addressing differences in diversity of children researched. For more information on this newsletter or others from the Children's Defense Fund, the webiste address is:
http://childrensdefense.org/
Reference:
Children's Defense Fund (2011). How many Children Must Die? Retrieved from http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=27441.0&div_id=0
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Professional Contacts & Expanding Resources
I have attempted to make two professional connections this week by email from the UNICEF organization. The first is Dr. Lisa McClean-Trotman, she is the communication for development specialist at the UNICEF office for the Eastern Caribbean Area, which was found in the UNICEF.org website under Latin America and Caribbean. Their website is http://Unicef.org/barbados/ The other contact that I have attempted to make by email is Nikita White, she is the advocacy officer for Ireland, which was found under the industrialized countries of UNICEF. The website is http://www.unicef.ie/Leadership-Staff-25.aspx
The website that I have chosen to study is the Children's Defense Fund, the link is http://www.childrensdefense.org/index-1.html. I have read so many wonderful things about the organization including their mission statement , No child left behind and to give each child a healthy, head, safe and moral start. (Children's Defense Fund) I also have great admiration for their president, Marian Edelman Wright and all of the great work. Her most recent post is about scholarship receipient Maggie Hobbins and how she overcame diversity from a life of child of a alcoholic mother, lost her father, was homeless, and dyslexic to becoming an overachiever with AP courses and a 4.0. It was truly inspiring and I cannot wait to read more about the other wonderful things the organization is doing.
The website that I have chosen to study is the Children's Defense Fund, the link is http://www.childrensdefense.org/index-1.html. I have read so many wonderful things about the organization including their mission statement , No child left behind and to give each child a healthy, head, safe and moral start. (Children's Defense Fund) I also have great admiration for their president, Marian Edelman Wright and all of the great work. Her most recent post is about scholarship receipient Maggie Hobbins and how she overcame diversity from a life of child of a alcoholic mother, lost her father, was homeless, and dyslexic to becoming an overachiever with AP courses and a 4.0. It was truly inspiring and I cannot wait to read more about the other wonderful things the organization is doing.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
My Connections to Play
"The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things."~Plato (Greek Philosopher)
"Play is not only our creative drive; it's a fundamental mode of learning." ~ David Elkind (psychologist, author)
" The activities that are the easiest, cheapest, and most fun to do - such as singing, playing games, reading, storytelling, and just talking and listening - are also the best for child development." ~ Jerome Singer (professor, Yale University)
Reference: http://www.childsplaymagazine.com/Quotes/index.htm
My childhood was full of play time. My parents always took us boating during the summer and we spent the whole summer either in Cuttyhunk, Martha's Vinyard, or Oak Bluffs or down at the boat marina that my parents kept their boat at. The end of play time for us never seemed like it was controlled by an actual time on the clock but when the sun went down and we had to come back inside. My parents wanted us to have these wonderful summers so they saved money in every other aspect that they could so as far as toys and games go, my two favorite toys that I remember are weebles, " weebles wobble but they don't fall down!", those were the most fun and the smurfs. The largest support in regards to play in childhood would have be my parents always encouraging us to explore and discover new things. A beach of sand, a school of minnows, or field of flowers. Those were my playgrounds.
I see some similarities in what play used to be and what it is now. It seems so much more controlled now. I don't think that years ago there was so much emphasis on using manipulatives and developing fine motor skills, we had playdo, that's about it. Maybe legos too but not to the extreme that children do now. And the emergence of electronic toys, I do not really feel fall into any areas of play that children years ago had. I think it takes away from some parts of the imagination play that children endulged in. Science and nature seem to be coming more into curriculum and nature in general into areas of outdoor play so in that aspect, I feel that it does resemble play of years ago but it is a lot more planned and structured now and comes with a "guidebook" or index cards. My hopes is that children will have the ability to have imagination and make believe and not have every aspect of their childhood planned. Imagination helps us to find who we really are and my hopes is that children of this generation and the next will have that same time that we did to dream and explore and not be suffocated by too much structure and schedules.
Play was and still is a vital part of my life. As a child it gave me the confidence to experiment and dream and I can honestly say without that I never would have had to ability to pursue career dreams, plant fields of flowers for my children and paint murals on the walls. People in general need time to be inspired, be creative and most important laugh and let loose. We should always find time to laugh and be silly, no matter what your age. There is so much saddness in life that we can't control, play is a intricate aspect of life and happiness.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Personal Thanks
I just wanted to thank all of my online classmates in early childhood development as well as Dr Kien for all of the wonderful discussions and personal experiences everyone has shared throughout the program. I will say I do feel overwhelmed sometimes by how busy life is and trying to do a master's program and raise a family and run a business but reading everyone else's blogs has helped to me to feel like I am not alone and we will all make it through. Thank you!
Thoughts on assessing young children
I think it is important that we assess children's development as the proceed through their education but I do not neccessarily believe that standardized testing is the most beneficial for all students. I believe there are children who just naturally perform better on standardized tests than others and with that in mind, I feel that some children are already at a disadvantage before they even begin. We need to also take into consideration the process of the developing brain. Lateralization in brain development occurs during early childhood (Berger, 2009) as well as a preference for being left-handed or right-handed which determines which hemisphere of the brain is able to be the dominant one. Being left-handed or "no handed" as I am, my reasoning skills and being able to vision things through a three dimensional perspective are things that come much easier so exams like mathematics where you can visualy write everything out or draw or even build like in geometry made sense but being given mutiple answers that at least a few of them could be correct, would cause me tremendous stress as a student. I did very well in school but there was times when I found something to be difficult because I could not visualize it so subjects like mathematics and science came easy where is subjects like history and some english classes were difficult but being an A student doing poorly in any subject was a surprise and at the time, I did not realize why certain ways of thinking were just difficult for me. I think a major factor into the reason we don't address left-handed versus right-handed is because only 10% of the population is left-handed or ambidextrous. (Gates) And the funny thing about it, is that in my previous carrier as a chemist, I can honestly say that the proportion of people who were left handed were about equal to the ones that were right-handed. Pretty significant since the percentage of the whole population is so small. I don't feel that being left or right handed is addressed in school at all but I feel that it tells you something very important about the individual and should be addressed.
References:
References:
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
http://www.rcgates.com/psyc/c8.html
Current Challenges and Testing in France
The new developments in education have successfully opened the door for colleges and then lycees in the vast majority of children in France. It has allowed for new catorgories of pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds to reach levels of education and training from which they were formally excluded. As with anything new in education it has posted new challenges for the teaching community; to ensure a common education and with the same chances of success to all the young people regardless of their circumstances at home.
These huge increases in the number of successful students must not mask the "hard core" children who will ultimatley fail at school which usually comes to light in the first few years of schooling. Under France's new education system, such children would normally have been punished by making them repeat the grade and given the label of "slow learners"(discover France.net) Early investigations were carried out in the first year of college and revealed that 15% were bad readers and 4% were nearly illiterate. (discover France.net) Most of these children will find it difficult to overcome such a handicap and a few years later will be amongst the population of individuals leaving school and entering the work force without qualifications.
National tests are now given in French and mathematics of all children 8 years of age and 11 years of age and they are designed precisely to identify children who are struggling in school. These tests were created to ensure equality of access to colleges as well as give the students an equal chance of achieving success at each level. and requiring that more support be given to children experiencing learning difficulties and not to let them "fall by the wayside."(discover France.net)
At the primary level, where the emphasis must be on language, the organization of cycles has brought about greater flexibility and allows for an accounting to be taken at the different speeds at which children learn and an extra two hours a week is reserved for supplemental tutoring to benefit individual children in need for extra help and a network of specialists will be available to provide help to individuals with learning difficulties (RASED) and will cater to those students who are specifically at high risk for underachievement.
All the children who reside in the same local area will attend the same college , the schools will be faced with the task of providing the same standard of education for all of the students while adapting to the needs of children who may be at different levels which is only a direct result of the achievement at primary schools. Colleges now are required to have available extra resources with at least two hours a week to provide children who are lagging behind supervised tutoring . Teaching methods that are capable of arousing interests and making studies more meaningful are now being used to develop new curriculum which will help to address the needs of children who have been struggling with the existing compartmentalized teaching system. (discover France.net)
In general, in efforts to help the most disadvantaged children France has developed a policy of positive discrimination within their education system which allocates additional funds to schools in the so-called "priority education area" (ZEP's)(discover France.net) where disadvantaged social and cultural environment makes educating children especially difficult.
Going beyond the basic knowledge neccessary for any responsible adult, schools must prepare individuals for a successful working life. Better education and more prepared individuals protects France from high unemployment rates and helps more individuals in finding a stable job and starting a career.
Reference:
Education in France, Part 4 Retrieved from http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education4.shtml
These huge increases in the number of successful students must not mask the "hard core" children who will ultimatley fail at school which usually comes to light in the first few years of schooling. Under France's new education system, such children would normally have been punished by making them repeat the grade and given the label of "slow learners"(discover France.net) Early investigations were carried out in the first year of college and revealed that 15% were bad readers and 4% were nearly illiterate. (discover France.net) Most of these children will find it difficult to overcome such a handicap and a few years later will be amongst the population of individuals leaving school and entering the work force without qualifications.
National tests are now given in French and mathematics of all children 8 years of age and 11 years of age and they are designed precisely to identify children who are struggling in school. These tests were created to ensure equality of access to colleges as well as give the students an equal chance of achieving success at each level. and requiring that more support be given to children experiencing learning difficulties and not to let them "fall by the wayside."(discover France.net)
At the primary level, where the emphasis must be on language, the organization of cycles has brought about greater flexibility and allows for an accounting to be taken at the different speeds at which children learn and an extra two hours a week is reserved for supplemental tutoring to benefit individual children in need for extra help and a network of specialists will be available to provide help to individuals with learning difficulties (RASED) and will cater to those students who are specifically at high risk for underachievement.
All the children who reside in the same local area will attend the same college , the schools will be faced with the task of providing the same standard of education for all of the students while adapting to the needs of children who may be at different levels which is only a direct result of the achievement at primary schools. Colleges now are required to have available extra resources with at least two hours a week to provide children who are lagging behind supervised tutoring . Teaching methods that are capable of arousing interests and making studies more meaningful are now being used to develop new curriculum which will help to address the needs of children who have been struggling with the existing compartmentalized teaching system. (discover France.net)
In general, in efforts to help the most disadvantaged children France has developed a policy of positive discrimination within their education system which allocates additional funds to schools in the so-called "priority education area" (ZEP's)(discover France.net) where disadvantaged social and cultural environment makes educating children especially difficult.
Going beyond the basic knowledge neccessary for any responsible adult, schools must prepare individuals for a successful working life. Better education and more prepared individuals protects France from high unemployment rates and helps more individuals in finding a stable job and starting a career.
Reference:
Education in France, Part 4 Retrieved from http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education4.shtml
Bone Cancer and the loss of a beloved mother
I had a very close friend who lived down the street from my grandparents. Her family was very welcoming to everyone, especially her mother. I used to attend youth group activities with the family on sunday evenings and even that I was not part of their family, her mother always included me like I was one of own. When we were 10 years of age her mother was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of bone cancer. The family was devastated, she was the rock that held the family together. Within a year, she was gone. It struck without warning and spread through her body like wildfire, it felt like she never even had a chance. As the years passed, the family closeness withered away and three girls in the family without direction fell victim to peer pressure and teenage pregnancy. Her older sister was a teenage mother at 15 and her younger sister also at 14, she unfortunately turned to drugs and dropped out of high school and eventually enrolled in a technical school for hairdressing but without that loving support and guidance from her mother, began stripping for money. The father did remarry but unfortunately her new stepmother had little interest in the girls and provided them with little or no guidance. As you can guess, educationally all three girls suffered and emotionally without the love and stability of family, they dealt with feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem. I have not seen her in over ten years but the last time I did see her, she was still stripping but now at a more premier club, was addicted to drugs and had fears of developing any relationships including friendships because of the fear that if she cared for anyone they would just be taken from her. I tried to convince her that she was worth more than that but the emotional scar left from losing her mother and the abandonment feelings she dealt with from her father remarrying and in some ways leaving the girls as well had made such a devastating impact on her that I can only hope that she will eventually get the help she needs to re-build her self-esteem and teach her, as her mother would have, that she is worth more.
Information about bone cancer
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/bone
Information about bone cancer
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/bone
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
On Sunday December 26, 2004, an undersea megathrust earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries and inundating coastal communites with waves up to 30 meters (98ft) high, one of the deadliest natural disasters recorded in history.
In the months following the tsunami, the public was made very aware of the plight of these
children affected by the this disaster and made the public aware of the risks these children faced which triggered a tremendous outpouring of generosity from governments around the world. (Nwe 2005) Because the generosity , the governments, UNICEF and other organizations were able to accelerate measures to save children's lives, return them to normalcy quicker, and better protect them from abuse. (Nwe 2005)
Nearly a year after over a million children have been vaccinated against measles, families and communities are being provided with clean water and children are now back in school. Other preventative measures for children's health, such as anti-malaria net beds have already been put in place and are working. Children who have been separated from their families are now registered and there are ongoing efforts to place them with families in their communities. Out of 979 children who lost their parents, all but 12 are now living with extended family members. The 12 are children for whom the search for extended family has been unsuccessful. In the months following the tsunami, Sri Lanka put in place an order that allowed foster familes to receive 500 rupees (about 5 dollars) a month per child.
To help children recover from the trauma of losing their family and friends, UNICEF and its NGO partners support play therapy and recreational activities as well as direct counceling. One example is the camp at Habaraduwa Junction in Galle, Sri Lanka, where children age 6-12 years look forward each week to visits of UNICEF community support workers who supervise play activities, sports and games, and keep an eye out for children who may not be coping or recovering as quickly as others.
In the year of 2005, children affected by the disaster now have classes in renovated buildings instead of tents or shelters, construction of new permanent schools has begun and all students have enough books and school supplies including learning materials, books, uniforms, school bags and school furniture for each child. Because the tsunami hit so many poor communities, some of the children had never been able to go to school, even before the tsunami. To prevent this from reoccurring, district education officials, UNICEF and NGO partners began a post-tsunami campaign-to identify children not in school and enroll them in catch-up or bridging programs with a view of channeling them into the formal school system. In Thailand, the government is providing education grants to all orphaned children, which will cover the period until the child graduates from higher education. (Nwe 2005)
References:
Nwe, Y.Y. (2005), Children and the Tsunami, A Year On
Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/emerg/disasterinasia/files/WhatWorked.pdf
Bharathi Trust Proposal for Educational Motivation Centers in Tsunami-affected villages (downloadable pdf file)
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and _tsunami
NOAA Tsunami Website : www.tsunami.noaa.gov/
Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view, video of giant tsunami : www.youtube.com/watch?V3AdFjklR50
In the months following the tsunami, the public was made very aware of the plight of these
children affected by the this disaster and made the public aware of the risks these children faced which triggered a tremendous outpouring of generosity from governments around the world. (Nwe 2005) Because the generosity , the governments, UNICEF and other organizations were able to accelerate measures to save children's lives, return them to normalcy quicker, and better protect them from abuse. (Nwe 2005)
Nearly a year after over a million children have been vaccinated against measles, families and communities are being provided with clean water and children are now back in school. Other preventative measures for children's health, such as anti-malaria net beds have already been put in place and are working. Children who have been separated from their families are now registered and there are ongoing efforts to place them with families in their communities. Out of 979 children who lost their parents, all but 12 are now living with extended family members. The 12 are children for whom the search for extended family has been unsuccessful. In the months following the tsunami, Sri Lanka put in place an order that allowed foster familes to receive 500 rupees (about 5 dollars) a month per child.
To help children recover from the trauma of losing their family and friends, UNICEF and its NGO partners support play therapy and recreational activities as well as direct counceling. One example is the camp at Habaraduwa Junction in Galle, Sri Lanka, where children age 6-12 years look forward each week to visits of UNICEF community support workers who supervise play activities, sports and games, and keep an eye out for children who may not be coping or recovering as quickly as others.
In the year of 2005, children affected by the disaster now have classes in renovated buildings instead of tents or shelters, construction of new permanent schools has begun and all students have enough books and school supplies including learning materials, books, uniforms, school bags and school furniture for each child. Because the tsunami hit so many poor communities, some of the children had never been able to go to school, even before the tsunami. To prevent this from reoccurring, district education officials, UNICEF and NGO partners began a post-tsunami campaign-to identify children not in school and enroll them in catch-up or bridging programs with a view of channeling them into the formal school system. In Thailand, the government is providing education grants to all orphaned children, which will cover the period until the child graduates from higher education. (Nwe 2005)
References:
Nwe, Y.Y. (2005), Children and the Tsunami, A Year On
Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/emerg/disasterinasia/files/WhatWorked.pdf
Bharathi Trust Proposal for Educational Motivation Centers in Tsunami-affected villages (downloadable pdf file)
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and _tsunami
NOAA Tsunami Website : www.tsunami.noaa.gov/
Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view, video of giant tsunami : www.youtube.com/watch?V3AdFjklR50
Post-partum depression in China
Post-partum depression is major concern for the emotional health of a new mother. In the United States, there are a variety of anti-depression medications out there for woman who are suffering after giving birth but to this I seen a downfall. I say this because having three children myself in three years I had major hormone fluctuations along with the stress of a career and a large family to care for and with all of these factors, depression and anxiety were unfortunately the outcome. I didn't want to go on medication because it is something that will be in your medical file forever and at the time, I was a research chemist and worked with dangerous inorganic chemicals on a daily basis. I wanted to feel like myself again but did I want to risk that someone might find out that I was suffering this way and doing my job? Would they think I was a danger to myself? I know that in this day and age we have more than proven that men and women can work in the same fields even ones that were once or still are considered male dominated, I know I worked in the field of geochemistry. But the problem is that men don't have babies so how could they possibly understand depression after childbirth. We are expected to just go back to work 6 weeks after having a baby like nothing happened. But with the economic state our country is in and housing and food costs and the amount of jobs that have been lost, in most cases women do not have a choice but to go back to work whether they feel ready or not.
The chinese have a different perspective on this. One that I wish women in the United States had available. In Taiwan, it is customary to set aside an entire month for a new mother and child while her own mother cares for her and the newborn. This gives the mother time to recover and not worry about work or cooking and cleaning. Chinese medicine compliment the recovery by bringing the mother's body back to balance quickly with the use of herbs, dietary recommendations, acupuncture, and moxbustion (a warming process using the herb Artisimae). The focus of the treatment is to harmonize the bodies energies and correct the imbalance in the system. A chinese medicine doctor prescribes just the right combination of herbs and diet but no medication.
I understand that our society is different and there is definitely not as much family support available for a variety of different reasons. But having four children myself, I hope that when my children have children I can help care for them and my grandchildren so they may get the rest they need. Something I have already adopted in my childcare is that I send the mom's quick little pictures throughout the day on my phone. I know how hard it can be to have to leave your children especially when you have been up most of the night. I have a couple of moms who I know are very sad at work and they say the pictures help get them through the day. I also find that with all the rushing around everyone does, sometimes parents skip breakfast so I bake muffins a couple times a week for the kids and I try and have them ready when the mom's come in case they missed breakfast. I know it's our job to keep the children healthy but moms need a little help too.
Reference:
Maloney, A. Post-partum Depression from the Chinese Perspective
Retrieved from: http://www.jademtnhealth.com/articles/post-partum-depression-chinese-perspective
The chinese have a different perspective on this. One that I wish women in the United States had available. In Taiwan, it is customary to set aside an entire month for a new mother and child while her own mother cares for her and the newborn. This gives the mother time to recover and not worry about work or cooking and cleaning. Chinese medicine compliment the recovery by bringing the mother's body back to balance quickly with the use of herbs, dietary recommendations, acupuncture, and moxbustion (a warming process using the herb Artisimae). The focus of the treatment is to harmonize the bodies energies and correct the imbalance in the system. A chinese medicine doctor prescribes just the right combination of herbs and diet but no medication.
I understand that our society is different and there is definitely not as much family support available for a variety of different reasons. But having four children myself, I hope that when my children have children I can help care for them and my grandchildren so they may get the rest they need. Something I have already adopted in my childcare is that I send the mom's quick little pictures throughout the day on my phone. I know how hard it can be to have to leave your children especially when you have been up most of the night. I have a couple of moms who I know are very sad at work and they say the pictures help get them through the day. I also find that with all the rushing around everyone does, sometimes parents skip breakfast so I bake muffins a couple times a week for the kids and I try and have them ready when the mom's come in case they missed breakfast. I know it's our job to keep the children healthy but moms need a little help too.
Reference:
Maloney, A. Post-partum Depression from the Chinese Perspective
Retrieved from: http://www.jademtnhealth.com/articles/post-partum-depression-chinese-perspective
Friday, May 11, 2012
Births in Australia
I found this article really interesting. They have what they call hypnobirthing in Australia. The idea is that you are put into this relaxed state of concentration at which suggestions are communicated in the subconscious mind, which is the part of the mind that influences what we think and how we feel. The concept eliminates pain and the reduces the need for chemical painkillers and with "shallow" breathing methods allows for a more raped postnatal recovery. Here are what some parents said about it" How could I believe this when I had gone through not one but two, long and excruciating labours? I was petrified-then I found hypnobirthing. The birth just took four hours. I was relaxed and comfortable all the way, it was wonderful!" Another mother writes, " Our daughter came into the world so easy and in such a calm atmosphere."
reference: www.hypnobirthing.net.au
I don't see anything similiar about these experiences with my own. They were both beautiful experiences but without pain killers? I can't imagine that. My view on development is that I would think any situation without stress is always better for the child. There are risks with everything including pain killers. There seems to be a lot less risk involved in this technique but does that mean that they do not have antibiotics if needed as well?
reference: www.hypnobirthing.net.au
I don't see anything similiar about these experiences with my own. They were both beautiful experiences but without pain killers? I can't imagine that. My view on development is that I would think any situation without stress is always better for the child. There are risks with everything including pain killers. There seems to be a lot less risk involved in this technique but does that mean that they do not have antibiotics if needed as well?
Personal Birthing Experience
I have 4 children and each birth was definitely different. I will tell you about the birth of my second daughter, Abby. Labor started at 4 at night so we headed off to the hospital with our oldest daughter. Well we didn't realize that we would be going right into a birthing room so my husband had to leave me and drive to the next town to bring our oldest to my parents and then being in an unfamiliar town he got lost on the way back to the hospital but to make matters worse he had to drive back there later to bring her to his sister's now where she would sleep. Not good. Well labor was really long and every time my husband left it stopped so they finally induced me, well that happened very quickly and my husband wasn't back and he got lost a second time so he is screaming at me on the phone to give him directions while I was less than an hour away from giving birth, needless to say the nurse took over the phone call and my husband arrived within 10 minutes of me delivering, sooo stressful! 27 hours later
Codes of Ethics that are meaningful to me
"Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle"~ naeyc 2005
Childhood is such a magical time and with the blink of an eye, it can be over. As adults we sometimes forget to see the joy in the small things, children teach us to remember.
"We shall strive to build individual relationships with each child; make individual adaptations in teaching strategies, learning environments, and curricula; and consult with the family so that each child benefits from the program. If after such efforts have been exhausted, the current placement does not meet a child's needs, or the child is seriously jeopardizing the ability of other children to benefit from the program, we shall collaborate with the child's family and appropriate specialists to determine the additional services needed and/or the placement option(s) most likely to ensure the child's success." (Aspects of this principle may not apply in programs that have a lawful mandate to provide services to a particular population of children.) ~naeyc 2005
Part of being a professional is having the ability to ask for help and realizing that diversity amongst early education programs is beneficial in serving the needs of different children.
"We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curricula and learning environments to facilitate young children's development and learning." ~ DEC 2005
Learning to be flexible and adjust our programs to the specific needs of individual children can make a significant difference in a child who may be a productive learner or be lagging behind.
Childhood is such a magical time and with the blink of an eye, it can be over. As adults we sometimes forget to see the joy in the small things, children teach us to remember.
"We shall strive to build individual relationships with each child; make individual adaptations in teaching strategies, learning environments, and curricula; and consult with the family so that each child benefits from the program. If after such efforts have been exhausted, the current placement does not meet a child's needs, or the child is seriously jeopardizing the ability of other children to benefit from the program, we shall collaborate with the child's family and appropriate specialists to determine the additional services needed and/or the placement option(s) most likely to ensure the child's success." (Aspects of this principle may not apply in programs that have a lawful mandate to provide services to a particular population of children.) ~naeyc 2005
Part of being a professional is having the ability to ask for help and realizing that diversity amongst early education programs is beneficial in serving the needs of different children.
"We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curricula and learning environments to facilitate young children's development and learning." ~ DEC 2005
Learning to be flexible and adjust our programs to the specific needs of individual children can make a significant difference in a child who may be a productive learner or be lagging behind.
Personal Childhood Web
Growing up there was definitely people who had both positive and negative influences in my life. I will discuss the positive ones starting with my parents. They were both extremely hard workers themselves and for the most part successfully self-employed. With any business this comes with drive, hard work and dedication. Well for a child in this household it meant lots of responsibilities, hence lots of chores. They were especially strict about obtaining academic success and pursuing your dreams. I think I was only 10 years old when I knew what my future career was going to be and from that time on working at Woods Hole Oceanographic was my main goal. I would not have achieved this without my parents drive to achieve as support. My grandparents played a very supportive and loving role in my childhood. We used to spend weekends with them and we would have popcorn and watch TV and go for long rides one sundays and they always treated us to either a candy bar or ice cream sundae. I think one of my fondest memories was how my Vo used to tuck us into bed and stay up until she knew we were fast asleep. She would tell these stories over and over again and every time they would get funnier. What used to make me laugh was how her hands would be going throughout the story, if you have ever met a full portuguese woman, you would understand. And then my grandfather would always say "Geez Mary, how many times are you going to tell that story!" And she would start muttering words in portuguese and you knew she was mad. It was like a 50's sitcom!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Favorite Quotes about Children
While we try to teach our children about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.
There are seven million.
~Walt Streightiff
Pausing to listen to an airplane in the sky, stooping to watch a ladybug on a plant, sitting on a rock to watch the waves crash over the quayside ~ children have their own agendas and timescales. As they find out more about their world and their place in it, they work hard not to let adults hurry them. We need to hear their voices. ~ Cathy Nutbrown
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.
There are seven million.
~Walt Streightiff
Pausing to listen to an airplane in the sky, stooping to watch a ladybug on a plant, sitting on a rock to watch the waves crash over the quayside ~ children have their own agendas and timescales. As they find out more about their world and their place in it, they work hard not to let adults hurry them. We need to hear their voices. ~ Cathy Nutbrown
Famous quotes
" Children benefit most from teachers who have the skills, knowledge, and judgement to make good decisions and are given the opportunity to use them." ~ Susan Bredekamp, NAEYC
Referencing Edelman's speak on the root refusing to blame the economy for the problems facing poor black children :
"We do not have a children problem; we have an adult problem." ~ Marian Wright Edelman
"We've got all the resources we need to do what we've got to do, " she said. " There's something wrong with our priorites." ~ Marian Wright Edelman
" We as professionals working in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better so that's what makes me passionate about this field. " ~ Sandy Escobido
Referencing Edelman's speak on the root refusing to blame the economy for the problems facing poor black children :
"We do not have a children problem; we have an adult problem." ~ Marian Wright Edelman
"We've got all the resources we need to do what we've got to do, " she said. " There's something wrong with our priorites." ~ Marian Wright Edelman
" We as professionals working in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better so that's what makes me passionate about this field. " ~ Sandy Escobido
Course Resources
National Association for the Education of Young Children http://www.naeyc.org/
The Division for Early Childhood http://www.dec-sped.org
Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families http://www.zerotothree.org/
WESTED http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
Harvard Education Letter http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
FPG Child Development Institute http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
HighScope http://www.highscope.org/
Children's Defense Fund http://www.childrensdefense.org
Center for Child Care Workforce http://www.ccw.org/
Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
Institute for Women's Policy Research http://www.iwpr.org/
National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
National Child Care Association http://wwwnccanet.org
National Institute for Early Education Research http://nieer.org/
Pre[K]Now http://www.preknow.org/
Voices for America's Children http://www.voices.org/
The Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu/
Additional Resources:
Kids Gardening.org http://www.garden.org
Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center http://www.newbed.k12.ma.us/sealab/student_excellent.htm.
Sea Semester Field Programs in Marine and Environmental Science
http://www.sea.edu/about_sea/discover_woods_hole
Brain-based learning http://www.funbrain.com
Teaching social skills & conflict resolution http://actsagainstviolence.com
Resources for pre-K teachers http://www.prekinder.com/
Rising Stars Campaign http://www.strategiesforchildren.org/eea/EEAO_Risingstars.htm
Child Development & Education Inc. http://www.cdedu.us
The Division for Early Childhood http://www.dec-sped.org
Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families http://www.zerotothree.org/
WESTED http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
Harvard Education Letter http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
FPG Child Development Institute http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
HighScope http://www.highscope.org/
Children's Defense Fund http://www.childrensdefense.org
Center for Child Care Workforce http://www.ccw.org/
Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
Institute for Women's Policy Research http://www.iwpr.org/
National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
National Child Care Association http://wwwnccanet.org
National Institute for Early Education Research http://nieer.org/
Pre[K]Now http://www.preknow.org/
Voices for America's Children http://www.voices.org/
The Erikson Institute http://www.erikson.edu/
Additional Resources:
Kids Gardening.org http://www.garden.org
Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center http://www.newbed.k12.ma.us/sealab/student_excellent.htm.
Sea Semester Field Programs in Marine and Environmental Science
http://www.sea.edu/about_sea/discover_woods_hole
Brain-based learning http://www.funbrain.com
Teaching social skills & conflict resolution http://actsagainstviolence.com
Resources for pre-K teachers http://www.prekinder.com/
Rising Stars Campaign http://www.strategiesforchildren.org/eea/EEAO_Risingstars.htm
Child Development & Education Inc. http://www.cdedu.us
A story of a child who touched my heart
A couple years ago in an orphanage in Maldovia a young boy only 2 years was suffering with a cleft pallet and rickets from lack of calcium in his bones. Without the necessary cleft pallet surgery, he would only spent his life being fed through a straw and considering the poverty that surrounded him he most likely would have not survived. In 2009, his life would take a drastic change and a wonderful woman from Massachusetts would adopt him and bring him to the United States where he would receive the cleft pallet surgeries he would need and have a chance at good health, a loving family and education. Today I am fortunate enough to have him in my childcare and his mother, a true inspiration to us all, as a friend. We go for walks in the neighborhood and everything he sees he yells, "look, dog, cat, house, truck, tree!" Things that we see everyday, but to him it is all new. When I think of him, it just reminds me how fortunate we are, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the education we are offered. And most of all the good health of our children, something that it easily taken for granted.
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