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
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