GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS---------PART 2

Unfortunately, I still have not made any contact with my international resource, and I am going to continue trying to contact one of them.  Therefore for this week blog assignment I had to do to the alternative assignment.

The first insight from the website that I found relevant was the topic on mental health.  Mental health is becoming a very important topic in the early childhood field.  So many young children are being diagnosed with mental health issues at such a young age. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts. In the article it discusses how China is trying to assess mental health in their children; how in Rwanda they are discussing how mental health issues affect children with AIDS/HIV; and how to address mental health issues in children who live in the Caribbean’s.

The second insight that I gained from this website is the information on Un Buena Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start.” This is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development (Developing Child).  Its helps with health issues in critical areas. The programs encompass international and national parts of the world which relies on contributions form private and public sectors.

 

The third insight is about Brazil, who is collaborating with local experts to discuss issues about the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families.  This information taught me that states and countries have to rely on each other to give positive input about how to better meet the developmental needs of the child.

From reading this website, I concluded that the international countries have put much equity into the health and development of their children by doing research and studies so that can provide their children with excellence in care.

Reference:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

SHARING WEB RESOURCES E-NEWSLETTERS

The organization that I am following is the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  This organization focuses on the development and well-being of young children.  In the volume Teaching Young Children and the issue titled “Unplanned Explorations and Lively Minds” it focuses on how  as educators we should just let children learn new experiences own their own, without the guidance and planning of a teacher.  I believe that the whole issue was related to my current professional development because it gave me an insight and knowledge on how to continue to provide a learning environment for young children.  For example, if children were engaging in conversation, the teacher would not interrupt; instead she would document the development of language skills.  This issue also focused on how as early childhood professionals we should encourage, support, and create a learning environment for young children.

At the present time none of the ideas, statements, or resources made me thinks about the issue in a new way.  The information on the website only enhanced my knowledge about the issue in the Early Childhood Field.

 In the issue it discusses how children who are 5 years old need a rich and learning environment, just as the neuroscientists having been saying all of the time; and now the economists and politicians are seeing the value of early education and the significant benefits of children acquiring knowledge at such young ages.

From exploring the website, I realized that NAEYC is committed to meeting the needs of young children.

References:

National Association for the Education of Young Children http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/unplanned-explorations-lively-minds

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 1

As of today, I still have not made any contact with my outside professional contacts.  Therefore, I am giving insights on the poverty in Mongolia. The CHIP programme emphasizes the importance of preventing poverty in the particularly vulnerable first years of life thereby reducing the chance of poverty persisting over an individual life course or through the generations (http://www.childhood poverty.org/index.php).

One of the countries that are related to the CHIP program is Mongolia. Mongolia was a strong country but transitioned into poverty because they became an open economy. This transition affected many of the Mongolian families.  There is an inequality of services provided to the rich and poor families of Mongolia.

The three insights that I gained from reading this article is:

1.       The Mongolians used to get accessible and high quality healthcare before the transition.  The quality of services is bad and those who can often turn to private health clinics for treatment, further increasing the gap between rich and poor.  In certain areas the quality of healthcare is very poor. They are also tackling the issue so that they can help defeat poverty.

2.     They have a very high increase of families beneath the poverty line. Many children who are poor live in female headed households. Poverty is higher in urban areas than rural areas.

3.     Many of the children have to find jobs which cause them to drop out of school. The children have a responsibility to bring money into the home. Poverty really has had an effect on the educational process of the Mongolian children. 

Mongolia has been increasing their knowledge on the poverty issue by comparing their social and economic growth to other areas around the world. They also are doing research on what is actually causing poverty in these areas.  The Mongolians are also reaching out to the policymakers to help reduce poverty.

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)

SHARING WEB RESOURCES

The name of the website outside of the United States that I chose to review is Association for Childhood Education International.  The link is http://acei.org/  and the online resource is http://acei.org/knowledge/. The organization’s  mission is to promote and support the optimal education and development of children worldwide, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of others who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society http://acei.org/ .  I chose  this  website because it  focuses on all children  and their education well-being. I believe that all children should have the right to a fair and quality education.

The current issue that caught my attention  was the article on Supporting Quality Education: Public-Private Partnerships . The article main focus was how Latin based corporate companies donate their monies to education to provide for high quality education.  Whereas, American based companies provide money that is put into the general education sectors.  Basically the American companies do not fully thrive for high quality education, only basic education.  The Latin based corporate companies also make long term investments toward high quality education.

While reviewing the resources, I noticed that demographics and diversity all correlate with effective and quality education.  Organizations that are private or public should support quality education.  They should make an effort to support these education goals for a long term commitment.  I believe that companies should make it their obligations to donate money into the educational system, because all children deserve the right to have an education.  I believe that if more companies would support a child, then the child will have a positive educational outcome.

References:

http://acei.org/

http://www.acei.org/global-news/supporting-quality-education-public-private-partnerships.html

PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS

This week our assignment was to establish professional contacts with individuals outside of the United States.  However, I emailed many professionals from various parts of the world that were listed in the resource list, and I have not received a response from any of them at this time.  Also, many of my emails were returned because of failed notification or email address not valid. I will be thrilled when one of them emails me back so that I can learn about Early Childhood Education from their perspective.  I feel that this is an opportunity for me to expand my horizons from other people who represent other cultures and countries. When I receive a response from one of the individuals that I emailed I will update it in my blog post.

The website that I choose to explore was the National Association for the Education of the Young Child. This is an organization that focuses primarily on the well-being of the child, including, individual, cultural, diversity, and ethnicity.  It provides many resources, policies, and standards for early childhood professionals to follow as guidelines to better serve the child, family, and the community, as well as guidelines to enhance your own professional development.  The NAEYC also provides information on curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation (National Association for the Education of Young Children).   The goal of the NAEYC is to provide effective programs and practices for the child in a safe, nurturing, and learning environment.

 In NAEYC news they are headlining the Week of the Young Child which is April 22-28.  Last year my son was excited during the week of the Young Child.  Each day they had an opportunity to explore literacy, language, and role play, physical and social skills through the eyes of Dr. Seuss, community leaders, various occupations and super-heroes.  I thought the way that the center implemented different ideas into the curriculum was a way to show each child that they are unique and special.  The entire week was focused on the child, giving the parents and communities a chance to see how much their child had progressed over the past several months.

Reference:

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). Where we stand on curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. Retreived from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/StandCurrAss.pdf