International Early Childhood

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood for me are (1) Researching other countries around the world has made me aware that there are children all over facing some of the same issues that are occurring in the U.S.  I have gain knowledge on programs that are out there that are seeking out and trying to make a positive impact in regards to children.  (2) Being able to understand and provide resources to families that will help their children with developmental stages and education.  I am now able to be a better advocate for children and their families.  (3) Resource cites in this course have given me a different prospective of the world globally.  I probably would have never look at these cites if I was not enrolled in this course. 

My goal in regards to what I have learned in this course is to continue going on web sites to see what is going on in other parts of the world.  I have gain knowledge on children’s development and education in different parts of the world.  I planned to educate families and children that I work with on early childhood and children’s development. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

UNESCO’s, “Early Childhood Care and Education" website:

I went to UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage.   I have learned new insights about issues related to international early childhood education that relates to my professional goals.  I work with children of all ages and I have chosen Early Childhood as my major because I would like to understand them more and be able to educate adults on childhood developments.  I feel that parents need to be educated more and understand their children, especially in the early childhood field.

Quantifying the quality of the early childhood program has always been a major factor to me.  I always thought the children do not have equal opportunities to attend early childhood programs.  Inequality is a factor and will remain a factor as long as there are certain criteria that make a child eligible for the program.  

UNESCO’s is an organization that focuses of the importance of children’s education and their development across the world.  Child advocates from across the world work with each other to implement ideas and come up with ways to improve areas in the early childhood program. 

I have gained knowledge throughout these courses because it has made me think about my professional goals.  One that stands out the most to me is educating parents on the developmental stages in early childhood.   I was more focused on educating the adults and being able to provide services to them.  I guess my mind frame was more less thinking about my current procession as a social worker.  I wanted to be able to have knowledge and provide them with resources and other options to help them with their children.  Half way through the course my mind has changed and I would like to help and educate children in the early childhood field.   

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php

National Black Child Development

National Black Child Development

The link that I chose to further explore is the children’s Health and Nutrition.  This sections talks about the how African American children are on the rise for obesity.  The article discussed how studies are trying to educate parents and kids on eating healthy snacks.  NBCDI provide families with information in regards to physical activities that will help keep children active.  Physically activities were discussed and was stated that it helps children with their developmental stages, medical problems and sports. 

I did not receive an e-newsletter from this cite.  There was a section that noted what was going on this week. 

This Week in Black History

This week is Black Child Development Week!

October 10 ^th

In 1859, L.R. Johnson invented the bicycle frame.

October 11 ^th

In 1987, A. Miles patented the elevator.

October 12 ^th

In 1854, Lincoln University was founded.

October 13 ^th

In 1914 , Garrett Morgan invented and patented the gas mask.

October 14 ^st

In 1964 , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 16 ^st

In 1940 , Benjamin O. Davis Sr. becomes the U.S. Army's first African American brigadier general.

Health and nutrition is related to the Early Childhood field because it is important for parents and caregivers help to understand the overall growth and development of children.  Health plays an important part of the brain and body that may be over looked in a child.  Nutrition affects the body and health which may lead to several developmental delays in the early childhood settings.

Observing children and paying close attention to the children in early childhood settings would allow them to have an equal opportunity in learning by providing a healthy lunch and nutrition snacks during the day.  

http://nbcdi.org/home/nbcdi1/public_html/wp-content/uploads/2010/08.

International Contact Part 2

I never heard back from any of my international colleagues.   I listened to the podcast on the World Forum Foundation website.  Susan Lyons discussed the "Innovative Teacher Project" (World Forum Foundation, 2011). This project was based on Susan Lyons and other teachers coming up with a new approach regarding learning in the public schools becoming a diverse population.  The approach that they came up with to early education is the Reggio Emilia Approach.  The Reggio Emilia program was established in Italy and is not a curriculum.  The program is an approach to learning.  The program is designed to encourage children to be creative, practice critical thinking skills, problem solving and to interact within their community.

I looked up the website “Global Children’s Initiative” from Harvard University.  I read the article called, “Experiences Build Brain Architecture".  The article talked about how the experience of children’s development skills affects the brain and is the largest growth spurt time frame.  High quality experience has been known to be a factor that causes a positive brain development.    Global initiative has partnered with the Early Childhood Innovation Project to come up with an assessment tool to improve early childhood programs and give the children the opportunity of quality education.

This section focused on this particular program that was developed in 2006.  The center focuses on building a unified science of health, learning, and behavior.  Global Children’s Initiative has three domains:

1.     Early childhood development

2.     Mental health

3.     Children in crisis and conflict situations.

The center focuses on these areas to help improve in these areas.  These domains are broken down into these 3 categories and faculty and students research and try to research there domain.   

The web cast and the website provided me with a lot of information on high quality solutions and programs that are available in the early childhood education.  High quality schools are the focus to be available to all children and there are many programs that are trying to help improve the quality of education.  I feel that it is important that all children be given the opportunity to experience quality education.  Research is important to me and should continue to help improve the education and understanding our children in the early childhood field.

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children’s initiative.  http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

World Forum Foundation Radio, (n.d.).  http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

Harlem Children’s Zone’s Wesite

Harlem Children’s Zone’s website……….

The organization agrees with researchers that confirm that the early-childhood years are the key to building a strong foundation for future educational success.  The program works with children and families in these critically important first years. The early childhood programs provide their services free to the public, which is possible because people donate money to the organization.

The organization has ten programs that comprise the HCZ Project which targets on the geography.

Nine focusing directly on the needs of children and one on the broader community:

Youth Services

·  The Baby College is a 9-week Saturday series of workshops that offers parents and other

caregivers of children between the ages of 0 and 3 both the range of information and the

supports necessary to raise happy and healthy children who enter school ready to learn. The 6 workshops cover such topics as ages and stages of development, discipline, bonding, safety,health, and nutrition.

·  Harlem Gems is a universal pre-k program located at PS 149 that prepares four- year-old children for entry into kindergarten. Harlem Gems offers extended day activities throughout the school year.

·  Family Support Center is a walk-in storefront social services facility that provides families in crisis with immediate access to professional social services including foster care prevention,domestic violence workshops, parenting skill classes, and group and individual counseling.

·  Parents Help Center is a drop-out prevention program based at Public School 207. It serves children with severe academic and attendance problems.

·  Harlem Peacemakers/SMART: Harlem Peacemakers identifies and trains college aged young people who are committed to making their neighborhoods safe places for children and families. Through the School Success Project, Peacemakers work in elementary school classrooms and run after school and summer programs enriching children’s educational and recreational experiences. SMART (Shaping Minds Round Reading and Technology) is

designed to significantly improve the reading skills of each participating student. Using trained staff, this computer-based literacy program offers children personalized reading instruction, tutoring support during and after school, and lending libraries.

·  Fifth Grade Institute To recruit and prepare local students for the transition from elementary to middle school, Harlem Children’s Zone created the “5th Grade Institute” in fall 2003. The 5th Grade Institute operates in four Harlem elementary schools, providing eight 5th grade

classrooms with daily after-school academic help and enrichment. During this three-hour period, a certified teacher and 3 assistants provide focused attention and academic coachingto small groups of students.

·  TRUCE (The Renaissance University for Community Education) is a comprehensive leadership program for adolescents. The program promotes academic growth and career readiness using the arts, media literacy, health and multimedia technology. Participating students work on Harlem Overheard, a community newspaper; the Real Deal, a cable

television show; HOTWorks, a theater program; and/or Umoja Media Project, a violence prevention initiative.

·  TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition Center offers a free, 8,000 square foot exercise facility to

youth and the broader Harlem community. The program promotes academic growth and helps youth develop skills in nutrition, fitness, presentation and advocacy.

·  The Employment and Technology Center offers dropout prevention services for young

people, aged 14-18 who are enrolled in and attending school full- time. The center also

provides free use of computers and participation in computer training classes to neighborhood residents as well as a Saturday literacy program.

Community Development

·  Community Pride is a resident- and community-driven neighborhood revitalization and community building program. The program organizes community beautification projects,helps tenants become homeowners through the city’s TIL program, and works with tenant and block associations. During the HCZ Project’s first three years, the primary emphasis of its management was on

getting new programs started, and on refining existing program operations and service delivery.

These programs have grown rapidly, serve significant numbers of individuals, and have met Phase I goals for growth and market penetration. The long-term goals of the HCZ have not being met because of the scale of participation is not sufficient.

This website had a video of President Obama speaking and supporting the Harlem Children’s Zone organization. He spoke on the early childhood programs and working with children living in poverty.   President Obama stated:

“There is no reason we should spend tens of thousands of dollars a year to imprison one of these kids when they turn 18, when we could be spending $3500 to turn their lives around with this program. To really put it into perspective, think of it this way. The Harlem Children’s Zone is saving a generation of children for about 46 million dollars a year. That’s about what the war in Iraq costs American taxpayers every four hours” (HCZ, 2009).

This statement made since to me because there are billions of dollars spent every day in our country on war and helping out other countries.  I feel that we should help our own country before we go to the war or help out other countries.  I feel as if our country tries to protect other nations and countries instead of focusing on issues that exists in the U.S.

References:
Harlem Children's Zone. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.hcz.org/home