Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts:

Looking back I thought connecting with an international professional was going to be challenging, however, I found it to be very exciting and interesting. I learned so much from the information these professionals provided to me.  Below are three outcomes I have while learning about the international early childhood field:

1.       It was interesting to see the issues on funding did not just exist in our country but it is a continuous issue all over the world.

2.       The impact of health is life threatening and is causing many children to die from poor health and disease.

3.       I loved seeing that people are fighting for children’s rights all over the world

One goal that I have for the early childhood field related to international awareness is finding and way and time to allow collaboration time to occur. Collaborating with other professionals and educators about progress being made in creating a way to make education affordable for all families all over the world can bring about great opportunities. Relationship building and collaboration allows for great minds and ideas to work together and in return see great results. Working together allows professionals to share ideas, insights, and challenges.  Lastly, collaboration allows professionals to grow and succeed in all they do. 

Getting to Know International Contacts - Quality

I did not hear back from anyone this week, therefore I had to go the alternate route. I found the website to be very informational.

One of my goals is to open up an early childhood center so I thought looking into quality on their site would be helpful to me. I learned that high quality childcare, particularly coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness. There are no universally agreed criteria for qualifying ECCE quality but they do give some useful factors to consider: pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement.  When it comes to the actual service setting and infrastructure, one will notice in pictures that are going to vary within countries.

                                 

The greatest difficulty faced by countries in their efforts to expand and improve quality care and education is the mobilization of resources. Developing countries have the hardest time.  This may be because early childhood is overlooked by other priorities.  The 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA), stated that countries should view early childhood as part of basic education.  Once countries see the positive value of state investment the next challenge will be mobilizing the funds. Right now, government funding for early childhood care is very small.

The last piece of information I would like to share is about access and equity.  Governments were urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting a policy for the poor. Countries then had to promote services for the poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective. Concerns were made about sustainability and quality. In places where resources are scarce, the government has no option other than to redistribute resources by reducing state support for the more privileged.  It is the governments job to ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially the disadvantaged regions.

Sharing Web Resources - Zero To Three

Depending on what you are looking at, some links lead to other pages on the Zero to Three sites, while others lead to journal articles that back up the topic they are reporting on. Either way, Zero to Three provides a lot of research on any one particular topic.

This week I searched Family, Friend, & Neighbor Care. After clicking on that I clicked on a link for encouraging school readiness skills. I then had to choose and age group. I chose Birth to 12 months.  It then navigated me to a page called “What you can do to support school readiness skills: birth to 12 months. On this page I learned that there are four categories: Language & Literacy Skills, Thinking Skills, Self-Control, and Self-Confidence. Language & Literacy Skills is talking together. This is the time to copy baby’s sounds and encourage them to imitate you. Babies are beginning to put sounds together.  Thinking skills is allowing and encouraging children to explore objects and toys in different ways. Touching, banging, and rolling help babies learn how things work.  Talk with babies about what they are doing. Self- Control is helping babies learn to soothe themselves. The calmer babies feel that more in control they will be.  Babies have different ways of calming themselves. Some need lots of rocking or hugging; others prefer to be swaddled or put down for a minute. You teach babies to calm when you stay calm. Lastly, self-confidence establishes routines with children. Most children feel safe, confident, and in control of their world when events are predictable. Routines are a way to help children make sense of the world.  Children need lots of practice to succeed in a skill.

I did receive a newsletter and the topic I chose to learn more about is Let’s play: Activities that nurture bonding and learning. Once clicking on the link, it took me to a chart that showed a babies development between the months of 9 and 12.  On one side of the chart showed what a baby can do while on the other side of the chart showed what you can do to connect with the baby. For example: A baby can understand more words than they can say.  A baby at this age can follow simple directions. A baby at this age can also tell someone what they want by their sounds and body movements. An educator, parent, or anyone who comes in contact with a child at this age can: tell the baby what is happening and what you will do next, put baby’s sounds and actions into words, name things the baby points at or looks at, and respond to babies babbles and facial expressions.

Zero to Three had an interesting article on their site this week applauding President Obama for making early learning a priority in his 2014 budget proposal.  We have been learning and discussing how the funding for programs is an issue, so to hear that early learning is a priority is a big step in the right direction. Obama emphasized how important it is as a nation for us to begin where learning begins- at birth.  The budget includes $1.4 billion to expand the comprehensive supports offered to the most vulnerable families through Early Head Start.  The plan would provide $200 million in 2014 specifically to create more high quality child care options for babies and toddlers with working parents, using Early Head Start’s quality benchmark’s, expertise, and resources. This ensures young children and families will have access to high-quality child care.  In addition his plan extends and expands home visiting which has been warmly embraced to reach more families where they live, with information, guidance, and encouragement.

I found it interesting to read about a baby’s point of view from the newsletter I received. I thought it was fascinating because often I wonder what my son is thinking on a daily basis. I always say I want to be in his head to hear what he has to say or what he is thinking about. I did like reading about the things a baby is learning between 9 and 12 months of age. Their confidence to feed themselves is higher, relationship building and relying on mother to read their signals, security to know they know how to express difficult emotions, managing strong feelings, they can effectively communicate using sound and actions, and how to pick up small objects with their thumb and pointer as well as hand eye coordination.

International Contacts- Part 2

The past few weeks I have learned more about my partners and their countries. In South Africa, I have learned that their poverty has a devastating effect on the children which in turn deprives them of their socio-economic rights. I also learned that people who grow up in extreme poverty face many consequences. Some immediate consequences are: tendency for illness, stunted growth, delayed cognitive development, poor nutrition, and general lethargy. One initiative they have over there to help overcome some of the effects of poverty is the good quality early childhood development programs for young children which also supplies families with support.

In addition to what I learned about South Africa, I learned some new information about the Step By Step Benevolent Foundation too. The Step By Step Benevolent Foundation the early childhood age group uses a thematic or project-based approach.  Classrooms are organized around developmentally appropriate learning and activity centers. There is a high priority on peer learning which ensures children have the opportunity to make decisions for them. The activity centers are geared to the interests and learning levels of each age group. This program is different from others is that it only reaches those children who are in the most need. There are only a small percentage of children who really benefit from this program.

I hope to continue to learn more and more about these two organizations and the wonderful things they are doing for children and their families.