Sharing Web Resources

On the National Head Start’s main web page there is a section entitled Head Start in the News.  This section contains information that recaps or highlights things that affect Head Start.  Over the past few weeks the main topic that has been highlights in the Head Start news is the sequestration as the affects it is having on Head Start programs across the United States. 

It was interesting to read the affects the budget cuts are having on Head Start programs alone.  I know just in my city there will be about $125 thousand dollars cut which would result in the loss of approximately 19 children in each site.  While there are so many families and children in need of the services that Head Start provides the loss of the financial funding received from the government leaves many families that are economical strained.  The loss of much needed child care slots would present a problem for families to work or school in an effort to better their family’s growth. 

While economist, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field the cutting of funding to this program causes a great problem for the low income family.  Many of them understand that education givens children a better foothold in school and job attainment.  But the question is; are they with such devastating cuts?

As a early child care professional it is my job, no my duty to advocate for children and their families.  I need to ensure that there are resources and services available that we benefit families and children making their daily living a little less stressful.

 

Resources

Glenn, G. (2013).  Head Start In Maryland At Risk.  WYPR News.  Retrieved from http://www.wypr.org/news/head-starts-maryland-risk

National Head Start Association. (2013). Retreived from http://www.nhsa.org/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

Since I did not receive a response or feedback from the contacts I initiated a couple of weeks ago I have to do the alternative assignment for blog on the World Forum Foundation.  The World Forum website this week had a video that was about the 10^th anniversary forum that was held in Belfast as well as several presenters from the forum talked about the forum, their experiences and the importance of the World Forum Foundation.  At this forum there were 600 thousand people from 90 different countries that came together with the same mindset of the well-being of all children.  At the Forum convention it is not all workshops, childcare educators and advocates are encouraged to share their passions and culture whether it be through song or dance throughout the event.

There are several speakers in the podcast who speak on their experience and involvement with the World Forum Foundation.   Two speakers of the podcast Dr. Kishor Shrestha, Professor at Tribhuvan University in Kirtipur, Kathmandau located in Nepal and Dr. Wayne Eastman, Professor at the College of the North Atlantic located in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, both have been presenters and actively involved in the World Forum for years.  It as through the World Forum that these to gentleman forged a friendship and four years ago founded the first volume of journal of child development called Journal of Early Childhood Development. Today they are on volume 4.  Another speaker of the podcast was Amelia Gambetti, International Network Coordinator for Reggio Children for Reggio Emili in Italy, has always been a presenter at the World Forum.  Ms. Gambetti stressed how she loves attending the Forum because of the knowledge she gains from them.  She says, “Always learning how important it is to share without any presumptions or egos.  Being with other educators from all over the world everybody is eager to share and collect information that can help all of us to continue to stick together, to stay together, to guide together in order to invest in quality education.” (World Forum, 2012) 

The final presenter I will discuss is the President of Ireland, President Mary McAleese.  President McAleese made the following statement that I feel is very impactful to any one working in the early childhood field.  “We only get one go around with our children so we are the engravers of their lives have to know and be taught how to engrave.  But good news is on the horizon and that is the compassion of a person and to change and grow.  Give the benefit of your experience and to have this global resource of good practice, best practice to learn what things don’t work, things that work, to share with one another.” (World Forum, 2012)  This is powerful to me because I have never thought of myself as an engraver on anyone’s life.  But as I look back on my years in the field and how I have come around children or their family and how they remember me and the care and love that I gave them I can now see the impact I had on their life.

As I read the Child Poverty website and reflected on the World Forum website I can see how much poverty there is all over the world and the number of people committed to improving not just the education of children but the quality of life a child has.  This includes ensuring every child receives a well-rounded education and has more than just the bare necessities of life.  A child living in poverty dies from lack of health care, proper nutrition and generally receives little to no education.  But the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Center is concerned with reducing and possibly eliminating the number of children and families living in poverty.   While there are small strides toward this goal additional work must be done. 

 

Resource

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP). (n.d.). Knowledge for tackling childhood poverty. Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

Hogan, T.  (2012).  World Forum Foundation Video.  World Forum Foundation.  Retreived from www.worldforumfoundation.org.

Sharing Web Resources

The early childhood organization I selected to focus on was the National Head Start Association.  This organization’s objective is to offer all children despite their personal circumstances an opportunity to receive services that benefit not just the child but the family and community.  The organization’s website it divided into several divisions.  The main page is full of links to information on recent news, events, news impacting head start, membership, research, services, advocacy, online store, affiliation links, alumnus, and features on their upcoming conference in Washington, D.C. in April.   The one thing that I found interesting was the link they had for parents and advocates to send messages to Congress and President Obama on suggested ways on sequestration avoidance. 

 

In tying this organization to this week’s demographic and diversity topic, I must say that this organization offers their website in Spanish as well as English.  This is showing me that they recognize and acknowledge that they cater to not just English speaking but Spanish.  In looking further into the organization website I found that they have sought employees that are bilingual to work in programs.

 

If you would like to explore this organization’s website the address is www.nhsa.org.  I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

This week the challenge was to make connections with at least two early childhood education organizations that are from different parts of the world.  The two organizations I chose to contact was the International Step by Step Association in Haiti and the Association for Early Childhood Educators in Singapore. I attempted to contact these organizations through an e-mail.  I sent an e-mail to the program specialist of the Haitian Step by Step Association Ms. Dawn Tankersley. At the Singapore Early Childhood Educators I went an e-mail to Ms. Olivia Glang who is an assistant programme coordinator.   As for my website organization I chose to study for this course was the National Head Start Association.   I selected these organizations because I knew nothing about any of them.  I think it would be nice to know about how the early childhood programs work in places I have never been.  As for the Head Start Association, I have never worked in or with a head start program and would like to learn more about the organization.  Also I thought learning more about these organizations would not only enhance my personal knowledge but professional knowledge.  As an early childhood professional I need to be able to be a resource to parents and by having the knowledge of a variety of educational programs would better educate parents as to the best option academically for their child. 

As of this posting I have not heard from either educational organization that I e-mailed.  As a result of not receiving any communication I will be using the alternative to part 1.  If anyone has chosen to use the same early learning organizations as I and received communication back I would greatly appreciate it if you would share with me what you did so that I can contact them and establish me own dialogue with them.  Thank you in advance.

My Supports

As a person that has limited movement in the knees due to crippling arthritis I depend on my family for support.  Despite having several knee surgeries and being told I am too young for knee replacements I have to rely on the aid of my ex-husband and children in completing many different tasks.  The arthritis limits the range of motion of my knees thus making it difficult to walk for a distance and when walking stairs. I use a cane generally as support to provide stability and take frequent breaks when walking along with several medicines to ease the pain.  While I can sort my laundry I reply on my children to bring it up and down the stairs and to wash as dry them for me.  I can no longer walk the track or malls for exercise.  My knees prohibit me from walking with friends or family in the mall shopping, attend shopping trips, or sit for long periods of time with my knees bent.  I think the use of the various medicines I take aids in the relief on some of the pain but it does not take it totally away. The medicines make it some that I can function.  The only downfall with the medicine is that it makes me sleep which also stops me for living my life to the fullest.

Despite my limited abilities, I think that if I did not have my family, medication, or cane I would not be able to function at all.  I would not be able to complete household chores of laundry, cooking or cleaning.  Even though I cannot walk the mall like I once did, I can at least go to the mall for a specific purpose of shoes for me children or one maybe two stores that are close together.  If it were not having this crippling ailment I don’t think I would realize the important knees play a part in the daily functions in my life nor would I appreciate the help given from family and support. 

While I don’t have this crippling disease, I do suffer from the need of knee replacements and have had four procedures done on each knee.  I do need both knees replaced but have had two surgeons tell me that I am too young for the procedure because replacements are only guaranteed for ten to twelve years and would have to be redone.  They recommend I wait until I am in my 70’s to get it done.  I also have had surgery on my back and neck resulting in three screws being implanted.  I do rely on my friends and family for support and only take the medicine if I am in great pain.  I am trying to live my life as much as normal as possible despite my limitations. 

My Connections to Play

“Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.” Maria Montessori

 “To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.” Maria Montessori

 “The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work’.” Maria Montessori

My parents and siblings all supported and still do support play.  As a child I was encouraged to go outside to play every day.  My father would sit outside and watch us as we played and taught me how to ride a bike with and without training wheels.  Today my siblings and I still play through having game nights weekly and include our children in the activities. 

Play to is different for many today than it was when I was a child.  When I was a child children were outside riding bikes and playing various games with friends.  And it was done without a fear or thought of danger from being shot or any other criminal activity.  Today children are consumed with video games and little to no physical activity.  Or there is so much violence in the streets that parents fear to let their children outside to play or children are being shot, abducted or hurt when they are outside or playing with friends whether they are outside their house, at the park, or at any function.   

 With the great push of physical activity from the First Lady of the United States of America Mrs. Michelle Obama, the NFL’s Play 60 and other agencies, I think children and families will see the importance of play and the effects physical activity has in everyone’s life. 

References

Daily Montessori . (2011). Quotes by Maria Montessori.  Retrieved from www.dailymontessori.com/maria-montessori-quotes/

NFL Play 60.  (2012). NFL Play 60: The NFL Movement for an Active Generation. Retrieved from www.nfl.com/play60

When I Think of Child Development

It is difficult to think about children and their development at this current time due to the tragedy that struck last week at the Shady Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut  that resulted in so many young children’s life being cut short for no reason.   Children are precious gifts that are to be nurtured and loved and given every chance to live a life that is full of opportunities. 

While the past several weeks have been full of thought provoking assignments the interactions that have been done between my fellow classmates have not only enriched my educational perspective but have also given me other avenues in thinking and working with children and their families.  And it is for that I want to say THANK YOU.  Thank you for your insight. Thank you for your comments.  Thank you for sharing your personal stories.  And thank you for being a caring educator who will put each child first.

“In addition to their relative brevity, one of the critical ingredients that make stressful events tolerable rather than toxic is the presence of supportive adults who create safe environments that help children learn to cope with and recover from major adverse experiences, such as the death or serious illness of a loved one, a frightening accident, or parental separation or divorce (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2009).”

 

Reference

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2009). Excessive stress disrupts the architecture of the developing brain. Working Paper #3. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.  Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/wp3/