Week 3

I would study how play affects children as they get older.  I would like to study children who are in an early childhood program that values the importance of play.  Then follow those children in a study until they graduate high school.  Some of the children would attend an elementary school that includes play into their curriculum.

I feel that children would love going to child care and as they grow older they would continue to enjoy school.  The children’s creativity levels would be higher in the school with a play curriculum.  I also see the children having better grades. 

It would be interesting to follow the children throughout the years.  I believe it would show amazing results and maybe the schools would put play back into the day.

Class 5 Blog Assignment week 2

The topic I have picked is to look at how having a sick mother can affect preschool age children. This topic is very close to my heart as I grow up with a mom who had a rare disease and was hospitalized most of my  childhood.  I find it very interesting how my brother and I grew up in the same environment and were affected differently.

I would love to hear from anyone else that might have some experience with this topic.  Have you worked with children whose mother was hospitalized or maybe they lost their mom when they were in preschool?  Thanks in advance!

Week 8

Looking at the Early Childhood field in other countries has made me realize that so many parts of the world have a long way to go.  Some of the consequences are:

1.  There are so many poor countries that do not have the resources to provide quality child care.  Resources  are used for food and housing.

2.  In some countries children are not able to get an education because their family needs them to work to help out the family.  There are 75 million children excluded from education (http://www.unesco.org/).

3.  There are many world wide organizations to help developing countries but without the support from the public there won't be enough funds to continue to support them.

One goal I want to work towards  is helping children in poverty in this country and learning more about what I can do to help across the world.

Resource

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/),

Week 7

The world has never been as rich as it is today, yet over one billion people suffer from extreme poverty. (www.unesco.org).   UNESCO is committed to raising awareness to the fact that freedom from poverty is a fundamental human right.  (www.unesco.org)

Today, 75 million children are excluded from education. 60% of them are girls living in Arab States and 66% in South and West Asia. The main reasons for exclusion are poverty, gender inequity, disability, child labor, speaking a minority language, belonging to an indigenous people, and living a nomadic or rural lifestyle (http://www.unesco.org/).

I also thought this was interesting.  There are 2 ethics Teacher Training Courses being held at the beginning of this summer.  One of the courses will take place at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade (Serbia) from 27 June to 1 July 2011. The other course will be hosted by the Inter-University Center in Dubrovnik (Croatia), from 4 to 8 July 2011. The courses have been designed to provide training to ethics teachers with the purpose to enhance their skills and abilities (www.unesco.org).

Resource

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/),

Learn about the Zero To Three website

On the Zero to Three Website you can look up information on how to support school readiness:

- School Readiness Interactive Birth to 3 -

- Information on Early Learning for Your Baby or Toddler’s Child Care Provider

- Getting Ready for School Begins at Birth

- Everyday Ways to Support Your Baby's and Toddler's Early Learning -

- Learning to Write and Draw Developing Early Math Skills


You can also learn about Toddlers and Challenging Behavior:  Why They Do It and How to Respond


You can also sign up for an e-newsletter
It is an e-newsletter that showcases how children learn and grow each month from birth to 3 years.

Reference

http://www.zerotothree.org/

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative"

The Center has a commitment to working around the globe for children.  These are some of the projects they are working on:

Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The idea is to improve the quality of educational offerings for four-to-six-year-olds, particularly in the area of language development. This project is also designed to intervene in critical health areas that improve school attendance as well as socio-emotional development, and it seeks to involve the children's families in their education. (www.developingchild.harvard.edu)

The following three initial projects have been selected to launch this effort, subject to funding:

1.   Assessing the state of child mental health services in China;

2.   Developing and evaluating family-based strategies to prevent mental health problems in children affected by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; and

3.   Addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes in three Caribbean nations (Barbados, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname). (http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu/)

This is a wonderful program.  It helps so many children around the world.

References:

www.developingchild.harvard.edu

NAEYC website

The website I chose was www.naeyc.org.  It is the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  The entire website is relevant to y job.  I work in a Child Care Resource and Referral Agency.  There are resources and up-to-date policies.  Also NAEYC advocates for early childhood programs and knows the importance of high quality child care.

There is a link to public policy on the website.  This is very important for people to look at to see what policies are being introduced.  It is important for everyone to ask question if they do not understand what the policies mean.

There isn’t anything on the website I find controversial.  I find all the information very pertinent,  There are some things you can get for free (newsletters) and if you become a member you can get a deal on their other resources.