Final Blog Assignment

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" --Nelson Mandela--


It's very unfortunate that I never received a response back from an international early childhood professional. After weeks of exploring websites I must say I have gained more important useful information that I can use throughout my career as a teacher. The various websites I searched have enriched my professional development because of information on the sites, global information, newsletters, signing up for newsletters, and current issues and trends. Throughout this 8 week course my colleagues have supported me by posting weekly discussions, blogs that relates to current issues/trends that I've read and gained more knowledge from different perspectives and from people all over the globe. I have supported them by doing the same thing.

I would have to say some consequences about learning about international early childhood field for my professional and personal development is that some international professionals don't send a response to your questions you asked therefore you can't receive answers needed to compare international early childhood programs and the early childhood program in my home state. Luckily I was able to read post from colleagues about issues and trends that's happening internationally. After reading post by colleagues and exploring websites about early childhood education I felt as though I did make contact with a international early childhood professionals. Colleagues provided a lot of helpful information about international professionals.

One goal for the field of international awareness for me is to one day be able to volunteer my time to a international early childhood program and it really doesn't matter where I go to volunteer. With so much going on in Haiti right now I would love to help them put their lives back together and volunteer at a early childhood school there.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

During this class I've tried to make professional international contact countless times and haven't received any feedback back so I've been doing the alternative. I reviewed the website and some issues and other information I came across on the website are the following:

UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) provides leadership to create learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations was established November 16, 1945. The organization was founded by 37 countries and they fostered partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all.

Other countries try to improve the quality of early childhood care and education but have a problem with resources. In some developing countries early childhood basically is pushed to the side because of other priorities, such as universal primary education in developing countries.

UNESCO and ADEA (The Association for the Development of Education in Africa) launched 'Childhood Cultures" it's an intergenerational Africa Series of books for children. The main characters are Bouba and Zaza, the series of books seek to develop life skills and socialization skills for children 3 to 8 years of age. The books also are aimed at teachers, parents and older children. The series covers topics that African parents may be reluctant to talk abut. Some topics the series discuss is war, conflict, water issues, and HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Sharing Web Resources

The early childhood organization I chose earlier in this class is National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I have navigated the site for some of the outside links and all of those links took me to more indebt information about current and past issues dealing with early childhood education. Some of the links I explored were conferences and events, overviews, and  membership; which led to ways to join by renewing, student membership, member benefits and frequently asked questions. One particular area I searched took me to a link for families and once I searched that link it showed me articles like teaching table manners, 4 month old doesn't sleep and Biting in daycare. I found these articles to be very helpful for families who are dealing with similar issues at home with their children.

New information available on the website is childhood development series highlights global development goals. This link talked about how researchers found out about the development of young children all over the world. Another article I saw was Join Early Ed for President and this stated help us ensure candidates champion the power of early learning for children which also has a area where you can donate.

An insight I gained this week from the website was that the Head Start Program get first Major Revamp in 40 years. The U. S Department of health and Human Services said new standards will focus on reducing achievement gaps for children served in the program. Things that will change are raising curriculum requirements, educational standards and professional expectations and more emphasis will be given to parental involvement. Another thing that will happen within the next five years for head start programs is to make the program a full day for all students.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

The Center on the Developing Child was founded in 2006 by director Jack P. Shonkoff, MD the founding mission statement was to generate, translate, and apply scientific knowledge to close the gap of what we know and what we want to do to improve children lives. The activities of the Center align around building research and development (R & D) platform for science based innovation, and transforming the policy and practice landscape that supports and demands change. The reason why the Center do this is because society pays a huge price when children do not reach their potential because policies and programs have not produced outcomes, so science and breakthrough can be used so children can have a promising future.

The Center on the Developing Child works globally, according to the report on the site there is an estimated 200 million children fail to reach their full developmental potential by age 5. The Center works around the globe to achieve positive breakthrough outcomes for children all over the world. The Center works with Brazil on strengthening early childhood development and has been very successful creating a childhood movement there.

Three new ideas I gained from the website are protecting children from adversity that's significant, strategies to support child development that can be crucial to child survival, their health, education, and economic development, and building  brains. Children need sturdy foundations when it comes to the architecture of their brains. I watched a brain builder video on the site and it explained how brains are built based on our experiences good or bad. Interactions with children are helpful and there is a method called serve and return which helps with contact, touch and other things that will contribute to the overall building of a healthy brain function.