Looking over the National Head Start Association website, there was some current information about budget cuts to Head Start. Head Start is rallying at Capitol Hill on October 2nd to ask what is going to happen to Head Start if more money for children is cut. They are asking people to Stand Up for Head Start. They propose a question that I wonder about everyday. I work in Head Start, and our budgets are tight, and children have been let go from the program due to these cuts. At this current time it is not evident that politicians are supportive of the Early Childhood Field. Hopefully next week there will be some talk about what is going to happen, and what took place when they went to Capitol Hill.
The webinar on the 30th might also offer some beneficial information on what economists, neuroscientists and politicians think about the current set up of the Early Childhood Field.
What excites me most is that October is Head Start Awareness Month! On their webpage on several different days, they will be hosting webinars about trending topics in the Head Start field.
October 9th : History and Mission of Head Start
October 16th: The Head Start Classroom and 21st Century Learning
October 23rd: Moving from Parent Involvement to Family Engagement
October 30th: Leading in Uncertain times
I am very excited for some of these topics, and am planning to listening in on most of them. They bring up great topics that can pertain to anyone working with children, not just Head Start specifically.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
International Contacts
It is very sad to say that I have not been able to reach anyone that I originally contacted. I have a friend that is stationed over in Germany and he happens to live next to a school. I told him what I was trying to do, and apparently he went to the school the next day. He talked to the secretary at the school and she said that she would ask around. He went back the next day and no one was interested either for lack of language to communicate, or time. I appreciated the offer that he went out on a mission for me. Next on my list is to try and contact some of the missionaries that keep in touch with my local church.
Until I make some kind of connection, I chose to look into Brazil's poverty situation. I was not able to use the www.childhoodpoverty.org website. No matter what I did, it would not open. So I went to the UNICEF website and found information that regarded Brazil. There is one article that talks about how there is a lack of understanding as to how many children were living in poverty, because there is a lack of technology that records all the children that are born in Brazil. Not all children that are born are registered, and they are beginning to make it part of the birth requirements.
In reading through The State of the Worlds Children they talk that many countries use the poverty tool as an excuse to not properly educate their population. Although there is documentation out there that shows just what a country can do when they embrace their population, and educate them. There seems to be a lack of control that governments wants to give out to the masses.
On www.ruralpovertyportal.org their statistics shows that there are 21.4 million, there were no specifics of whether that was just children or adults. These people lack adequate access to water, food and nutrition. The main source of poverty takes place in their rural areas, where people live off less than $2 a day.
I found this website very helpful in better understanding the situation in Brazil. Things are very different there, than here. I am going to try and contact some old friends this week, that might be able to connect me to their family in Brazil. I want to better understand the situation over there, and having a first hand knowledge of the situation would be amazing! I am not giving up hope of having a connection with someone!
Until I make some kind of connection, I chose to look into Brazil's poverty situation. I was not able to use the www.childhoodpoverty.org website. No matter what I did, it would not open. So I went to the UNICEF website and found information that regarded Brazil. There is one article that talks about how there is a lack of understanding as to how many children were living in poverty, because there is a lack of technology that records all the children that are born in Brazil. Not all children that are born are registered, and they are beginning to make it part of the birth requirements.
In reading through The State of the Worlds Children they talk that many countries use the poverty tool as an excuse to not properly educate their population. Although there is documentation out there that shows just what a country can do when they embrace their population, and educate them. There seems to be a lack of control that governments wants to give out to the masses.
On www.ruralpovertyportal.org their statistics shows that there are 21.4 million, there were no specifics of whether that was just children or adults. These people lack adequate access to water, food and nutrition. The main source of poverty takes place in their rural areas, where people live off less than $2 a day.
I found this website very helpful in better understanding the situation in Brazil. Things are very different there, than here. I am going to try and contact some old friends this week, that might be able to connect me to their family in Brazil. I want to better understand the situation over there, and having a first hand knowledge of the situation would be amazing! I am not giving up hope of having a connection with someone!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Web Resources
The website that I chose last week was the National Head Start Association. Their focus is to
"To lead.To be the untiring voice that will not be quiet until every vulnerable child is served with the Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family and the community.
To advocate.To work diligently for policy and institutional changes that ensure all vulnerable children and families have what they need to succeed" National Head Start Association. I respect their vision for children, and it is a long and tiring vision, but it well worth it to see the success of these children!
While I awaited information on how to subscribe to one of their newsletters, I decided to read an article that they attached to their page. This article is from the Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-to-cut-head-start-is-to-scar-floridas-future/2141024. It is about how the budget to Head Start has affected children in their local community.
Due to the recent federal budget cuts, more than 1,200 children lost their placements at educational centers. This number does not include the teachers that lost their jobs, and parents that are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. With funding being cut short children have no access to reliable childcare. Parents have no one that they can call on for help. This articles talks about two children that have developmental delays, and what kind of quality care are they receiving at home? They fear that children are left in front of the television instead of being stimulated by smiling faces and teachers that care. What is going to happen to these children?
These stories break my heart. I cannot fathom why budget cuts would be made to such innocent children, who need education the most at these beginning stages. Do Congressmen and Senators not see what this long-term affects could be? I know of one Senator that understands.
Our Missouri Congressman came out to our local Woodland Early Learning Community School to discuss the progress that has been made. I cannot explain how excited I am to be apart of this project! Ever since our new director started last year in December, he has made it his mission to make a change with the families and the communities of the Kansas City area. Within this short time span he has gotten people to understand the importance of these children's education, and he is making a change! I cannot wait to see what happens in the upcoming years working for these people! I encourage you to read this article, it shows what kind of change you can make when the right people understand. http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2013/Gov_Nixon_announces_funding_for_Kansas_City_area_early_childhood_education_projects
"To lead.To be the untiring voice that will not be quiet until every vulnerable child is served with the Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family and the community.
To advocate.To work diligently for policy and institutional changes that ensure all vulnerable children and families have what they need to succeed" National Head Start Association. I respect their vision for children, and it is a long and tiring vision, but it well worth it to see the success of these children!
While I awaited information on how to subscribe to one of their newsletters, I decided to read an article that they attached to their page. This article is from the Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-to-cut-head-start-is-to-scar-floridas-future/2141024. It is about how the budget to Head Start has affected children in their local community.
Due to the recent federal budget cuts, more than 1,200 children lost their placements at educational centers. This number does not include the teachers that lost their jobs, and parents that are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. With funding being cut short children have no access to reliable childcare. Parents have no one that they can call on for help. This articles talks about two children that have developmental delays, and what kind of quality care are they receiving at home? They fear that children are left in front of the television instead of being stimulated by smiling faces and teachers that care. What is going to happen to these children?
These stories break my heart. I cannot fathom why budget cuts would be made to such innocent children, who need education the most at these beginning stages. Do Congressmen and Senators not see what this long-term affects could be? I know of one Senator that understands.
Our Missouri Congressman came out to our local Woodland Early Learning Community School to discuss the progress that has been made. I cannot explain how excited I am to be apart of this project! Ever since our new director started last year in December, he has made it his mission to make a change with the families and the communities of the Kansas City area. Within this short time span he has gotten people to understand the importance of these children's education, and he is making a change! I cannot wait to see what happens in the upcoming years working for these people! I encourage you to read this article, it shows what kind of change you can make when the right people understand. http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2013/Gov_Nixon_announces_funding_for_Kansas_City_area_early_childhood_education_projects
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Getting Ready
I went to NAEYC's page to locate professional contacts around the world. I chose some countries that have had personal connections in my life one way or another. I wanted to see what information they could give me, that might somehow explain the people that I have met from these locations. I was saddened when I instantly received an email back saying that the email address did not exist. I have received four of those emails saying that there is no email in their local network with that address. I still have hope for the other two contacts, that I will hear something within the next week. For those emails that I received rejected letters from, I am going to do some research and try and find alternative email information. My curiosity is not going to stop at a rejected email! So cross your fingers I can get a hold of some people, I really want to make that connection and have the ability to learn directly from another person.
The website that I chose is the National Head Start Association. Head Start is very close to me currently, because I am a Head Start teacher. This website was not my first choice, I did look into others, but this one was more informative to me currently. Our local area of Head Start has been affected by the recent budget cuts. We have had to modify our plan of action on how to get all of these children into our program. We lost 20 slots this past year, and they do not see them coming back any time soon. We currently have 706 children in our program in my area. And there are children that have been on the waiting list for over a year to get into the program. On the first day of school I had roughly 7 parents to and tell me that their children were in my room, because they wanted into the program so bad. It breaks my heart that I cannot accept them, and that education gets hurt with government budget cuts. In reading the monthly newsletter on the National Head Start website, it broke down where the budgets took place, and how they can further affect our students. I am excited to be able to stay up to date on information that the association puts out on their website.
The website that I chose is the National Head Start Association. Head Start is very close to me currently, because I am a Head Start teacher. This website was not my first choice, I did look into others, but this one was more informative to me currently. Our local area of Head Start has been affected by the recent budget cuts. We have had to modify our plan of action on how to get all of these children into our program. We lost 20 slots this past year, and they do not see them coming back any time soon. We currently have 706 children in our program in my area. And there are children that have been on the waiting list for over a year to get into the program. On the first day of school I had roughly 7 parents to and tell me that their children were in my room, because they wanted into the program so bad. It breaks my heart that I cannot accept them, and that education gets hurt with government budget cuts. In reading the monthly newsletter on the National Head Start website, it broke down where the budgets took place, and how they can further affect our students. I am excited to be able to stay up to date on information that the association puts out on their website.
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