Consequences

First consequence is not being able to make contact! There is such valuable information in being able to communicate with other people in the early childhood field.  The information that we could share between each other is invaluable.  I am sorry that I was not able to make contact with someone to directly talk to.  I was able to talk with coworkers that lived in other countries and worked as teachers, there was valuable information learned, but I was looking forward to more current information.

The second consequence is that there was nothing that I could do. In researching other countries and the way that families and young children are treated is saddening.  It just makes me want to do something.  It was encouraging to see that some countries see the benefits of early childhood education. It is just going to take time to see how it helps their population. 

The third consequence is the lack of governmental support.  In brazil there is a lack of records of children that are born, so there is not a true record of children that are living in poverty.  Governments have a hard time believing the importance of young children.  Having records of what children are born into the country can help a government plan for their future.  It will give them a better idea of how to plan for their future.

I hope that I am able to make connections in the future.  I want to have that connection with someone to work together and collaborate on ways that we can help each other.  I think collaborating with others is one of the most important parts of continued learning.  My goal is to find people that I can collaborate with, I want to have that connection. I think that it is an invaluable learning tool!

UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education

The first section that I explored on the website is the IIEP, International Institute for Educational Planning.  This area of the UNESCO advocates the importance of countries working together to educate their children.  When countries have little to no resources to help their community they want them to reach out to others.  If a country has figured out a way to help their community, share that information with others, so that can have a thriving community as well.  "Cooperation among countries to better manage the challenges and reap the benefits of the growing internationalization of education" http://norrag.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/funding-global-public-goods-in-the-education-sector-a-growing-challenge/. 

Next I went to the Governance and Management section.  This area talks about holding the government accountable to different representatives in various areas.  It does not just matter about making changes in the government, but all the people that are responsible below the highest power as well.

The third area that I looked into was the Highlights: ETICO, HIV&AIDS.  It was interesting to read about how teachers deal with children that have HIV and AIDS.  There is a disconnect on how teachers should work with, and teach these children.  There are things that they need to prepare for, that they do not have the knowledge about.  Not only do the teachers have to prepare for teaching children with this disease, children have to learn how to learn with it. 

This is a challenge that needs to be faced by the government, and the information needs to work its way to the teachers.  There needs to be a correlation between the two so that they can have the best outcomes for these children and families.  I would not know how to approach teaching in this situation.  It definitely makes you think about how to approach children and families to accommodate their differences. 

Web Resources

OUTSIDE LINKS
On the right hand side of the National Head Start Association website there are links to articles that are about Head Start. Currently with the federal shut down, there are several articles about Head Start classrooms that have been shut down.
I read  the article from the Bloomberg News with the title Children Play Alone. This article talks about a single mother that is in college and has a daughter that attended a Head Start preschool classroom. Now due to the federal shutdown the mother has to talk her daughter with her to college, to be stuck in offices for hours without much relief. The mothers fear is that her daughters education will regress if she does not get back into school soon. She wrote a letter to her lawmakers stating how this has affected more people than what they might think. " I am not sure if they know, or if they don't care." These are the harsh realities that the government is doing to the American people.


After reading about how the federal shut down has affected families in Florida, I went and clicked on the link Stop The Cuts Rally. This lead me to photos and videos from when they held the rally on Capitol Hill to stop the budget cuts that affect Head Start classrooms. It is a powerful sight to see, having parents and children gathered to support Head Start. No matter what happens on a daily basis in the classroom, it is nice to see people that support the program.


UPDATES section: Philanthropists Laura and John Arnold provide $10 million dollars to help reopen Head Start classrooms that were affected by the shut down! Once Head Start gets their funding after the government reopens, they will be able to pay back the Arnolds. In the mean time their funds will be put to good use, to reopen centers in six states.



I think most of their website is dedicated to equity and excellence for young children. I was surprised to read that someone was able to and landed $10 million dollars, because they understand the importance of early childhood education. Despite all the bad rumors and talks about Head Start not making a difference in children, it is apparent that people do really see the benefits of the program. That is exciting for me, because it makes me feel like the daily struggles that I go through are making a change for the better.

Getting to Know your International Contacts Pt. 2

On the Harvard University's Global Children's Initiative website there was some great information.  On the main page I liked that they talked about if a person is poor or rich it is about educating the high level decision makers. Such an important point, it is important that we do not exclude anyone in whom you share valuable information with. You cannot assume what you think people know about the early childhood field. 


In reading Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time, they had some valuable information about studying children when they are young can give us a better insight about their future. Children that were soldiers in Sierra Leone were contacted when they were young adults. They wanted to see the effects of war, and how it impacted their relationships and children of their own. Theresa Betancourt is now able to study the mental health issues and how it effects these children as adults, and is able to research how to work with it when children are in these situations and not have to wait till later in life.

Another article that I read was Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. Previously there was not a great way to track children's development, but now they have created the first comprehensive assessment tool in Zambia.  With this new assessment tool they hope to concentrate on developmental areas that need support, and set up intervention strategies for the future.

It is great to see operations that are focusing on situations that have happened to children, and learning how they can help future generations in similar situations. This is a big step forward for Zambia to actually start finding out how the children's environment affects their growth and development. This information can be used in many countries due to similar situations.