Hello class, since my
computer won’t let me view the pod cast I choose to the view the Harvard
website. This website has so much valuable information on it pertaining to
early childhood education. I really like how they give information on how
different countries. The resource library has so many links that you can choose
from. It has topics that range from lifelong health, mental health, neglect,
program effectiveness, and toxic stress. I almost didn’t know where to start
its so much information on this site.
Early childhood
mental health is something that I am very much interested in. Every month on my
lesson plan I add a mental health activity for my students to day. It might be
something simple as my students talking about their feelings that moment or how
they feel during certain situations in their life. We also might go over the
feelings cards where they tell me how the person on the card looks and how they
might be feeling. The Harvard website had some very interesting information on
toxic stress when it comes to young children. I always knew that stress could
affect the lives and development of young children but I wasn’t quite sure of
the severity. According to the Harvard Website toxic stress can damage brain architecture and increase the
likelihood that significant mental health problems will emerge either quickly
or years later.
Because of its enduring effects on brain development and other organ systems,
toxic stress can impair school readiness, academic achievement, and both
physical and mental health throughout the lifespan. Circumstances associated
with family stress, such as persistent poverty, may elevate the risk of serious
mental health problems (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/mental-health/).
Which is why I stress to my parents if you are having any kind of difficulty
that you may need assistance with, please don’t hesitate to contact either me
or another school official. We are here to make sure we not only educate the
children but to also help parents provide a good life for students as well.
Program
effectiveness is something that my supervisors are always talking about with my
job. They are always saying how it stems from our education, relationship with
parents, staff development (Goals). The Harvard website says effective early
childhood programs generate benefits to society that far exceed program costs.
Responsible investments focus on effective programs that are staffed appropriately,
implemented well, and improved continuously. Extensive analysis by economists
has shown that education and development investments in the earliest years of
life produce the greatest returns (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-early-childhood-program-effectiveness/).
Last week we talked about what economist
and other professionals thought of the quality of early childhood, it was very
interesting to see this information on the Harvard website.
In brazil the NCPI represents a model of collaborative work at
the nexus of practice, policy, and research. Core program activities include
the following:Building a Brazilian scientific community around early childhood
development. NCPI is convening an interdisciplinary group of Brazilian scholars
to guide the synthesis and application of scientific knowledge about child
development to policymaking and practice in Brazil. It is also fostering
collaboration among Harvard and Brazilian researchers, including publication of
a working paper series (in
Portuguese).Translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy.
This includes working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, the
Frameworks Institute, to communicate the science of child development within
the Brazilian cultural context in the most effective ways (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/nucleo-ciencia-pela-infancia/).
They also offer courses to their leaders in early childhood so they can build
their strengths. While in Mexico the Center is beginning to develop an innovation cluster anchored in Monterrey
at the Universidad Regiomontana, a pioneering institution at the forefront of
an extensive urban revitalization effort. A strong interest in adding a human
development focus to their work led the Monterrey team to connect with the
Center and learn more about our strategy for enhancing child outcomes
through adult capacity building.The addition of Mexico to the
Center’s existing relationships and experiences in Brazil will create a
strong Latin American pillar for our innovation agenda, allowing us to begin to
think about how lessons from these two projects can be applied locally, regionally,
and globally (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/).
Even though the world is a big place it is amazing how in early education we
all strive to achieve the same goals to educate our youth. However we just go about
doing it in different ways, which is ok because if everyone was the same there
would be no need to learn anything new and innovative.
Reference
(https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2015%2F07%2F24%2Fblocks-1-edit_wide-a8a12f236dd872e2c668e817301bb0766c815ad2.jpg%3Fs%3D1400&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fed%2F369867923%2Fpreschool&docid=CEsK6NJtbGG9rM&tbnid=324Ek2kQGcKqLM%3A&w=1400&h=787&bih=756&biw=1607&ved=0ahUKEwifueO7zZzOAhVLLSYKHSLhARcQMwgoKAowCg&iact=mrc&uact=8)
(https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcache4.asset-cache.net%2Fgc%2F450612874-young-brazilian-children-pose-on-a-street-gettyimages.jpg%3Fv%3D1%26c%3DIWSAsset%26k%3D2%26d%3DGkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QWPSMun2NvBvMjklj7osIR4zPX%252FMOPYUE63SV3f8OI5QCockX0g4tL7BDlm01aUAuQ%253D%253D&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Fyoung-brazilian-children-pose-on-a-street-decorated-in-the-news-photo%2F450612874&docid=b1x_ZKj6DqS3ZM&tbnid=Un_93ewip6TlJM%3A&w=594&h=395&bih=756&biw=1607&ved=0ahUKEwjRzc_WzpzOAhWM1CYKHbxTDW4QMwgkKAYwBg&iact=mrc&uact=8)
Leah,
ReplyDeleteGood information on the insights that you gained this week from the website. You stated that you are interested in early childhood mental health, what part of this most interest you? Do you plan to pursue this part of early childhood in the future?
Taneisha
You picked a great topic! Stress is a natural part of life and in some cases may promote healthy emotional development in children as they learn to cope with various situations but toxic stress is repeated and prolonged cases of stress that will interfere with how the brain makes connections as well as impact the child’s emotional response to social situations. Stress cannot be fully eliminated from a child’s environment as there will be times that the child is scared but the caregiver’s response to a child’s stress will be the determining factor for how a child copes with stress later on in life. The child needs to know that a parent or caregiver will be that stable support system to comfort and encourage them.
ReplyDeleteFor these reasons, it is imperative to create effective, high-quality, programs that can not only prepare children for academic success but also ensure that they are healthy developing individuals that can deal with the stresses of life. The effectiveness of a program should be measured by the benefits to the children and families that they serve. As you said, an effective program has to be staffed appropriately which means early childhood professionals have to be well versed in issues that impact child development such as toxic stress.