Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

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

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/

(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)

 

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I choose is beneficial to me in so many ways, in regards to working with children who have disabilities. Over the years I have worked with children with special needs to the best of my ability, of course I know there is no manual for working with children period. However it is always good to be able to refer to a source to help you do your job a little bit better. There is so much valuable information on this site to help educators teach children with disabilities. I really like how they offer information for different date and times that trainings are being given for professional development. For instance the Division for Early Childhood's Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families is the flagship of our professional development opportunities. The 2016 conference will be held October 18-20. During this time, the Division for Early Childhood brings together a passionate group of dedicated individuals who work with or on behalf of young children (0-8) with disabilities and other special needs and their families. Leading experts will gather from all over the world to unite with other participants and attendees who are intimately invested in early intervention and early childhood special education (http://www.dec-sped.org/#!blank/ltoso).  If I were to take this training I could learn so much from the presenters and also my fellow colleagues. I love collaborating with other teachers on topics that I need help in.

Everything on this website is pretty much neutral in the information that it provides. All the information on this site is so empowering and also parent friendly which is what I like the most. If anything the information on this site makes me think outside the box and more complex about working with and empowering children with special needs.  This website has many links to the different laws that are in place regarding education and children with special needs. It also has various journals that give information on the development of children and studies that state facts on different topics dealing with children that have special needs. For instance in the journal   Resources for supporting young children who have been prenatally exposed

to drugs, and their families it states that In 2011, an estimated 22.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were current illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older.1 Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used non-medically, all of which can, when taken prenatally, have significant implications for a developing fetus (Catlett-Dinehart ND). Information like this shows us that the field of education is contributed to by many professionals. Overall the thing about this site that I like the most is that you can research different topics and get feedback from professionals who have years of experience in the field.

(www.expertbeacon.com)



(http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjms46G8orOAhVJVD4KHQfMAqUQjB0IBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.devonsafeguardingchildren.org%2Flatest-news-updates%2Fdscb-spotlight-on-children-with-disabilities%2F&psig=AFQjCNHk18zyDmAzsEkE9OYu4pBN77ODyw&ust=1469408038865452)

 

 

Reference

Camille Catlett, M.A. and Laura H. Dinehart, Ph.D. (ND) Resources Within Reason: Resources for supporting young children who have been prenatally exposed to drugs, and their families

http://www.dec-sped.org/#!blank/ltoso

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

 

Hello class, it has been a real struggle trying to communicate with early childhood professionals from different countries. I have sent out numerous e-mails and have only received one response back, and that one response was I have to admit a disappointment. I clicked on the link to hear the podcast and it went to an error page. When I went to the actual website for world forum foundation I didn’t see a link for the radio station even when I searched the website for the radio station I came up with nothing. This really bothered me because I was looking forward to hearing the podcast. In lieu of this I went to the website http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/the-cambodian-child-who-stole-my-heart/. It was about CEO Susan Goodell who went on a recent trip to Asia to visit with GFC grassroots partners and the children they help. She took to a young boy whose mother sent him to take care of his ill grandmother. But in light of that his mother couldn’t afford to take care of him so he was living. He was so malnourished that even though he was eleven he had the appearance of a six year old. However I am grateful that there are organizations like this that reach out and help these children, so that they not only have a chance at getting an education but have a chance at life period.

The story of Arun inspired me to want to research child poverty in the Philippines for the second part of our assignment.  In a country where poverty is prevalent, Filipino children are vulnerable to issues such as mortality, health, education, violence and abuse, and forced labor. Under a host of environmental issues bigger than they are, children can be adversely affected by poverty in many ways (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_66867.html). A survey conducted in 2005 revealed that almost a quarter of Filipino children (24.6% of the population) 0–5 years old are underweight. Data showed that six regions had an increase in the number of underweight children from 2003 to 2006 (Table I.2) (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_66867.html). A lot of the heads of households do agricultural work like fishing or forestry work, which really doesn’t bring a lot of money into the house hold to take care of families. Which makes sense because of course the work would kind of limited or rather completive with everyone doing the same type of work. What is more saddening is that most children will probably grow up to be poor adults. In or to help solve the problem of poverty in the Philippines an effective population management program to stop the vicious cycle of poverty and underdevelopment is being put in place. It is supposed to stabilize macroeconomic fundamentals to strengthen the country’s economic performance in order to reduce the incidence of poverty; building up data and giving due consideration to regional disparities in aid of planning, and policy and program formulation; and, allocating more financial and rational manpower resources for health, education and child protection; among others (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_66867.html). I hope that one day child poverty is no longer an issue over the whole world. Until the I hope solutions to help the problem keep arriving.

References

http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/the-cambodian-child-who-stole-my-heart/

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_66867.html

 

(Poverty's victim: Children born in an impoverish society suffers more ...450 x 302 · jpegrifestuff.blogspot.com)

 

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

Sharing Web Resources

Hello class, I hope you'll have been enjoying your weekend. As I stated on my previous post the website that I decided to research and study is http://www.dec-sped.org/. This website grabbed my interest because I felt like it would give me a lot of great information about the field of early childhood. This is yet another resource that I can refer to for my job, it is not only a great website for teachers but to me it is parent friendly also. The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) promotes policies and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of young children (0-8) who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities (http://www.dec-sped.org/). This is also an international membership organization for people who work on behalf of children 0-8 with disabilities (http://www.dec-sped.org/). The Division for Early Childhood was started in 1973 by a group of volunteers who cared deeply about the development of young children with special needs. DEC is one of 17 divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the largest professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents (http://www.dec-sped.org/). This organization is governed by an executive board who help to makes policies for the early childhood field. They are always looking for volunteers to offer the expertise in the early childhood field.

There is a link on the website that allows you to go to two journals one is a journal for issues dealing with exceptional children. When I clicked on the link for the journal for exceptional children there were so many different journals to choose from.  The one that caught my eye is entitled Engaging Children with Autism in Shared Book Reading:  Strategies for Parents. I have had several children in my room with autism but this past year was one of the roughest years. There are so many different symptoms of autisms, I honestly feel that no case of autism is the same. Autism and ADHD are two things that I am always trying to read up on and get information on. This journal express how important it is for parents of children with Autism to engage them in literacy and books in an early age. It gives parents great tips on how to engage them in exploring and reading books. For instance one of the suggestions is that parents create and appropriate reading environment and routine for children. It also suggest things like choosing books on things that children are interested in and to provide choices. These are things that can not only be done at home but can be done at school. Overall this was a very great journal, this would be good to put in my classroom since we promote literacy as a part of school readiness. If you’ll would like to read the article here is the website that should take you directly to it via pdf file http://yec.sagepub.com/content/18/1/3.2.full.pdf+html. Also there were hundreds more of articles that give great information on children with disabilities feel free to visit the website to view them. Everything on this website in my opinion deals with diversity because when working with children with special needs there are certain things that have to be done in the classroom to meet their needs. What do you’ll think?

Reference

 http://www.dec-sped.org

 

 

 http://yec.sagepub.com/content/18/1/3.2.full.pdf+html 

(fox13now.com)

(theautismblog.seattlechildrens)

 

 

 

 

E stablishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

E stablishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

 

 

Hello class, this has been an exciting week in class thus far. I found our blog assignment to be very interesting and exciting. I often wonder how the early childhood field is in other countries, so of course to actually be able to correspond with an early childhood professional from a different country would be very rewarding to me. I visited Jamaica once and fell in love with the country. The beauty of nature there is literally breath taking, and their culture and way of living is definitely one of a kind. However while I was there vacationing I didn’t get to learn to much about their educational system. I have had family who lived in Japan twice, due to them being a military family. I have always wanted to go there, their culture is very interesting to me. I really like how they are very serious about education, so therefore I would love to correspond with an early childhood educator from there as well.

When I went to the NAEYC link that had the list of e-mails of early childhood professionals it said “Access Denied”, which was very disappointing. Did this happen to anyone else? Once this happened I proceeded to go to the UNICEF web site. I really how well organized it is, after exploring the site I found the e-mail addresses of personnel for Jamaica and Japan. I e-mailed them both, as of now no one has e-mailed me back yet but the representative from UNICEF of Japan. Unfortunately she stated that at this time no one in their office had time to assist me due to their heavy work load. I have not heard anything from UNICEF in Jamaica. “I think I may lean more towards the alternate assignment for part 1. Reason being I don’t want to be late on my assignments due to lack of communication between myself and the chosen early childhood professional. At least with the pod cast I know they are there and I can listen to them and turn my assignments in a timely manner.    I still plan on e-mailing other early childhood professionals from other countries I might have some luck!

The website that I choose to explore is http://www.dec-sped.org/. I choose to explore and study this website because since I have been an EHS teacher I have taught many students with disabilities. This website is an international membership organization for those who work with or on behalf of young children (0-8) with disabilities and other special needs and their families. ​I feel that I could learn to better serve children with disabilities from the information that is on this site. I look forward to researching this site further. When deciding which website to study I would say choose based on something that really interest you!

(Jamaican early childhood students and teacher)

(Japanese early childhood students)

 

 

Reference

pngncee.org

digiceljamaicafoundation.org 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ 

 

 

Daily Supports

My Supports

As I have gotten older I have begun realize how important it is to have support. I don’t care how old you are or where you are in life you will always need some type of support in life. I am very thankful for my support system, I don’t know where I would be without them. My mom supports me daily by taking and picking my daughter up from school. She helps her with her homework before I get off of work and also feeds her. So by the time I get home all I have to do is hear all about her day and tell her about mine. My mom is heaven sent, I work out of town so my mom also handles things for me that I can’t because of my work schedule. It’s like wherever there is a loose end my mom is there to mend it back together for me and I appreciate her for that. My next support sad to say is my cell phone, my cell phone is a life saver. It allows me to get messages at work when the lines are tied up and also to take to family members who live miles away. I can check my e-mails from it, video chat, text, etc. My cell phone allows me to do a lot in the absence of my lap top, not to mention it gives me comfort while I am riding the dangerous highways by myself. A lot of us would be lost without our phones and I know I would be one of them. Lastly my family and my friends are my biggest support. They keep me motivated to keep going and not to let anything get in my way. Whenever I need help or fall short they are always there to help me. Every now and then I need a little extra push to keep myself afloat of things and they are right there to give it to me.

If I did not have the supports that I have I would honestly be lost in life. I could survive without my cellphone but without my mom and the rest of my family and friends I would be nothing. If it wasn’t for my mom I know getting my daughter to and from school would be a hard task even though it would get done. I wouldn’t be able to get a lot of things done while I am at work, because I don’t get a break or that much free time while I am there. It makes a world of difference when you know you are loved and supported. My mom and family have helped me to become the woman that I am today. I haven’t always made the best decisions in life but through it all they have been there for and I am forever grateful for their daily support.

It was very hard for me to think of myself with a specific challenge, but then I thought about it things happen at the blink of an eye you can be up today and down tomorrow. So the challenge that I choose was if I was blind. I choose this challenge because I have a classmate that was trying to help a young lady who getting raped and beat. In the process the men who were attacking the young lady jumped on my classmate and beat him so badly he lost his vision in both eyes. I am friends with him on face book and I see the daily struggles that he goes though. As odd as it might sound I admire him for trying to take care of himself and his elderly mother. He even still tries to enjoy some of his favorite past times like fishing with the assistance of friends. I often think to myself how would I handle being blind? Would I give up on life and become totally dependent on others? Or would I be brave and try to be as independent my classmate? I feel that I would definitely needs the support of my family and friends. I would also learn brail and use my others senses to move around in my home and maybe even the outside environment. I would maybe even consider having a service animal to help me be more independent. I would look forward to learning a lot from maybe even a school for people who are blind.

If I didn’t have the support have the support of my family and friends I would be ok but things would be a little harder to do, if I were blind. My mom is very resourceful so I know she would help me to find public transportation to help me get around, which is something that I might have trouble setting up myself. My family could help take care of me also so without them like I stated before I could make it but it would just be a little harder to get things done. I couldn’t imagine not being able to see my daughters face or the beautiful morning and evening skies. I would hope that I could still work in the field of education. But if it ever was the lords willing for me to be this way I would just have to pray and hope that my support system would remain strong.