Final Blog

I was very disappointed that I was unable to communicate with the international professionals I chose from different parts of the world. I believe that it would have benefited me and the professional I communicated with. We would have been able to discuss issues and challenges we face in this field. We could have possibly given each other suggestions and ideas on how to conquer these issues. I did enjoy visiting the other sites and learning more about early childhood in different countries. I learned that there are various organizations that provide resources and funding to end poverty, make awareness, and access for all families for early childhood education programs. 

One consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that things that we complain about may not be as serious as we think they are. Many children in other countries do not have a chance to go to school or has dropped out of school to work or are used for human trafficking. These children do not even get the same opportunity as the children in the U.S. to go to an early childhood education program. 

The second consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that they may have unfair and bias assessments in other countries. For example, if a rural area in Africa is given a test with questions about place setting for formal dining, it is unfair because these children may not know what a fork or spoon is because they use their hands to eat. 

The third consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that standards and policies are little to non-existence. Their are organizations that are helping early childhood programs in foreign countries to develop standards and policies. Having standards for quality staff is important in having a quality early education program. 

The goal I have for this field is to help advocate for funding for programs or organizations who are trying to provide services for early childhood educational programs in the U. S. and in other parts of the world. The organizations websites that I viewed have many programs to help eliminate poverty and provide quality services for families living in rural communities. Funding is always an issue with many programs and as a early childhood professional it is important to me to help advocate for more funding for early childhood. 

http://www.waldenu.edu

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

I still have not heard from any of the international early childhood professionals. As an educator or anyone in a professional field, I believe it is important for all professionals to learn about their field in other parts of the world. As professionals we can share ideas, challenges, and accomplishments. I believe that this information will help each other grow in their profession and learn how to deal with situations that may arise. For example, as an American educator we may complain about being underpaid and not knowing that in other countries the teachers may not even get paid. Our struggles in America may not be as crucial as those in foreign countries. The lack of supplies, resources, funds, and even schools is a struggle for many in other countries.

After viewing the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website I learned that Africa is a priority and education is key to the region's development. UNESCO focuses on improving the quality of teacher education in Africa and I think that this is very important for the education of young children. The organization promotes literacy and education programs for all, throughout life.
UNESCO also help the Arab States by promoting access to quality education for all as fundamental right. The organization have strong ties with ministries of education and government agencies implement projects to advance education in Arab states.
I also learned that UNESCO also serve the Asia and Pacific regions. The organization focuses on promoting education as a fundamental right, improving the quality of education and stimulating experimentation, innovation and policy dialogue. The organization provides technical advice on education and resources to government and partners.
This organizations provides resources and services to promote quality education in many different regions of the world. They also provide services for Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. UNESCO makes sure that the information is dialogue correctly to stimulate the quality of education around the world. Having the proper communication is a major issue in promoting quality education, especially in United States. The reason that many immigrant families do not participate in early education is because they do not know that these programs are in their community. Communication about these programs need to be promoted and advertised in an immigrants home language and also their need to be door to door canvasing to let people know about the early education programs in their community.

 UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

http://www.waldenu.edu

Sharing Web Resources

I went through the website I chose and unfortunately they do not provide any outside links to any other resources. The only outside links I notices were for New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times to read reviews they had on this organization. Unfortunately, I have not received a newsletter from the organization. I hope to receive one before the end of the course. 

One area that I researched thoroughly was the family, community, and health tab on the Harlem Children Zone website. This tab talks about the different programs that is offered to the families and the surrounding community to help prevent poverty and educate them as well as their children. One program is called community pride, it helps tenants and block associations helping hundreds convert city-owned buildings into tenant-owned co-ops. This program helps get people off the street and hopefully eliminate homelessness. They also have a program called single stop. Single stop is a program to help reduce poverty. Single stop is free of charge and it offers families with advice about securing public benefits, access to legal guidance, financial advice, debt relief counseling, and domestic crisis. Another program is the Harlem Children Zone Asthma Initiative. This program works with asthmatic children and their families to learn to manage the disease and lessen its effects. They also have an obesity initiative program to help children and their families reverse the alarming trend toward obesity and the health problems that may occur.  They also have a program for the mental health of the families in the community. The program provides access to mental health professionals and therapeutic intervention. The program also offers anger management training for parents, children, and people in the community.

I saw a podcast about a program they have called Harlem Gems this program is an all-day pre-kindergarten program that gets children ready to enter kindergarten. The class teach English, Spanish, and French. I look forward to watching this video at a later time. 

http://www.waldenu.edu 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 2

Unfortunately I have not heard from the international early childhood education professionals I chose. I was really hoping to make contact with at least one to find out what is going on with early childhood education in their part of the world. 
I did review the Harvard University's Global Children Initiative website. The three new insights I discovered through this website are: 

1. Un Buen Comienzon (UBC),u "A Good Start," is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). They are tying to improve the quality of education for young children. High-quality early childhood education has been a topic for weeks and it is important that all children no matter what their income status is be given the opportunity to quality early childhood education. UBC is also designed to intervene in critical health areas that improve school attendance as well as socioemotional development (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). After working in this field for 8 years I understand the importance of attendance and how it affects the child when they are not at school. Health is one of the reasons a child is always absent. I know for a fact that when we contact the families the child has usually contracted a communicable disease and they are advised to keep the child at home for 24 hours or until the medication has taken effect. The child is not allowed to return to school unless they have a doctor's statement saying so.
2.  Zambian Early Childhood Development Project is a assessment tools to measure children's physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling. ZECDP hopes that this data will improve understanding of child development in this context and help identify key interventions towards improved outcomes in a rapidly changing world (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). 
3. Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time discuss returned child soldiers and strengthening families in the face of HIV. According to Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010), we know from the science that these investments in early childhood and in healthy life trajectories for young people in adversity have a social and an economic impact. These conditions may cause a problem for a child learning in early childhood. 

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

http:www.waldenu.edu

Sharing Web Resources (2)

The website I chose was Harlem Children's Zone. I have yet to receive a newsletter from this organization, but I did review the site and the latest news that they are discussing is that the founder and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone is named one of the top world's greatest leaders. Geoffrey Canada is listed as the number 12 greatest leader. Geoffrey Canada recently stepped down and passed his CEO position on to Anne Williams-Isom effective July 2014. George Canada decided to experiment and reach all the kids in a 24 block zone in New York City; he called it the Harlem Children's Zone. George Canada was disappointed with the results of many organizations that helped the urban poor, so he started his own. He provides education, social, and medical help for children starting at birth. Because of his success the organization now service 100 blocks and over 12,000 children, with 95% of high school seniors going away to college. He has done a remarkable job as a leader. 
After reading about George Canada achievements and goals for urban children as a leader, it inspires me to become a better leader. Being a successful leader is part of my professional development because I would like to open my own early learning center one day. I can not do that without being a good leader. A good leader is what makes a successful business. I have seen some bad leadership including the place where I am employed at now. Because of poor leadership the organization is failing and again another early learning center has to close its doors. 

Harlem Children's Zone

http://www.hcz.org/

http://www.waldenu.edu

Getting to Know Your International Contacts (Alternative)

Unfortunately I have not heard from either of the professionals I chose to communicate with from other countries. It would have been nice to communicate with other early education professionals from other parts of the world to hear their insight about early education and to hear about their experiences in early childhood. I was not able to access the podcast website either because the link could not be found, so I had to choose a website to research. I decided to further research the Global Fund for Children website. There are many children who are struggling around the world every day. Some are born free and some are born into slavery. Some have to struggle with the decision to go to school, be enslaved, work, or a soldier in the army. The global fund for children transform the lives of children on the edge of society; children who are in trafficking, refugees, and child laborers to help them regain their rights and pursue their dreams (Global Fund for Children, 2014). Since 1997 they have reached over 9 million children (Global Fund for Children, 2014). 



The Global Fund for Children find and invest in grassroots organizations that enable the most vulnerable children in their communities to thrive (Global Fund for Children, 2014). Their strategic support helps our grantees achieve their vision, become sustainable, and reach even more children in need (Global Fund for Children, 2014). They do not only focus on just providing money; they also focus on strengthening organizations around the world to have a lasting effect. 
The Global Fund for Children have touched the lives of millions of children. Their impact means thousands of children are going to school instead of to work (Global Fund for Children, 2014). Thousands more are protecting themselves from HIV, escaping the bonds of slavery, and getting the childhood they deserve (Global Fund for Children, 2014). Spreading the word and letting others know about the devastating situations of children around the world may help reduce or even eliminate poverty. 

The Global Fund for Children: An organization which provides capital to communities worldwide to improve the lives of children.

http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/

http://www.waldenu.edu

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose is the Harlem Children's Zone (http://www.hcz.org/). The Harlem Children's Zone began in the 1970's as a truancy-prevention program. Due to the drug epidemic that took place in Harlem in the 1980's and 1990's many residents gave up hope. The staff of HCZ did not and thought that there should be new approaches. HCZ opened a public school that was shut down for after-school and weekend activities  and services for the young children in the neighborhood. In the 90's the goal was to keep schools safe, so they placed AmeriCorps participants in the classrooms known as the Peacemakers programs. HCZ supported disadvantaged families facing crumbling apartments to failing schools, from violent crime to chronic health problems (http://www.hcz.org/). The HCZ serves over 8,000 children and 6,000 adults. In the 2000's the HCZ has opened more programs called Baby College (parenting workshops), Harlem Gems (pre-school program), HCZ Asthma Initiative (teaches the parents and children to better manage the disease), Promise Academy (a high-quality charter school), and Obesity Program (to help children stay healthy). All the programs are free to children and their families who reside in Harlem. 

An issue that I read about is that single mother's did not have the right support or education on the development of young children. This is the reason that HCZ developed Baby College. Baby college teaches young mother's the proper way to take care of their baby and how a baby develop into early childhood. For example, the program teaches the young mother's about comforting their baby. If a baby is crying how to softly speak to the baby to calm the baby down and/or cradle the baby in their arms. It is important for young mother's to know that they are their child first teacher and protector. The baby did not hear or see his mom and wanted to know that mom was nearby. HCZ helps train and teach young mothers so that they will have a positive and safe environment to raise their child/children in. 

http://www.waldenu.edu