Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

     My two conversation partners:

1.  Soraya is from the United Kingdom, just outside of London. Soraya writes:

In reference to the questions.

Poverty, I can't really report any major concerns, perhaps there are 3-4 unprivileged children within our school but all our children are equally treated.

The children that come from low-income families are provided with free school meals, free morning milk, free extra reading and free school outings, all these privileges are funded by our UK government.

In our class there are 30 children, 17 boys and 13 girls. Age group 5 to 6 year olds in my class.

There is a strong partnership between parents and our school, parents are involved in library duties, sports days, school trips, Christmas parties, summer fair, etc. Within the school we elect 5 parent governors, regular meetings are held to express concerns and views which we take very seriously and act on to improve the everyday running of the school.

Parents are regularly informed of their children's progress, 4 times a year we hold parents evening which is based on a 1 to 1 meeting with each child's parents.

Parents are also welcome to look at their child's work once a week.

2.  Theresa if from Australia, close to Sydney. 

     Theresa is still continuing to do some research on her class and issues related to poverty.  I was just recently connected with her, about three days ago, and she wants to do a thorough job in her research on poverty. 

     Through my exchanges with these two ladies, I was initially very skeptical in finding two individuals from other countries willing to oblige me in issues and trends in early childhood throughout this course.  It was very challenging, to say the least, to find these people.  I actually had to do some networking with friends I know to find these people.  I also learned that these people are a bit nervous about providing me with information on their classrooms and/or community.  One teacher said she felt inadequate to share such issues with someone from the United States.  I feel I must do my best to make these two ladies feel comfortable in sharing what they can with me and not feel their information has to be too stressful for them to research.  To date, I do not feel I have learned any new information or insights about issues of poverty in these countries.  However, I feel as the ladies get comfortable with me and these issues, I will have some insights to share with everyone.  In short, this assignment is tough!

Sharing Web Resources

The name and link for the organization I selected is Zero to Three at http://zerotothree.org/.  ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge to nurture young children’s early development.

Their mission:  To ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.

From the website, I learned that President Obama included babies and toddlers as part of his 2014 budget proposal.  This budget proposal is to provide $7 billion over 10 years to ensure young children and families have access to high-quality child care.  The President’s plan also goes beyond home visiting to reach more families where they live, with information, guidance, and encouragement.  The budget proposal released also allocates $15 billion of funding over 10 years to invest in this effort.  “Babies don’t come with an instruction manual, and every parent can benefit from reliable information about early learning and a helping hand,” says Melmed.  “The President’s plan helps parents utilize what science and evidence-based practice has to offer in order to give babies, toddlers, and young children the best start in life.”

The President’s plan is specifically rooted in brain science, which shows that babies are born wired to learn. Starting on the first day of a child’s life, positive early experiences establish a strong foundation upon which all later learning and healthy development is built.  However, infants and toddlers who lack quality early learning experiences can fall quickly behind.  Research clearly shows that gaps can appear even before their first birthday.  The President’s plan builds on what we know works: start early with consistent, high-quality, evidence-based supports that match what parents need and help parents nurture the early development of their babies and toddlers.  

I think this information is great news, especially regarding the issue of dual language learners that I have been learning about this week.  I think when children receive high-quality early education, all children, regardless of their language, culture, race, religion, income, etc. will have a much better chance of being successful throughout school and throughout their adult lives. 

 

 

 

 

Getting Ready—E stablishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Part I:

Initially, the steps I took to attempt to make contact with early childhood professionals were to pick countries closer to my own country.  When I was unable to do so, I simply went through the list of names until my emails went out successfully without returning to me with a failed attempt to send message.  It took me over a dozen tries before I was successful in sending my emails out. 

In my email to other EC educators, I introduced myself, gave some personal information, asked if they would consider being a part of a special assignment for my class or if they might know of someone who would consider being a part of this assignment, provided information on what the assignment entailed, asked if they had any questions for me to provide, and thanked them for considering being a part of this assignment.  I am currently waiting for a response and am not sure at this time if I will need to choose the alternate assignment. 

Part II:

I choose the Zero to Three website as my main website to explore.  I also choose National Institute for Early Education Research, which focuses on pre-school aged children.  I felt these two websites will offer me the type of information that will support my knowledge and learning more about children birth to preschool.  I think websites that are age-specific will offer more detailed and insightful information on the ages of children I want to learn more about.  I also want to learn more about the types of issues families and children encounter and suggestions for turning these challenges into stepping stones towards effectively solving issues affecting them. 

National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/
(Newsletter: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php )

Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
http://www.zerotothree.org/ (May have to use http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ )
(Newsletters:
http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and
http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )