Getting to Knouw Your International Contacts Pt 2

The Global Children's Initiative was created as an international liaison for children's health and development. This program focuses on three areas:

• reframing the discourse around child health and development
• supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration projects
• building leadership capacity in child development research and policy

These three objectives, helped the Global Children’s Initiative build a portfolio of activities in three domains:

• early childhood development
• child mental health
• children in crisis and conflict situations.

The first program effort outside of the United States was in Brazil. In addition "A Good Start"  was created in Chile as an EC program that focuses on  quality early care and education through staff professional development.

This week I listened to Barbra "BJ" Jones on World News Forum radio. BJ founded the Pine Grove school in Maine.  BJ discussed her journey to founding her school. She was not impressed with the public school system and set out to California to find an alternative to traditional education. She responded to an unemployment ad for a teacher in a Montessori School. BJ eventually earned her Montessori certification in London, England. BJ's story and determination is an inner drive that all EC professionals should posses. We should always find ways to challenge ourselves in order to better serve and educate the children, staff, and families that we serve.



http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php

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

Sharing Web Resorces

In regards to my current professional development, I found the link discussing Quality Rating and Improvement Systems the most relevant. The QRIS is a rating system that assesses early childhood programs. My organization, Scotland County partnership for Children and Families, must go through this assessment at the end of this fiscal year. In relation to my job, I can use the information presented in this section to receive a better understanding of what the QRIS measures. Once I am knowledgeable, I can evaluate my job performance to determine whether I am fully meeting the needs of the children, providers, and families that I serve.

I discovered that the QRIS provides finical incentives to programs that meet all standards. Due to the discovery of this information, it has motivated me to perform my job to the best of my ability. Any monetary contribution can be used to provide better service and programs to our children, childcare providers, and families.

The May/June 2011 newsletter featured an article on President Obama and a Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative Program. In my opinion having the support of the President makes the ECE field an important and every emerging field.

While exploring the website, I discovered that there was program in the neighboring state of South Carolina, that is geared towards children ages 0-3. The Keeping Pee Dee Kids Safe at Home is designed to involve communities in preventing child malnutrition. Overall this website offers valuable information concerning childcare providers, children, and families.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

This week on World Forum Radio I focused on Delfena Mitchell, who is the Director of the Liberty Children’s Home in Belize. The Liberty Children's Home opened in the summer of 2005 and is licensed to house up to 40 children. The program was established to serve children from birth to 5 years of age. Older children are served if they have younger siblings in care. All of the children in care are physically or sexually abused or come from some sort of unfortunate circumstance.

On this week Ms. Mitchell shared a success story of one child. Joseph was a 9 year old boy who had been physically abused by his drug addicted mother. As a result of the abuse Joseph did not speak for a year. Joseph’s life at home consisted of overcrowding conditions ( 6 brothers and sisters, in addition to several adults) and lack of food. When Joseph did receive food he had to hide it in order to prevent others from eating it.  Once Joseph arrived at the home he was enrolled in school, but was later kicked out. As a result he received informal sessions each day. Joseph was soon enrolled back in school and began to thrive like a typical 9 year old.

After listening to this podcast, I have learned that poverty can bring upon other unfortunate circumstances for children. In Joseph’s case he was physically abused. It's sad that in addition to their living conditions Joseph and his siblings were also psychologically and emotionally damaged. As ECE professionals, it is our duty to get to the root of the problem. Sometimes what we observe barely scratches the surface. I commend Ms. Mitchell and her staff for all of the young children they give refuge to.

To learn more about Liberty Children's Home visit  http://www.libertyfoundation.org.uk/projects_libertycareprogram.html

Sharing Web Resources

The name of the organization I selected is Center for the Child Care Workforce. This organization can be accessed at http://www.ccw.org/.  The focus of this organization is to enhance the quality of early care and education for all children and to ensure the early care and education workforce is well-educated, receives better compensation and a voice in their workplace.

One issue/trend that caught my attention was the Worthy Wage Day. This day is held annually on May 1^st. CCW utilizes this day to build community awareness and emphasize the importance of quality care for children. CCW also uses the day to show the correlation between worthy wages for child care work. Worthy Wage Day events include rallies, media events, conferences, local fundraising efforts. After discovering this vital information, I’m going to make it my duty to present this information to my supervisor, in order to participate (with childcare providers, local officials, and partnership board members) and show our support locally for this worthy cause

Browsing this organizations site in one’s spare time can be very beneficial. I encourage all of my colleagues to take a moment to read all about CCW and its purpose and programs. I ensure you all will be amazed at all of the hard work this organization has put into lobbying on behalf  of early care and education workforce.

Establishing Professional Connections

Part 1

Due to this exciting and transitioning point in my life (I am expecting my first child any day now and was released from a 6 day, 5 night hospital stay on yesterday 1/6/2012)  I have chosen to use Alternative 1. Had I not been hospitalized, I would have made any and all attempts to contact Early Childhood Professionals outside of our country. The idea of sharing educational values and resources with others outside of our country would have been an interesting experience. However, I believe I will gain insight into the educational system of other countries through research methods. I look forward to expanding my views and learning more about others.



Part 2

After viewing the resources for this blog assignment, the website I decided upon was the Center for Child Care Workforce. This particular area is of interest to me because I worked in childcare for 6 years before graduating from college and taking a position with Scotland County Partnership for Children and Families(Smart Start). I believe that many people do not understand or either choose not to recognize all of the hard work and dedication that goes into being an excellent teacher for children 0-5. Many still have that mind frame of childcare being babysitters, so organizations such as CCW and Smart Start are essential to the progression of early childhood field and early childhood educators. I look forward to learning more about this organization and all it offers.

My Supports

As we develop physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually throughout life we learn to depend upon certain allies as we enter different phases in our lives. The following allies listed below have been instrumental in my day to day life as an adult.

1) My Family- throughout my life, I could and always rely on my family for emotional and mental support. Whether it’s an encouraging word after a hard/long day of work or just because, my family has always been and will always be in my corner daily. Without the love and support of my family I probably would have given up on obtaining my Bachelor's after I exceeded the 5 year mark. Thankfully my family encouraged me and supported me to stick with it and reminded me that I was too close to give up. That next semester, I earned my B.A. in Sociology!!!!

2) My Faith- From a young girl, I was taught that a strong faith in God will allow you to overcome any obstacle. On a daily basis, I trust in the Lord to see me through my day to day actions. I know without a shadow of a doubt that without my faith, I would have thrown in the towel years ago. However, whenever times get tough and I'm faced with a tough decision or time in life, I reflect on these words "I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me"!

3) My Finances- of course as a young adult my finances assist me in my day to day life. If I did not have money, I would be unable to pay my rent, other house hold expenses, car note, or even put gas in my car.

4) My Co-Workers- Monday -Friday 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 pm I rely on my co workers to assist me in any endeavor concerning my job. There are only 5 of us in office and my 3 superiors have been with the organization for 5 or more years. They offer me support and advice concerning areas of the Early Childhood field that I may not be familiar or experienced in. If I did not have their support, I would basically be walking blindly into some situations. I’m truly thankful for their wisdom and guidance.

5) My Cell Phone- Yes, as crazy as it sounds, I would loose my mind without my cell phone. I don’t know anyone’s number by heart except for my mom and twin, so without my phone I would loose touch with a lot of valued people in my life. My phone also serves as my alarm clock, my watch, and my calendar. Without it I would oversleep, be late, and miss important appointments.

As I prepare to enter motherhood, I know that I will need these support systems more than ever. I’m worried that other than God, my mom, and twin that everyone else will not be “there” as they all proclaim. As of right now everyone is so ready for Ashlee to make her appearance, but I often wonder how many am I really going to be able to rely on. As far as my co workers, I hope that they will assist me and not pile too much work on me knowing that I am entering my 7 month and I will soon be on maternity leave. I’m so afraid that I will have so much work to complete when I return, and there will be no one to actually help me catch up. I know that these are factors that I should not worry about, but I can’t help but to wonder “what if”.

My Connections to Play

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)

“Play is not only our creative drive; it’s a fundamental mode of learning.” ~ David Elkind (psychologist, author)

Items that were essential to play:

 

As a child there were a number of people who supported/encouraged play throughout my childhood. Inside my home life, my mom and great grandmother encouraged play. They would limit screen time and encourage physical play through outdoor time and recreational sports. My mom would also buy my twin and me educational games. Outside of home, my teachers encouraged play especially during my pre kindergarten and kindergarten years. I can remember participating in music and movement activities, dramatic play, art activities, gross motor activities and many other forms of play.  I remember how excited I was when I learned how to jump rope or ride my bicycle. It was a feeling of success and great accomplishment.

In today's society play has changed drastically from 20 years ago when I was a small child. I have observed that most children would rather watch TV, play video games, or search the internet versus engaging in some sort of play. It’s truly sad that this generation has moved away from physical and social play. My three year old nephew would rather sit and watch wrestling than play outdoors. My five year old brother is obsessed with his hand held  PS3.  When I was a child, I would cry to stay outdoors or play with my friends. I loved to socialize with others and learn new things from them, vice versa.

Because play was such a vital and entertaining part of my childhood, I often encourage young children to partake in the wonderful world and play and all that it has to offer. As an adult, I often reflect on my days as a young child and sometimes wish that I could relive those days. It’s a wonderful feeling when you are able to take part in something that you love or you’re passionate about and that is truly how I felt about play as a young child!