Saturday, June 24, 2017

Professional Goals, Hopes and Dreams

As I go deeper into my study in Early Childhood Studies, I am proud to be a part of an organization that works so hard in the area of young children. This week, I have learned and stressed the importance of being perceived as more than a "babysitter". It is my hope to help change that perception and be regarded for what we really are, "Professionals", working for the holistic development of children from birth to age 8 (at least). I love what I do and hope that comes across to others I am around. I want the behavior and attitude I have towards working with children to be a contagious behavior. I know that what I am doing can be perceived as contagious because we all want to see the best in kids. Adults make a difference in children's lives. Experience and further education will bring about the positive changes we need in regards to the profession of Early Childcare.
You can have a love for children, which is the start to a prospering career. At my job, that love can transfer into a fulfilled career. We will take that love for children and offer an opportunity for growth and development in the form for education through modules and then a CDA. We want each person to continue and grow. Not only do we want the best for our children but for the staff as well. In this career, there is always new information coming about in the growth and development of children. We want our teachers to be fully prepared to handle various children and situations when regarding children.
It is my goal and dream one day to no longer be in a classroom and be the one to help guide those that are in the classroom. Not that I don't love being in the classroom and being hands on with children but I feel it is now my time to move forward and lead the younger generation. I think it the time has come to now educate and guide those that working with children. I want to take what I know and have experienced and spread it to them. I feel now is the time. Also through my course of studies I want to be an advocate for children. Never before would I have thought as a path I would walk, but I see that being a professional and an advocate go hand in hand. As a professional I see it as my duty to spread the word and advocate for the profession and children. I am really surprisingly excited about this new adventure.

Image result for UNESCO

After exploring the website, UNESCO I am excited to see another organization with the interest of Early Childhood Care and Education across the world. It is so important to make a difference in the lives of children. I can see that the interest should not just lie in our country but in others as well. They too continue to partner with other countries and organizations to improve the lives of children and their families. It also is interesting to me that they are not interested in an monetary help but want you to get involved through their join us tab. I see their goal for excellence and quality for children through their projects, resources and achievements sections. As I have seen through other websites, they are in various countries in the world. It is my hope that through all these organizations, we are making a difference in the lives of children.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Navigating through websites


Because we are talking about policymakers and advocates. I have decided to explore this section of the website, www.zerotothree.com. In this section I found that this area has some good articles that I would be interested in learning more about. For example, there was an article about “preventing expulsion from preschool and Child Care” I can not believe that this is happening, but at the same time I can see how. Once I researched the page a little more, I saw that there were videos related to the subject. This kind of opened my eyes to the fact that this is happening in the field of Child Care. I am actually shocked and perhaps disappointed in my peers. Children are going to act up and have temper tantrums. I feel that if a child is resulted to being expelled then the teachers are not taking the time to look at the child to see what is going on. This kind of behavior tells me that there is so much more under the surface of a child that he/she is not telling. This behavior at times also tells future problematic systems like undiagnosed special needs, etc. We are letting children fall through the cracks. This makes me sad, upset, frustrated, and disappointed all at once.

Also, researching the Global Fund for Children shows me that they continue to advocate for children. However, what they do for children is not free. The emails that I have and continue to receive from them are to solicit money people who show interest in their website. I have not yet donated any money, but am intrigued to find out, what I happens if I do. Is that the next step of involvement with this group? I don’t doubt that money they receive has only the child’s best interest at heart. It would appear that they are concerned as I am with the education and well-being of young children. Especially ones, that do not live in our country, but ones that live abroad.

Other things I learned this week is that we are continuing to press on towards the good fight for early childhood education and the inclusion of preschool children. It seems that the issues we have are not new. That tells me that we are still fighting for young children. In my opinion progress seems to be made but is it at the rate that many of would like? It would appear not. The question is then, how do we get things moving faster?  

References:
https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/series/policymakers-advocates

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Working Globally


Working Globally

After reviewing the website presented this week (6/10); I have found that it is interesting that the in the world “200 million children fail to reach their developmental potential by age 5” (Center on the Developing Child, (n.d). I find this information interesting because here in the United States we have many children too who fail to reach the same goal. As we have come to find out that many factors are the reason why this happens.  My question and thought is this……If children in the world fail to reach their developmental potential because of location, poverty, stress, etc.; then why do we have children failing to meet standards by age 5 as well if America is suppose to be considered the land of opportunity?

Another question that made me think as a result of things I came across in my research of this website is that if people worldwide know and understand that “the early childhood years are to be the initial building blocks for lifelong health, not just school readiness” (Center on the developing Child, (n.d); then why isn’t there more of a change? Are people not listening to what is being said? Do they care or what? So then, why does it continue to happen if people hear and understand what research has proven?

Is it because when applied in a scientific way does the world, politicians, etc. treat it the same and finally acknowledge the issue. Well I see the attention the issue has gained but is there really any change that has taken place? And if so, how and at what rate? Are we going to fix this problem 100%? I don’t think that the issues we face with children failing really is anything new. There has always been a child or children out there that will fail to be developmentally on track. Now we say that is by age 5. What was done with the children then? Were they overlooked? Were they told they were stupid? Or even, were they sent to a special place away from their families, which really is the worst answer. I feel that in the past our methods to now have improved. I feel that increased knowledge has increased which is better. I do however also feel that the issues were always there.

In reality I feel that we should have always had a look at this. Even if it was kept in the back of our minds. I feel strongly about this because it affects kids. I see it now how first lady’s have taken a personal conquest to improve children’s education and the standards. My question is why now? We have always had a first lady. Now this is taking a turn into a history lesson, but I am sure you get the point. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad we are addressing the issue but why not sooner and that we way we could have had a better plan in place or that plan could have been improved because the issue has already been addressed, tried and tested. When it comes to children, they are our responsibility to ensure children are meeting the standards developmentally. We cannot expect children to have made that goal themselves. They look to adults for guidance and direction. I think that because the numbers are the way they are we have failed children. When I say we, I mean, scientists, teachers, parents, policy makers, etc., we have failed our future.

Is it wrong to tell a higher official that they are doing it wrong? That is how you open their eyes by telling them they are wrong. There are better solutions. The children are our responsibilities.

The focus for these countries and globally “brain” development. While I find their focus to be interesting and I understand how brain development is important but should that really be the focus as to why children are not developmentally ready? Is poverty a bigger problem? How much of that contributes to the issue? I see it as a contributing factor but in a way and at times I see poverty as a small factor to the issue for these programs.

 The Global Fund for Children: Excellence

Through the GFC and its partners they teach the children lifelong skills that can improve their lives for the better and make them self-sufficient. It is not just a donation they receive but also a way for them to improve their lives for the better. They can do things on their own once equipped with the right skills to sustain them. That to me is great. This happened to Jerish, a receiptant from the GFC and it’s partners. “She now has the ability and was trained in baking and agricultural” ( Global Fund for Children, 2015).
References:

 
 
 

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Sharing Web Resources WK4


I have learned that if you have questions and no one around to answer the question, the world wide web is available. The information found on the web is outstanding. However, not all information is good information too. You have to use common sense and try only to use creditable resources for information. With that said lately I have been researching websites related early childhood development. www.zerotothree.com is one that has caught my eye. Each week or more I have received emails from them that has definitely given me a better understanding in my job and career. The emails alone are informative to help the lives of children. They are also very informative to the adults in their lives. Just recently I got an email from them about a weekly youtube series they are sponsoring or posting on the topic of Daddy’s matters. I think this is great. It gives an insight to how a dad matters in a child’s life. Some dad’s just don’t know how to get involved or really understand the impact they have on children. I am loving this idea. I fully support this. I feel that this is just another thing that this website and team have put together to put knowledge out there. I love it!!! Professionally, I feel that this and others like this is a great way to support families and teachers to support families we work with. Now it just so happens to be around Father’s Day that this is presented but in reality we can celebrate Dad’s all the time.

If I am going to be honest, which I strive to be, I have not found anything on the website to be controversial in my eyes. When it comes to children, it all needs to be addressed and told. If we try to say well we did not know, then ignorance can be the excuse and in my opinion its children we are talking about, that’s not a proper excuse in my eyes. Kids didn’t ask to exist so it is up to us to advocate, educate, and spread the word.

The website provides information and resources about building strong families like in the areas of child welfare, home visits, other basic needs, etc. Then there are resources and information provided for early learning experiences. These include early intervention policies and areas for early childhood systems. The website also gives you an opportunity to join the policy network offering ways to work with politicians for ECE. We want them to hear our concerns being that we are in the field.

Now that I have had time to sit down and explore the website more thoroughly, I love this website. There is not much I can say that does not help me in my career to help support me daily or those around me.



I have learned that if you have questions and no one around to answer the question, the world wide web is available. The information found on the web is outstanding. However, not all information is good information too. You have to use common sense and try only to use creditable resources for information. With that said lately I have been researching websites related early childhood development. www.zerotothree.com is one that has caught my eye. Each week or more I have received emails from them that has definitely given me a better understanding in my job and career. The emails alone are informative to help the lives of children. They are also very informative to the adults in their lives. Just recently I got an email from them about a weekly youtube series they are sponsoring or posting on the topic of Daddy’s matters. I think this is great. It gives an insight to how a dad matters in a child’s life. Some dad’s just don’t know how to get involved or really understand the impact they have on children. I am loving this idea. I fully support this. I feel that this is just another thing that this website and team have put together to put knowledge out there. I love it!!! Professionally, I feel that this and others like this is a great way to support families and teachers to support families we work with. Now it just so happens to be around Father’s Day that this is presented but in reality we can celebrate Dad’s all the time.

If I am going to be honest, which I strive to be, I have not found anything on the website to be controversial in my eyes. When it comes to children, it all needs to be addressed and told. If we try to say well we did not know, then ignorance can be the excuse and in my opinion its children we are talking about, that’s not a proper excuse in my eyes. Kids didn’t ask to exist so it is up to us to advocate, educate, and spread the word.

The website provides information and resources about building strong families like in the areas of child welfare, home visits, other basic needs, etc. Then there are resources and information provided for early learning experiences. These include early intervention policies and areas for early childhood systems. The website also gives you an opportunity to join the policy network offering ways to work with politicians for ECE. We want them to hear our concerns being that we are in the field.

Now that I have had time to sit down and explore the website more thoroughly, I love this website. There is not much I can say that does not help me in my career to help support me daily or those around me.

e.com Image result for zero to three