Thank You Classmates

This has been a terrific journey as I pursue my masters degree in early childhood studies.  Although I have not met any of my colleagues in person, I feel contacted to some of them because of our dialogue through the discussions and the blogs.  I have learned about them and also learned from them.  They have encouraged me and I hope I have encouraged them.  This last class on communication and collaborations has truely been a motivation in helping me communicate better.  As I continue this path in the field, it will be even more important to effectively communicate as I teach adults.

I wish all of my colleagues success as they continue to pursue their masters degree and I look forward to meeting each at our graduation.  Peace & Love.

Adjourning

Adjourning from a group where a team building of trust and collaboration has taken place is essential because it gives you a feeling of accompolishment and success.  Atlhough you may separate from some the team on a daily bases, you stilll will not completly stop all contact from time to time.  I have been involved with different teams from cheering (myself and when my daughters cheered) to my sorority (AKA).  These groups were hard to leave but I still stay in contact with the people I met in these groups.

The hardest team group that I have had to leave was my center staff that I just recently left.  The majority of the people I had worked with for over 6 years including my assistant director.  We were like a family and had accomplished so much together - NAEYC accreditation, GA Center of Distinction.  They looked forward each holiday season to going out to a nice resturant for our staff holiday luncheon - Sun Dial, Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's.  Since I received a promotion three years ago, I was doing double jobs as the center director and as the Professional Development Director for the company.  They finally brought in a director for me to train but she resisted my help and created an environment that was not good for either of us.  I chose to step away and give her full reign of the center.  My staff and I have not had a chance to adjourn from me not being there with them yet.  I saw them on Monday at our Professional Development Day and we all stated how much we missed each other.  Just this morning a staff member called me to tell me she would not be in to work; after I reminded her she didn't have to call me she stated that she did it out of habit.  I am planning for us to still get together over the holidays to have a final closing of our work chapter together.  They send me texts and e-mails thanking me for making them strive for excellence.  All of that means so much to me.

I imagine that when myself and my colleagues complete our masters degree in early childhood studies that we will continue to blog each other from time to time to stay in touch.  I hope that those of us who live in the Atlanta area will be able to get together to celebrate our accomplishments.  They have motivated me and I hope I have motivated them during our courses.

Conflict

This week lesson on conflict has really been surreal for me.  A few month ago my company decided to close operations at my childcare center and combine with another center that was close to us.  They had placed a new director there and wanted me to mentor her and help her get the center at the same quality level as my center was.  Unfortunately the director did not welcome my help and would undermind things that I had put in place.  Staff that were use to working in a atmosphere of quality childcare were now in a place that was not being operated with quality in mind.  The tension between the director and myself came to the point that I decided to just step away from the center to let her have full control.  I informed my supervisor about the uncomfortable situation.  Although I am no longer at the center, I still feel a commitment to the families and staff and feel that I have abandon them. 

The strategies that I was trying to use in this situation is to not provoke the new director anymore with a conflict and that is why I decided that mentoring her was not in my best interest or hers.  We have incompatible goals - mine is quality childcare and her goal is being financially stable with the company.  My motto has always been that if you provide quality childcare, you will make the money.  I tried to reassure the director that I did not want her job but wanted to help her be successful.  I feel that I communicated my intent effectively but apparently not and so that is why I decided to walk away from a potential conflict that probably would have escalated.  By learning this week about non-violent communication has helped me know that I did the right thing by walking away.  Please pray that I will overcome this bitterness that I have towards her.

Communication Survey

The communication survey that I took this week on my communication effectivness was very enlightening.  It was on my communication anxiety, my verbal aggressiveness, and my listening style.  I must admit that my score was exactly how I viewed my communication style.  I chose two people, my daughter and one of my teachers that I supervise, to also take the same survey on me.  I expected to have some differences in how I view my communication style and how they view my communication style.  However, their score on me was similar to my score which made me feel good that they understand my communication style.  I pride myself on being a good communicator and it frustrates me when people don't understand something I have said.  The self-denigration takes place in my mind when that happens because I am trying to figure out why they didn't understand me.  But then I shake it off and find another way of communicating more effectively. 

What I have gained from these surveys is to maintain a good mode of communicating with others and I learned that how others view my communication skills is just as important as how I view my communication skills. 

Communication and Culture

In thinking about how I communicate in my culture, I realize that I do communicate differently when I am talking with my home girls on the phone and when I am talking with business colleagues.  I have been told that I sound "white" on the phone when I answer it at work.  What that means I am unsure but I am simply speaking in a professional manner.  It is professional to answer the phone and to speak clearly and state the business with my name.  I hope that I am respecting the other person on the phone by following the "Platinum Rule".

The 3 strategies that I could use to communicate effectively with people are:
1) To speak using correct grammar
2) To speak clearly and concise
3) To listen with respect and respond with respect
These 3 strategies will be effective with all cultures because it is not based on the culture but on the person.  I want them to understand what I am saying and I want to understand what they are saying.  These strategies apply to written and verbal communication.  I enjoy conversing with others but I know that my non-verbal communication effectivness is just as important as the verbal.  All must be taken into account.

Communication

My assignment for this blog was to watch an unfamiliar TV show with the sound off to watch the non-verbal communications and then with the sound on to see if any assumptions that I made were valid.

I chose the MTV game show called "The Substitute" where a substitute teacher is placed in a high school classroom where he turns the classroom into a game show.  Upon entering the classroom I noticed the students with  puzzle looks on their faces, some had grins on their faces and my assumptions led me to believe they were saying to their friends, "who is this person".  The teacher also appeared to have a stern look on his face when he entered the room.  When he wrote his name on the board I assumed that the students laughed at him and that he would scold the students for doing so but he did not and even joked about his name.  As the game began and the teacher called 2 students up to play, they appeared to be apprehensive about what question they would be asked.  As the game proceeded, the students appeared to be more comfortable when they approached the game buzzer to answer questions.  What started as faces of questions ended with faces of enjoyment.  At the end of the game, the student that won appeared elated but the other students did not jump up and down.

The assumptions that I had made with the sound off were part correct.  The students didn't say "who is this" but some did say "yeah" which indicated to me they were glad their teacher wasn't there.  Some did laugh when the teacher wrote his name but he laughed also.  Students would say "what" or "let's do this" when their names were called to participate.  The students did enjoy participating in the game as it moved from round 1 to round 2 and then the $5000 round.  The student that won was very happy and the other students did clap for him and a few cheered.

My assumptions probably would have been the same if I had watched a familiar game show like the "Price is Right" or "Family Feud" because people will either be happy or not so happy.  The non-verbal communication shows through in faces, body language, and jestures that are made when communicating with others.  In a group of people it is interesting to watch all the non-verbal cues that are given without people realizing it.  This has taught me to watch my body languge expressions especially when speaking with my student's parents.

A Great Communicator

In our society today, I think President Barak Obama demonstrates a competent communicator.  He demonstrated this during his 2008 presidentital debate where he exhibited a calm manner and effectively communicated his points.  When he was being attacked, he calmly responded with intellecte and patience. During his speeches he is able to engage the audience by looking at them and speaking to them in venicular language that address all groups of people.  He is an eloquent speaker and his Harvard education along with life skills has developed him into the communicator that he is.  Not only is he effective when speaking but also in his written words.  In his books he writes with compassion and paints a picture that places you at the scene he is speaking about.

I would like to model my communication behavior after him by being calm when I speak in public and engaging my audience with words that will motivate.  I admire Pres. Obama that he thinks before he speaks.  His critics will say that he moves to slow, but I like the fact that he will look at a situation and think what will be the best way to communicate it.  I realize that in my work with young children that I must listen more than speak and give the children and their family the opportunity to communicate their needs.  President Obama inspires me and that is what I want to do is inspire others to give quality early childcare to children.

Professional Hopes and Goals

I hope that all early childhood professionals will be respectful of all children and their families who are of a diverse background that is different from their own ethnicity or race.  Young children do not see people as a color but as a person and it is important that the adults in their life does not tarnish that image with any biases.  The goal that I am seeking for the early childhood field is to teach professionals in the field how to work with children of diversity whether it is race, gender, disability, or same-sex families.  I had 2 teachers this week to come and ask me for advice on how to deal with a child who they feel has signs of autism.  They admitted that they do not have the training on how to work with the child and needing some guidance.  These teachers have been in the field for over 5 years and felt that their college education was not enough.  These are issues that our professionals are dealing with in the classroom and they need trainings instead of waiting on outside help.  The child deserve teachers who are trained in working with him.  The equity and social justice is in preparing our teachers better for the classroom.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have posted comments to my blogs durning this course on Diversity and Equity.  Your support in providing me with positive outlook on how I view diversity has motivated me to provide the very best for our young children.  I wish you all the very best as you continue to pursue your degree in early childhood education.  God Bless!

Welcoming Families from Around the World

If my childcare center enrolled a child from Malawi Africa, we would need to learn about the country before the family arrived for the first day.  Malawi is the poorest country in Africa so it will be important for the staff to treat the family with respect and not as a family in need looking for someone to take care of them.  The first thing the staff will do is learn about the culture and people of Malawi.  There are 11 different ethnic groups in Malawi and we will learn about the families ethnicity.  Although English is the official language of Malawi, the family may speak Chichewa which is also the official language.  If the family does speak Chichewa, the staff will find translations of daily survival words such as restroom, water, chair, and food.  By having a map of Malawi will also help the other children in the class to learn where the child is from and how far away the country of Malawi is (Geography).  The staff will also have dialogue with the family to find out what type of food does the family eat and ask if the family could share a recipe with the class.  This can be incorporated into a cooking activity for the class.  Lastly, the staff can incorporate some clothing that is worn in Malawi into the dramatic play area. 

By having prior knowledge about Malawi and during the enrollment process gather information about the family, it will help the staff in providing an environment that will help the child and the family to adjust to their new environment while still having a sense of their previous environment.  While the family will still have their family rituals at home, the center would still want to incorporate that sense of cohesivness for the child while at school.  During all of this the staff will also get the opportunity to learn about a different part of the world, it's culture and it's people.  In America we are always expecting other cultures to learn about us but we need to take the time and learn about other cultures as well.
  

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

There are many memories that I have on the title of this blog but I would like to share one that I am sure will be a memory for my son.  When he was a junior in high school he had a Caucasian French teacher in which he was not doing well in her class.  During the parent-teacher conference she ask me was he "planning to dropout of school because she has had so many students when they get to his age (16), they usually do".  I was shocked that she asked me that about my son and also shocked that she had made a bias statement about my son.  She assumed that because he was not doing well in her class, a African American male, and from a single parent home that he would be a dropout.  What she did not realize was that he was not failing in his other classes or having difficult in the other classes.  After I composed myself to remain respectful, I replied, "that is not an option for him.  He will graduate from high school even if he is 20 years old and he will go to college".  I am sure that I could have said more to her to make her realize that she had made a bias judgement against my son but I felt that it was more mature of me to not get into an arguement with her but to answer her question directly. 

Today my son did graduate on time and did attend college.  I have often thought about that I should have confronted the teacher after he graduated to let her know but it was not about her, it was about my son.  He did the opposite of what she expected and that is what is important.  "It's not what people do to us but what we allow to be done to us" (author unknown).  I refused to let the teachers bias-ism to take advantage of my son's future.  Her overt and covert isms is her issue, not ours.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week I didn't have to go far to find an microinsult.  My husband made a comment about his boss that surprised me.  He was so frustrated with his female boss that he said to me, "I can't believe they put a woman in charge and she doesn't know how to run anything".  I calmly said to him, "so because she is a woman she can't do the job" and he replied, "well I didn't mean it that way, she just don't know what she is doing".  Our dialogue continued with me making him realize that he had made a sexist remark and also a micro-insult on a female intellect.

It was a brief indignition on his part and I was glad that I was able to help him see that he need to be aware of making comments that could be discrimintory.  This week's lesson has taught me how to respond to microaggressions in a calm, factual manner something that I can pass on to other early childhood educators.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

     This was in interesting assignment that allowed me to break out of my comfort zone and to really talk to people about their views on culture and diversity.  The three people that I spoke to brought some of the same definitions and some different aspects on the subject.

     My friend Tina who is Caucasian and also from Savannah, GA stated that to her culture meant what you are use to doing and diversity meant being different.  We talked about the different ways we were raised by our parents - her parents were strictly religious and so were my parents.  She felt that she was poor growing up but when she described her home and family structure, it was similar to mine and I felt that we were not rich or poor but middle class.  Although I look at her as being in the dominate culture, after speaking with her and through my studies in this course, just because she and her family are Caucasian that still does not define them as a dominate culture because they still had the same struggles as other ethnic races.  I think that prior to our conversation we both had a pre-judge assessment of our lives but after talking we found that we had some similarities.  Our perspectives did change about one another.

     Another person I spoke with family is from Bagladash and although she grew up in America most of her life, she has a heavy accent.  Kamal said that culture is how you look at what you do and diversity is the makeup of what a person is like e.g. their race and gender.  She told me that her family is very close and they follow a lot of traditions in their culture like their clothing and the family celebrations.  In our conversation the family system theory was evident in that the roles and hierarchies are in place and respected in her culture.  She stated that her father was a strong head figure in the family and when he said to do it, they willing obeyed.  She is very proud of her culture background.

     Tamika who has a West Indies mother that was raised in Charleston, SC and a father who has Hispanic roots.  Also Tamika is married to a Hispanic.  She herself looks Hispanic and I was surprised when I first met her mother who has very dark skin.  I expected for both of her parents to be Hispanic.  Her answer to what does culture mean to her was "all the ways that people live" and what diversity was "differences".  She further explained that her mother is a great cook and uses "creole" cooking.  She said that her parents are different but she thinks that her father gave into her mother's culture because he likes spicy food and rarely eats Mexican foods.  In her family now with her husband, they speak both English and Hispanic with their children.  She wants to keep the cultural continuity within her own family.

     From my conversations with the three people, I don't feel that anything that I have studied thus far has been omitted.  Each one had diverse backgrounds but all were proud of their family cultures.  The conversation with them has influenced me to be respectful of each person's culture and to be proud of my own culture.  As each one defined what culture and diversity meant to them, it also gave them the opportunity to think more in-depth about how culture and diversity incorporates their lives.  There are differences between the cultures and how we look at it and respond to it that gives us new opportunities to learn from each other.

My Family Culture

     If a major catastrophe happened in the United States and I had to evacuate to another country I would take my Bible, my children's baby picture books, and my Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 scrapebook.
     Everytime I travel, I always take my Bible with me and if I had to go to another country, it would definately be in my poession.  I could read it when I felt lonely or discouraged to keep me from concentrating on my home.  The Bible is a part of my family culture because my parents instilled a belief in God when I was young and it has and will always be a part of my family whether I am in the US or another country.
     I love my children and each of them have a baby book that contains pictures of them when they were babies up to the age of 5.  My mother is a picture fanatic and I am also.  Now that my children are all grown up, I love looking at their baby pictures and if I am in another country the pictures will also give me a warm sense of home.
     Since I was 11 years old I started collecting pictures and memorabilia's of the Jackson 5 and I still have the scrapebook today and cherish it even more now that Michael Jackson has died.  When I was little I would always say that if my house was in a fire, the first thing I would grab is my Michael Jackson book and albums.  I still feel the same way today.
     If I had to give up 2 items and keep 1 it would be the Bible because I know God will bless me to get more than what I lost and I would need to read His word to remind me.  Memories will always last forever.  What I gained from this weeks lesson on family culture is that it gives me a sense of connections where I feel comfortable when I am around familiar items or surroundings (Laureate Education, Inc. 2011).  I am glad that I have family values (the Bible) and family memories that I can have with me no matter where I live.

Resource:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Family Cultures: Dynamic Interactions

When I think of Research

The insights that I have gained about research is the whole process of how to do research.  Since I have been out of school for almost 30 years, I needed a refresher course on the research process.  During this course the first thing that helped me was to get the information on how to read research articles and to learn the legitmate articles from the ones that are not.  By knowing what sites to go to and what articles that are credible will help a researcher to develop ethics in their work.  Ethics was another insight that I gained in this course also.  I believe that when you involve children in research, ethics should be of high importance.  With all that I have gained on research, I still am not as confident doing research but I know as I continue to proceed in this field of early childhood, I will be doing research and my confidence will build each time I do so.

In regards to planning, designing, and conducting research, I was reminded about what a hypothesis is and how to formulate it to my research question.  Also with validity, I got an understanding of triangulations and how the four types are used in research.  I think the use of methodological triangulations would be used most often in research with children because the different ways that the researcher will use to get valide data.  In our textbook the chapter on "Interviewing young children" was very helpful in knowing the challenges when conducting an interview.  How to setup the setting, how to engage the children in dialogue, and how to build a relationship with children in the process.  But the main point is to be respectful to the children and their family.

The challenge that I encounter in this research course is the research question that I chose.  Although it may seem to some people that it should not be a question to research, I feel that it is of great importance to children that the adults that care for them, understand them and not categorize them.  Their are a lot of myths and terminology that are in early childhood and as caregivers move to become educators of early childhood, they need to understand the emotional needs of infants.  So, I will continue my pursuit to the question, "can infants be spoiled".  I am a early childhood professional who is in the field working daily with teachers and I hear the terms that are used and just giving them my opinion is not enough, they need tangible proof and understanding.  I think that is what research is all about - a tool to find out about things.

Resource:
Naughton, G.M., Rolfe, S.A., Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory & Practice. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill Co.

Lepuschitz, J.K. (2011). A practical guide to reading research articles.  Laureate Education Inc., Baltimore, MD

Ormondroyd, J., Engle, E., & Cosgrave, T. (2009) Critically analyzing information sources. Cornell University Library

Research Around the World

I chose to look at the website from the Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Sahara Africa because I wanted to find out about early childhood in Africa.  During my last course the students were to get in contact with a professional from another country to get information on early childhood but I never received a response from anyone but I am always curious about Africa. 

On this particular website there were several research papers written by early childhood students in a master's program who had done research in various countries in Africa.  A paper from Susan Sabaa was written about "Development of a Model Framework for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in their Early Years in Ghana" (2004).  The paper researched on infants and how secure they are in the bonding process and how they develop while in institutional care - orphanage.  She stated that some do well who have the survival resilence and most are in an orphanage because of HIV/AIDS.  Her work gave me insight in the plight of children in Ghana and those who are in any type of instituition where bonding between infants and adults is limited.  Infants need to be able to have consistant caring and attachment support to develope.

Another research paper that I looked at was by Asha Mohammed Ahmed who wrote "Building Community Leadership for Quality Sustainability in Madrasa Preschools: The Case of Madras Preschools Post Graduation Support" (2003) in Tanzania.  The paper was on how Community Resource Teams (CRT) help support capacity building in poor communities to establish quality preschools. The paper's objective was to show how the training and monitoring of the CRT's helped in getting supplies to the community in the building project of the Madras Preschools and helping the communities take ownership of the projects and the completion of the preschools.  In America it is easy to build a preschool but in countries like Tanzania, quality preschool is not found and I am glad to know that the Madras Preschools are building schools in the areas that have limited early childhood access.

This website had research papers that were done in Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Eritrea.  I did not look at all of these research papers but I do plan to go back and review them in the future.

Resource:
http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Research that benefits children and families

I love reading articles from Childcare Exchange and the May/June 2011 issue had an article by Deb Curtis (one of my favorite article writers) entitled "Seeing children do more with less".  It was an article that spoke about children playing with toys and the Pikler Institute in Budapest, Hungary view on how children play.  In America, parents spend thousands of dollars each year on children's toys (especially at Christmas) but the Pickler Institute has documented 75 way that babies use their hands for play.  American parents and early childhood programs think that children have to have toys in their hands to play with or educational toys to manipulate but in the article, Deb Curtis gives two scenerios of children playing with boxes - a fourteen-month-old and a five-year old found more enjoyment out of boxes than a $20 toy. 

This brought to my mind when my son was three and at Christmas I bought him a Hot Wheel race set with the loops and long roads.  I set it up and he played with it for about 5 minutes and then took the race cars and went and played with them with his old race cars in an old Easter egg bucket.  He enjoyed that old bucket better than the race car set.  I tell toddler teachers that young children enjoy big boxes better than anything else in the room.  This past week they got a box from the kitchen and made a car out of it and the children had the best time with it.  It did not cost a lot of money to make them happy.

With the Pickler Institute research, they found that children learn by using their hands, a teacher just have to understand the importance of providing activities that children can manipulate on their own and usually it is the less instead of the more.  I hope my colleagues will enjoy the article also.

Reference:
Curtis, D. (2011). Seeing children do more with less. Exchange, 33(3). pp84-87.

The Pickler Institute. www.pickler.org

My Personal Research Journey

The research topic that I have chosen is "The Social and Emotional Connections of Infants in Relationship with Adults".  I chose this because everything begins in infancy and the social connections that infants have with adults and the emotional attachments that they have with adults reflect how they will respond to others in life and it sets the course of their character.  This intrigues me because as I work with infant teachers, I find that they struggle with infants who constantly cry and the teachers resolution is "they are spoiled and want too much attention".  I want to find out if infants can get spoiled.  Most articles that I have read states that they do not but I want to be able to provide teachers with concrete evidence or at least tangible evidence that they will accept and respect.

If any of my colleagues have any literature or books or websites that will be helpful on this subject please share with me.  Also, give me your opinion or tell me about your experience with your own infant.  I look forward to our dialogue.

Reflection on International Contacts

Through our blog assingments we were asked to make contact with two international professionals in the field of early childhood education.  I made 3 contacts to international professionals and did not receive a response from anyone.  I was really looking forward to hearing from someone in South Africa to find out how childcare is being met in that country.  I am not sure if the international contacts that we were given are aware that students would be contacting them to get information.  I feel that it should have been setup prior to our assignment and it would have been easier to communicate with them.

Although I did not make contact with an international professional, I did enjoy reading the post from my colleagues who did get information.  By reading their post, it gave me a pictorial of what is happening in their country.  But I also gained valuable information from the alternate path of international contact.  By reading about China's poverty and to get information on the World Conference that was held in Russia in 2010 that focused on poverty and hunger, gave me a better understanding of globally what is being done to help children that are in poverty. 

A lot of times we get caught up in what is happening here in America and forget that all children around the world is suffering and the need for better early childhood education is needed.  This assignment opened my eyes and gave me the opportunity to learn about other countries and how they are focusing on young children.  I look forward to learning more about global initiatives and how I can be a part of it as I pursue my goal of becoming a professional in the field.

Getting to know your international contacts - Part 3 Alternate

Once again since I have not made contact with an international educator I went to the UNESCO website where I found some interesting things that the organization is involved in in relations to early childhood.  Since one of my professional goals is professional development, I looked at articles that were reflective of my goal.

1) The first World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education took place in Moscow, Russia Federation on September 27-29, 2010.  They addressed the topic of every child getting a good start in life.  They looked at how to prepare children to transition from home to school and how to develop in society.  UNESCO and the City of Moscow sponsored the conference where over 1,000 participants attended.

2) On June 24-25, 2010 in Moscow, Russian Federation there was an international conference that addressed developing teacher training policies.  Education ministries (I like that title) from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the Russian Federation have been invited.  The conference gave those countries ideas and tools to help plan and manage ECCE programs especially those for disadvantage groups.  The conference lead into the World Conference held in September 2010.

3) The UNESCO Policy Brief on Early Childhood (Oct. 2004) gave information on the two core professions - Teacher and pedagogue.  In New Zealand, Spain, and Sweden the teacher is the core profession but in other Nordic countries, pedagogue are the core professionals.  Pedagogy is a tradition in Continental Europe where they address the whole child.  Sweden in 2001 changed the workforce by bringing the three education professions together ( pre-school, school teacher, and pedagogue).  They are now considerd teachers working with children from birth - 19 yrs old.  Danish pedagogues are not school teachers but professionals who work with all children.  All countries with core professions have assistants working with early childhood services.  Workers in early childhood services in all countries have the challenge of changing of the core profession being looked at as a subsitute mother, looked upon as less socially valued (even with a higher education), and the comparable pay and conditions of core profession to those school teachers.

It was enlightening to find that throughout our world we all have the same challenges on what is best for our children and how early childhood educators can best help all children have an advantage in life.

Reference:
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood

Moss, P. (2004). The Early Childhood Workforce in 'Developed' Countries: Basic Structures and Education. UNESCO Policy Brief on Early Childhood. Thomas Coram Reserach Unit Institute of Education University of London.

Sharing Resources

I viewed the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) Child Health Talk Spring issue.  There was an article entitled "How can children be obese and hungry at the same time?".  In 2001 13% of children between 2-18 years old were considered overweight.  Since then the word "overweight" has been changed to "obese" and the number has increased from 13% to 17%.  For black children who are obese the numbers are 22.7% for girls and 17.3% for boys.

Along with obesity is the rise of food insecurity - households that struggle to put food on the table.  About 35% of Africian-American children families are struggling to put and keep food on the table.  Dr. Bill Deitz was the first person to explore obesity and in 1995 had a publication that offered a theory that "the body's desire to hold onto calories in times of plendty in anticipation of upcoming scarcity and/or the possible over-reliance on higher calorie foods that are often cheaper".  Both hunger and obseity can be a result of low-income and not living in an area where healthy foods are available.  Fast-food chain are plentous but offer little nutrition. 

The article enlighten me that there is a call to look closely at low-income children and their dietary needs that I am providing them at my school.  We have started a vegetable garden so that children can watch vegetable grow and have the ability to eat their harvest.  Fresh fruits and vegetables may not be available at home daily but we can provide the means instead of can goods that will help in a healthier body and hopefully help reduce obesity. I really enjoyed the articel and would recommend to others to read.

Resource:
Askew, W.L. (2011). How can children be obese and hungry at the same time? Child Health Talk. retrieved from http://www.nbcdi.org/ on April 9, 2011

International Contact - Part 2

I am sorry to say that I still have not heard from an international contact but I am happy to report from the Global Initative from Harvard University.

Un Buen Comienzo (A Good Start) is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile to improve the quality of early childhood education through teacher professional development.  I like the name of this project because when teachers provide "a good start" for young children, they are setting a foundation for success in their lives.  Their goal is to have the project in 60 schools and they currently have international actors and actresses to work in the project for a two year commitment.  The Center on the Developing Child provides some funds for the project.

Jack Shonkoff, the director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was the keynote speaker at the first World Conference on Early Child Care and Education which convened in Moscow, Russia on Sept. 2010.  He spoke about brain science in relations to child development. The conference focus was on meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals that were setup in 2000.  The goals consisted of ending poverty and hunger, every child worldwide has the opportunity to complete a primary education, and reducing child mortality.  Director Shonkoff spoke about what "toxic stress" can do to the developing brain and how early life experiences can affect lifelong health problems.

The last insight I want to mention was the intergrated international approach to child survival, health, and development in early childhood that the Center on the Developing Child launched as the Global Children's Initiative.  They want to gather researchers and practitioners from around the world to focus on:
 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
I think this initative will help early childhood professionals to put more focus on the whole child and how globally working together to improve the health and well-being of all children around the world.

References:
Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),

Sharing Web Resource

My organization, The National Black Child Development Institute.

I still have not received any information about my subscription to their newsletter so I re-submitted my information.  However I did go to their website for this assignment and read their lastest news information which was their CEO, Carol Brunson Day attended a speech at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, VA with President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  She reported that President Obama expressed his support for education at the federal level and that he does not support any cuts to education funding.  He stated that he "wants every child in this country to head back to school in the fall knowing that their education is America's priority".

It is wonderful to know that we have a president that believes in education and the importance to having funds to meet a quality education for America's children.  I trust and believe that our president listens to his economic advisors and research scientist in regard to education and take their advise and research and then put a plan together that will benefit our children.  As being an educator himself as well as a father, he understands the importance of a quality education and that is why he has proposed an extensive budget for early care education.

NBCDI will be working to ensure that our country prioritize strategies that promote the elimination of achievement gaps and focus on:  effective leadership, culturally & linguistically responsive assessments, parent & family engagement, and supportive transitions for children and families.

I am excited about the commitment by NBCDI, President Obama, and Secretary Duncan.

Resource:
NBCDI (2011). "NBCDI CEO attends President's speech on education".  Retrieved from http://nbcdi.org/blog/2011/03/14/.

International Contact - Part 1

I e-mailed my two chosen international contacts again but was unable to get a response from them.  My goal is by the next assignment to be in contact with an international professional.

I did go to the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre website and received information on China in regards to poverty.  What I learned was that in 2001, 5% of China's population lived the poverty line for the national average.  In the urban areas, between 15-31 million people live in poverty.  The poverty decline has been found due to the slow economic growth and the transition of social status.  4.2 million children live in poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantage conditions (health and education).  In Beijing, China, 75% of poor families could not afford the educational cost for children and 50% of poor families in Shanghai had no medical insurance because they could not afford it.

With China being a large nation like the U.S., they are confronted with poverty issues also.  The children are the ones who suffer the most from the lack of available resources and support to assist parents who are working but unable to meet the needs fully for their families.  We always see the good parts of China on the news but not always the  poverty locations.  Just like most other country's see the U.S. as a rich, vibrant country but they don't realize that we have a large portion of homeless families or poverty level families here in the United States.

Resource:
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

Web Resources

I subscribed to the National Black Child Development Institute newsletter:
http://nbcdi.org/support/sign-up-for-nbcdi-newsletters/

I have not received any information from the newsletter and on the NBCDI website the information about the newsletter was not available.  I was able to go to their publication "Child Health Talk" and get information.

"Child Health Talk" is a quarterly publication that provides a range of information for families with young children on topics related to health and well being.
The Winter 2011 issue featured an article, "On the Ground ...Milwaukee, Wisconsin".  The article gave information that 60% of families live below poverty level in Metcalfe Park compared to other areas in Milwaukee.  BCDI, the Hospital of Wisconsin, and the Next Door Foundation have decided to take health of the children into their hands.  The Next Door Foundation believes that "a child who isn't healthy can't learn".  They are comitted to providing dental health to the children because out of 111,000 medicaid children, only 21,000 have ever received a dental exam.  Along with Wal-Mart, NBCDI is developing a training DVD for healthy living preschool curriculum.  "My Little World, Vol 1 - A Day in Preschool" is a music-based educational tool designed to engage children and early childhood educators in activities that provide academic enrichments, cultural diversity, and physical activity.

I am looking forward to reading more articles from "Child Health Talk" and the NBCDI newsletter to learn more about what is going on with children and new issues and trends as it relates to early childhood education.

Resource:
National Black Child Development Institute. Child Health Talk, Winter 2011. "On The Ground in...Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Expanding Resources

I e-mailed two professionals, one in South Africa and one in the Netherlands.  I am patiently waiting for them to respond back to me.  As a professional, I know it takes a minute to go through all their e-mails but I am looking forward to corresponding with them.

I looked at a few early childhood websites and chose the National Black Child Development Institute because of their mission:  to improve and advance the lives of black children and their families through advocacy and education.  I feel that our black children are not getting all that they need to prepare for their future and I want to know more about what this organization is doing and how I can be a part of it to help make changes in the lives of our most vulnerable children.

My Supports

I like this topic for a blog because it is important for me to sit back and think about "my support" system that motivates and keep me pursuing my goal.  My daughter, Tamika is my biggest supporter.  She is the one who kept encouraging me to go back to school and get my master's degree.  Since it has been almost 30 years since I was in college, she has helped me to get my focus back on how to write papers and do research.  When I received my first grade, she was the first person I called to brag about it and she was happy and told me that she was proud of me.  We are now in a competition mode of whose grade point average will be higher.  My husband and my two other children are also supportive also.

I also have the support of my co-workers who are pursuing their higher education also.  They are working on their undergraduate degree and because I am their boss, I felt that I should set an example by pursuing my masters degree to motivate them to continue towards a graduate degree also.  We all are working together sharing the knowledge of what we are learning about early childhood.  I am confident now that if they have a question about their class, I can assist them by giving them more in depth knowledge on the subject.  It would be difficult if I did not have their support and also if they did not have my support.  We have built a system of support with a common goal - the children.  We realize that even during difficult times, we still press toward our goal of getting new insights that will help us be effective in providing quality early childhood education.

A specific challenge that I imagine is standing before an audience of over 500 people and speaking to them about the importance of a quality early childhood education.  I would need to have the confidence that I would be able to motivate my audience that they would want more information on my subject and they would be moved by my compassion to seek quality education for young children.  I would need to know that my family was supporting me during my speaking engagement by being in the audience.  I would also need to have the support of my colleagues that they believe that I was the best person to speak on the subject of quality early childhood education.  After speaking to a large crowd, I would be physically drained and the support of a loving husband to know that I would need rest and rejuvenation would be all important.  Someday, the challenge will be a reality.

My Connections to Play 2

I just figured out how to post my other 2 pictures of my favorite childhood play items.  I hope you enjoyed them also.

My Connections to Play

Quotes:
Children just don't fit into a "to do" list very well.... It takes time to introduce them to good books, it takes time to fly kites and play ball and put together jigsaw puzzles.  It takes time to listen. 
Dr. James Dobson

Only a child can see any value in rain puddles.  Author unknown

I loved my childhood.  Even though we did not have a lot of money, my parents allowed me to play freely and to provide me with toys that I truly wanted like my beloved Barbie dolls.  I had about 10 Barbie dolls that included Barbie, Ken, Midge, Christy (I think that was her name) and a lot of accessories for them.  But my best Christmas gift that I received was my Susie Homemaker stove and washer.  I spent that whole day cooking on a stove where the eyes would turn red and washing my doll clothes on the washer where you put water in it and then let it drain out through the black rubber hose.  I was just like mom and I believe my dad was proud to help put my Susie Homemaker items together.

Today, children are just as proud of their toys as I was 40 years ago.  They find pleasure in playing with toys that make noise and toys that allow them to be just like mom and dad.  The only difference may be that children don't have the opportunity to play with their toys for a long period of time because they are going places with their parents on the weekend or they get home late during the week and have to go to bed.  When I played with my Barbie dolls, it would take me all morning to set up my play area and all evening to clean up from my play.  Children today may only have an hour or two to play with their toys.  I want to give children the love of play so when they get "50 something", they will still have wonderful memories of their childhood play.

Child Developmen and Public Health

Good nutrition in the early years of a child is crucial for human growth and development.  Malnutrition affect millions of children and a third of children under the age of 5 die in underdeveloped countries due to the lack of adequate nutrients.  This topic is important to me because if children do not receive meals that are nutritional and have adequate water supply, it will affect how their cognitive and physical being develops.

Since the earthquake in Haiti back in January of 2010, the people of Haiti especially the children, had to be very concern about food and water.  Organizations like UNICEF and the Haiti Nutrition Project have aided the country in providing food and also teaching the people of Haiti about good health practices.  Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants and young children instead of using powdered formula.  They are also being educated on inappropriate breastmilk subsititute.  With the outbreak of cholera, a bigger concern for good health and nutrition is present.

In my future work with children, I will continue to promote healthy food for young children and work with organizations to help in the prevention of malnutrition in our country and other parts of the world.