I began searching for some of the outside links that I have not yet explored on the sites that I began looking at the beginning of the course and I was unable to find very many links to other websites. There was one link to a childcare center in Northern California which I look into before and posted about. And then there were links to ICRI in other countries so I decided to look at the link to Kenya. http://www.icriafrica.org/ . Their mission in Kenya is to fight poverty and assure health and safety for children and families. As I read more about their mission in Africa I was impressed to read that they are training early childhood providers on appropriate care and education. I think that is definitely an important step in the right direction and something we need to focus on more over here as well. I also noticed a lot of emphasis on proper hygiene and empowering women and children. I think that the biggest insight or trend that really stands out to me in many of these countries is that it seems as though many organizations group early childhood care and hygiene and empowering women and children all together and they work to help each area as a whole. I understand that it is important to teach proper hygiene at an early age so it doesn’t become a continual problem as they get older and I also understand the importance of building self-esteem and empowering others at a young age as well so I suppose it only makes sense that they would group those areas in with early childhood education, however it isn’t something I would have thought about originally.
Getting to Know International Contacts-Part 2
I visited Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/), and had fun exploring the site. I learned about the collaborative project in Chile, “A Good Start.”. This project is focusing on professional development of the teachers in order to provide higher quality programs in language and socioemotional development for children 4 to 6 years of age. Another focus is on improving the attendance as well. In order to achieve this, the project is focusing on deepening family involvement.
I also read about Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, collaboration between Global Children’s Initiative and local experts in Brazil who are all working to use the science of health and development to gain stronger policies and larger investments to benefit children and families.
Overall I learned that locally and globally we all have the same goal, to work together to provide more effective programs that foster a more successful society.
Sharing Web Resources II
The organization that I have been learning more about is called the International Child Resource Institute - http://www.icrichild.org/ . ICRI operates and/or oversees six child care centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The centers provide study and learning exchange opportunities for educators from around the world. As I explored one of the centers websites more, I found that the organization believes in learning through play and provides an environment where play is encouraged. I found this interesting because it is something we were discussing in this week’s posts. As I looked into the organization further I read about Hearts Leap Childcare Program. At Hearts Leap they utilize discovery-based emergent curriculum. Emergent curriculum is about children constructing or directing their own learning process. In order to provide an environment that supports this type of learning, childcare teachers need to be dedicated to observing the children, learning with them and researching. Teachers in this environment need to be well educated and trained, qualities that most early childhood programs can’t afford to pay for when hiring staff.
As I explored the website a bit more I looked at the board of directors to see who is supporting this organization and I found a diverse group of people from former Ambassadors, engineers, lawyers and educators. After reading this week’s learning resources and reading about the board of directors and the staff I realized that it is beneficial for children and families to have the support of not only educators but economists, neuroscientist and politicians as well. A long as the team as a whole is dedicated to the wellbeing of the children and focus on each individual child’s needs rather than monetary gains, everyone can benefit.
International Childhood Poverty
INDIA
400 million of India’s populations are between 0-18 years old. Life for most children in India is very hard. About 62 million children are under the age of five and are malnourished. This is about half of the children in India. 34 percent of newborns in India are significantly underweight. India accounts for 20 percent of the world’s children out of school; it has the largest numbers of working children in the world, third of children below 16 years of age are working. There is a lot of gender discrimination in India and girls' chances of survival are worst than compared with boys. Boys are viewed as more permanent members of the family and ongoing gender discrimination has lead to lower rates of school attendance among girls and less exposure to the outside world, with more emphasis on domestic work.
400 million of India’s populations are between 0-18 years old. Life for most children in India is very hard. About 62 million children are under the age of five and are malnourished. This is about half of the children in India. 34 percent of newborns in India are significantly underweight. India accounts for 20 percent of the world’s children out of school; it has the largest numbers of working children in the world, third of children below 16 years of age are working. There is a lot of gender discrimination in India and girls' chances of survival are worst than compared with boys. Boys are viewed as more permanent members of the family and ongoing gender discrimination has lead to lower rates of school attendance among girls and less exposure to the outside world, with more emphasis on domestic work.
Sharing Web Resources
The organization that I was interested in learning more about is call the International Child Resource Institute - http://www.icrichild.org/
This organization believes that all children deserve access to high quality care and a safe environment free of abuse and violence. They believe in the empowerment of girls and women and that women and children have access to health interventions. Overall, they believe in a community that has access to all the necessary resources to overcome poverty.
ICRI has developed or operated over 300 projects in over 50 countries since 1981. One of the projects I read about involved a partnership with the Brazilian National Movement of Street Children, where ICRI help develop support centers for homeless youth in Brazil. ICRI also developed an international awareness campaign about the violence and brutality against street children. I was really interested in this particular project because my children at my afterschool program have recently been studying Brazil and have created a blog where they are able to communicate with the children in a program in Brazil. The children discuss what life is like here compared to what the children experience in Brazil. Besides Brazil, ICRI has done a lot of work with Nepal, Kenya, India, Norway, Malaysia and many more international countries. They also do work in the U.S. – providing expert consulting and assistance in improving child and family programs.
Expanding Resources
This week I tried to make contact with various early childhood professionals. I was excited to hopefully make contact with at least one international professional in order to get a better insight on the early childhood profession in another area. Unfortunately, I emailed 8 different contacts and received at least 5 undeliverable email notifications and then no response from the others. I was a bit disappointed and it looks like I will need to choose the alternate assignment. I have decided to look into the NAEYC website and International child resource institute site.
My Supports
I am a very independent person and I would like to say that I don’t have much support because I don’t like to rely on others, however that wouldn’t be true. As I thought about my supports I thought about my emotional supports- my father, my sister, my husband, my son. They give me the motivation to keep going when things are challenging and stressful. They support me by listening to me and by making me smile. Without them I wouldn’t have someone to turn to discuss what is going on in my life and get advice. I wouldn’t have someone to laugh with and to make me smile. I wouldn’t have much to look forward to. At work I receive support from some of my directors. They offer to help me when possible and are always positive and that makes my job a bit easier. Without the support of those directors I would have to spend a lot more time at work and away from my family. Without their positive and encouraging words I would feel overwhelmed and I would not enjoy my job. I also have certain physical supports such as money. food, water, shelter and my car. All of these make my life a bit more simple and less stressful (well, when I have them J).
One challenge that I thought about is being blind. I think that I would need a lot of support if I was to be challenged in this way. I would need the support of my family to help me emotionally and physically as well. I would not be able to drive and I wouldn’t be able to continue working at my current job which would cause a lot more stress. .I wouldn’t be able to watch my son play soccer or see his pictures that he draws each day for me. I would need help with picking out clothes and getting dressed. I would need help typing and writing papers. I think that I wouldn’t take the little things for granted, I would realize and appreciate all the support and have an even deeper relationship with them on a different level. It would be difficult to feel comfortable and supported by people that I don’t really know, so without my family to support me, I don’t think I would be able to exist.
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