Final Blog Assignment

Over the course I have visited various international website and found a great wealth of information pertaining to children and their families. On some instances I was delighted to learn about other’s role in ensuring the well being of children and on the other hand some issues disappointed me. Since studying about the issues that other encounter it has made me very reluctant and I no longer take small things for granted. I’m very grateful for what I have and I always hope for the best for the many of children that will cross my path.

I continued to follow the issues presented from the Child Defense Fund. This organization has a variety of resources that are available for children and families who live in poverty. Some of the most vulnerable people lack inaccessible resources and could find the CDF organization very beneficial to them. As a future educator I would recommend the website to my colleagues so that they can share the resources with their students and families. Overall that drew me into this site was CDF concern to end poverty. Not all children are reluctant to come from good environments with many opportunities. Childhood poverty is on the rise. It is important that we as educators embrace children struggles and help them overcome their obstacles in any way(s) possible so that we can ensure that they excel while in the classroom.

As an educator I plan to provide professional assistance with resources to equip children for success in their adult life. I hope to provide all children with quality learning experiences despite of their circumstances. I hope to have a positive impact on the lives of all children and will continue to be an advocate for those children who live in poverty. My goal is to provide alternative approaches, skills for life, and decision making, which will enable children to ultimately become productive citizens of society.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

I was unable to make contact with an international early childhood professional, so I chose to focus on issues related to international early childhood education on UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education web page.

When reviewing the “Access” section on the web page, I was amazed to see how UNESCO showed an effective effort to ensure that children from poor families had access to early childhood care. “Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favour of the poor” (Unesco, 2011). Providing better opportunities to the poor is always a positive measure as children and families can have access to inaccessible resources. “Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality” (Unesco, 2011).

Another important aspect that grasps my attention was how UNESCO promotes Indigenous Education. It is important that we provide good educational learning experiences from those children and families that come from diverse backgrounds. “Organization presented UNESCO’s work on languages and contributed to the thematic debates on languages at the Expert Group meeting on Indigenous Languages organized by the Forum” (Unesco, 2011). As I gain experience as an educator, it is my goal to provide children and families from diverse backgrounds with quality learning experiences as if they are in their native environment. Providing an environment that supports culturally and linguistic children allows children and families to feel comfortable in the classroom as they transition from another region.

Overall I have gained a wealth of information that will help me as I grow professionally. Unesco supportive effort to working with those children with HIV/Aids can help them get the support, treatment, and guidance that they need. “UNESCO supports responses to HIV and AIDS that are inclusive and sensitive to the needs and issues of all of the population, but with particular attention to key populations especially vulnerable to HIV and young people in school settings” (Unesco, 2011).  Children are at risk to airborne diseases on a daily basis due to germs that are passed from other children. Just knowing that children can come to school and receive adequate education despite of their health makes me smile. I hope that all school across the State provides HIV/Aids education so that children can come to school and fit in with the general population. It can also bring awareness to those children who are not affected by HIV/Aids.

Reference:

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

Sharing Web Resources

While browsing the Child Defense Fund Website, I clicked on the link “Policy Priorities”. Under this link the main focus addresses how elected officials can put an end to ongoing issues to help children prepare for a brighter future.  “Too many children live in poverty and suffer from preventable illness, neglect, abuse, inadequate education and violence” (Child Defense Fund, 2011).  As stated before poverty can have a major impact on the child’s development. As educators we should put forward every effort to ensure that our children needs are met in and outside the classroom so that their circumstances do not hinder them from learning.  Some of the main points to resolve these ongoing issues that our children face are:

·          End child poverty; (Child Defense Fund, 2011).

·         Guarantee every child and pregnant woman comprehensive health and mental health coverage and services; (Child Defense Fund, 2011

·         Protect every child from abuse and neglect and connect them to caring permanent families; (Child Defense Fund, 2011

·         Provide high quality early childhood care and development programs for all children; (Child Defense Fund, 2011

·         Ensure every child can read at grade level by fourth grade and guarantee quality education through high school graduation; and (Child Defense Fund, 2011

·         Stop the criminalization of children at increasingly younger ages and invest in prevention and early intervention. (Child Defense Fund, 2011)

One e-newsletter that raised my concern spoke about the cutbacks that will affect our children. It related to the current issues regarding the government shutdown. “We could face a government shut down and devastating budget cuts for our children and families are looming” (Child Defense Fund, 2011).  Due to the government shutdown there will be:

• 218,000 children would lose Head Start; 16,000 classrooms would close and 55,000 jobs would be lost. (Child Defense Fund, 2011).
• 11 million children and adults could be denied health care from Community Health Centers. (Child Defense Fund, 2011)
• Many of the 9.4 million low-income college students would have their Pell Grants eliminated or severely reduced. (Child Defense Fund, 2011)
• Cuts are also expected to be announced soon in Medicaid, Food Stamps and other lifelines for poor children and families. (Child Defense Fund, 2011).

The information that I gathered from the Child Defense Fund has frustrated me because of the irrational choices that our government officials are making. They are not thinking about the long-term effects that children and families would encounter. As a future educator I am very concerned because if the government does not care about the well-being of children, who do we have on our side. Educators need support in order for us to be motivated to teach with the ongoing issues that we know would affect our children. At this point when I think of poverty I have come to the conclusion that it will never end. It saddens me to know that no matter what we do to ensure that our children have the best education experiences, there is a fight that come with it. I will not be defeated before giving it a try. I will go the extra mile and do whatever it takes for the well being of children.

Resources:

Children Defense Fund

http://www.childrensdefense.org/ 

http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=23001.0&dlv_id=22923

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

As I reviewed the Global Children’s Initiative” website, I found a lot of useful information that we as educators can use when working with children. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University focuses on approving the life of many children within the United Stated and other parts of the world.  ‘The Center on the Developing Child was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it provides opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship” (Harvard University, 2011).

The Center of Developing child is committed to:

• “building a multi-disciplinary science of health, learning, and behavior to elucidate causal mechanisms that explain the early roots of lifelong impairments” (Harvard University, 2011)
• “advancing our understanding of how to reduce preventable disparities in well-being through the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovative program and practice models” (Harvard University, 2011)
• “catalyzing the formulation and implementation of effective, science-based policies through strategic relationships and enhanced capacity for knowledge transfer; and” “(Harvard University, 2011)
• “preparing future and current leaders to make science-based policy decisions that advance the healthy development of children, families, and communities and bring high returns to all of society” (Harvard University, 2011)

Another important issue that I found on the website was about fostering a healthy development for children. It is very important to foster a healthy development for children so that they are deterred from stressful situation that can take their focus away from learning. It is my desire as an educator to provide an environment that is safe, supports risk taking, and invites sharing of ideas. Toxic stress can hinder the child’s brain development. In order to ensure that the child reach their fullest potential. it is important to ask children about ant issues that they maybe encountering. “Toxic stress can occur when a child experiences strong, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity—such as physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, caregiver substance abuse or mental illness, exposure to violence, and/or the accumulated burdens of family economic hardship” (Harvard University, 2011). The environment that a child is in can impact their health and well being. Children are unique individuals who need a secure, caring, and stimulating environment in which to grow and nature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. Providing a child with a safe environment will allow each child to blossom and grow.

Additional information about issues of equity and excellence that I gained from the Global Children Initiative is the “commitment to work collaboratively across disciplines and institutions, drawing together the best and most creative expertise available to achieve the Initiative’s goals” (Harvard University, 2011). Global Children Program at Harvard will focus on three strategic areas:

• “reframing the discourse around child health and development in the global policy arena by educating high-level decision-makers about the underlying science of learning, behavior, and health, beginning in the earliest years of life” (Harvard University, 2011)
• “supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration projects to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track; and” (Harvard University, 2011)
• “building leadership capacity in child development research and policy—focused on both individuals and institutions—in low- and middle-income countries to increase the number and influence of diverse voices and perspectives that are contributing to the growing global movement on behalf of young children” (Harvard University, 2011)

Retrieved April 2, 2011from: (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)