Final Blog Assignment

Although I was not successful in establishing contact with an international early childhood professional, I did explore some websites whereby I was able to still share my professional growth with my instructor as well as my colleagues. I learned a great deal as well as enhanced my knowledge of the early childhood field from exploring the following websites: http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/; http://www.worldbank.org and http://www.hcz.org,

I learned from an article that I read about a girl wanting to stay home and go to school. The parent wanted her to leave school and work because the family was a family of poverty .The girl threaten to take her life, so with the help of the school administration ,they were able to get funding  from worldbank to pay for the child to go to school and stay home. Ten dollars does not seem like much, but to this family it is just like winning the lottery. Poverty is a very deep issue in the international countries.

I learned that the international early childhood field is just as strong if not stronger; they go above and beyond to make sure that children are in quality program, just as we do here in the United Stated.

I learned that education is universally recognized as one of the most fundamental building blocks for human development and poverty reduction.

My one goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations would be to keep the line of communication open with our international contacts, with our field being so diverse, our paths will inevitably crossed again at some point in our lives. It would also be interesting to see how issues and trends will change over the year, which is another reason I feel we should keep in touch.     

As we come to the end of this course, I want to first Thank my instructor for her weekly guidance throughout this course. In addition, to all my colleagues, thank you to those of you who challenged me during our weekly group discussions, my wish is that as you continue on your professional path you will continue to be advocates for all children and be very successful in the early childhood field.

Sandra McNair

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

I have continue to look at the different links on the international website that I have been using and I am always finding great information  that I can share with the followers of my blog.

This article about Early Childhood Development gives the best definition of what our children must have to be school ready. I have learned just how important our jobs are as a teacher working with children in the early childcare setting. In reading I like the way, they explain school readiness. I understand now why some students become dropouts or have problems that place them in the special education classes or how they may repeat their grades. Please check out the article. Here is a small piece that I would like to share.

Early Child Development is the first and essential step toward achieving primary school completion. Learning begins at birth, if not before. It does not wait for kindergarten or primary school. It develops in relation to broad environmental forces. Both the content of learning and learning behaviors are influenced by the immediate surroundings of a child’s family, home, and community. Education begins here – neither in the confines of a school building, nor when a child reaches primary school age (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20264764~menuPK:617557~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html)

I hope you enjoy.

Sandra

Sharing Web Resources

I have looked at some of the links that I did not follow earlier. I did luck up on some very interesting information about how in other countries the girls are paid to stay in school. Their family is very poor and the parents want their children (only girls) to quit school and go work. These girls have said they will kill themselves if they must quit. They have written letters in which the principal has received. To keep these girls from doing that they are paid $10.00 per month to keep them in school.

Nothing is new; more funding is always needed to help. Poverty is a very deep issue. We are blessed.  Some of the things I have read about how the children are suffering just as bad as their families. Lack of health care and food is so hard to swallow. I did not see anything in my website that talked about equity and excellence this week.I had a chance to explore more and some of the things I read broke my heart. I would never have learn about how bad is is for these other countries if not for this blog. World Bank is a great organization because it reaches out to those who need it.

Check out this link if you have time.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,menuPK:282391~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:282386,00.html

http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/education/paying-girls-go-school

Sandra

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

As I look for equity and excellence from my international resources, I found much good information from World Bank. They are working for a World to free poverty.

Yakutia—is a region of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Circle.  In my reading, the demand for preschool slots in Yakutsk city, are high because of the birth rate is on the rise.  12,000 boys and girls on the wait list and it is expect to grow says Sakha Republic Education Minister ,Afanasy S. Vladimirov. Many preschools are shabby—many facilities are without running water or toilets. Preschool managers need training, teachers need to learn more modern and child-focused techniques, and the quality assurance systems need improving. Using best Russian and international examples, they are drawing up concrete proposals to enhance early childhood education, increase access to services and ensure the quality of those services (http://web.worldbank.org/).

 World Bank is coming into play with support for an investment project to help introduce innovation in early childhood development and education. That will include spending wisely through teacher training, new materials and renovated or brand new buildings. It will also include more involvement from parents and the community, as well as broader public sector involvement. The project will fund construction of weatherproof kindergartens and renovate salvageable existing buildings, or reconstruct ones that are too damaged  (http://web.worldbank.org/).

I found it very interesting that due to Yakutia’s high birth rate, they have quite a long waiting list. Whereas although our own population is constantly growing also, our preschool waiting list is nothing compare to theirs. Another interesting fact is their early childhood development and education programs not  only get new materials, but renovated and even sometimes brand new buildings, where as our educators have to come out of their pockets to ensure their classroom have supplies and materials and at times are subject to working in buildings older than their parents which may not be up to certain codes according to the state regulations. When we think about the future leaders we are educating,a person would want the best and not cut corners at any cost.

Reference

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/0,,contentMDK:23065520~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258599,00.html