WEEK 8 BLOG

Three consequences that I learned about the international early childhood field is that it is not really cared for as it should be, that it is hard to get funding and advocates for early childhood care in other countries. This has made me thankful for the funding and advocates that we have in the US. Second, that early childcare can be overly expensive in other countries and that I should stop helping parents complain about the price of childcare here. Lastly, education is not promised in some countries while here in America it is almost free, it is free for parents who receive vouchers.

I hope that the current advocates for the early childhood field in other countries come to realize how important the first years are when it comes to molding a child and their development. Being that I never got to speak to any of my contacts, I hope that they were busy trying to make early childhood education mandatory in the countries where it is overlooked.

WEEK 7 BLOG

The quality of education in a country is indicative of its overall development prospects. Over the past two decades building on the momentum generated by educational development goals  have been significant as far as increases in the number of children enrolled in school. Now, with discussions heating up around what the next set of development goals will look like in 2015, it is critical that learning across the education spectrum from early childhood through adolescence and beyond is included as a global priority. Starting early helps children enter primary school prepared to learn. High quality early childhood development opportunities can have long-term impacts on a child’s later success in school.

WEB SOURCES

I found that their is a resource connected to National Head Start Association called The Source for Learning, Inc. It is a non-profit company, develops high quality, technology-based learning resources that enhance learning for children and educators. Empowered by non-profit status, SFL provides resources, such as PreschoolFirst.com, at reduced or no cost to early learning organizations serving underserved children and families nationwide. SFL’s resource PreschoolFirst.com is a research-based, observational assessment system for the early childhood years that interconnects developmental progress, learning activities, and educational decisions. NHSA and SFL work in partnership on special projects that influence the Head Start community and the field of early learning. SFL collaborates with NHSA to produce the popular Family Connections monthly newsletter that NHSA members share with families and parents.

GLOBAL CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE

Zambian Early Childhood Development Project

For nearly half the world’s children especially girls and those from different populations early childhood education is not guaranteed. This is despite the fact that early childhood is the most significant period of development in our lives, establishing the cognitive, emotional, and social foundation upon which we build our futures. By getting children ready for school, we arm them with the tools necessary to build fulfilling lives, become productive citizens, and take their place in the global community.
More than 100 Zambian and international experts will examine ECD best practices that can be implemented not only in Zambia, but globally. UNICEF has a strong partnership with the Ministry of Education in striving towards providing every Zambian child with care, development, and education while they are still very young. UNICEF is also pleased to be working in close collaboration with NGO and CBO partners in supporting the numerous early childhood care development and education centres (ECCDE) that are caring for Zambia’s youngest children.

Sharing Web Resources: NHSA

Developing effective partnerships and goal-directed relationships with families is a critical part of supporting family well-being and children's school readiness. Research shows that children have better outcomes when parents have adequate resources, live in safe home environments that support learning and development, and provide active and intentional learning experiences. These conditions result in children who are more likely to perform better upon entry to kindergarten and show resilience throughout childhood and adolescence. There are over 25,000 family services staff and supervisors and over 7,000 home visitors who work with families in HS and EHS programs. Local agencies have established different qualifications for family services staff and supervisors, ranging from a Masters of Social Work or other graduate degrees to family development credentials (www.nhsa.org). The Defenese industry has used its significant power to try and convince Congress to protect defense spending from cuts and if they succeed, all 1.2 trillion in cuts would be borne by non-defense spending. This would mean that the Head Start cuts would cause over 200,000 children to be dropped from this program.