~Final Blog Assignment~

Allowing, or should I say instructing us to have an international contact for this course is the best thing that could have happened for me. Not only did it bring me aware of the things that are going on in different countries but it also broaden my understanding of issues and trends around the world. There are some things that occur and effect individuals all over the world. I've learned that the early childhood field could use a plenty of good individuals like myself and you all to help pave the way and advocate for the things that are developmentally appropriate for young children.

Secondly, I learned that yes there are differences when comparing the early childhood education field. However, there are similarities as well. I found much too often that quality of education is based on where you in enroll your child and the backgrounds of the caregivers.

Last but not least, my personal development has risen as well. After learning about how children suffer (for different reasons) all over the world, I have become eager to learn about all of the different organizations that provide support and resources for children and their families. I want to one day establish my very own organization giving back to the communities and children that are in need all over the world.

One goal that I have for the early childhood field is a communication network where we assist and help each other. Ms. Bela Frye (My international contact) wants to soon open her very own center so she can give back to the community. If we are in constant contact and interacting with each other, we can find more ways to assist our children and families in need. They may have things in their country that we do to have. We can establish that and bring it and vice versa.

What I;ve learned is that we all have the same goal. We want to provide an environment that is full of love and support for our children helping to become citizen of the world to in return, do the same for others.

Getting To KNow Your International Contact-Part 3

Through email conversation with Ms. Frye, I learned that she is eager to return to school to obtain her BS. She explained that she has a degree but wants to further her knowledge in the early childhood field.

Ms. Frye acknowledged that there are few that are able to attend school due to the many issues that arise in Cape Verde. She mentioned that the better centers are located in the better areas where the quality is exceedingly great compared to the centers in the smaller towns.

Ms. Frye's professional goals are to graduate college and give back to the communities helping children get the necessities that they may be lacking. A major challenge for her is ensuring that she meet the needs of all of the children.

She dreams of one day owner her very own child development center where she goes to the communities to get the children that may not have a way to the center. She explained that while in her care, she will give them plenty of TLC (TENDER, LOVING ,CARE).

~Sharing Web Resources~

As I mentioned earlier, NAEYC is a great website not only for educators but for families as well. As I followed a few links this week, I ran across an area titled, "Next for Young Children". NEXT for Young Children, an NAEYC Professional Development Resource, is published electronically and released five times per year, to accompany each issue of Young Children. NEXT for Young Children can be used in a variety of ways:

• Teacher educators can use them in their classes.
• Staff development specialists can use guides to design workshops.
• Center directors and school principals can use them to plan staff meetings or training sessions.
• Early childhood education students and practitioners may also wish to use guides alone or with colleagues or peers.

There were free samples that you can view for ideas. 

I searched under the topic area. There is information that is essential for parents and teachers. There are topics that provides both parents and caregivers with helpful information is regards to classroom toys and play, summer ideas to keep children abreast, anti-bais education topics to encourage equality amongst all children. An interesting topic for me was Summer Learning for Teachers. This area listed 10 things that provides links to areas that provide information for teachers to review best practices, discover new approaches, and explore strategies to add to your teaching toolbox. Please check it out . The link is provided; http://www.naeyc.org/content/summer-teachers.

The websites strive to ensure that Developmentally Appropriate Practices are encouraged and promoted. With that being said, excellence is geared all around the website.

There is an area that relates to Public policy. This week, I finally took the opportunity to navigate and I found some helpful information that relates to federal development, government links and most importantly, an area that gives information about effective advocacy resources. 

If you have the opportunity, please navigate through the website, It is very helpful. You can educate yourself and others from the information that is provided.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 2

Inequality in Cape Verde Island

After conversing with MS. Bela Frye I realized that there are similarities in her country as to the United States in regards to the different education  inequalities. She spoke about transportation for the children to the school. There are no school buses available therefore the parents have to either walk or drive their children to school or they have the option to use public transportation. Some children that have to walk may not attend school on a regular basis due to the weather. Some children may live too far to walk therefore their children do not have the opportunity to attend school. She mentioned that some children do not have the adequate attire in regards to footwear to be able to walk to school, therefore there are days that are also missed. Last but yet importantly, some parents may not be able to afford to use the public transportation which is also another reason for days missed from school.

Ms. Frye mentioned that schooling is not viewed as a necessity until the first therefore parents were not too concerned about the unattended days of school.

The parents income also plays an important role in education. Some children parents can afford to send them to school whereas others can not. She found that the more wealthier children attended school more often than the poor children. When the less fortunate children did attend school, at time their parents had to remove them because they could not afford it.

Sharing Web Resources

Listed on the NAEYC website is an area that  includes professional development. There is a list of face to face training, online trainings, trainings that are on dvd's, accreditation trainings, conferences, and trainings resources. The one's that pertains closely to my personal and professional development is accreditation and a face to face training that include communication skills for challenging conversations.

The center that I currently am in charge of is about to go through the NAEYC accreditation. There are several things that I need to ensure that I am on top of. The information in this training will give me the essential information that I need to lead my through the accreditation process. On the other hand, being more knowledgeable of effective ways to communicate when put in challenging situations is also a plus. As educators, we will be placed in situations where we will be yelled at and much more. I need to tools to assist me in the more challenging conversations.

A resource that was provided to make me think about an issue in a different way is an article that implies that cultivating good relationships with families can make hard times easier which is from the Young Children column, "Rocking and Rolling: Supporting Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families".
This articles simply state that if educators communicate with parents on an ongoing basis letting them know that they know best but we are here to assist and help them, parents will feel more comfortable talking where more serious issues arise.

The website contains information under heading titled Association Relation that adds to my understanding on how the early childhood field is supported.  It states, "NAEYC and our Affiliates work together to raise the quality of early childhood programs and to continue building the Association as a high-performing organization, strengthened by diversity and inclusion. Affiliates are represented by the Affiliate Council, an NAEYC advisory body providing leadership and guidance to further strengthen the capacity of the NAEYC Affiliate Network" (http://www.naeyc.org/content/about-naeyc).

One insight that I gained this week from exploring the website is the fact that there is an area that includes journal articles and information about educational research. "Voices of Practitioners: Teacher Research in Early Childhood Education is NAEYC's peer-reviewed, professional online journal. Its main purpose is to provide a vehicle for publishing the research of early childhood teachers, who are often underrepresented as authors in the educational research arena. This publication includes informative articles, resources, and tools to promote the participation of early childhood teachers in teacher research.  Voices of Practitioners is published three times a year in February, May, and October" (http://www.naeyc.org/publications/vop/about).

~Getting to Know Your International Partner~

It gives me great pleasures to introduce to you all my international partner, Ms. Bela Frye. She is from Cape Verde, a mother of three (soon to be of five due to her recent engagement), and speaks several languages to include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Wolof, and Cape Verdean Crioule. She served as a Kindergarten teacher for 2. She currently resides in CO Springs.

One thing that I learned from her thus far in regard to poverty is that regardless of location, someone somewhere suffers from similar issues, homelessness and lack of food being in the lead.  She explained to me the housing situation in certain areas of Cape Verde. Some of the houses are cheaply put together making it easy for families to remain sickly. She also explained that having adequate and safe drinking water can be of concern as well.

She directed me to a website to read about a homeless man, an immigrant from Cape Verde being eaten by rats in Portugal. (http://www.asemana.publ.cv/spip.php?article74939&ak=1)

Please do not read if you are as easily sickened as I am. I wish that there was something that we could do to stop world homelessness and hunger. She mentioned that even though she is no longer in the area, she is always staying in touch with family members and friends.

An insight that I gained this week in regard to poverty is that poverty can be both seen and unseen. There are individuals that are living from pay check to pay check trying to survive with limited resources. On the contrary, there are individuals that are on the streets and looking for help from what ever angel possible. I often see commercials asking for money to help aide individuals from other countries. I've learned that we need to make commercials to help aide people that are right here in our own communities as well.

Web Resources

NAEYC

The organization that I chose to examine in great detail is "The National Association for the Education of Young Children" (NAECY) founded in 1926. It is a professional nonprofit organization which promotes excellence in early childhood education. The organization is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.

The link to the website is www.naeyc.org/

A current issue from the web sight that caught my attention is an article, "Reflections from Teachers of Culturally Diverse Children". This article was great considering the topics that we are discussing this week. The article goes into details and explains the importance of teachers being able to teach children from different cultural backgrounds.

Here is a paragraph from the article that I would like to share:

"Beginning the journey toward increased cultural competence (the ability to understand diverse perspectives and appropriately interact with members of other cultures in a variety of situations) requires teachers to rethink their assumptions and consider life’s issues through the lenses of people who come from cultural backgrounds different from their own". ( Michaela W. Colombo, EdD)


Reference
 Colombo, Michaela W. , EdD.  NAECY Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Reflections_Teachers/