Sharing Web Resources

I am exploring the National Black Child Development Institute. The section under Early Care and Education is relevant to my professional development because their focus is on teaching teachers how to develop and strengthen relationships with parents and the community.  It’s very important to build relationships with parents and the community.  This will help you understand the children and the families you’re working with.  The statement that made me think about an issue in new ways is the publication of the Calendar of Children.  The 2016 calendar, for the first time in NBCDI history, features children and adults. This very special edition pays tribute to the fathers, uncles, brothers and caregivers who love and support Black children every day.  I think this calendar is awesome because we don’t get to see male role models often. A lot of African American males don’t have male role models in their life. It was refreshing to see this calendar.  There was an article in the newsletter that showed politicians supporting early childhood education. Black Child Development Institute-Seattle and their partners recently sponsored a National African American Parent Involvement Day event at South Shore PK-8 School. More than 200 black men turned out to greet the children as they arrived at the school. The men formed a line in front of the school and welcomed the students with high-fives and cheers of encouragement. The goal was to dispel the negative stereotypes of black men by showing students examples of successful Black politicians, police officers and professors. This website is very informative. It helps shed some light on some of the stereotypes African American children face.  I am looking forward to news updates that will happen over the next few weeks.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I haven't received any responses back from my other contacts. However, I reached out to a friend who is teaching in Korea.  I am waiting on a response from her. She is on vacation in South Africa. She said she would respond once she returned.  She has been in Korea bout 6 years. I hope she has gained enough knowledge about the education field in that country to help me.

The UNICEF is working hard to understand how and why poverty happens.  Adults in poverty usually don't last as long as children in poverty.  In Guyana they work with national programs to improve the situation and opportunities of children. They also support projects in different parts of the country that protect children wherever exclusion, inequality and poverty are more prevalent. The insights I learned are they are working hard to eliminate poverty and other stressors/barriers that affects families. They are also taking extra steps to help children and their families progress in that country.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I would like to learn more about is the National Black Child Development Institute. Their website is www.nbcdi.org. The National Black Child Development Institute's focus is to improve the quality of life for black children and their families through education and advocacy.

Establishing Professional Contacts

Part 1

The website for The Global Alliance of NAEYC wouldn't come up. The website stated that I was not authorized to access this page.  The website for UNICEF worked with no problem.  I decided to contact an early childhood professional located in Guyana and Lebanon. I choose these countries because my daughter is a girl scout and we used both of these countries for World Thinking Day.  World Thinking Day is a day where girl scouts from all over the world get together to celebrate girl scouts in other countries.  Each troop has to research the country and present information about the country. This is a good way to learn about these countries and sample different food from those countries. I have sent emails to the email provided on the website.  I am hoping to hear back from someone soon.

Part 2

The early childhood organization website I decided to explore is the National Black Child Development Institute.  I am interested in learning more about this organization.  I am looking forward to seeing how they are working to tackle the issues in the African American community.