Sharing Web Resources

There is an abundance of information on The National Black Child Development Institute’s website.  I found some interesting websites under the resources tab.  There are links to different articles that give statistical information from different states.  However, there was one newsletter that I found to be very helpful in understanding equity and excellence in early care in education.  This newsletter also gave some insight to a lot of the issues we were discussing this week.  The newsletter was titled A Call for Change: A Preliminary Blueprint to Improve Educational Excellence and Opportunity for African American Males in Urban Public Schools.  There was a section under Early Childhood Education that outlined the need for early child programming.  According to the Council of Great City Schools, “The need for early childhood programming for African American males is profound and overdue. Yet the nation has not seriously confronted or addressed the inequalities and disparities facing some children from their earliest years—inequities that contribute to negative outcomes over a life-time. The research indicates that early childhood programs can produce substantial benefits for students and that urban schools should:

1. Establish high-quality educational and developmentally appropriate preschool and early childhood programs and supports to which African American males have full access to. These programs should have small teacher-to-child ratios, an age-appropriate curriculum that is integrated across subjects, well-trained teachers in child development, and mechanisms for engaging parents or guardians.

2. Set clear goals for the developmental progress of African American children participating in early childhood programs. Monitor student progress, evaluate the results regularly, and follow students as they move up the grades.

3. Ensure that early childhood programs also connect developmentally to kindergarten and first-through third-grade curriculum, address social, emotional, health, nutritional, and physical development needs of children, and use developmentally appropriate assessments.

4. Consider implementation of home visitation efforts, pre-school centers, and pre-school classes in the schools to address the multiple needs of some African American males.

5. Ensure that teachers and aides in early childhood programs serving African American males are early-childhood certified; have adequate training in child development (particularly as it applies to African American males); understand the effects of negative stereotyping and the appropriate use of assessments, and are compensated commensurate with other teachers. Provide mentors in cases where teachers struggle.

6. Make sure that early childhood programming that serves African American males is staffed with appropriately trained teachers, aides, parent-resource personnel, community liaisons, nurses, psychologists, and social workers. (Early grades could use these supports as well.) Staff compensation should be in line with others in the district.

7. Make certain that pre-school programming includes services starting at age two and spanning two years; that parents or guardians have the opportunity to volunteer and participate in program decisions; that there is a curriculum in place that focuses on language and early literacy and is aligned with the curriculum of later grades, and that these programs offer health screenings, nursing services, and free or reduced price meals.

8. Eliminate the use of out-of-school suspensions to discipline students participating in early

childhood programming.” (Council of the Great City Schools, 2012, p. 4-5)

References

http://www.cgcs.org/cms/lib/DC00001581/Centricity/Domain/88/Blueprint%2082312.pdf

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I am still waiting on a response from my contacts.  I reached out to a friend of mine who is an educator in Korea.  She's not a person who checks her email on a regular basis.  I will attempt to reach her via Skype.  The Global Children's Initiative website was very informative.  I learned a lot of valuable information.  The first new insight I learned was there are three types of responses to stress.   They are positive, tolerable, and toxic.  The second insight I learned was the term resilience in reference to how children overcome hardships.  The third insight I learned was that in the U.S., neglect accounts for 78% of all child maltreatment cases, far more than physical abuse (17%), sexual abuse (9%), and psychological abuse (8%) combined.

References

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/

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.

My Supports

The factors within my environment that are supportive of me are my family, friends, and co-workers.  My husband is my biggest supporter.  We met in 1999, and he has been there for me every since. We don't have any family in Georgia.  All of our family live in Alabama.  That doesn't stop my family from being there for me.  My family will travel to Georgia for any occasion.  If they're not able to travel, they are readily available by phone.  My friends have been very supportive over the years.  I have a lot of friendships that I have developed over the years.  I consider this friends like family.  The friendships I have developed here in Georgia are stronger than some of the ones I grew up with in Alabama.  By me not having family here, a lot of the holidays and special occasions are spent with friends.  These friendships have made me stronger because they taught me to trust people outside of my family.  That was hard for me because as an only child it was hard for me to trust people.  My mom always taught me to take care of myself, and not to depend on anyone.  My co-workers are also very supportive.  The field of education can be stressful at time.  We are overworked and underpaid.  If it wasn't for the teachers and administrators that I have met along the way, I honestly would be in another field.  I have to remember the students are my ultimate reason, and that's what keep me going. I honestly don't think I could exist without these supporters because the encouragement is what keeps me on track.  I would definitely be in a bad space without my husband, family, and friends.  The challenge I chose to imagine was trying to live in another country without any kind of support.  I think this would be hard.  I often think about what my life would be like if I had to raise my children by myself, and I honestly don't know how it would be done.  I look at mothers who have more than two children, and they seem like they balance everything with ease.  My two girls keep me busy so I can't even imagine.  I am thankful to have support.  I know the support and advice is what gets me through each day.