Week 4

Researching the website Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families I found the section, Early Care and Education very relevant to my current professional development. As a public school early childhood educator I focus my professional development on high-quality early learning. Within this, I look

into developmentally appropriate practices combining play and academics. In the Early Care Education section three main topics are addressed: childcare, family, friend and neighbor care, and school readiness interactive birth to three. “All babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to foster their intellectual, social and emotional development and lay the foundation for later school success” (Zero to Three, 2014).

            On the website under the “public policy” tab there is an article called Working Families Infographic that I believe can be controversial and it also made me think about my working family along with others in a new way. “The White House Summit on Working Families is shining a light on the challenges facing America’s working families as they strive to achieve the American Dream. Part of the American Dream is making a better life for your children, and yet even when parents work full-time, far too many babies are still living in low-income families, the level below which families have difficulty meeting basic needs and are more likely to face hardships” (Zero to Three, 2014).  This article shows pie charts of different percentages of families who meet the median income, how many mothers take time off due to unpaid leave, and when mothers return to work due to money.

            The website has several articles that add to my understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, and/or politicians support the early childhood field. Under the “public policy” tab there are sections labeled,  “infant-toddler policy issues, building early childhood systems, federal policy, and state & community policy. The federal policy section has several articles that add to my understanding such as, 2013 Federal Policy Agenda, Federal Policy Resources, Federal Policy Updates, and Federal Policy Baby Blog.

While researching the public policy information I gained new insight on issues/trends in the early childhood field. I found two links called, National baby facts and State baby facts. I found these links very interesting and spent a lot of time researching my state and learned valuable information. Some of the facts were sad to see and I hope that the more educated people become some of these percentages will change for the better.

Week 3

Thailand

My contact is one of my husband’s co-worker’s wives. She has taught in Thailand for a couple of years. I was not able to get in touch with her before this assignment. In hopes of staying in contact with her for future assignments I researched Thailand’s poverty (I could not get the childhoodpoverty.org site to work).

Thailand’s total population is 67.01 million as of 2013. In 2011 the poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty line was 13.2% of the population. Project Thailand provided statistics from 2010:

6.1 million Thai people live below the national poverty line

1.26% of people live on less than $1 a day and 25.2% live on less than $2 a day

854,000 people are living with HIV and AIDS

2.8 million people are prostitutes (1/3 are thought to be children sold into trade)

Three insights I learned from my research are that the income level in Thailand is upper middle income, that the poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty line has decreased over the last four years (2007-20.9%, 2008-20.5%, 2009-19.1%, 2010-16.9%, 2011-13.2%), and that attendance in early childhood education 2005-2012 of the poorest 20%, 54.8% attend and of the richest 20%, 77.6% attend. I found the early childhood education numbers very interesting. Out of the poorest 20% of people in Thailand half attend early childhood education organizations/programs.

References

The World Bank. (2014). Data-Thailand. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/thailand

Project Thailand. (2010). Poverty Statistics. Retrieved from https://projectthailand.net/2010/05/14/poverty-in-thailand/

Unicef. (2013).Thailand Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/Thailand_statistics.html

Week 2

     Last week I selected the website “Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families” (http://www.zerotothree.org). I chose this website because infant and toddler development is close to my heart. I have two sons, 3 years old and 10 months old. The mission statement and organization’s focus is one main reason I chose this website. “To ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. We know that as babies, the way we are held, talked to and cared for teaches us about who we are and how we are valued. This profoundly shapes who we will become (Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families).” I am always looking for good resources professionally and personally. While researching this website I signed up for a monthly e-newsletter called, “From Baby to Big Kid.” This “e-newsletter offers researched-based information on how children learn and grow each month from birth to age 3. The monthly

e-newsletters include:

• Age-based information about child development
• In-depth articles on common child-rearing issues and challenges
• Parent-child play activities that promote bonding and learning
• Frequently asked questions
• Research on child development and what it means for parents”

(Zero to Three, 2014)

     In the first e-newsletter that I was sent there were several topics featured. I chose to look closer at “Spotlight on: Listening Skills. Taking a closer look at how babies are now able to understand much more than ever before. These important listening (or receptive language) skills will help babies learn to use spoken language.” I chose this topic since language barriers have been a topic of discussion in this class. The website provides a developmental chart showing what babies can do and ways to connect with them. The website then discusses different listening skills a child should be performing at different months of age. In addition, the website provides ideas to help children develop strong language skills. I found this helpful because it gave specific fun activities to do with children which help promote language skills.

References

Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families (2014). Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org

Week 1

Professional Contacts and Web Resources

When establishing my two professional contacts I first thought about personal contacts that I already have. My husband works overseas and has had the pleasure of meeting many people from different areas. I met a wife of one of his co-workers who is a teacher in Thailand. I am currently in the process of establishing a professional connection with his wife. I have been texting back and forth with her husband who is in Afghanistan and am waiting to receive her e-mail address.

For my second contact I used our blog resource link for this week’s assignment. After looking at several websites I chose to contact:

Narmandakh Adiya

Mongolia
Mongolian Foundation for Open Society Step by Step Program

I chose this contact because when looking over the website I read, “The Step by Step methodology is active in 267 classrooms and in 53 kindergarten rooms. Also, 300 teachers implementing the program deliver the concepts of child-centered methodology to over 1,355 kindergarten teachers through in-service training (Mongolian Foundation for Open Society Step by Step Program). ” This is interesting to me because I have been teaching kindergarten for 5 years and would love to learn about other kindergartens! I am currently in the process of establishing this connection and am looking forward to hearing back through email.

After reviewing Early Childhood related websites in the United States I chose to further explore the website Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. I chose this website because infant and toddler development is close to my heart. The mission statement is one main reason I chose this website. “To ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. We know that as babies, the way we are held, talked to and cared for teaches us about who we are and how we are valued. This profoundly shapes who we will become (Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families).” The website had a lot of great information on young children. Under each main tab (behavior & development, maltreatment, care & education, and public policy) there are several links with specialized information, which is great! There are also monthly newsletters that provide detailed information. I am excited to use this website to help further my education in early childhood studies.

Week 8

“Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect.”

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment.

Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

I chose this quote because I firmly believe as an educator that it is our responsibility to allow children to achieve their fullest potential and have them feel successful. Through experience and research I have found that trusting and respecting children is the best way to do this. In my kindergarten class, I practice this daily and allow my students to explore and develop at their own pace to reach their fullest potential.

"To teach is to touch a life forever."

            -Anonymous Author

I have always loved this quote.  As a teacher, I touch the lives of my students every time I interact with them. It is my goal to have a positive impact on all the children in my care. By doing this, I can shape lives, which can have a lasting effect on society.

Week 6

“Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Their use skyrocketed after 2002's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states.” (Procon.org, 2013).  The big question among so many educators is, are standardized tests benefiting American children? I believe it is important to do a multitude of assessments. It is important to do authentic and formal/standardized assessments. Some students may not show what they have learned through a standardized test. I know growing up that I had a lot of anxiety when tested formally and never showed my true potential. I was very lucky to have teachers that used authentic assessments; observed me in the classroom, looked at projects and homework, and did teacher created assessments. Assessments are needed in classrooms for teachers to know if students have mastered what is being taught. Sometimes a teacher thinks he/she is teaching content the best way possible but in reality the students do not understand and he/she needs to change the approach. The move to pay teachers based on standardized test scores is concerning to me. I do not believe teachers’ pay should be a reflection of this. I do understand some of the thought process to having standardized testing, but is important that all areas are being assessed on the same level and the same information.

I chose to research standardized testing in China. I chose China due to their known high scores on tests. In my research I found that China puts a lot of emphasis on standardized testing. A great example of this is the Gaokao standardized test. This test is taken very seriously. It determines whether or not a student will attend college. If a student does not do well on this test he/she will not be attending college. “Chinese teenagers spend 8-10 hours a day for four years in preparation. High School in China has one purpose: test prep. There is no curriculum outside of the test (which tests math, English, Chinese, as well as a chosen subject like chemistry or political correctness). There is no life outside of the test. It is a high stakes, No Child Left Behind dream” (Levy, 2011). I found that in China schools put a lot of emphasis on memorization and standardized testing. Teaching just to a test…is this really helping the Chinese culture?

Procon.org. (2013). Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in

America? Retrieved from http://standardizedtests.procon.org/#background

Levy, M. (2011). What I learned from China’s Schools. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-levy/what-i-learned-from-china_b_872126.html

Week 4

Stressors and the Effects on Child Development 

There are many types of stressors that can impact a child’s development and identity. From the list, (war, poverty, racism, natural disaster, isolation, hunger, noise, chaos, disease, environmental pollution, and violence) I chose to focus on isolation. I chose isolation because of my grandma’s childhood. My grandmother and her siblings were put into an orphanage when she was a young child. She is the youngest of five and was separated from her siblings. This was very hard on my grandmother and while trying to deal with her separation with shyness and sadness she was isolated from others in the orphanage. Being isolated brought so much stress on my grandmother it affected her in many ways. One story that breaks my heart is her bed-wetting story. She was very stressed about the isolation from others that she would wet the bed at night. When doing so she was abused by the adults and made to change her own sheets in the middle of the night, crying. As she grew older she knew she had to compensate for the isolation that was brought upon by her shyness. She began breaking out of her shell and became very nice and kind to everyone. She was eventually adopted and continued to be kind and compassionate. To this day my grandmother is one of the nicest and giving people I know. Unfortunately, my grandmother did not have a resources or support while her isolation took place or while she was compensating for the isolation, she did it all on her own. She is an amazing lady!

I chose the country Mexico to research child stressors. I found that a big stressor for children living in Mexico is poverty. “More than 20 million children and adolescents in Mexico are estimated to live in poverty, and five million of them in extreme poverty” (UN News Centre, 2013). Poverty impacts children by limiting resources available, such as quality health care, nutritious food, adequate shelter, and education. “The study highlights how child poverty is very damaging to the individuals and the country overall. “When children live in poverty it can have an irreversible impact on their development, and increases the probability of being passed on to future generations,” UNICEF said in a news release” (UN News Centre, 2013). UNICEF is an organization trying to help minimize the harm of poverty on children in Mexico. “UNICEF is working to more fully understand how and where children are experiencing poverty, to allow a more nuanced set of policy responses in national mechanisms such as poverty-reduction strategies. UNICEF has various on-going projects and tools related to child poverty measurement and influencing policies and programming that address child poverty” (UNICEF, 2013). 

 

References:

UN News Centre. (2013). The Majority of Poor in Mexico are Children. Retrieved

from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44549#.UpFzxI3HSM8

UNICEF. (2013). Child Poverty and Social Protection. Retrieved from

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_childpoverty.html