Sharing Web Resources

The website that I chose to research was the National Association of Child Care Resources & Referral Agencies (www.naccrra.org). One area of this website that I found interesting was the tab titled “About Child Care”. It has information on the cost of child care, school readiness, poverty, and parents perspectives just to name a few. This tab also has information on child care information on each state, the state’s current governor as well as what ranking it holds across all of the states. This information is important to try and assist my state with its child care laws as well as any policy changes that need to be made. This information also shows how our state needs improvements when it comes to child care and how early child hood education needs to be made a priority again. The website also has information for parents, providers as well as military families who may need information on how to help their child or help someone who has a child. Another helpful tool I found was a “Child Care Options Calculator” which allows families to be able to budget how they can afford child care and what changes they need to make to their expenses. One insight I was able to gain after exploring this website was that poverty is an issue that they focus on as well as adequate child care. The website provides numerous resources on different agencies in your area, information on membership, as well as services for military families and providers.

Poverty Issues In India

Poverty is an issue that every single country suffers with in some sort of way. Poverty has taken a toll on families and children specifically for some time now. 600 million children across the globe are currently living i n poverty. In many countries, rates are much higher with over 60 percent of children living in households with incomes below international poverty lines (CHIP). Poverty affects all ages and races and it continues to climb. Children in poverty often suffer from malnutrition which can cause life-long difficulties in development, poor health, and/or death. As of 1999-2000, India had 260.2 million people living in poverty and it is considered home to the majority of poor people in South Asia. India social service area and education system continues to face challenges with the amount of people in which they are trying to serve. The percentage of children entering primary school has increased but still considered a daunting task because of the 33 million children needing to be enrolled. An estimated 400 million of the population are between are between 0-18 years of age (UNICEF).

UNICEF Country Statistics: India (www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics)

NAEYC's Position on Young Children

The organization that I researched was the National Association for Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org). The National Association for Educational of Young Children is the world's largest organization whose mission is completely focused and centered around young children. NAEYC's mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights, and well-being of all young  children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources (NAEYC Bylaws, Article I., Section 1.1). The goals of this organization are to improve the working condition within education, be supportive of educational programs for children, and build a strong foundation of individuals who strive for high quality education and promote excellence.

On the NAEYC website I noticed a link titled " Bringing Boys and Girls Together". The article  discussed how most preschoolers play with children that are the same sex as them. Mostly it is because of their need to place things in categories that match so it is common that they play with the same sex because of similarities. An Arizona worker decided to find a way to link children of the opposite sex to play with one another. Gender can be considered as a part of diveristy and that it why I found this article interesting.

Establishing Contact for Professional Growth

Linking with other professionals can seem like a simple task of just picking up the phone to make a call but when trying to establish contact with someone who does not live in the same country as can seem intimidating. To complete this task, I decided to visit NAEYC website and look for information on how to connect globally. I came upon the Global Alliance for Education of Young Children and decided to pick two contact from Asia and one contact from Africa. I chose these three because I am curious to learn what are their specific cultures as well as job duties. I composed and email explaining why I was reaching out to them and what I hoped to gain from having them as a professional contact. I am not sure how successful and email will be but I know it is a starting point for me. In regard to organization of interest I decided to study the NAEYC's website as well as the National Head Start Association's website. I decided to chose these because their missions are not only focused on the children and bettering education but also on the amount of professional and reliable credibiltiy each one holds.

The National Association for the Education of Young Childrenhttp://www.naeyc.org/
National Head Start Associationhttp://www.nhsa.org/