International Learning

Out of all the websites that I have studied and all of the viewpoints that I have read about, I have come to the understanding that there are both positive and negatives influences that I have learned from all of this. First, now that I have read about other countires and their struggles it leaves me with a sense of "will we as people every put education first?" It almost has a point of being discouraged because so many countires suffer with issues within education. Second, I know compare our educational system to others. I know that comparisons won't really help and it can only make me feel powerless over the issues that I face within my own community, instead of focusing on what good I can do. Finally, the last consequence when learning about other countires is the overwhelming feeling of sorrow for those countries suffering from extreme poverty. Our country suffers from poverty as well but not as severe as other countries who are less fortunate. One goal that I would like to take from this entire experience is that I hope to one day be able to share my educational experience and knowledge with those across the globe to bring a community of global awareness for all children of this world. With this community I hope to develop a linkage from one country to the next who can aid each other in specific needs to assist children and their families. I beleive that every nation has something the next is lacking and if we link together then we can make a better world for our future generations.

UNESCO Website

When reasearching this website I ran across a section titled "What are the three most important skills a child should learn?" UNESCO Bangkok Director, Gwang-Jo Kim, said " One of the greatest challenge for education systems today is keeping pace with the skills they will need in an increasingly knowlwdge based economy." He stated that children need to learn culture, become critical thinkers, and also need to obtain life skills. I agree with the ideas and beleive that if every child possessed these skills they will grow as individual. Another insight I found was that only 60% of Nigerians educators possess the qualifications to teach. In order to improve education we must first improve leadership qualifications worldwide. The last insight that I gained was how well the UNESCO's website is put together to give quality information to all professionals across the globe.

(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

Exploring Our Resources

I find that the NAEYC's webiste is a great website that will help many people who are in the profession of working with young children and their families. On the actual website under the Professional Development tab there is information to help prepare those who are in the process or begining the career of working with children and their families. NAEYC offers online learning opportunities, training or trainers, as well as opportunities to gain more continuing education units (CEU's) for the job or personal practice. I believe that this webiste is extremely important because it gives current information on the issues as well as the improvements with the eudcation of children. It also gives an idea of what changes are to be expected and where we are heading in the future.

Global Knowledge

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website   http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/), was a very interesting website to review and it is filled with a plethera of information on many of the global issues as it relates to young children. The growing attention that has been given to early childhood health has opened the opportunity for countries all over the globe to begin transforming the health og their children. While  large  number of studies have inverstigated the impact of early childhood expereince on children's develomental, health, and educational outcomes in developed countries, relatively little evidence is available on early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa (Global Children's Intiative). On this website I have learned that all though the world has made great strides to help benefit young children, that many of them (the poorest countries) are still struggling to get the basic needs. On going studies in Zambia are being performed to address the lacking evidence of improvement. The ZECDP (Zambian Early Childhood Development Project) has made a collabrative effort to research the different health issues of Zambia.

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.