ZERO TO THREE : Part Two

This week, child care policy has caught my eye with a very interesting statement:

Second only to the immediate family, child care is the setting in which early childhood development unfolds for nearly six million children under age 3.  

After learning about economists, scientists, and politicians this week -- I feel like this statement is very relevant to this week's course learning.  This statement alone should be enough to get early childhood care programs funded.  It is cold hard facts that center's are needed for children to be taken care of.  Especially in today's society, living is expensive -- now imagine a growing family, that's twice, triple, or sometimes quadruple the amount of money spent than someone living on their own or a couple.  Growing up in New York, one of the most expensive cities in the country, I have seen the struggles first hand of having a family and having to care for children.  Many of the children that attend our daycare center are government funded children.  This means they are part of a voucher program.  However, this voucher program, you literally have to have no paycheck but they send you for job counseling services.  The second you make too much money, your voucher is cut and you now have to pay the daycare center out of your own pocket.  The minimum wage for living in New York City comfortably is close to making TWENTY DOLLARS AN HOUR. Let's be for real -- not everyone makes that and not every job offers that.

As learning advocates of early childhood education -- how can we change the world we are living in?  We need to begin to change these issues and trends that are becoming far too popular.  We need to make the world a better place for our children, so our children can continue for the future.

Getting To Know International Organizations: Part One

For this part of the blog assignments, I have chosen to research the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI).  I am intrigued on how others around the world view and operate their childhood educational systems.  I believe we can learn from others.  Their mission is :

To promote innovative solutions to education challenges and inspire action that creates positive, sustainable futures for children and youth worldwide.

Personally I believe we need more foundations like this.  Everyone should inspire action that creates positive, sustainable futures for children and youth worldwide.  After all, the children are the future of our generations, no matter where we subside in the world.  They will control what happens in the future, and I for one feel like they should have the most positive and best educational experience available to them.

There are three different programs involved with the ACEI and they are Center for Education Diplomacy, Global Schools First, and Innovative Exchange.  The program that caught my eye the most was the Global Schools First.

ACEI’s Global Schools First (GSF) program provides a school assessment and recognition opportunity for primary schools committed to fostering critical competencies—skills and knowledge—that children need to be successful in today’s complex and increasingly interconnected world.

 

ZERO TO THREE: Early Connections Last a Lifetime

I chose to research ZERO TO THREE for this blog assignment.  This is a great website for research from the prenatal stages all the way to three years old.  During assignments or even for my job in general I find myself reading through this website for answers to my questions or just to peak my curiosity.  

An issue or trend that has peaked my curiosity lately is trauma.  This website has a ton of information on how to deal with different issues that are dealt around trauma.  From abusive homes, to how to heal after a natural disaster, this website has it all.  The reason my curiosity is peaked so much is because what is going on in today's world.  It is so sad to see that we need to be prepared for trauma to happen at any given second in the childcare system.  We should be so focused on making sure we are teaching the children to the best of our capabilities versus looking over our shoulders every second to make sure they are safe.  We shouldn't have to worry about trauma as much as we do and I really hope this changes in the future.

For this issue I have also signed myself up for newsletters and have been researching other websites to get a better handle on these types of situations that can arise.  I am now the Infant/Toddler Director of our dual-program center and I feel like I should be more than well prepared for any situation.  I will do whatever I can to make sure the children are safe, the parents feel safe, and I feel good knowing I am doing whatever I can that I have the power to.

Expanding Horizons and Expanding Resources

The podcast pages would not load for me so I decided to research into The Global Fund for Children.  I really enjoyed learning about The Global Fund for Children.  I believe working to secure the well-being of our youth is extremely important and rare to find.  It is so meaningful that this company tries to impact this.  Transforming children's lives can lead to transforming the world we live in.  After all, the children are the future of our world.

For the second part of this blog I decided to immerse myself into the ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. I really enjoyed going through the website and learning all about this organization's website.  ZERO TO THREE works to ensure that babies and toddlers benefit from the family and community connections critical to their well-being and development. Healthy connections help build babies’ brains.  I can't wait to dive deeper into this organization, as well as the others to learn what their missions are all about.