Sharing Web Resources

Now Taking Notice!

Human capital theory and monetary payoffs; keep these terms in mind.  I do like the fact that science says that better outcomes if investment is made in preschool, economists say there is a better return if investments are made in preschool rather than waiting till school years.  What I am afraid of is children will be treated as commodities to be traded in at maturation rather than citizens that grow to nurture and care about our society. Educators we must continue to keep our ears to the ground and be ready to correct any that dare to the gift of childhood to make lifetime productivity the bottom line.

Insights About Issues and Trends

On the studies this week we were to look in to three sectors in the field of early childhood field and see if policy is supporting  EC or seeking to take away from it. My research has found that there is an affordability gap that  touches many families, The major issue according to National Women’s Law Center is that many single parent households are headed by women. The quality and access to affordable care is hard to come by. What can be done is to initiate strategies to get the attention of congress persons to really take interest in this issue for policy to embrace and assist what is really happening with today’s families as they struggle with finding affordable early childcare .

We must let our voices be heard!

Getting to Know International Contacts

The Pains of Children in Poverty

I had not heard from the international contact person so I visited the web site www.childhoodpoverty.org/ . I first viewed the Clips that accompanied the website about two children in Kyrgyzstan. The clips showed both children at work and then at home after work, . The little girl is described by her coworker sister while they were rinsing our cups together as someone beyond her years with an understanding of someone beyond the age of twelve; more like twenty the coworker said.  This statement gives me an insight that children living in poverty have to assume a grown up role and understanding rather quickly.  

While this little girl was at home, her mother only asked how many canvass bags were sewn. With the child’s response her mother replied that she needed to have made more.  The mother is not insistent on the studies of the little girl as she had been, her rationale was to live for the present and not look to the future. This statement gives insight that the mother has totally set sights on survival mode as do many parents of poor families. The only thing that matters is that there is enough money to buy what is needed to get through the day.

The little boy is about 11 years old and working in a coal mine!  Coal mining is a dangerous occupation for men let alone an eleven year old boy. This fact alone gives insight that working conditions may not be favorable for workers, both men and boys. There was no lighting provided except the flashlight from the helmets. I did not see that there were any masks on to protect the lungs from inhaling the gases that coal mining produces when dug up. When the little boy went home his mother lay on the couch and could not move. My guess was that she was ill or had worked so long herself that she could not function and move her body about.

 The mother asked if head washed himself as he was covered from head to toe in soot. You could only see his eyes. I also noted that it was evening time the sub was going down. The Insight is that this child had no time to explore or play or wonder or dream; he had to prepare for work the next day.  I did note that the mother lamented that her children had to work so hard by saying “my poor children” at the end of the clip. This lets me know that poor parents do desire what is best for their children, but survival becomes the priority.

Sharing Web Resources

Access to Affordable, Quality Childcare is a Priority!

One of the newsletters I have subscribed to is from the organization National Women’s Law Center. The causes and concerns of this organization are to advocate for issues that affect women and their families. I was recently interested in the initiative of this organization to get the attention of members of congress and make them aware of the need for quality childcare as that would be one of the biggest issues that affects working families. When policymakers formulate their agenda priorities, whose interests are at the forefront of their minds? It is hard to remember that even though access to good quality child care is something that you and I spend a lot of time working on and advocating for, not everyone does - including our policymakers. And unfortunately, not all of us have strong relationships with the people that vote on critical policies like child care that affect women, children, and families. There is a phone conference set for interested persons to listen in for May 17^th, 2012.

http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues/child-care-%2526-early-learning

                 Follow the link below for more information on the conference call.   

http://action.nwlc.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=14040 

RSVP - Put Child Care on the Map (5/17/2012)

Other issues NWLC address are education, healthcare, poverty and income support, judges and the courts, social security, taxes and budgets. I do find that this organization deals with issues of changing demographics and diversity in education and the workplace.

All About the Contacts

Greetings!

For our first blogging journey we were to reach out to organizations that serve in early childhood fields outside of the US. My first contact via email was to UNICEF of Mozambique. I was especially pleased to see this organization reaches out to girls and young women who have suffered brutal crimes of rape in the region there. (sigh) Hurts my heart!   I would hope that these communities  realize the importance preserving the children and women, as this  action preserves the strength of the family. My next contact was via email as well was with Naeyc Global Alliance. My interest with this alliance is there are are various departments. My interest is in the mathematics and science for children.

I'll patiently wait for a response!

    





for our second assignment we were to make contact with local agencies that field early childhood services and advocacy. My contacts were with the Black Child Development Institute. I was interested in this organization as a resource to further  activities of positive actions with African American youth locally.

National Black Child Development Institute http://nbcdi.org/
(Newsletter: http://nbcdi.org/support/sign-up-for-nbcdi-newsletters/

And the Children's defense fund, because of my hero , Marion Wright Elderman's activity and proactive stance for community involvement with our children and youth. There is a conference at a nearby city here in Ohio in July that I plan to attend to become really involved with this organization

Children's Defense Fund http://www.childrensdefense.org/index-1.html
(Newsletter: http://www.childrensdefense.org/newsroom/enewsletters/ )