I have learned a great deal about the early childhood education field while taking this course (Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field). We have researched and discussed issues relating to changing demographics and diversity, poverty, influences of economics, neuroscience, and politics, and equity and excellence in care and education of children, families, and EC professionals. 

I have learned that early childhood classrooms vary a great deal in their environment and practices throughout the world, but they are also similar in many ways. There are so many resources available to help families and educators of young children. Teachers should be aware of these resources so that they can share them with families who need assistance. 

A goal that I have for the early childhood field is to continue to research ways to improve my understanding of the early childhood education field.  I hope to find a way to be a part of heightening global awareness of the importance of early childhood education.

 

This week I will be exploring the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” website. I will share three things I learned while reviewing the site.

I learned about the Education for All (EFA) movement. I learned about six goals that if reached will help improve children’s educational experiences. 

“At the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000), 164 governments pledged to achieve EFA and identified six goals to be met by 2015. Governments, development agencies, civil society and the private sector are working together to reach the EFA goals. Six internationally agreed education goals aim to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015:
 

Goal 1: Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children

Goal 2: Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.

Goal 3: Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs

Goal 4: Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.

Goal 5: Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.

Goal 6: Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills” (taken from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/efa-goals/)

Video from a Moscow kindergarten:

While exploring the website I came across a video of a Kindergarten classroom in Moscow. I was intrigued by this video, the Kindergarten environment was so similar to ones I’ve seen in the U.S. For some reason I had assumed it would be completely different. I was wrong. Aside from using a different language, the Moscow Kindergarten could be a local Kindergarten here in the U.S. I learned that Early Childhood Education is not as different in other countries as I had thought. I also learned that getting in touch with nature helps children to see beauty in unique ways and ultimately in themselves.

The video can be found here: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Importance of Quality Early Childhood Education:

This section focused on the importance of quality. I found the following quote inspiring:

“Early childhood care and education programs should emphasize the child’s holistic development and extend beyond assisting the child’s transition to formal schooling. High quality childcare, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness” (taken from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/quality/).

As you know I have been exploring the Zero to Three website. This week I reviewed a section of their website that I had not previously looked at. On their website they have a section dedicated to Military families. I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed this before because my husband is in the military. I learned that they have special conferences for people who work with children in military families. They focus on how to help these children deal with the consequences of military life. I was very excited when I read about these workshops, but unfortunately they aren’t having any near me for a least a year. As I explored this section further I found E-Learning courses that I think would be helpful for anyone working with children whose parents are in the military. I have not had time to take these courses yet, but hope to in the near future.

For anyone interested in taking these courses the link is:

http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/military-families/duty-to-care-you-make-a-difference.html

I think that this section proves that Zero to Three is dedicated to helping all children. I believe this shows true dedication and excellence in the early childhood education field.

I also receive the Zero to Three newsletter. In the newsletter I found an interesting article titled “Healthy Minds: Nurturing Your Child’s Development from 9 to12.” It gave information on how to help develop your child’s mind. It also suggested various ways to help scaffold your child’s emotional and physical development. To access this article go to http://www.zerotothree.org/ and click on “Download of the Week.”

Week Five

This week I have been exploring Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website. It is a very interesting and informative site. I learned about the Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) initiative. It is an organization that is dedicated to evolving the early childhood education field. The following is from their website:

The FOI initiative’s aim is to combine scientific insights, practical experience, and creative risk-taking to 

generate new policies and practices that are:

1. grounded in a unified evidence base derived from well-established scientific principles that can be applied across agencies and sectors;
2. likely to produce greater impacts than current programs for disadvantaged young children and their parents; 
3. positioned to mobilize both public and private sector resources; and 
4. designed to be feasible and replicable (with adaptations as needed) in a broad array of political, economic, social, and cultural contexts.  

The FOI was founded in May 2011 so it is a fairly new organization. But I believe that it will make a huge impact on the early childhood education field.

Through exploring the “Global Children’s Initiative” website I found many interesting articles and multimedia presentations. I learned how early experiences can shape and build brain architecture. These experiences can either have positive or negative effects depending on the nature of the experience. I also learned that stress can have adverse effects on a person’s physical and emotional development. I found the Resources page to be the most helpful and interesting. Here is a link to the Global Children’s Initiative Resources page:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/

I hope you find it as informative and intriguing as I did!

I also listened to another podcast from the Zero to Three website. The podcast was with Dr. Ross Thompson and was about how young children have emotions just like adults. That they don’t always cry just because they feel like it. Young children (as young as 8 months) experience feelings of joy, sadness, guilt, anger, etc.

Dr. Thompson believes that young children are more aware of their surroundings and situations then we give them credit for. He mentioned one case study where a child’s whose mother suffered from depression would try to cheer her up. The child was only three years old but could tell when her mother’s symptoms would start to show and would try to make her feel better.

Dr. Thompson said that the emotional atmosphere that a child experiences is very important. It can affect them later in life either adversely or positively. This information was personally relevant to me, I will keep this in mind while raising my son. 

If you’ve been following my posts, you know that I have been reviewing the Zero to Three: National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families website.

There is a new section on the website that I have found relevant to my current professional development. It is called “Little Kids, Big Questions: A ZERO TO THREE Podcast Series on Early Childhood Development”. It is a podcast series will developmental topics pertaining to early childhood. I am very excited about these podcasts because they focus on my passion: early childhood.

Some of the podcasts are titled:

“Creating Healthy Connections: Nurturing Brain Development from Birth to Three”

“Night-Night…or Not: Talking about Babies, Toddlers, and Sleep” – This one is particularly relevant to me because I have a five month old baby!

and

“Beyond “Use Your Words!”: How Babies Begin to Develop Self-Control in the First Three Years”

If you are interested in listening to these podcasts you can go to:

http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/parenting-resources/podcast/

Other Information:

I read a very interesting article from the Zero to Three newsletter. It was about young children watching television and using other types of media. I learned that infants under 18 months do not really benefit from watching educational narrative television. I think that this topic is controversial because there are so many companies out there promoting “educational” videos and media for young infants.

Dr. Wartella states that “We’re finding that children in these early ages are engaged by very simple attempts to teach children language labels for objects. So, things that are very loud, and have a lot of sound effects, and are fast-moving are probably not very good for this really young age” (Wartella 2012, p. 19).

Insights I gained from this article:

I learned that TV for young infants is alright as long as it is only a short amount of time and that personal interactions are much more effective than media interactions. “So you want to spend time with your babies interacting with them more than you want to put them in front of a screen” (Wartella 2012, p. 19).

References:

Wartella, E. (2012). The Influence of Media on Young Children’s Development. Zero to Three, 18-21.

Throughout the next couple of weeks I will be listening to podcasts from World Forum Foundation Radio. 

The podcast that I listened to focused on Susan Lyon. She began her teaching career when she was 22 years old. Since then she has done a great deal to better the field of early childhood education. 

Susan Lyon

“Susan Lyon was intrigued by a small child’s conception of the word “city”, and began pondering how children think, eventually visiting Reggio Emilia and then bringing the “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to the San Francisco Bay area on two occasions. She initiated the Innovative Teacher Project, and began working with the Presidio Child Care Center and the San Francisco public schools. Currently she is working with an Italian architect to rehab a San Francisco structure into the first Italian immersion preschool” (World Forum Foundation, 2012). 

Susan Lyon believes that you should really listen when children talk to you so that you can learn how to help them. 

References:

World Forum Radio. (2011) Episode 10, Susan Lyon. Retrieved January 17, 2011 from http://ccie-media.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/WFR_10_SusanLyon.mp3

As I mentioned previously, I will be reviewing the Zero to Three National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families website. If you are interested in checking out the website yourself, here is their link: 

http://www.zerotothree.org/

The Zero to Three National Center for Infant, Toddlers, and Families organization focuses on providing important and relevant developmental information to parents and educators about the childhood years from birth to three years old. I like this website because it specifically concentrates on the first three years of a child’s life. It provides multiple resources for anyone interested in the early childhood years. The following quote is from their website:

“ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. Our mission is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers.”

An interesting feature from the website that caught my eye is the "Baby Brain Map". It is an interactive tool where you can choose various ages, then click on areas of the brain, and you will receive developmental information. They give you tips and strategies on how to best develop certain skills. 

An issue of interest that I noticed is the issue of finding a quality childcare program. It can be difficult to find quality childcare. The section discusses what quality child care is and what parents should look for in a child care program. Here’s a link to the article:

http://www.zerotothree.org/early-care-education/child-care/choosing-quality-child-care.html