“Global Children’s Initiative” website

 

“Global Children’s Initiative” website

 

            The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University uses research to provide each child in the US and around the world with a promising future {Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010).  Good health and economic security are some of the primary focuses because children cannot function well if they are plagued by illnesses and poverty.  Out of this organization came the Global Children’s Initiative that accentuates three main areas which are:

1)     To educate the people who impact policy about the scientific research regarding health, behavior, and the dynamics of learning.

2)     To support multidisciplinary research and projects in various countries and to explore the components of healthy development and what causes the interference of healthy development.

3)     To create leaders in early child development policy and research in low to middle income countries in order to gain a diverse perspective for the advocacy of children’s rights.

The three areas of activities are early childhood development, child mental health, and children in crisis which are led by faculty of the organization in order to build a larger research base   In the early childhood field the focus is to create quality early childhood  programs around the world and to develop meaningful assessments.  There is research being done to improve the early learning programs in Chile. 

In the areas of mental health there is a concern about the mental health of children globally and if they are actually receiving mental health services.  A study is being conducted about the affects of HIV/AIDS on Rwandan children and what strategies would be helpful for parents.  Also there is a study being done about child abuse and how mental health services are being allocated in some of the Caribbean countries.  There is also a push to study the effects of natural disasters on children who live in Chile and Haiti because earthquakes impacted both countries.  There are a lot of children suffering from malnutrition globally and the Harvard researchers involved with this initiative want to form a collaboration team that is interdisciplinary to help find some solutions.  I think this is a wonderful research group and it is very helpful for teachers because it gives a scientific basis for why some things occur in early childhood.  This site offers much more than just research because it is research in action, because these scientists are actually changing the world by one project at a time. Now I am more inspired to do more scientific research.

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative.

            Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

       The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) website (http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/early-childhood-education-care/#) has some very interesting articles that promote the importance of early childhood education and care and it also outlines the data that reports that only a small portion (4%) of eligible students will be able to obtain a spot in a Head Start programs due to the lack of funding (“Policy priorities,” 2014) .  Investing in early childhood programs has helped to keep children out of the prison pipeline and the benefits outweigh some of the benefits of the stock market (“Policy priorities,” 2014).  I never realized the connection between investments in early learning and improving the overall well being of the country.  It is so sad that so many children in the US will not be able to reap the benefits of an early childhood education because economists and legislators believe that this sector (babies and toddlers) can be ignored.  This has prompted me to now lobby for the rights of our poor young children on Capitol Hill.

            This website also advocates for all states having kindergarten for the full day instead of half day programs because research shows that if we want our children to be globally competitive, they have to be in school for more hours during the day.  Another interesting fact reports that children who start learning in preschool are less likely to be enrolled in special education programs when they enroll in elementary schools (“Policy priorities,” 2014). Which reminds me of how important early education is for young children because it enhances literacy skills, problem solving skills, and cognitive development?  Children that attend quality early learning programs have stronger social emotional skills and self regulating skills.  I visit this site often because it reinvigorates my passion and reminds me that I have a lot of work to do but the results can be very rewarding!

References

Policy priorities. (2014, February 1). Retrieved from http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-

            priorities/early-childhood-education-care/

Website That Addresses Childhood Poverty

      The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) http://www.nccp.org  is a public policy center that focuses on helping poor families and children in the areas of health, welfare, and financial security.  The NCCP goal is to influence policy on the state and national level by providing research data that substantiates the need for positive change for impoverished families.  The visions for the organization are:

·       Family economic security

·       Strong, nurturing families

·       Healthy child development

Under the State profile section on the website readers can enter the name of a state and statistical information will populate showing the poverty demographics for that state.  There is also Early Childhood information in this section that provides health, nutrition, and educational policies that have been implemented in a particular state.  The Data Tools section allows users to track and tabulate the health risk of children and also the state of mental health.   Viewers can research publications by title, date, project, or by the topic.  There are numerous Fact Sheets provided so information can be referenced easily. One interesting project that I found under the Project tab was exploring the effectiveness of housing subsidies on child development.  The research showed that when families have housing assistance, it provides stability for the family because they are not experiencing frequent evictions and the stress level is reduced for children and families.  The NCCP website is an early childhood professional’s dream because it provides a variety of useful information and its motto is “Putting Research to Work for Children and Families” and that should be our focus!

 

A Great Early Childhood Website

     The website I found most interesting and helpful is http://www.naeyc.org  (National Association for the Education of Young Children) because this site covers many facets of the early childhood field.  This website offers information about publications, accreditations, professional development, conferences, public policy, and various topics concerning early childhood issues.  NAEYC’s focus is protecting the rights and needs of all children educationally and their developmental growth.

            On the website was the article “Research News You Can Use: More threats to Preschoolers’ Play” which stated the importance of big body play on school readiness (Snow, 2012).  Research shows that young children who live in poverty are least likely to experience big body play because their parents fear the dangers of the neighborhood and there is a lack of funding for quality playgrounds (Snow, 2012).  Teachers are often faced with a dilemma because they under pressure to stress academics instead of play (Snow, 2012).  Play is instrumental in the development of young children and it needs to be taken more seriously.

 

References

Snow, K. (2012). Research news you can use: More threats to preschoolers' play. Retrieved

            from http://www.naeyc.org/

 

Website Dedicated to Helping Children

     When researching the websites that involved helping children I selected The Global Fund for Children website: https://www.globalfundforchildren.org because this organization is trying to help children around the world regain their childhood.  Some children are made to work jobs at markets or forced into human trafficking instead of being allowed to receive an education.  This program really gets involved and supports grassroots organizers in order to make sure that there is an existing personal connection with the actual people that need help.  Funding is given to these community organizers in order to help children in crisis.  Money, leadership workshops, and management services are provided to ensure that the regions are strengthened.  Some of the regions served are Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, North America, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

            This site also features news stories about how children are being helped around the world and these stories are very uplifting.  There is also a section on the website that is titled “Get Involved” which urges readers to get involved in various ways such as; subscribing to the blog, donating money, buying books(percentage of proceeds helps children), or subscribed to the newsletter.  One of the articles I read was about the trafficking of children and how effective steps were taken to reintegrate these children back into the community.

"My Supports"

 

 

 

 

 

“My Supports”

When I think of all the challenges that one could have in life, I stop and think of how blessed I am to have so many support systems to make each day a lot easier.  I am a very spiritual person and I have a strong trust in the Lord which helps me overcome any obstacles I may face.  My family is very supportive as I pursue my dream of obtaining a Masters degree and they help me by respecting the time I need to concentrate on my studies.  I am always receiving encouraging words from my sister, brother, and other relatives and friends.  When people believe in you it really makes a difference and that is why it is so important that children have support in their lives very early on in life.  Right now we only have one laptop in the house that is working so it can be a challenge sometimes to reserve computer time but we depend on teamwork to get us through.  Now the computer is a great support mechanism from researching information, conducting emails (personal/business), finding healthy recipes, and of course typing papers and blogs.  Another support mechanism I have is my cell phone because I am able to communicate with people almost everywhere and it serves as a source of security when I am travelling in the car.  These support mechanisms help me to function on a daily basis and I would be lost without these supports.  It is very important to have the love of God and family because it makes me believe that I can accomplish anything!

            If I were to suddenly lose my vision I think that would be very challenging to me because I am a very visual person.  Even though I have a lot of support systems in my life, I pride myself on being self sufficient and independent.  Having to rely on other people to lead me around and to learn Braille would be a challenge for me, but I know with the help of the Lord I would be able to overcome the challenge. Being visually impaired would make me have to trust others for my survival, which is also a true test of faith.  I would have to give up the luxuries of driving a car and watching the sun rise and set.  I would a lot of help in learning how to cook and just taking care of my basic needs.  In retrospect this has made me realize how truly blessed I am and it makes me even more eager to help those that have disabilities and to make their life more pleasurable.