Final Blog Assignment

Three                              Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for your                                                         professional and personal development.

1.       Wanting to travel to other countries to help children living in poverty.

2.       Not being able to contact an international professional

3.       Subscribing to international educational journals.

                                       One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the

                                      spirit of collegial relations.

                         

                       Continue to try and make contact with an international professional in the early childhood field.  

Early Childhood Education Quality Pod Cast

http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2012/podcast_improving_the_quality_of_early_child_care-67930

This pod cast advocated for parents to understand how to choose a quality child care facility for their children. The pod cast suggests parents should ask questions about child care centers to ensure the programs quality. Parents should ask questions about the type of training teachers receive and questions about the teacher’s background. Parents should have choices on quality settings. The biggest problem for parents is the cost of high quality child care.

According to the pod cast some states don’t require early childhood teachers to have a high school diploma for teachers. Some states only require teachers to have a high school diploma.

The child care development block grant has not been renewed in 16 years. The current child care development block grant has no minimal training requirements for educators, it does not require background checks for educators, and it has no requirements for inspections. The child care development block grant needs to be revised to ensure the health and safety of children.

Policy makers need to be educated to change the laws so that early child care facilities can offer higher quality care for children.

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

Early childhood education is an issue of different government sectors which include education, social affairs, and health.

The biggest issue for most countries is to improve early childhood education but resources are scarce.

The 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA), stated that countries should view early childhood as part of basic education.

Sharing Web Resources

Some of the outside links on the Zero to Three website lead to the Zero to three Facebook website, Pod Cast about research in child development, and rally for babies videos on youtube.

I thoroughly searched through the Public Policy link on the website. From there I searched through infant-toddler policy issues. There are three additional links: Good Health, Strong Families, and Positive Early Learning Experiences. I chose good health and from there I explored developmental screenings. There is information on premature infants and early intervention for abused and neglected infants and toddlers.

Insights I gained from the website this week. There was a study conducted on parents of infants and toddlers. Based on the study babies can sense their parent’s moods beginning at birth. 34% of parents think their child can not sense their moods until they are 6 months of age. 53% of parents say that the way they were raised will have a major influence on the way they approach parenting.

http://www.zerotothree.org/

Equity in Early Childhood Education In Thailand

What I gained from the Pod Cast.

Families in Northern Thailand feel education is important and it begins with families. Families play a vital role in the well being of children.

Government day care is provided to families in need in Thailand.

The responsibility of early childhood education is for families, communities, and government responsibility to ensure children are receiving early childhood education.   

 In Indonesia less than 4 % of public investment is made in education and development occurring at ages 0-3.

Age 0-3 is the stage where the most brain development occurs.

In Indonesia 0-3 is the most neglected age group when it comes to education.

Pod Cast link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ELKVCyx7n8

What I gained from Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website

1. Mental health is an issue that is not addressed properly in children around the world. It is urgent to identify the problem and create effective policies that are responsive in different cultures. 
2. The center of the developing child at Harvard University has developed a project that will use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.
3.  The center “A Good Start,” is a project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education. The idea is to improve the quality of educational offerings for four-to-six-year-olds, particularly in the area of language development.