Time Well Spent

Over the past two years I have completely invested myself into this program not only for the betterment of myself, but most importantly, for my son. Mid-program I went through huge life changes: going through a divorce, becoming a single parent, relocated, my home being burglarized, switching jobs; all while attempting to complete this program and being a great mother for my son. I can admit I have shed lots of tears, become completely overwhelmed with making sure I submitted my assignments and posts on time and correct, and even contemplated taking an academic break to focus on my personal life. After talking with close friends and family I was able to refocus myself and realize God would not have allowed all this to happen without a reason and I could not give up on my dream. Overall, this Master’s experience has been life altering in numerous ways: personal, professional, and academic. I would like to thank all my professors and colleagues for being there when I needed you the most, even when you didn’t know you were my backbone and my unending support throughout this journey. I have learned so much about the profession of Early Childhood Studies: Administration, myself, and my true passion for helping and being the voice for others.

A short-term goal for myself would be to become an administrator within my current educational district in Channelview, Texas. After accomplishing that goal, I see myself becoming a leader in my community and state regarding Early Childhood Education, Development, and Success.

Again, Thank you to all of you from professors, colleagues, the technology people that I called once a month(lol), the financial aid dept, my family and friends, and everyone else that has continuously supported me and allowed me to follow my heart and passion to getting my Masters. Good luck to everyone on continuing our journey, I know we will meet one day on a professional platform!

Fran Logan

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

http://www.bread.org/---Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's leaders to end hunger at home and abroad.

http://www.heifer.org/--Heifer envisions a bold future as a world hunger charity, one in which more lives are transformed in a sustainable way. Their vision is to have a world where communities live together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet.

http://www.stophungernow.org/--Their overall organizational goal is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world's most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.

I chose these three international organizations because they all embody my project goals. It was important for me to find a success blueprint and I feel I have found that model in these three groups.

VP of Strategic Partnerships
Department	Strategic Partnerships
Work Hours	FT M-F
City	Multiple
Description	SUMMARY: The Vice President of Strategic Partnerships is responsible for leading fund development efforts to financially support and enhance Feed the Children's mission, programs and goals. This position will be responsible for the creation and management of a well-coordinated, fund development plan for several areas of high-impact fundraising, including but not limited to: domestic and international Corporations, Combined Federal Campaigns and Workplace Giving programs, OKC-based Foundations and Corporations, and Special Projects initiatives. This position will oversee a team of fundraisers. The selected candidate for this position may reside in New York, Washington, D.C., or in Oklahoma City.

Education:
Bachelor's degree (BA, BS) with emphasis in business, marketing, communications or other related field or commensurate experience

Experience:
Ten years of overall experience working in high-impact foundation, corporate and major gifts relationship building and fundraising, with a demonstrated record of success in generating significant commitments from the same. Equivalent experience and success in high-impact business development and corporate sales will be considered in lieu of fundraising

7+ years of experience personally driving and managing the strategies for $1 million+ fundraising programs or campaigns or sales

5+ years of prior senior management experience

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

http://www.naeyc.org/--- The Nation Association for the Education of Young Children
This is one of the nations/worlds largest organizations that delievers standards on anything childhood related from education, nutrition, and health services.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/--- The International Crisis Group
this is an internation blog that allows a platform/forum for global communications on internation crisis issues including hunger and war. 

http://www.hungerreliefinternational.org/--- The Hunger Relief International
Hunger Relief International initially addresses immediate issues of hunger and unreliable access to food, also known as food insecurity.  Once HRI begins implementing nutrition programs in a community, our team crafts a long-term, strategic plan for development projects in partnership with the local community leadership.




LakeShore Learning: District Manager

Job Summary
We are currently searching for a District Manager to oversee all aspects of retail management—from training and developing staff to ensuring business strategies are correctly executed in the field. You don’t need a background in education, but a desire to learn is essential! As the leader of multiple store management teams, you set the tone and expectation for developing first-class retail teams who maximize store sales, provide customers with memorable retail experiences and run their stores in a manner outlined by 
Lakeshore.
·    Ability to travel throughout your district 50%–75% of each week
·    Ability to work a flexible schedule, including nights and some weekends
·    Track record showing outstanding organizational abilities
·    Strong written and oral communication skills·    Knowledge of retail POS systems
 UT Health: Mentor, Education Outreach 
Department
Pediatrics-Developmental 
Job Summary
Where Creating the Best Hope for a Healthier Future Begins... 
The Mentor, Education Outreach position provides school level support to private childcare providers, Head Start agencies, and school districts to ensure achievement of the goals and values of the Children's Learning Institute. Trains and mentors classroom teachers and administrators in implementation of the Texas School Ready! 
The Mentor will work with pre-school teachers face to face or remotely on classroom instructional practices. The Mentor will also provide professional development support and guidance to teachers on using child progress monitoring and analyzing results to guide instructional practices. 
Additional Summary Specific to Job
Primary responsibilities include: 
- Work with CLI to order materials and ensure delivery to classrooms. 
- Support communities with developing schedules and facilitating professional development wiithin the guidelines provided by CLI. 
- Collaborate with Project Coordinator, Mentors and CLI staff as necessary. 
- Provide face to face or remote coaching to classroom teachers as scheduled and required, and use a variety of coaching strategies as trained. For example, Camtasia feedback & video coding. 
- Collaborate with teachers to develop lesson plans and daily schedules that reflect 3 hours of cognitive instruction. 
- Participate in web based courses (eCIRCLE postings, black board,etc.).
- Attend regularly scheduled staff meetings facilitated by CLI Project Manager. 
- Support, coaches, principals, teachers and others in understanding project components. 
- Analyze progress monitoring data to determine strengths and weaknesses and provide coaching strategies to teachers. 
Organizational Requirements
CERTIFICATIONS/SKILLS: 
Certified teacher preferred. 
MINIMUM EDUCATION: 
Bachelor's degree in related field required. Master's degree preferred. 
MINIMUM EXPERIENCE: 
Five years experience in teaching or related field. 
Departmental Requirements/Preferences
- Must have a Bachelors or Master's Degree in Education (Grades Pre-2nd grade) or Early Childhood. 
- Must have 2 years of Early Childhood experience. 
- Have a good understanding of using classroom observational tools 
- Good knowledge around technology (e.g. computer, video editing, phone conferencing, adobe connect calls). 
- Understanding of pre-school literacy screening and progress monitoring and how each informs classroom instruction. 
- Understanding of Texas Pre-Kindergarten Guidelines, Head Start Child Outcomes, and child care licensing standards. 
- Demonstrate effectiveness as an early childhood teacher and/or early childhood staff trainer/mentor/coach. 
- Understanding of training and mentoring adults.  



 Requirements
·    3–5 years of related multiunit district management experience

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

>At least three local or state organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you, and explain why you chose them.

1) Department of Neighborhoods Education Initiatives: Sponsor of PBS Education is a great tool for parents to keep track of their child’s development. Help with different developmental and educational skills for children, including: education, fun and games, food and fitness, and issues and advice. They also have information about your child’s favorite PBS KIDS Programs, and online programs for parents. 

2) National Institute for Literacy: Shining Stars Toddler get Ready to Read: These publications show parents how they can help their child to read. Each book has four sections and is divided by age groups beginning with toddlers and finishing with 2nd and 3rd grade.

3) Greater Houston Partnership: This group prides itself on promoting living in the Houston Metro Area. Their website is constantly updated on upcoming events, programs, and volunteer opportunities in the area.

>Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you. Skills and experience that you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles

 1)    Houston Department of Education-

POSITION:  Program Coordinator JOB DESCRIPTION:  Promote and coordinate Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE) initiatives in multiple school districts in Harris County.  Provide technical and program support and consultation to participating schools and districts.  Facilitate partnerships between schools and community agencies to improve the services offered at CASE sites. Special Knowledge/Skills: Strong communication, inter-personal, and teambuilding skills, Strong oral and written communication and presentation skills, as well the ability to build and maintain strong relationships, General knowledge of computer systems and software applications, Ability to manage multiple projects with minimal supervision

2) Houston, Texas Health and Human Services-

Position- Child Care Licensing Generalist: Job Description:  The position performs social service duties in the specialized field of regulating child day care facilities. The position promotes reducing risk to children in out of home childcare through the promulgation and enforcement of minimum health and safety standards Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: Knowledge of the Texas Child Care Licensing Act, Family Code, and other laws and regulations relating to children and their care. Knowledge of child development, ages birth through 14 years. Skill in assessing immediacy of harmful situations, which might result in injury or death to a child and ability to take appropriate action. Knowledge of administrative practices and the organizational structure in child day care facilities.

Team Development: A Reflection on Adjourning

The adjourning part of every team development has always been the hardest part, but a few times I was too ready to be done with the group. My hardest team/group to leave has to be from my freshman year of undergrad. I completely loved that group of students in my first fashion course at LSU. We would all stay late nights and weekends busting butt to get our designs completed; and I loved that we all had the same work ethic. Like in this weeks readings and media segment, we learned the foundations of a successful team and that group of students definitely had each one to a T. It was nice not worrying if someone would do there part, had a clear undertanding of what was needed of them, and showed up ready to work and contribute equally to the team. I have also been part a few teams where I absoluted hated the team I was in and just counted down the days under the adjournment. These teams all had pretty much everything opposite of what a successful teams needs; no one wanted to work, everyone was either late or didn't show up for meetings, and I ended up do the entire project myself so I wouldn't fail because of someone else not wanting to do anything for the group.  Sometimes being a part of a group or team can be amazing, while other times you just want out before you even start. As a professional and adult now I have learned to work with what I have to work with and make the best of the situation, but that took some years to get use to. Now that I am the instructor for furture teacher, I teach them the importance of working together as a team and everyone doing their part for the success of the whole team. Especially as furture teachers, I want them to understand that we work with a huge TEAM from parents to student, coworkers and administrations, and even the community and government.

Communication Evaluation

This week I had my sister and brother-in-law evaluate my communication skills and then compared them three ideas and views. I feel my personal evaluation was a bit bias due to I think I communicate amazingly, I know I have some (very few) areas for improvement,  but none the less I believed I was doing pretty darn well in the communication part of my skills. My sister had very close views of my communication skills as I did, however, she was more harsh when it came to my listening skills. She felt I jump to assumptions easily and seemingly refuse to listen to others views on topics I feel passionately about. My brother-in-law had a completely different opinion on my skills and I am guessing hes feelings are a little more honest, but at the same time I kind of took some thoughts as him joking. He saw me as a good communicator when I wanted to be, I am a huge push over and people pleaser; which makes it hard for me to actually have/state my real feelings for anything, and he felt like I can get overwhelmed in stressful or new situations which causes my communication level to decrease.

After listening to my family's thoughts and evaluations of my communication skills I started to realize and pin-point areas in which they were referring to. I completely see where they were coming from and noticed myself trying to adjust my skills level and actively listen regardless of my personal feelings. I was completely surprised of my brother-in-laws honesty when I asked them to evaluate me. He actually wanted to have a sit down meeting to discuss ideas for me to improve my skills and become a better listener and less of a people pleaser.

Now that I have a clearer idea of what others see as my communication skills I feel I can adjust and hone my abilities to better suit my personal and professional careers alike.

Cultural Communications

Sometimes I do find myself communicating differently depending on the group I am speaking in front of. I adapt my delivery methods and techniques as it relates to the implied needs of the group. It is definitely easier to communicate with people I see as similar to myself because of my comfort level with them. However, I feel I am extremely empathic and desire to communicate with everyone equally and try my best to find a link or connection for smooth lines of communication. Some of the ways I adapt my communication skills when speaking with someone from another group or culture is to listen well, not interrupt, repeat what I understood, and try to speak clearly/ use facial expressions to get my ideas across. It is important to attempt to make another person comfortable when speaking/communicating with you, so that they are more likely to comprehend your point.

Competent Communicators

(oldest sister, older sister, ME, mom, dad, little brother, oldest brother)

 

I have a family of educators and what I feel are extremely competent communicators. The one that would stand out of all of us the most would be my oldest sister.

I believe my oldest sister is the strongest out of the family in communication because she presents herelf as a highly educated and professional person with a high vocabulary level and understanding. One situation that I know assisted her in becoming a more competent and aware communicator would be that her daughter (my niece) is mute, meaning she has to use sign language and non-verbal communication to communicate. Because of this my sister has focused in on listening, watching, and being completely engaged in the entire atmosphere of a conversation or in communicating with others. My sister is a highly successful female and commands attention when she enters a room, which also elevates her communication skills and effectiveness. Again, I do feel like many of us in my family are extremely competent communcators, but she is someone I would model my communication techniques off of.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One of my biggest hopes as it relates to my work with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to have the ability to share high quality education and health care services to all in my community. Coming into the master’s program I had a huge passion for providing youth with food insecurity with some sort of food service and a safe learning environment at the same time. I look for to my future in the early childhood profession and know now that I will have not only the endless passion, but also the educational backing as well to enhance my community and its entire people.

My overall goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that as child care and education professionals we are responsible in providing the highest quality programs and embraces multicultural inclusion.

I would like to thank all my colleagues for your continuous support and positive feedback throughout this course. I feel during this course I have really been able to open my mind and embrace everyone as unique and informative in their own way. I know we will all do amazing things in the early childhood professions. I look forward to working with each of you in the future and seeing our successes on our journey.

 

Fran Logan

 

Families From Around the World

My incoming family’s country of origin: Cambodia

 

5 ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive:

1.       Understand the complete reason for moving to America and to our community.

2.       Research and gain knowledge of the Cambodian culture and traditions.

3.       I would help inform my current students about the new student and their culture so that everyone would feel welcoming and comfortable in the classroom.

4.       I would want to introduce myself and the center to the new family to begin forming a great relationship.

5.       I would post language signs around the center so that the new student and family would have assistance in what words or terms we would be referring to or learning about. Even placing words from their country on the word wall so that the current students and staff could be educate on a new culture as well.

I would hope that my preparations would benefit myself in being culturally aware, but also my new and current families and students as well. I would hope that my efforts would allow my center to be ready to accept the new family as one of ours and welcoming them with open arms, hearts, and minds.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

 

Purposeful, unintentional, implied, or blatant microagressionism can be hurtful to the victim of those thoughts and words. Personally I have experienced multiple situations of microagression, however most of them I do feel the insult was unintended and seen as a friendly “joke”.

My Experience

Growing up and even into adulthood I have experienced racial microagression. It started to feel like regardless of where I went, who I was with, no matter how hard I tried to fit in with my peers I got the same burning question asked…” What are you?” I am put aback by this rude question every time I am faced with it. “What are you?” What exactly are they asking me, do they mean who am I, all these feelings run through my mind, yet I end with the same result… just let it go Frances, they don’t mean it in a rude or mean way. Coming from a mixed culture and being a Mixed-American, I was never black enough, white enough, or even Native American enough to truly be accepted by either of the groups. Now, however, I began to realize the questions were paired with comments such as, “your hair is so pretty, your skin tone is beautiful, I wish I looked like you,” but my listening normally stopped right after they asked that dreaded question, “What are you?” I have opened my heart, mind, and ears to understanding the people are asking questions to get to know me better and see if they can relate more to me as a person, they are not asking to hurt my feelings or make me feel like I am a “What” rather than a “who”.

 I being from southern Louisiana and from a predominately white demographic area, I have experienced out right racism, while also experiencing microagression. After learning about microagression I am now able to understand more clearly that some statements or words do not have to be meant or intended to hurt or be rude. I can now relax a little and listen to the rest of the conversation before shutting down and getting offended.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

1.    Samantha-

·       Culture- a person’s foundational belief system based in/on their religion, morals, and values.

·       Diversity- a group that have minor similarities and more differences; but can coexist seamlessly

2.  James-

·       Culture- A family’s entire being from raising their children to jobs and anything else a family would do as a unit.

·       Diversity- various cultural groups

3.  Veronica-

·       Culture- the way a group of people live

·       Diversity- multiple groups of people that have different cultures.

 

Reflection:

During this course I gained a better understanding of what each other terms: culture and diversity, meant. Mirroring the collective opinions of my family and friends, I learned culture means what a single groups stands for including religion, morals, values, traditions, and lifestyles. I automatically think about cultural invisibility comes to mind when thinking about examples of culture and diversity. People are so consumed with their personal ideas and beliefs that they are blind to their uniquenesses.

When interviewing friends and family about culture and diversity I feel they omitted their person thoughts and examples of how culture and diversity have effected them. They were focused on defining the term and not really going pass their assignment.

I was enlightened mostly by others definitions of culture and diversity. I had similar views and definitions about bother terms, but was surprised how deep they got with their ideas and thoughts about the meaning of the words. I have definitely opened my mind about the meanings and deeper understanding of culture and diversity.

 

My Family Culture

•If I was forced to select three personal items that could effective represent my family and our culture, I would first choose a cross statue. This cross has been passed down through about 3 generations and now lives with my mother waiting to be passed down to one of the next group of children. The cross represents our family’s faith and religious back ground. It is a clear symbol of what we believe, our values, and what we find important in life. The second item I would want to bring would be my hand-made Native American Chief sculpture. My great-grandmother created this sculpture and has also handed it down through generations. This items embodies our cultural background and family legacy. It shows the pride and strength of a family and an entire ethnic group that refuses to die. The last item I would

select a huge family photo album, which holds hundreds of pictures throughout many years and represents our family. For every family event from wedding, births, and baptisms to barbeques and family reunions we take loads of pictures and put them all in one book.

•I would most likely be devastated if I had now give up two of my three treasured items after we arrived in our new country. It was hard enough selecting three, and to have to be told I would have to limit it to one would be heart breaking. All three of those items have their own significance to my family and me.

•I really set down and thought about all the important things and symbols that could represent our family as a whole and noticed it was actually hard and confusing. Something that I think or hold as important or symbolic someone else in my family might not have the same feelings.  I also found myself looking for items that could show different segments of our culture, from religion, family lineage, and family heritage. I think I did a pretty good job narrowing my entire being into three items, even asking my parents if the items were good and appropriate (which they agreed).

When I Think of RESEARCH...

I remember at the start of this course having very conflicting and overwhelming views of  what I would be required to do. I was completely overwhelmed with life itself, let alone the idea of 8 weeks of research. I have gained a lot of calming information about what it takes to research ideas successful, but I still have a few mountains to climb related to research overall.  I loved the constructive feedback throughout the course, and have gained a better understanding of how to developing and completing a valid research study.

I can admit that I have always been fearful of completing any form of research. Even though I have become more comfortable wih the process of researching, I am still a bit nervous about the whole thing. After going through this course I have learned the steps, terms, and methods of research, which have easied my concerns. The best part of this course is that I am now able to pick and choice appropriate methods and processes that work each type of research study I am a part of.

Throughout this course I have been going through many life changing events, so focusing on soemthing that I already found overwhelming was even more overwhelming. I found myself getting frustrated and losing my drive. I eventually had to seek a counselor, calm down, and push through not only the class, but more importantly my life situation. After refocusing,  I was able to get a full understanding of the research process and was also able to complete the course; gettingone step closer the my goal. After finding the base of my research study, I actually found my research useful in my educational career  which included: creating a Food Drive to help out our local Food Bank, implementing the Buddy Back Pack Program (where low-income students are able to use a new food pantry on campus to take food tiems home over weekends), and implementing the first annual  tree angel program (where faculty and staff are able to adopt a family in need over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have also become more interested in creating a child care center that assists the families in lower-income areas and possibly starting a Head Start Program in my community.

 

    Some of the challenges I faced during this course were more personal then course related. Of course  personal issues become concerns during the process of the course, but I was able to regroup and get the overall idea of the research process. I found myself struggling this section of 8 weeks, forcing me to go over information repeatedly and pretty much praying I completed the assignment correctly. I looked to feedback from my colleagues and professor to ground me and keep me going even when I wanted to throw in the towel. 

I always knew I wanted to own a Child Care and Learning Center, but after this course I see their is a bigger need in low-income areas for a center that can offer a higher level of education and care for the students. I found myself a few courses ago becoming more interested in the Head Start Program, but that too is limited to specific students and families. I want now to create a center that can embrace families in need, hold a high standard of acheivement, and provide the best education and care I can too ALL  children. 

I feel I have found my career calling after this research course.

Thanks ALL!!!!

Research Around the World

I had the opportunity to review a current topic presented by the Early Childhood Australian organization (ECA). The organization advocated for all young Australians, their families, and the ealry childhood profession.

One of the newly presented research by ECA showed that nearly 70% of people asked feel that affordable early childhood education programs was more important that Paid Parental Leave (PPL) for young families. This finding was not surprising at all to me, because I know if surveyed I would have chosen the same. Unfortunately, affordable child care and education does not mean (at all) that the child would receive the same high quality/standards as higher costing centers/ programs. It would be amazing to have the government in both locations (America and Australia) come together on demanding high quality with affordable prices, so that all children/families would have access to the best educational systems.

The poll conducted was in response to the current debates related to the PPL. After reading this article, I became interested in the PPL concerns and wondered if the US had some sort of like poll or survey, but was unable to find one. The ECA, like me, is very supportive of an effective idea in supporting parents in their ability to spend time with their families, however with spending time some parent must send their children you care centers and need to know/expect their children are getting the best education at the best price.

I liked this website because it had multiple links to research through. They not only presented their personal views and concerns, but also recognized others and respected them. The website and organization posted numerous magazine subscriptions and even allowed viewers to see sample articles from the Early Childhood News. GREAT RESOURCE!

Reference:
Early Childhood Australia. A voice for young children. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodastralia.org.au

Research That Benefits Children and Families-Uplifting Stories

Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

I would easily choose the topic of feeding the world's youth, but I would first focus on my community and state of Texas. If I were able to research ways of be able to feed all starving children and actually be able to implement the outcomes, I would probably be hailed a prophet or some kind of savior of mankind. By researching and inventing a way to end world hunger, I would actually be able to assist in ending multiple issues throughout the world: low education levels, poverty, crime, bad health, etc. The possible positive contributions are endless, because everything filters back to a person's basic needs not being met; which negatively impacts every other part of their lives.

Here's a way that we can stop dreaming, and start doing!

Twitter (#FoodDay2013):

• On October 24, America will celebrate @FoodDay2013, the nationwide movement for healthy, affordable, sustainable food.http://www.foodday.org
• Join millions of Americans on October 24 for @FoodDay2013 to advocate for affordable, healthy, sustainable food.
• #FoodDay2013 is October 24. Millions of Americans will #EatReal & push for better food policies. What are your plans?

 

Personal Research Journey:"

The topic of my research is: What is the lasting effects of being labeled impoverished or having a poverty mindset as a young child? This topic is important to me as an educator, parent, and daughter I am constantly surrounded by children are dealing with the epidemic of poverty. Growing up both parents told me stories about their childhoods; how hard it was, how appreciative I should be, and how it affected who they became. My parents grew up in household where nine children and two parents survived on 50$ a week, however, neither parent felt they were living in poverty. I feel that by them not being labeled impoverished or having the mindset of being in poverty my parents had a huge advantage in having life successes. It is my thought that children that fully believe they are in poverty or have been labeled by peers, adults, teachers, and/or schools to be in poverty end up suffering from stagnation related to poverty. These thoughts are the basis or foundation of my research.

So far this simulation process has been not as overwhelming or boring as I thought it would be. I think I am enjoying this process more because I had the choice of what I wanted to research. I found the assignment of finding creditable resources challenging, but extremely useful. I needed to be able to see the differences in what are the expectations of a creditable resource versus a not so creditable one.

I am extremely passionate about childhood poverty and ending childhood hunger. One of the programs/organizations I am working with is the No Kid Hungry Movement, which is sponsored by the Food Network. September is the awareness month for ending childhood hunger and we support this movement/month by wearing and using the color orange. I am exstending an invitation to my colleagues to support the No Kid Hungry and Ending Childhood Hunger Movements by wearing orange and going to the Food Network website and seeing what each of us could do to end childhood hunger.

The Consequences of International Awareness

 I have learned a lot from my international contact and through international awareness websites. It is clear that quality care, poverty, and lack of equity in early childhood related systems are concerns worldwide. Support, funds, and resources are the top three influencing factors that are mirrored in many countries.  I also was reminded that programs with positive parent involvement, endless funds, and amazing staff any program, located anywhere, servicing any student can and will be successful.

I look forward to providing my full knowledge, passion, and desire to succeed to all my students and families. My career pledge is to assist in the ending of child hunger and poverty not only in my community, but my city, state, and country.

I will remain interested and committed to researching international failures and successes in the early childhood field. As an educator of future teachers and child care workers, I look forward to introducing upcoming educators to the wonderful field of teaching.

UNESCO: Access and Equity

I was not able to talk with my international contact this week, so I went to UNESCO's site and researched further: Access and Equity related to child care and education.

 

Being from a medical background and family I have always thought learning at least started at birth, but after becoming a Child Development instructor and working in the Obstetrics field I now know it begins during the prenatal period of life. However, the 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. Because it is now realized that early childhood is the foundation to future learning and success, in 2000 the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action agreed about the importance of early childhood and included the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

 

The main idea of the program and its goals is that participating countries dedicate themselves to expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, targeting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. One of the big issues related to quality care and education for children was the accessibility to them. Part of the program urges governments to branch out and support equitable access to those services by implementing better policies directed to underprivileged children and families.

 

 Normally, privileged children of the target age group benefit from state and federal funding and resources, while poorer children and those in the non-targeted age groups receive little to no government assistance. UNESCO supports the implementation of a universal policy with targeting, which they believe would minimize inequities. I also feel that cities and governments should equally distribute its resources among the entire population and especially towards those who live in the most disadvantaged regions, which I believe would help end the cycle of less than and low achievement. The ideas and approach of UNESCO is to create better access without creating another type of inequity, but we must understand we all have the right to equal care and education and if we see an inequity in either we are obligated to fight for change.

 

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

Little Texans, BIG Futures

It has been unusually hard to communicate with my international contact, therefore I decide to research a local organization focused on provide quality care and education to Texans; LittleTexans.org.

This website and program are intended to support parents, caregivers, and anyone interested in promoting the healthy development of young children, especially little Texans.  The information found is geared to help people understand more about how young children grow and develop skills, how we can support their growth, and it provides great resources to use and share with others.

“Little Texans. Big Futures.”  was started as a project of the Texas Early Learning Council, as part of its promise to bring new, voluntary; infant, toddler, and three-year-old early learning guidelines to Texas.  Under the leadership of LaShonda Brown, Texas Head Start Collaboration Office Director, the Texas Early Learning Council started on a two-year journey to develop the guidelines through a collaborative process involving many different types of experts and participants in early childhood services in the state.  The final guidelines were reviewed and approved by hundreds of state and national leaders, and they are endorsed by the Texas Pediatric Society .

Little Texans:

Vision

For all young children to grow and thrive in their families and in their communities

Mission

To engage in a comprehensive and collaborative process to develop and implement Texas’ Infant, Toddler, and Three-Year-Old Early Learning Guidelines (www.littleTexans.org, 2008).

Posted on the littleTexans.org website are:

• Assistance with finding quality childcare and educational programs
• Ads and resource center
• Act Early (Screening for Developmental Delays)
• Download Guidelines link

Each of these links are hugely educational for professionals and parents/caregivers of children from the prenatal stage through around 3 years of age.


I randomly heard about this organization on the radio a few months ago and thought it sounded awesome, so I decided to look it up. Surprisingly, I was able to find a lot of great information effecting my community and state. There are always websites and research available, but not really geared to my specific group of students or demographics, so hearing about littleTexans.org was amazing.