New Insights

During this week’s blog assignment, I decided to check out a podcast through The Preschool Podcast and the title podcast for this week is “Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies.” During this podcast, Mary Smickles and Erin Holleran discuss how they created a business to help families and child care providers learn about the many resources and services that are available within early childhood education.

                Mary and Erin created a Child Care Service and Referral Agency that helps families by providing information on child care services, parenting programs, and child care workshops. For child care providers they provide professional development training, technical assistance, and assistance with the quality rating system. Their business helps to bring awareness to government programs, grants, and funding available to families and educators.

                Overall, I thought this podcast was very informational. I believe that the business that Mary and Erin have created is beneficial for both families and childcare providers especially for those just starting in the business. It is a business concept I would think that would be helpful in many communities. I am going to conduct research within my community to see if I can find something similar to their business.

Sharing Web Resources

I have been exploring NAEYC’s website. During this week I examined a publication from August/September 2017 were to focus on welcoming refugee children into early childhood classroom. I found this to be very interesting to read because of the many issues that have been going on at the borders concerning families and children. Majority of these families had encountered and experienced many hardships and trauma (NAEYC, 2017). The NAEYC has a few different ideas and approaches to creating an inclusive and nurturing classroom environment for these children and families. They are the following:

1.       Prepare to greet the children.

2.       Create play experiences that do not require English.

3.        Familiarize families with classrooms.

4.       Connect with related community cultural groups.

5.       Meeting emotional needs.

6.       Establish one-on-one time with children.

7.       Create opportunities for refugee parents to share their traditions. (NAEYC, 2017)

 

These ideas/approaches will create more of an open learning environment for everyone.  Other websites for reference were:

Association for Childhood Education International
www.acei.org
“How to Support Refugee Students in the ELL Classroom,” by Kristina Robertson and Lydia Breiseth. Colorín Colorado
www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-support-refugee-students-ell-classroom
Raising Young Children in a New Country: Supporting Early Learning and Healthy Development https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-linguistic/fcp/do..., to help you talk to families about child development, health, school readiness, and more.

 

Reference:

 

NAEYC. (2017, August). Welcoming Refugee Children into Early Childhood Classrooms. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/aug2017/welcoming-refugee-children-into-classrooms

Save the Children

     I decided to explore Save the Children’s website for this week. As I explored their website, I learn that this year marks the 100^th anniversary of the movement of Save the children. I learned that Save the Children was initially a campaign to help children suffering from the efforts of the war in Europe. Over the years it has grown into an organization dedicated to ensuring that all children around the world survive, learn and protected. Over the past 100 years, they have helped to change the lives of over 1 billion children. Save the children has global initiatives that support advances in child health and medical care, education, protection,  and emergency relief (Neumann, 2019).

 

     Within this organization, they have five different programs that focus on education. Those programs consist of early child care and development, primary education, school of health and nutrition, education research, and education in emergencies. In one of the articles I read that in Bhutan, Save the Children had improved the quality in 200 of their preschools, trained educators, and introduced play-based math and reading activities to the school (Save the Children, n.d.). Overall, I believe the work and achievements of this great organization has helped save the lives of many children and helped to secure a better future for society. Save the Children understands that equal opportunity for education, good health, and protection for all should be made available for those less fortunate.

 

References:

Neumann, S. (2019, January 1). Save the Children Celebrates 100 Years of Progress for Children. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/media-and-news/2019-press-releases/save-the-children-celebrates-100-years

Save the Children. (n.d.). Early Childhood Development. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/global-programs/education/early-childhood-development

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

     Within the NAEYC organization, it publishes a monthly magazine that provides stories of growth and development of early childhood educators and their students. For the February/March issue, it featured an article on “Cultivated the Identity, Agency and Voice of Young Black Boys”. This was intriguing to me because in many facets African American adolescent boys are scrutinized and viewed negatively. There are some that may disagree and think that young African American boys are troublemakers and that they have an issue with authoritative figures.

     The article starts by describing parent of a young African American couple attending a parent-teacher conference. During the conference, the lead teacher informs the parent that their child’s social and development is below average, and his intellectual potential is average (Wright, 2019). The parents are shocked by this information. However, the assistant teacher steps up to provide the parents with an example of how the child is overly energetic when playing with his fellow students. At the end of the conference, the lead teacher admits that she prejudged the child and that his behavior was indicative of a child first time in a program (Wright, 2019).

     According to Brian Wright(2019) “adults often see Black boys as older and less innocent than their White peers (a practice called adultification), and their play is perceived as more dangerous, violent, and not developmentally appropriate.” This highlights the notion of racial biases of young African American boys in classrooms today. It is something I have witnessed in conducting observations of childcare centers. These biases can create an unwelcoming and discourage attitude towards these children and create an environment where they are denied opportunities to grow and excel academically.

     At the end of this article, it outlined several questions to ask yourself to do a self-reflection of yourself. Helping one to identify your pitfalls/ bias towards these young boys. For me, this article was able to bring light to an issue that is controversial to some but a reality to many. I believe that regardless of your race, culture, or gender that equal opportunity to learn and grow must be afforded to all. Do not be so quick to judge and place people or children into a box without getting to know their story.

References:

Wright, B. L. (2019, February). Black Boys Matter: Cultivating Their Identity, Agency, and Voice. Teaching Young Children, 12(3). Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2019/black-boys-matter