international contacts part II

This week I talked with a lady that teaches in Africa. After some research I found that Namibia has unlike our public schools no counselors or librarians . All the books that are received are from donations and funding. The language of choice is English. The children are learning to be fluent in reading and writing. Uniforms are required and this is done by funding as well. In order for the children to have any contact with computers Ms. Turners ( a retired school teacher from Charlotte NC, does mission work through the assistance from her church. church did fund raisers and took donations for a 2 years. This misson work is a full filling way for her it a is way for her to give back and continue teaching since she has retired. Some interesting facts about Namibia school system is  the dduration of regular education is about 10 years. Enrollment start at age 6 years, and normally ends around 15 years of age.

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20% of employees in Namibia have no education for the profession they are working in; about 45% only attended primary school. Pre-schools and Kindergartens are privately runned  by the state.  There are about 1500 schools in the country and only about  100 are private schools centers. Even though over there past couple of years enrollment has increased and the drop our rate has decreased the problem that the schools face is that Namibia is a large country. There is very low population density in most parts and in some regions schools are still very far away for some people. There are places where transportation is not
provided and parents refuse to send their children on a several mile walk to and from school.

internation contacts part 1

16 out of 18 of the kids in my classroom have parents and other family members that came to the US from Guatemala. This week I decided to research the country that so many of the people that I have built a wonderful relationship with are trying to get away from. My thought for most of these families is that they came here wanting a better life. After having a heart to heart with one my families I found out they were living in poverty since the day they were born. In Guatemala Spanish is the countries official language. This is a multi-ethnic country where Maya is part of the 4 major and 24 minor subgroups. There are four major ethnic groups in rural areas, the Maya, Xinca, ladinos and garifunas. .Among these groups 71 percent of the population is poor. Guatemala has a high rate of illiteracy, infant mortality and infant malnourishment. Due to the widespread poverty rate, poor communities especially where it is just women are is a greater need. In general the women are illiterate and unable to speak or write Spanish. Because of the lack of schooling and education the women carry more of the domestic workloads and are not aware of their civil rights. In this country the causes of poverty is related to the lack of natural resources such as and and water. The lack of education the separation of the languages and dialects also contributes to keeping this country in a marginalization state. So many Guatemalans are unable to find work to support their families they migrate north towards Mexico and the US is search of employment.

I have supplied a link that gives great information about how the rural people and other families live in Guatemala. 

 This video also explains the damage of malnutrition and how effects the children of this area. 

www.euronews.net/

Guatemalan indigenous living in poverty

international contacts

As I reviewed the site Center on the Developing child at Harvard University (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/global_children_s_initiative__activities/) I found many interesting facts. With help from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Fundación Educational Oportunidad, the school is able to focus on language and literacy with children from low-income families in Chile. The university has helped over 3,800 at risk children from ages 4- 6. According to the centers objective the focus in around three main strategies:

• To reframe public discourse about the early childhood period by educating high-level decision makers

about the common underlying science of learning, behavior, and health;

• To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects in selected countries

or regions to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed,

and how to get it back on track; and

• To build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions

in low- and middle-income countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse

perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children.

The Global Children’s Initiative includes activities in three domains: early childhood development; mental health; and children in crisis and conflict situations. (www.thedevelopingchild.hardvard.edu).

Other programs that are found through this site include an internship Opportunity in the Brazil Early Childhood Development Initiative. This program allows a qualified applicant to participate in a leadership programs designed to implement the new Brazil Initiative.

Applying science in the early childhood field in Brazil is the programs next project. The Center will use the science of child health and development to build a stronger policy that will benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

We all understand the benefits of children being enrolled in an early childhood program. The benefits are the same in countries out side the US. These benefits include: Higher intelligence scores, Higher and timelier school enrollment, and less grade repetition and lower dropout rates. Other benefits are improved nutrition and health status, improved social and emotional behavior, and improved parent-child relationship. These changes will help to improve education and health to children around the world.

Sharing Resources

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/newsletter/ is a well know organization that has been providing resources for teachers and using media and technology to build knowledge, critical thinking, imagination and curiosity for all children. One of PBS kids focus is to encourage children to interact in the community and to be respectful citizens in society. By working as a team, parents, teachers, and caregivers can helps to encourage children to be successful in school and in life. Some of PBS’s resources include PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! The television series include pbskids.org, pbskidsgo.org, PBS Parents, PBS Teachers. PBS KIDS educational resources assist in the development of preschoolers in four areas. These areas are cognitive, social, emotional and physical.

PBS kids are funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the United States Department of Education. The main focus of the grant is to expose children 2-8 to age appropriate programs, games, playful Web sites, and easy-to-use learning resources for kids, parents, caregivers, and teachers.

Another website that I believe could be considered an international site would be the www.scholastic.com.  The scholastic site is focused on reading readiness for all children. I have used this site for many things from lesson plans, skill build, and information on classroom management and as a resource referral for my parents. The thing I like the most is that it can be used in English and Spanish.  

One thing that I noticed in each is that each offers professional development for teachers. This is important to have due to the many changes that is taking place in education. The professional development offered within the site includes effective teaching practices, self- development and standards based learning. Even though I have used each of these sites I tend to use the scholastic one more. I have gathered a lot of resource information for my parents and other teachers. Because I deal mostly with the Hispanic population it is nice to get information that is already translated into Spanish.

Your Personal Research Journey

For too long, teaching children to read has been seen as women’s work. New research recognizes this limits child development. Fathers play a critical role in learning, too.

—Robert W. Ortiz, Ph.D., Cal. State, Fullerton

As I think about my own childhood I remember my mother attending all the meeting, events that took place at school. Even though both parents worked, the schooling was designated to my mom. With that being said I would like to focus on getting fathers more involved in their child’s education. For many years the childhood education has been seen as women’s work. Through research we have found children really do benefit from having both their parents involved in their lives and it is clear that children are getting the short end of the stick due to the fact that their fathers are missing from that partnership.

Some of the top reasons that I found as to why fathers are not involved in education are:

_ Head Start staff consists mostly of women who may identify with and are more comfortable with moms.

_ Some staff and mothers may have bad feelings toward fathers due hurtful relationships.

_ The past cultures show women as primary caretakers, particularly of young children.

_ Some staff may not understand role a father plays in his child’s healthy development.

_ Some staff may assume that fathers do not want to participate.

_ Some staff may not know how to get fathers involved.

In my research over the next couple of weeks I plan to address ways to utilize fathers in the classroom and  show how this involvement is beneficial to the child.

My Supports

I am presently an employee of a Head Start program. This program is one that I was able to start with first as a parent, then given the opportunity to take my intern, then a full time teacher. So i am able to understand many different angles of this agency. Part of the support that i received as a parent was knowledgeable teachers and a program that offered a wonderful environment for my child to play and learn. Later as a teacher I was able to pass on to my students the same services but more. Part of the support that I receive is from the professional development staff, agency provided incentive program and agency support staff. This includes speech and language, Occupational and physical therapy. My agency provides information on training offered throughout the community. Part of the staff development staff is to provide information to teachers. Other support facilities include Childcare connections. Here we can find information on other agencies and training to update certifications and personal development. Other support may also include family support, health and nutrition and incentive for parent involvement. 

My Connections to Play

I am now 38 years old. I remember when I played outside with my sisters and our Saturday night board games. Things are so different now and my own children are not exposed to the form of play that I was exposed to. When I think about play this quote by Mr. Rogers really sums up what play and learning is all about; "Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood).

I am also very fond of this quote as well;

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” Friedrich Froebel (founder of the concept of kindergarten)

Over the last 20 years the way that children play and learn has changed tremendously. Children are more interested in playstations,  xbox360,  face-book and anything computer related. When i was younger we used more our imagination through outside play and board games, drawing and family days and vacations. Parents were more involved in their children and gave them that family time together.  My outside time involved bike riding, hiking and many days at the park and in the mountains. It is terrible now to think a child can not play due to the fact that playing outside is more dangerous.

 

One thing I have learned as i got older is that no matter how old you are it is a positive thing to continue to play. It may look a little different to an older person but it serves the same purpose.