Sharing Web Resources Part 2

I am currently examining http://www.zerotothree.org/.  I found particular interest in Public Policy this week.  In this particular section we can see Action Center, Building Early Childhood Systems, Federal Policy, Infant-Policy Issues, Policy Guide and State and Community Policy. 
This site has a lot of professional resources.  An example is Babies and Toddlers in the Policy Picture: A Self-Assessment Checklist for States and Communities.  I was able to view a PowerPoint entitled Developing Plans to Improve Services for Infants and Toddlers.

An idea that made me think aobut an issue in new ways is the issue of children in foster care.  The Zero to Three website pushes a policy for permanent placements for children in foster care.  This is an idea that I haven't seen or read about anywhere.  When you think about all we have learned about early childhood development and the importance of creating a bond with someone it makes total sense.  Unfortunately, this is not what happens and this organization is seeking to change that.

I realized through viewing the power point how complex it is to actually deliver policy change.  There are so many different components of what needs to be accomplished.  Many people need to come together and agree on what needs to be done, how to do it, how to finance it, and then how to actually implement these changes.  It is not as simple as we would like it to be.  So even when politicians, economists, and neuroscientists are on the same page, actually agree on what needs to be done, have the finances in place to do it, then there are all these logistical things that need to be done, which is what we usually refer to as "red tape". 

Getting to Know Your International Contact

I'm disappointed that no one I contacted got back to me.  Not even my friend from Dominica has returned my email.  Maybe she will do so later on.  Because of this, I had to do the alternative assignment.

I chose India because I just finished watching a show about child sex slaves with Lisa Ling.  I thought it was horrific what was happening there and decided to learn more about the issue of poverty in this country.

1) One major issue in India is education.  The country struggles with getting 33 million children living in poverty to get into an elementary school, then finish at least the primary grades.  There is also gender discrimination for education.  Only 66% of girls attend secondary schools.  India has 20% of the world's out of school children.  

2) Another major issue is health.  The health of the poor is a major problem.  There are many communicable diseases, malnutrition, and maternal and perinatal illnesses (www.childhoodpoverty.org/).  Because of changes in modernization of their systems, urbanization,  and economic conditions the issue of HIV/AIDS is becoming a fast problem.  There is alot of malnutrition and children are born low-birth weight.

3) The country of India is trying to improve the conditions of the poor.  As of late, they are trying to implement a Child Policy.  It just seems that they are not doing enough.  Maybe it is because there is just this pervasive attitude about poor people.  They do have a caste system so maybe the majority of the people believe if you are poor that you are in that situation because of what you have done in your previous life.  That is clearly my opinion. 

Sharing Web Resources

I have chosen to share more about http://www.zerotothree.org/  This organization focuses on children from Pre-natal to age 3.  The website gives a lot of information.  For example it includes behavior and development, maltreatment, care and education, and public policy.  I looked this week at care and education.  They had a lot of valuable information but I chose to focus on school readiness which is interactive.  I focused on self-control and watched a video.  I found it interesting that they do not advocate for time-outs for children aged two or three.  They said it is ineffective.


There also is download of the week.  This week is the Magic of Everyday Moments - 24 to 36 months.

I was sent an article to my email.  It was a free article from their newsletter where Matthew E. Memed writes A Call to Action for Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care.  He argues for policy agenda making vulnerable infants and toddlers a priority and creating a developmental approach to their care.

As far as cultural diversity, I would have liked to see more things related to being bilingual, or resources in Spanish.  Maybe I will see it later on, but didn't see it now.  I have to explore deeply.


Found it:


http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_par_1224_selfcontvid1

Spanish Video :))












  

Establishing Foreign Contacts

As part of our first blog assignment, we have to connect with an early childhood educator in another country.  How exciting!  I decided that I would like to connect with someone in Latin America but was confused with the NAEYC site.  There were no contact information or emails for anyone in this region.  So I refocused and thought about what I would find interesting such as places that have child brides such as Ethiopia or child labor like India.  I searched for these places and found also no contact information.  Through the UNICEF website I was able to find a contact for Ethiopia.  I emailed them what I was interested in and am still awaiting a reply.  We shall see what happens.  I am really interested in finding out how these countries who are known to not have education for young poor girls work towards equity in education.


Expanding Resources

I chose to look at http://www.zerotothree.org/baby-brain-map.html I actually chose this site for selfish reasons.  Both my children fall into this age group.  The site is specificially for prenatal development until age three.  I especially like the part of the site called Baby Brain Map.  You can put what age group to focus on and it tells you how their brain is developing.  I registered with this website and hope to get some interesting information.  When I do I will send it all your way.