Time Well Spent

   I have learned so much on this journey to get my Masters. This is something I have always wanted to do. Three things that I feel deeply about are: That it takes a team of people to help change things and that is done by working together has a team. When it came to isms I never really thought about how many of them there are and how much diversity is involved. I have

 

always treated each child with the respect and let them know that they were loved I just assume that all teachers did that. The third is that we can make a difference in a child’s life if we work together with the families and communities. Treating a child and their families with respect and honoring their traditions and making them feel welcome are very important.

    The long term goal that I have is to work in a special needs class and to make sure that the children are welcomed and treated with respect. That all teachers and people know that they can be taught whether it be book learning or teaching life skills to them. Working with schools on teaching the teachers and assistants how to work with children with disabilities and I really hope to work with children with autism.

     I would like to say thank you to Dr. E and all my instructors throughout this journey. Also thanks to my classmates for all their advice through the blogs and discussions. I know that each of you will succeed in the path you take after graduation.

    

    

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Save the Children is an international organization is one that I am very interested in is because they believe in investing in childhood-every day, in times of crisis and for their future.  They give children in the United State and all around the world a healthy start, and the opportunity to learn and protect them from harm.  They believe that by transforming a child’s life now it can change the course of their future plus ours. Their mission is “to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives” (Save the Children, 2011). That is important to me because the children are the future and we need to make sure they are ready in every way.

The job that I am interested in is education programme manager - derek/ne Syria and the qualifications are:

Minimum of 5 years' experience working in the field of Education in Emergencies including in a first phase emergency response

Education to Masters Level in Education or a relevant subject and/or equivalent field experience

Previous experience of programme management across multiple locations

Previous experience of preparing successful funding proposals for donors

Budget development and financial management skills

Demonstrated experience in leading assessment activities and of designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating education programmes in emergencies for international NGOs.

Proven capacity to supervise, train and coach staff in EiE technical skills and in delivering training to teachers

Experience of applying relevant interagency humanitarian frameworks and standards in education in emergencies (for example INEE Minimum Standards)

Experience of representation, including on coordination mechanisms (e.g. Cluster or working groups), and working with the Ministry of Education

A high level of written and spoken English

Excellent communication skills

Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy

Strong influencing skills and experience in advocacy

The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.

Commitment to the aims and principles of SC. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

The second I chose was International Step By Step Association. I chose this because I agree with their vision, mission and the goals they have. Their vision is A society where families, communities and professionals work together to empower each child to reach her or his unique potential and embrace values of social justice and equity (http://www.issa.nl/). We are a learning community powered by the leading early childhood experts in Europe and Central Asia. We unite professionals and partners to deliver high-quality early years services equitably. We challenge existing knowledge and practice and co-construct new approaches and models.

The third I chose was The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) is a group that believes every child in every country will have access to quality education. They work to encourage innovative solutions to educational challenges and inspire action that creates positive, sustainable futures for children all over the world.  I love this group’s proactive stance on every single child receiving access to quality education. One of their programs is the Love Me, Teach Me. The Love Me, Teach Me campaign promotes the needs and rights of children everywhere. The campaign is built upon the four cornerstones of See Me, Hear Me, Love Me, and Teach Me (acei.org). This is one area that I have always been interested in learning more about.  I could not have any jobs available but they have many volunteer’s positions that you could do.

http://portal.acei.org/

International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/

c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

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

The first organization I chose was NAEYCE know has “The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) it is a professional membership organization. The reason I chose this was because it works to increase the quality of education for all children from birth through age eight. Accreditation systems are the biggest part of NAEYC's efforts to improve early childhood education; they accept programs to provide the best education experiences for young children and their educators by meeting national standards of importance. Looking through for a job they said was closed. The one I would have like was the Community Manager. http://www.naeyc.org/

The second one I chose is the Head Start Program that has been one program I have thought is great ever since my son went there. It works on making sure that children from low-income families are prepared for school and in life. .  Head Start and Early Head Start programs support the mental, social, and emotional development of children from birth to age 5. I would love to have a teaching position at Head Start and the requirements are Early Childhood Associate Degree, Early Childhood B.A./B.S. or a Bachelor’s or advanced degree and coursework equivalent to a major relating to Early Childhood.

The third one I chose is from Every Child Matters and the reason for this is because it has so many programs going that is focus on children, their families, and education. They want to make sure the government puts children and their families first. They want to make change so every child has the things they need in life and the part I think is important is to make sure that every child has a safe environment in their home, school and neighborhood. They are committed to preventing child abuse, ending deaths due to abuse and neglect, and to reducing gun violence.I would love to work for them but I could not find any job listings or available.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs

http://everychildmatters.org/our-issues/safe-kids/

http://www.naeyc.org/

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EXPLORING ROLES IN THE ECE COMMUNITY: LOCAL AND STATE LEVELS

The first program I chose was Early Childhood Alliance. The reason for this is because Early Childhood Alliance has been furnishing programs and services to meet the needs of families and children, in northern Indiana. It is recognized as a leader in the early care and education field.  They use High Scope curriculum, which supports the Foundations for Young Children to the Indiana Academic Standards. They use nationally recognized Daily activities that help children – from infancy through kindergarten – develop physically, socially, and emotionally. The best part is what they call Pathways to quality which has 4 levels.

They have many job openings for teachers full and part time. Depending on which one you choose the requirements are from age 18 or older and at least an associate degree. They have a job opening for pre-k that I apply for and an interested in.

The second one I chose was the Head Start Program. This has always interested me ever since my son went there. They provide a quality education and help the families with many services, like health, nutritional, and other developmental social services to low-income and special needs preschool children and their families. There early learning program teachers prepare them for school through play that is planned or spontaneous instruction. They grow in every area from learning social skills and motor development. They work with the parents in many ways to help them succeed in their home life and relationships with their children.

They are not hiring at this time and you need at least a BA in ECE.

The third one I chose is called the Teaching Tree. I chose this one because it takes infants to school age children. The children are in different classrooms by age. It has a multi-aged preschool classroom.  What they do in this classroom the child will enjoy activities including Music & Movement, circle time, and they have a structured pre-school curriculum. The children also get to talk about things 
that are important to them and the free choice is designed to give the child a sense of control and to learn to make their own decisions.

http://theteachingtree.com/index.html

https://www.ecalliance.org/about-us/

www.brightpoint.org

Reflecting on Learning

As a childhood educator my hope is to help all the children so they can flourish and succeed, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or how they look. That we can honor the differences as much as we honor the similarities. I also hope that I can leave a positive and forever effect on the children’s life. I am going to me an advocate for the families in my classroom I want to make sure that the families can get the quality services that they need. I hope to build a classroom that the children feel safe and treated with respect.

To my classmates and Dr. Bird-Pickens

Thank you the last 8 weeks have been challenging and yet learning experience. I have enjoyed learning from each of you through the discussions and blogs. What we have learned from one another is ways to help educate our students and colleagues on what anti-bias education is and how to treat all people equally and with respect. As we move on into what life brings us I wish you all the best of luck in the future. I hope to see some of you in my last class here at Walden

Impact on Early Emotional Development

I chose Eastern and Southern Africa especially Ethiopia because I wondered what it would be likes to live in a country with little to no rain and how they survived. They are facing the worst drought ever and the malnutrition rate is high so this leaves the children vulnerable to diseases. Measles was terrible until the children started to get vaccinated. Many children had died from a disease that can be prevented but being an under develop country they never had the resources.  Along with the diseases and malnutrition there is lack of drinking water. Pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria are three more things that are a big problem for newborns.

The way that this would effect a child’s development is that if they do not have proper nutrition and to get some type of disease this could cause a delay in learning and how they feel emotionally. They would not have the strength or energy to do anything. With all of these things children would not develop properly and most would die by the age of 5. With the help of UNICEF the country can get the support, supplies, and medicines and is helping the resilience of food insecurity. It teaches the families and communities to recognize what can cause malnutrition and helps them to find the resources needed.

As an educator I learned that we must learn what these children are going through and how to deal with them in a healthy way. Finding ways to make the children have a good experience in a safe and comfortable classroom is important. We must also build a trusting relationship with the parents and to help them learn how to help their child.

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/english/media_10211.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

While reading this article, I was somewhat surprise but felt dismay and troubled for the generations to come. When it comes to my grandchildren (son is an adult) I would not want them to believe that they would have to dress enticing, or to walk with a sexy walk just to be popular. When it comes to television especially the ads and magazines with their articles and picture have considered what is sexy. This makes it very hard to make the children understand that is not the norm. Children have a hard enough time to fit in. Children being expose to this at since an early age can cause them to have an unhealthy relationship has they get older. In the article by Levin and Kilborne (2009) it states that when children are taught to focus on physical appearance and sex appeal, it has a negative impact on their development. 

In one of the childcares center where I worked I observe a young girl and boy playing house and the young girl took the boy by the hand and said come on honey I have something I want to show you. I went over and told them they were too young and it was not right for them to talk and act that way. Last year in my class I had a young girl that would dress in tight clothes and would do things to get the boys to like her and to be her boyfriend.  It came to the point that when she came to school dress like that we would put her in proper clothes. At the end of the day at school we let the kids dance to music and there were a couple of young girls that would gyrate to the music even songs in which they shouldn’t I ask where they learn to dance like that and they said watching music videos.

 We has educators need to make sure that we watch what the children are doing and then sit and talk to them and help them to understand that is not the proper way to behave. As educators we need to guide and help the children to having the self-confidence to make the right decisions on how to act. We need to continue to guide them on not to be in a hurry to be grow up and enjoy their childhood.

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf