Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

Access and Equity

Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. I think that this is a good suggestion that should take place all over the United States because 9 times out of 10 families who live in disadvantaged areas are not able to buy the supplies that they may need in order to be successful. 

Quality

Early childhood education and care poses a dilemma for curriculum designers. On the one hand, there is the need to guide the personnel in early childhood centres, especially when they have low certification and little training. A  curriculum helps to ensure that staff cover important learning areas, adopt a common pedagogical approach and reach for a certain level of quality across age groups and regions of a country. A curriculum can also be a focus for further training. I believe that no matter what level of education that you are trying to pursue they all have a standard or accelerated curriculum - the curriculum helps teachers stay on track on what they should be teaching the children and what they should be learning.

Coordination and Integration

Coordination issues include coherent regulation, funding and staffing schemes and a common vision of care and education. Effective coordination must exist among sectors at both national and local level, and also between public and private establishments. 

Early childhood care and education is often the concern of several government sectors and usually these are education, social affairs and health. The multi-faceted nature of early childhood care and education gives rise to the challenge of effectively coordinating provision of policy development and implementation across the different sectors.

References:

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

Rally4Babies and other information from ZERO TO THREE

As I continue to read the different newsletters from Zero To Three I become more and more impressed with the organization and what they stand for. On December 10, 2014 advocates at the ZERO TO THREE NTI and across the country Rallied for Babies to increase early learning investments that start at birth. Rally4Babies was part of a Twitter storm, hosted by NWLC, ZERO TO THREE, and MomsRising, in support of the White House Summit on Early Education. I also loved that the organization joined with the Strong Start Coalition for a tweet storm on September 10, 2014 to remind Congress that learning happens from the start, and so should our investments in children.

Another interesting topic that was brought up in the newsletter was how interactive media is used with children and what type of values does it bring. The use of interactive screen media such as smart phones and tablets by young children is increasing rapidly. Interactive media is typically used in schools for educational value, TV shows such as Sesame Street or Blue's Clues can promote early academic skills in preschool-aged children, children <30 months cannot learn from television and videos as they do from real-life interactions. Interactive media allow for contingent responses to children's actions and thus may facilitate more retention of taught material. According to the newsletter research suggests that interactive media such as learn-to-read apps and electronic books (e-books) may increase early literacy.

Newsletter also states how mothers speak less clearly to infants than they do to adults. Infants learn language at an incredible speed, and one of the first steps in this voyage is learning the basic sound units of their native languages. It is widely thought that caregivers facilitate this task by hyperarticulating when speaking to their infants. People tend to have a distinctive way of talking to babies and small children: We speak more slowly, using a sing-song voice, and tend to use cutesy words like "tummy". While we might be inclined to think that this kind of "baby talk" is easier for children to understand, new research suggest that mothers may actually speak less clearly to their infants than they do adults.

Resources:

Cristia, A. (2015, January 27). Mothers' "Baby Talk" Is Less Clear Than Their Adult Speech. Retrieved from Association For Psychological Science: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/mothers-baby-talk-is-less-clear-than-their-adult-speech.html

Jenny S. Radesky, M., Schumacher, J., & Zuckerman, B. (2014, December 29). Mobile and Interactie Media Use by Young Children: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown. Retrieved from Pediatrics: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/135/1/1

THREE, Z. T. (2014, December 14). ZERO TO THREE Rally4Babies. Retrieved from https://storify.com/ZEROTOTHREE/rally4babies

Early Childhood Systems around the Globe

I decided to read and review the Global Children's Initiative website to discover new ideas and see how systems from around the globe operate. 

Grand Challenges Canada has a program called Saving Brains that promote the creation of interventions that nurture and protect the early brain development of children living in poverty. The Center on the Developing Child supports a dynamic learning community of Saving Brains grantees to help them advance the impact and scale of their work within global contexts. I was impressed to learn that the program works to enhance the collective impact of the Saving Brains program by:

• Articulating a common theory for action based on scientific knowledge and practical experience;

• Developing shared metrics and evaluation frameworks for interventions;

• Fostering an ongoing learning community to accelerate innovation through sharing lessons and results; and 

• Encouraging policy translation through cross-sectional leadership development

I find it interesting and very nice that the people in Canada can come together and create a program that not only helps children in a low-income home but also give them a chance to prove that they are not a product of their community or household.
There is a program held in North America called "The Frontiers of Innovation" which it is an initiative that is committed to driving transformative change for young children whose needs are not currently being met. Adverse experiences can derail children's healthy development, creating learning, behavior and health challenges that place heavy burdens at the individual, family, community and national levels. This program works to drive the design of intervention strategies grounded in scientific research that produce breakthrough outcomes for children facing adversity. I believe this is absolutely wonderful and if the program was available in my community I would definitely promote for my children to join the program and get other families involved so we could make a difference in many children's lives. I also agree with the belief that we must build the capabilities of adults caregivers in order to achieve significant outcomes for children. 
Another interesting program I came across while reading and researching this website is the network for children with mental health issues. The network is focused on four clusters of problems/disorders that account for the majority of child clinical referrals:

• anxiety and anxiety disorders;

• depression and depressive disorders;

• ADHD and related problems; and 

• conduct problems ranging form early childhood disobedience to adolescent delinquency and violence.

I love programs that are for helping children with mental disorders because the child is going through things that are out of their control and if a child doesn't have the proper care and support he/she needs the child can suffer a great deal and can become a problem child at home and in school. 


References:“Global Children’s Initiative” http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources

• What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

The section regarding Child Care seems very relevant to my current professional development. More infants and toddler than ever are spending some portion of their day with adults other than their parents - either a relative, neighbor, babysitter or child care professional. As a professional it is always good to know what parents are looking for in a daycare and its employees and ways that a parent can prepare their baby or toddler for the transition to child care. 

• Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

There was a statement made stating that the early years of life is filled with joy, excitement, learning and growth. But for most babies that is the case but as for others it is not. Some children are exposed to maltreatment and the rates of child maltreatment are highest for the youngest children, with children most at risk in the earliest weeks and months of life. And in some other case children can be subject to trauma. Trauma can be defined as experiencing or witnessing an event that cause or threatens injury or death. Child maltreatment and other interpersonal violence 2 can be a source of trauma. 

• What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

There is a section that helps me understand how neuroscientists relate to the early childhood field. Brain development is vital during the first three years of life -during this time there is incredible growth in all areas of a baby's development. A newborns brain is about 25 percent of its approximate adult weight. But by age 3, it has grown dramatically by producing billions of cells and hundreds of trillions of connections, or synapses, between these cells.

• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

I have gained the sense of knowing how important it is for a child to connect with it's parent(s) to encourage a healthy childhood mental health. Responsive relationships with consistent primary caregiver help build positive attachments that support healthy social-emotional development. These relationships form the foundation of mental health for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.