Sharing Web Resources

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

           I checked out the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators and read through the E-letters and regional reports. The regional reports were from different states and what legislatures in these states and advocates for early childhood education are doing. It seems as though the main concern for early childhood education is to not let it become lax in licensing and accredidation. Licensing and teacher quality are important and needs to be kept in the forefront.

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?

I did not find anything controversial on the website. I felt that this website makes you think about how important our jobs are as early childhood educators or anyone involved with children to be strong advocates in this field. There are many conferences held throughout the  United States and the organization is linked with others to help decide the best practice for children and what is needed for quality preschool and early childhood programs. This organization is definitely about making sure we have the appropriate teachers in place and are of good quality.

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?

In the Regional reports of the newsletters, governors and other members of the state's political parties are very much a part of the organization and are interested in how early childhood and the educators are important. There is also a toolkit on the website that explains how to get in touch with those people so that you are able to voice concerns.

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

I really liked the toolkit because of the information it contained. I printed it off for my own files and hope to locate someone from the Iowa affiliation of this organization to find out more about it here in my state.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I have yet to establish contact with someone outside of our country so I am choosing the alternative assignment for this week.

My first insight was how kindergarten in the country of Kyrgyzstan has declined from 30% to 6%. Many of the children here have to work as laborers on farms or are street vendors. There also seems to be a rise in child prositution and trafficking. What a sad situation for these children and the country as more and more families are forced further into poverty.

The second insight is in regards to the country of Mongolia and how migration impacts families. Families are moving into the urban areas and this move can either be a benefit or a hinderance. The result of migration of a family who does not benefit from moving can be devastating. One would think that moving to a more populated area would bring better job opportunities and resources but it may not be the case for all families.

The third insight was looking at the pictures of children and families in the different areas. I put myself in their position and wonder if I would be able to survive in the conditions they live in. Looking at those children smiling and looking much like any early childhood classroom is absolutely astounding. I look around my classroom and see the toys that my students have to play with and they have barely anything and they are still smiling. What a difference our children have compared to those in areas of poverty who do not know the difference.

I hope that the faces of those children can somehow be a reminder to us that if we, as a world, do not look for ways to help, we could be facing similiar situations everywhere. I think that time is coming faster than we think.

Reference
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php.

Sharing Web Resources

I chose the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators for my resource because I had never heard of this organization. This resource has a wonderful array of journals, e-letters, conferences, and research articles. The organization is worldwide and addresses issues that affect educators from all over and brings the issues into the forefront.

The newsletter is issued every quarter and contains information regarding upcoming conferences and regional news. This resource is more focused on the education portion of early childhood so that educators know how and where to further their education and how to voice their concerns and opinions in regards to early childhood education.

The issue that caught my eye was the doing away with or watering down the early childhood license or certification standards in each state. I think this is a concern in regards to educating our youngest learners and making sure that educators and programs are top quality.

I am continuing to try and find out about the affiliate in my state which is Iowa. I would like to know more about the organization here and some of the concerns facing the state.

Links:

http://www.naecte.org/
http://www.naecte.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=29 )

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Like many of my colleagues in the class, I was excited about trying to establish contact from early childhood professionals from around the world. The first website I tried, The Global Alliance of NAEYC, provided several email addresses and I tried contacting the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education emails. I tried both and have yet to hear anything back so I hope to hear something this week. I also tried contacting the South Africa National Early Childhood Development Alliance with no response yet but I don't want to give up yet.  I guess if I have to do the alternative portion of the assignment I will but I really want to wait and see if I hear something from these two countries.

I chose National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators for part 2 of our blog assignment. I am familiar with just about all of the websites listed so I decided to try this one. I read the current newsletter and am very excited to establish a contact within my state to see how I could possibly become more involved at the state level.

I think we all need to keep trying to establish contacts and but do the alternative part if necessary. I hope that all of us are able to talk to someone from another part of the world and share it with each other.
Good luck to everyone!