A Dollar a Day Keeps Our Children at Play

As Early Childhood Professionals, we know the important work that psychologists, economists, and scientists are doing to prove the importance of play-centered, high-quality early childhood education and the benefits of early interventions practices for young children to help develop strong foundations and grow to become successful, contributing members of society.  Those of us working with young children know the validity of their research, but are often at a loss for what we can do to contribute our voices to conversations that influence business leaders, government officials, policy-makers and politicians to understand the urgency of action and commit to an investment in the young children of our country.

This is where the National Head Start Association is stepping in and providing opportunities to lend support and make a difference.  The Dollar Per Child program offers a way to get involved in the conversation and make a contribution.  According to their website, "For just one dollar for every child in Head Start, we can ensure the voices of Head Start children and their families are heard by Members of Congress and the President".  They have even put together a fundraising toolkit to assist community members in their local efforts to raise money and awareness for Head Start programs.  As well, to further influence decision makers, they have put together a fact sheet by state, Head Start Works:  The Facts, where statistics and information are recorded regarding childhood poverty, child homelessness, children with disabilities, families utilizing social services as well as economic impact.  They also recognize businesses and organizations that do contribute by posting them on their current leader board located on the website.

By contributing to and sharing information about The National Head Start Associations advocacy campaign, we can all lend our support regardless of our affiliation to the early childhood field, and make a difference in the life of a child, the health and wealth of our communities, and a sound investment in the future for generations to come.

Reference:
The National Head Start Association
http://www.nhsa.org/advocacy/advocacy/dollar_per_child

Combating Poverty Through ECE

To my disappointment, I have not received a response from the Early Childhood Professionals in Mexico or El Salvador.  So, I decided to research the state Early Childhood Education in Mexico through other sources.  Childhood poverty has also been a topic for discussion this week and what I discovered is that both these topics are interrelated.  In other words, Early Childhood Education has a direct impact on poverty, and poverty has a direct impact on Early Childhood Education. Therefore, we must work to understand and solve both issues to make true progress toward improving the lives of young children and increasing their contributions to society.

"When most of us think of a poor child, we tend to picture a rural child.  We don't imagine as readily a girl living in the shadow of a city school that she will never attend, nor a baby growing up only a short walk from a health clinic he will never enter, nor a family deprived of services enjoyed by those living only streets away" (Nybo, Thomas, (2012).  However, this is the case for many children who have been marginalized in rapid urban sprawls making them especially vulnerable to developmental delays, health problems, nutritional deficits, trauma and crime.  According to the report, "More than 75 per cent of Mexico's people live in cities and towns, including 24 million children" (Nybo, Thomas, (2012). Indigenous children, children of migrant workers, and those living in slums are the most vulnerable.
Although Mexico is showing signs of economic growth, poverty and disproportion of services remains a critical issue.  According to a press release issued by UNICEF (2013), "The human development indexes in some parts of Mexico are close to those of some of the world's least developed countries."

As Sheldon Shaeffer points out in his presentation at the 2014 World Forum Foundation, poverty is transmitted across generations, and, is therefore, a cyclical problem that must be addressed through parent/family education as well as Early Childhood Education.  Critical to this issue is understanding and changing how young children are valued in developing countries.  Through our study of Child Development, we know that early childhood represents a sensitive period of growth as well as a time of developing self-concept and core values; children look to their immediate environments and role-models to define who they will be in the world.  According to a study done by The University of Michigan, "social values as well as cognitive development which often associate with success in societies are formed during this period."

I gained several insights from these resources.  We must understand the challenges of poverty for urban as well as rural children; availability of services is not the same as access whether in Mexico or the United States.  The Early Childhood Education field worldwide can and should be an avenue to begin to combat the cycle of poverty across generations.  Through early education programs that also engage and educate parents, we can assist them in building strong self-concepts and personal values in their children that will help them grow to see themselves as contributing members of society.



References:

Thomas Nybo, UNICEF launches flagship report in Mexico City, warns that cities are failing        children, UNICEF, (2013).
     http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mexico_61864.html

Sheldon Shaeffer, Sheldon Shaeffer on Promoting Equity with ECE,  World Forum Foundation, (2014).
     http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/media-and-resources/wofo-tv/

University of Michigan, Early Childhood Education in Developing Countries
     http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.cho/conclusion__progresses_and_challenges

Press Release:  Mexico:  Government and UNICEF launch ground-breaking study addressing child          poverty, UNICEF, (2013).

     http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_68584.html

Head Start--A great place to begin

The National Head Start Association is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving and assisting at-risk children and their families through access to Early Childhood Education and through the philosophy that "Every Child Can Succeed".   Head Start's goal is to be a leader in the Early Childhood Field in support of the whole child, their family and community as well as to advocate for policy and institutional changes that support the most vulnerable of our population.  Although most Early Childhood professionals are at least familiar with the Head Start Program, there are a couple of resources available on their website that address issues and trends around changing demographics in our nation that are worthy of mention for any Early Childhood professional regardless of their affiliation to the Head Start Program.

Under the Initiatives & Partnerships tab on their website, Head Start has developed two programs designed to engage community members.  The first I would like to mention is called "Opening Doors", a free community volunteer toolkit available for download in English and Spanish.  This program gives advice and templates about how to start and grow volunteer community programs in your area and strengthen community services and advocacy for young children and their families.  The second program I found particularly useful for Early Childhood professionals seeking opportunities to engage with families of their Spanish-speaking ELL students is called "Abriendo Puertas--Opening Doors Network".  This program offers a framework for Early Childhood Educators to engage the parents of our nation's Latino children by offering peer-to-peer training designed to increase their parental confidence, build effective parenting practices, and learn to advocate for their children.  The curriculum in comprised of 10 session designed to address parental skills that support the healthy development and positive educational outcomes for their children.

Both programs prove to be very useful especially in addressing the current issues and trends in our nation's changing demographics.  I would encourage anyone seeking to advance the lives of at-risk children in their community to reference the National Head Start Program website and take advantage of these quality resources and programs.

Reference:
National Head Start Association
http://www.nhsa.org/

The Road to Understanding

In my current Master's course, Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education, we have been given an opportunity to challenge our current thoughts and ideas about the education of young children outside of the U.S. by establishing contact with early childhood professionals in other countries.  We are also put to the task of choosing and exploring the ways in which a specific early childhood organization supports early childhood communities and provides access to resources through their website.  This will be an ongoing assignment, but I wanted to take a moment to explain my goals and thought process behind my choices.

Currently, in my home state of Texas, hundreds of children are crossing the border each day from Mexico and Central America.  These children are refugees leaving their families and risking their lives to flee extreme violence and poverty within their own countries.  While the issue is gaining much national media and political attention, little has been said about what we plan do to support these children in their integration into the American legal, medical and educational systems.  In an effort to understand what I can do to support these children and contribute to positive outcomes for them and others who have immigrated to the U.S.,  I've chosen to contact early childhood professionals via email in both Mexico and El Salvador and intend to update my blog with our correspondence.

I have also chosen the National Head Start Association as the organizational website I wish to study as they will likely absorb many of these children into their program.  With minority populations increasing nationwide, this organization must address the growing need for more professional development and community outreach to support the diverse cultural, linguistic and educational needs of the children they serve.  It is my goal upon completion of this program to have gained the insight, understanding and education necessary to assist them in their efforts.