International Contacts - Alternative Assignment (Part 3)

As we draw near to the end of this course, we continue to reflect on issues and trends in the early childhood field. This week, those of us that chose the alternative assignment are exploring the webpage that links to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

As we studied throughout this course, we learned that one of the major problems in the field of early childhood is inequity. So as I explored UNESCO’s webpage, I found a link to a movement entitled “Education for All” or EFA (http://www.unescobkk.org/education/efa/). In this program, a global commitment has been made to provide quality basic education for all children, youth, and adults.  Over 100 governments have agreed upon the goals of this movement and they hope to achieve them by 2015. The EFA hopes to meet the following:

1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
2. All children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of high quality.
3. Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
4. Achieve 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
5. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education and achieving gender equality in education, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of high quality.
6. Improve all aspects of the quality and excellence of education, so measurable learning outcomes can be achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills.

The webpage also pointed out resources that the organization is promoting throughout different countries. I explored a page out of Bangkok’s UNESCO office, and learned how the organization was targeting the Asia-Pacific Region to help parents and schools become better aware of the needs of children under 3. A conference was held in November 2011 and attended by representatives from 28 different countries to discuss the diverse needs of children throughout the region. The launch of the “Resource Package for 0-3” was a highlight in this conference. The package aims to aid policy makers, practitioners and parents by presenting a range of information on early childhood development for the under 3 age group. Hands-on workshops were also provided, along with resource materials, and policy consultations on post-2015 development and an education agenda between experts and delegates, were conducted.

More information about the Bangkok office can be found here: http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/solutions-on-early-childhood-development-in-the-asia-pacific-region-discussed/

UNESCO describes the importance of early childhood care and education here: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002152/215271E.pdf   This is an important resource for parents and educators to be aware of the effects that early childhood care has on the development of children. According to UNESCO (2012), learning begins even before a child walks through a classroom door. Comprehensive early care and education fosters healthy growth, development, and learning of children birth through age 8. There are so many research studies that show children in high quality early care programs do better in school. We, as educators, need to advocate and support parents and families as they try to improve their child’s chances of success in the school-age years.

You can also find a copy of the UNESCO publication entitled “Parenting Education Guidebook”:
http://issuu.com/ashimakapur/docs/parenting_education_guidebook-final_printed/11

This is a great resource for families to learn how community, school, and family work together to support a child’s learning experiences. 

Following the NAEYC - Outside Links & Current Issues

One of the areas I explored thoroughly this week was a link entitled "For Families." This was hosted on the NAEYC's main page and goes to a list of articles that can help families with issues at home as well as school. One of the articles I found there addresses sleep requirements, while another discussed biting in the daycare. Even more interesting to me, was an article regarding school readiness as we have talked about it in-depth in our coursework through Walden University. The article presented some good points about children maturing at different paces. Among the reasons to allow a child to mature before starting preschool or to stay in preschool or kindergarten a year longer:

• Family patterns of slow development – “late bloomers.”
• Prematurity or physical problems in early life.
• Delay in physical size or development.
• Immature motor development – awkwardness; poor motor skills, such as in catching or throwing a ball, drawing or cutting.
• Easy distractibility and short attention span.
• Difficulty with right-left hand or eye-hand coordination, such as in copying a circle or a diamond.
• Lagging social development – difficulty taking turns, sharing or playing.
  Tips taken from: http://www.naeyc.org/content/families-today/readiness-for-school 

**I believe that these are important observations to be made before deeming if a child is "ready for school."

One of the outside links that I have not explored until this week is the career forum (http://careerforum.naeyc.org/jobs). For those of you still trying to find a high-quality center to be associated with, this is a great resource to find centers in your area that may be hiring. You can search a job database by your zip code. 

There is also a links page from the NAEYC in alphabetical order that provides organizations that support some of the issues we have learned about. For example, the Alliance for Children and Families is the first link on the page. This page details recent news in the early childhood field. Here are their main priorities and principles (http://www.alliance1.org/policy/about)

1. Strong families are the greatest asset of strong communities
2. Populations facing the greatest need, lack of access, and disparities should be prioritized
3. Strong nonprofit community-based organizations are critical to strong communities

Once again the NAEYC has proved how beneficial it can be by furthering exploring external links. Another interesting fact that reiterates cost in programs is a book entitled "Big Body Play." This book explains how costs of the materials needed to support a high-quality early childhood program can hinder the children's learning experience when a school or center cannot afford to purchase the materials. 

Please feel free to peruse the links webpage as I found out about endless organizations that support different sectors of education (http://www.naeyc.org/links).