Sharing Web Resources

Robin C. Miller

Blog Assignment – Week 4

Dr. Johnna Darragh

            I use the site Zero to Three the National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

(http://www.zerotothree.org/). The site is very useful. One specific section that I like is the Care & Education tab. In this section you will find an explanation of why all children even infants benefit from early learning. You will also find sub-sections for Child Care, Family, Friend & Neighbor Care, and School Readiness Interactive Birth to 3. The interactive section is the one I favor most because it is a web-based interactive tool that helps parents and care givers introduce learning to children by learning certain skills such as language skills, cognitive skills, and more.

            I haven’t come across anything that struck me as controversial yet. But, there is a section that I am currently researching through that caught my interest. This is the Temperament & Behavior section in the Behavior and Development tab. I have been finding it difficult lately to understand the behavior of some of my children in the center and even with my own child. I am going to use this information to help me gain a better understanding of behavior and temperament and possibly learn something new.

            I listened in on a webinar on the topic of expanding State Initiatives to Expand Early Head Start and it seems as if that a lot of professionals in the field are ready and willing to help with the expansion of early education but it will be costly in the beginning. A few of the challenges that are described in the webinar is finding qualified professionals, community resources, and funding. Getting others who are not exactly involved in the early education field to understand why it is imperative to start learning at an early age is proving to be a difficult task but many educators are continuing to fight for the rights of our young.

Here is the link for the webinar if anyone would like to listen to it:

https://zerotothree.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/recording_launch.pl?pvr_id=1410781&session_id=rtkkwfjb

            One of the other many sections that I like from this site is the Public Policy tab. In this section you will find, if you scroll towards the bottom of the page, Zero To Three Policy Pocket Card. This download helps gives you an understanding of what you can do as an advocate for helping others understand the importance of early education. I would say it’s a MUST do download. It’s a very good resource. Here is the link:

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/

Week 3- Alternative Assignment

Robin C. Miller

Blog Assignment Week 3

            Unfortunately, I have not been able to contact anyone on an international level yet and am still working on that. So, for now my colleagues will be reading about podcast that I have listened to from World Forum Radio (Part 1). Then I will discuss my insight on childhood poverty in another country (Part 2).

Part 1 -

This week I listened to the interview with George Forman. He has a doctorate in developmental psychology and is also the author of several Piaget based books. His dissertation was based on discrimination learning. During his research he realized that children learn better by actions. He began to “think more of children’s learning as acts and events” like his favorite philosopher Piaget.

He learned that children learn and see the world differently than we do. We see the world they way it is, they way it’s presented to us. Children see the world by how “things change or don’t change” (Piaget).

George became involved in the Reggio Emilia program in Italy and quickly learned that the program helped children think about their thinking process by actions. The program taught children to reflect a way of thinking and understanding what you don’t understand on the surface. It helps them to look beyond the outside view and look deeper into their childhood imagination and understanding.

 Part 2 –   Case Study- Poverty and ill health pushed Banwari out of school and into work

Banwari is from Rajasthan, India. He has 6 brothers in a family of 10. Banwari and two of his brothers had to drop out of school because their father was sick and they needed to help care for him by working as a carpet weaver alongside one of his brothers. After, getting exceptionally good at weaving Banwari was able to weave at home where he works rigorous hours to make ends meet.

He wishes that he was able to go back to school so that he could make a decent wage for his family. He isn’t very fond of carpet weaving but he knows that it will help his family survive so he continues to work hard to put the rest of his brothers threw school while he takes care of his family.

Reference:

CHIP: Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre. (n.d). Case study - poverty and ill health  pushed banwari out of school and into work. Retrieved from           

 http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

What I gained from this information

1.     I learned that poverty doesn’t just happen in my local community but all over the world

2.     Children are majorly affected by poverty (having to drop out of school and work to make ends meet)

3.     Although many children become resilient in the face of hardship and tragedies, they are still affected emotionally, physically, spiritually, and developmentally.  

Sharing Resources

Robin C. Miller

Blog Assignment Week 2

Sharing Web Resources

With Professor Johnna Darragh

The resource that I use is a site called “Zero to Three” it’s a National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families.

The web link is:

http://www.zerotothree.org/

The website offers a variety of information for educators and parents all over the world such as up-to-date information of education policies, podcast, monthly news-letters, journals, blogs, and more.

The latest news-letter was “The Unthinkable Becomes Reality” dated 3/4/2013

(link : http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/newsletters/unthinkable-becomes-reality.html)

This newsletter discusses the recent education cuts that President Obama signed off on that will have a major effect on early childhood education and prevention services such as Early Head Start, WIC, Child Care, and Early Intervention. 

(To read the full article click: http://zerotothreepolicy.tumblr.com/)

The newsletter revealed updated information on the current project: Project for Babies that is currently helping legislators in Minnesota, North and South Dakota to better understand the importance of early learning experience and how it benefits children’s overall health.

Here are a few other educational resources I would recommend: 

Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children

http://pennaeyc.org/              

·       National Association for The Education of Young Children

www.naeyc.org/

·       Delaware Valley Association for The Education of Young Children

www.dvaeyc.org/

·       National Education Association

http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm

·       National Association of Child Care Professionals

http://www.naccp.org/

·       National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educator

http://www.naecte.org/

Week 1 - with Prof. Johnna Darragh Part 2

Blog Assignment Week 1- Part 2

I have researched the site ZERO TO THREE in which I am currently a member.

The mission of this site is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers. ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers, and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. It is one resource that all Early Childhood Professionals should be a part of. They send newsletters via email that become a great resource not only for you as a professional but also for parents.
http://www.zerotothree.org/

Another Organization that I love to use is NAEYC which is the National Association for the Education of Young Children. They play a major role is the support of early childhood professionals keeping them well informed and trained in the field. They offer many resources on their site and I really would recommend that all of my colleagues become a member of this site. They hold an annual training conference every year that benefits teachers and children.

http://www.naeyc.org/