I would first like to bring up the words Developmentally Appropriate Practices. This is something that means a lot more to me after talking to my international professional. The United States as well as Capetown Africa need to work on policies and issues regarding the way that our children learn. We need to start including the physical, social and emotional as well as cognitive. This is something that will make a more well rounded child and community.

Another consequence of learning is economics. This is something that is an issue in Capetown as well as the United States. We need to provide more home visits in the United States and overseas we should be more concerned with the education of young women.

The last consequence I would like to bring up is looking at children as a commodity. When we do this whether it is in Capetown or the United States, children lose their childhood. We forget about play and focus on testing to try to “catch up” with everyone else

A goal for international issues is that I help with more of the poverty issues and the education of girls. I did donate to Pennies for Peace and used the lesson plan to help build schools for girls and would like to do more in the future. This is a cause that I do believe in.

I received a late response from my contact in Africa and I wanted to share this with you

Dear Jen,

Apologies for the late response but I was busy with the students last week and it became a very full week indeed!

There is currently a difficulty with career-pathing within the Early Childhood Development sector. We have Level-4 and 5 Certificate courses and then there is quite a big jump to the Early Childhood Diploma.

We also have a Foundation Phase degree for Gr. R – Gr. 3 (national curriculum), but this doesn’t fit with our way of working which does not separate the Gr. R (6 yr old child) from the 4 and 5 yr. olds.

Our Diploma is a very rich and in-depth course which covers the 4 -6 yr. old but this is usually very difficult for our second language speakers.

Our government is currently looking at a Level-6 Diploma which focuses ONLY on the Gr. R (6yr old) year. We do not agree with this at all, and many other ECD organisations and educators are against this as well.

Personally I would like to be able to do an Early Childhood Waldorf degree training, and we are looking at this but it seems a long way off at this point.

In the meantime I attend workshops, courses and conferences whenever possible, to further my professional development.

Our government has also stipulated that further professional enrichment for teachers every year, is a mandatory requirement for further development (teachers get credits for these ongoing courses).

I hope this has been useful information for you, and I wish you well on your journey ahead.

Warm regards,

Robyn

---

Six Educational Goals

I found this on the site and I thought these were amazing goals for anyone in the early childhood field but especially amazing if it was accomplished by 2015

The first would be improving education for all children but especially those with special needs. My nephew is seven and was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. He was told by after care programs that they did not accept his kind. We need to educate teachers who work with young children on what it takes to care for those who are different.

The second would be by 2015 that all children have access to free primary education. Especially girls. This is very important because without a stable education these young woman grow into mothers who raise children themselves.

The third is that childrens needs are met through programs where they are taught skills that are not only academic but will help with growth

The fourth is that we have especially women literate. At least 50 percent

The fifth is that there is gender equality.

and the last is we need to make sure that there is some sort of measurement in place so we know where we stand in early childhood education

retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/efa-goals/

What it is to be a professional

Brunei Darussalam is where five year old Irfran Bin Md Zulkili lived when he was asked the question what is a really good childhood. This contest was for people living in the Asia-Pacific region. There were 900 entries from 23 countries. I would like to express three things that I learned from this site through this child. I will also include my professional goals.

1. The child's world is full of color and love. As a professional I would like not only children to participate but have a smile on their face as they do so. If you look closely at the picture the young girl has her hand on the teachers arm. This woman is loved.
2. The woman is showing the pictures. As an educator this teacher is in tune with the children and teaching them with information that relates to their world. In the picture it seems to me the birds are not even caged, they are there because they want to be.
3. The third would be as a professional the children are reflecting the demeanor of the woman. This is something that I strive for. To be an example. 
   
   I also wanted to share this picture. If you look at the picture below even though it is a family and the one above. There is unity. I believe as a professional this is what we need to strive for. To fill a child's world with color and love                                                                                    resource                       "Five year-old boy won the regional Photo and Drawing Contest  What is a good early childhood?” (2012) retrieved from “http://www.unescobkk.org  

The site that I decided to visit was the Urban Institute. I went to the children and youth section and came across some really interesting links. I went to the Education Policy and then to Education Reform. Young Children of Immigrants and the Path to Educational Success Key Thems from an Urban Roundtable was really interesting to read. It talked about children of immigrants changing the demographic of the school system but yet no one seems to mention this when talking about early childhood education. I did not realize either that 63 percent of immigrant children lived in Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Another thing that I thought was interesting, Arizona pulled children out of the classroom to work on their English skills. I initially thought this was a great idea until I read that this just put them back academically.

I also read NAEYC State and Local Quality Improvement Support Efforts. On this site I found the NAEYC Accreditation and quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) to be interesting. They said that this can be linked to be accredited by and NAEYC and ensures that the child is going to have a well rounded experience when in care. I thought it was nice that in Arkansas and Maine the parents received a tax credit of their child was going to a NAEYC accredited center. I do work in a NAEYC accredited center so I do understand how tough it is to become accredited and the pride you feel once you are.

Resources

Golden O Fortuny K (2010) Young Children of Immigrants and the Path to Educational Success:

Key Themes from an Urban Institute Roundtable

NAEYC (2010) State and Local Quality Improvement Support Efforts

I wanted to share my email that I received from Robin in South Africa. This class has been an amazing journey for me. This is what she wrote.

This seems to be a world-wide problem in early childhood education. I’ve been to a number of international conferences where the same questions and concerns are being raised.

In South Africa we have a history of inequality in education which has caused great inadequacy in levels of education. Our National curriculum is trying to address this imbalance by

Creating more ‘formal’ and academic learning in early childhood. This is known as Grade R (reception year), for the 5-6 year old child, preparing them for school.

This academic approach is putting both children and teachers under a great deal of pressure and forcing the child into early learning.

Our pedagogy does not support early learning as we firmly believe that this does not truly meet the child at their developmental stage. We base our work on very valuable (international) research that supports the fact that formal learning is detrimental to the child’s development as it forces them into an unnatural intellectual situation before they are ready. We work in a way that supports the child’s ‘emergent’ (or unconscious) knowledge, so that by the time they are ready this will become conscious knowledge (rather than forcing them into conscious knowledge when they are still in a largely unconscious phase of life).

As you so rightly point out, there are many aspects of child Development, with each area integrating into the other and we have huge concerns about the focus on academic learning. We have a very  ‘common-sense’ wholistic approach to early childhood development which we bring into our training of teachers. We do also make sure that they understand what the National curriculum expects from them so they are well informed , and by comparing these methods, have a better understanding of how to truly support the development of the child.

In our poorer communities we have huge problems with the lack of qualified teachers and there are a number of ways in which our government is trying to address this. All Early Childhood Centres/schools have to be registered, and one of the main criteria for this is that the teachers have to be qualified. There are many training programmes running to support this need but often the education (schooling) of the teachers themselves has been so poor that they struggle with the training and need much support and mentoring to be qualified. Many children in these communities are not being properly prepared for school – an ongoing challenge for us all.

As far as funding goes our teachers, especially in Early Childhood, are very poorly paid. At present there are moves in government to address the lack of ‘career -pathing ‘in ECD and the professionalism in ECD where these teachers are often considered ‘less than’ the Primary and High school teachers. There is also a lack of sufficient funding for the research that is hugely necessary for early childhood.

Robyn Davis

   
I wanted to add some additional information that I found on this subject according to saep.org. According to this site many of the schools are overcrowded, lack education and the ratio is 60 children to 2 adults. According to the site there are not a lot of resources for the children, not many children make it to higher education and many children live without electricity. It was really interesting to read that there is intensive training in HIV and also classes in hygiene.

resource http://www.saep.org/media/docs/134053962824.pdf

• What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?
  One particular section that I have found on the website is an article called, “ Heifer International's Sarah the Goat Teaches Kids About Giving.” The article talks about poverty and hunger is something that the children can and should learn about. The children select which animal would most benefit the village or community after understanding its dynamics.
• 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 read an article called “Hate to Eat and Run, but...” It talks about years ago there was a place called Al's Meat Market where the butcher would cut the meat and hand you a slice in a piece of wax paper and explain to you what the cut was and where it came from. We have moved so far from this in the past years. We now have convenience ( I am guilty of this also), where 80 percent of the profit goes to marketing and packaging and we no longer have this personable relationship with food. We no longer eat as a family. “ Roughly 65 % of sub-Saharan Africa's population relies on subsistence farming. For instance, 86% of Ugandans earn a living through subsistence farming. Most of the economies of Lesotho, Zambia and Rwanda are also based on subsistence farming.” Garcia, M (2012)
• 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 an article from last year that talks about International Literacy Day. The woman speaks about when she married her husband he only had a fifth grade education and worked in the rice fields and only made two dollars a day. The were really grateful for Heifer for talking the time out to believe in them. Teaching children stories like this on a day that was created by politicians promotes literacy that will effect the economy. “To help children grow into successful, productive adults, their parents need good jobs with good incomes, stable housing, affordable childcare and health care, and enough assets to build a more prosperous future.

Here are some other, jaw-dropping statistics straight from the report:

• In this country, children born to parents in the lowest fifth of the income scale are quite likely (42 percent) to end up there as adults.
• At age four, children who live in very low-income families are 18 months behind the developmental norm for their age, and by age 10, the gap is still present.
• 7.7 million children remain uninsured, along with nearly 12 million parents with children under age 18.
• Almost 11 percent of the nation’s children had at least one unemployed parent in 2010, affecting nearly 8 million children. “ ( retrieved from http://www.heifer.org/blog/tag/children/page/2) I do think it is a positive thing that there are more lobbyists for poverty and places like Heifer are not just working overseas but also working with the United States on poverty.

• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter? I learned that poverty has increased in 38 states, 9.1 percent of workers were still unemployed and poverty means so much more than just living in an environment that is unsafe.
  
  reference http://www.heifer.org/
   
  

There are so many things that I learned this week from this class it is unbelievable. I had alot of rumors dispelled about what it means to be in poverty.  "Americans often talk about poor people as if they were a distinct group with uniform characteristics and somehow unlike the rest of us. In fact, there is great diversity among children and families who experience economic hardship. Some people question whether a family that has air conditioning or a dvd player should be considered poor. Most workers need a car to get to work and having access to the internet is crucial for children to keep up with their peers in school." 2008 (NCCP)

To be in poverty in America is very different then to be in poverty in Africa. I have below a letter from the woman I talk to from South Africa. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Dear Jennifer,

We don’t teach languages to young children but we certainly bring them into our daily programme. South Africa has many languages but we work mainly in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa (in the Western Cape).

We bring these languages through movement games and songs and we bring the cultural pictures and traditions through story-telling, food and festivals. We also have some African instruments in our classrooms as well as story books depicting life experiences and situations relevant to the children in the class.

Regarding poverty, this is one of our country’s greatest challenges and requires constant and ongoing work and reviewing. Many structures and programmes are in place to combat poverty

On many levels - it is a complex issue that needs huge amounts of support and funding. It also demands up-skilling and educating of many people who suffer poverty because of a  lack of infrastructure as well basic education and skills.

Robyn Davis

 

http://www.earlychildhoodnyc.org

I chose this newsletter because it based out of New York and I feel that there is so much culture/things to be learned from reading this. I wanted to copy this out of the newsletter, it is how to become a home visitor. This is something that I always wanted to do and maybe oneday I can explore this career option. This newsletter is both in English and in Spanish. I thought that was amazing. The site also has a link to Quality Universally Inclusive Early Responsive Education (QUIERE) This is for people who are looking to pursue a teaching career in a diverse setting. There's a newsletter, research and public policy and a link to a second site I am looking to join called  http://www.acei.org/ This site has a great article on exclusion in education.

"i. Who experiences exclusion in society? Who experiences exclusion in education?
In many countries, patterns of social exclusion often continue to influence the patterns of exclusion
in education while exclusion in education often feeds into social exclusion.
Let us first think about who may be excluded from social development in your country. For example:
• Are any people not allowed to vote in national or local elections? (e.g. immigrants, refugees,
unregistered residents, people under voting age, women, etc.);
• Do any people face discrimination in obtaining loans, credits, or assets? (e.g. poor people, people
without regular incomes, people without stable employment, women, people without citizenship
status, people without a fixed address, etc.);
• Do any people face more challenges to employment than others? (e.g. language minorities,
people with disabilities, women, people living in certain places with social stigma, people of a
certain caste, people living with HIV, people with little or no formal school education, etc.);
• Do any people face more difficulties in accessing basic healthcare than others? (e.g. orphans,
street children, refugees, people living in remote rural areas, people in poverty, etc.)."

(retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002170/217073e.pdf?utm_source=Master+Newsletter+List&utm_campaign=5596a1265e-Newsletter_8_8_128_8_2012&utm_medium=email)


Sheila Farrigan
Albany County Head Start
What they do:Home visitors build relationships with the families of children in early childhood education programs to help strengthen the bond between child and family, as well as extend further support. Home visitors develop lesson plans for families, covering developmental areas, but parents are treated as partners, and are active participants in all activities. In Head Start and Early Head start, each home visitor is assigned to no more than twelve families, so he or she is able to devote a lot of attention to each family. In these programs, home visitors make weekly visits to each home, and hold bimonthly “socializations” for families of children in similar age groups.
Where they work:
While home visitors generally share an office in their agency or program for planning and administrative tasks, most of their work is on site at the homes of the families they are
assigned to. They may also act as a liaison for the family to other agencies or services to support the child’s needs, like housing, healthcare, nutrition, and any special needs.
How to become a Home Visitor:
The requirements to become a home visitor vary depending on the agency or program, but generally the Child Development Associate or college coursework in related areas are
encouraged. Much of the training for home visitors will be done by the agency. However, some qualities that are
important for home visitors are flexibility and comfort in a wide variety of environments, and openness and sensitivity to all cultures, religions, family situations, and differences.
How did you get into the field?
At first I was a classroom teacher, and I always liked working with the parents. When there was an opening in the home base office of the Head Start program, I thought it would be a good opportunity to have the best of working with both children and parents.
What made you want to work with children?
I’ve always enjoyed working with young children. When my children were in school, I started working as an aide in the public school. I enjoy their enthusiasm; they pretty much accept you. If you really get down on their level, they learn to trust and accept you and they can learn a lot.
What would you tell someone who wants to get into this field?
I would say that you have to enjoy being with children, but you also have to enjoy working with the parents. I think it’s important that we have all different kinds of parenting. As a home visitor, you have to be ready to meet parents where they are and not be judgmental. It can be very rewarding. It’s also important to have patience, and to be a good listener. And be non-judgmental, I think that’s the most important thing.

This has been such a journey for me. On Sunday night I read over the directions on how to do this assignment. It is really exciting for me to connect with someone on the other side of the world that is in the same position I am. I started to email and within hours I started to get responses back. People that I never met before were trying to help me. How amazing is this? We can go halfway around the world and speak to people in different lands that we never met to learn and grow. Well with a lot of determination I meet this teacher named Robin and I email her. She write me back and says this.

Dear Jennifer,

I am 49 years old and I am the Head of the Early Childhood Development department at the Centre for Creative Education, in Cape Town. The CCE is a teacher training NGO that runs

Full time and part-time courses for ECD, B.ED and Eurythmy, based on Waldorf-inspired pedagogy.

I have been in this position for 3 years and my role is in training early childhood teachers (ages birth to 7) and overseeing the department as a whole.

We work out of a Waldorf curriculum but as we have an accredited training (government approved) we cover the National Curriculum requirements as well.

Before this I taught for 12 years at Imhoff Waldorf school in Kommetjie, here on the coast.

I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, but grew up in Johannesburg. I lived in England for 7 years where I completed my schooling.

I have lived in Cape Town for 20 years. I have 2 daughters, ages 24 and 18 and live with my 18 year old, near Simon’s Town.

Regards,

Robyn Davis.

I told her I will write her back once a week to correspond with her. I can't imagine she is more excited than myself.

For my organization I chose the Association for Childhood Education International. They were established in 1982 and are focused internationally. Today they are advocates for children, families as well as teachers. They do have global news, blog and radio which I will share throughout the semester.

Dear Jennifer,

I am 49 years old and I am the Head of the Early Childhood Development department at the Centre for Creative Education, in Cape Town. The CCE is a teacher training NGO that runs

Full time and part-time courses for ECD, B.ED and Eurythmy, based on Waldorf-inspired pedagogy.

I have been in this position for 3 years and my role is in training early childhood teachers (ages birth to 7) and overseeing the department as a whole.

We work out of a Waldorf curriculum but as we have an accredited training (government approved) we cover the National Curriculum requirements as well.

Before this I taught for 12 years at Imhoff Waldorf school in Kommetjie, here on the coast.

I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, but grew up in Johannesburg. I lived in England for 7 years where I completed my schooling.

I have lived in Cape Town for 20 years. I have 2 daughters, ages 24 and 18 and live with my 18 year old, near Simon’s Town.

Regards,

Robyn Davis.

I’m attaching 2 pictures from our recent graduation in July this year.
 What an Amazing journey this class has been so far.

My Supports

In my daily life I am supported throughout the day. My husband supports my every dream. He calls me his little bird that flutters from one idea to the next trying to make sense of this world. I am supported my friends who know me like know one else does. They accept who I am and know when to listen and when to give advice. I am supported by the company that I work for. I am not always the best at following directions or their rules. But they know that every family that leaves their child in my care is going to be elated at the end of the day. I am supported by the kids that I work with. Without the support of these 16 children on a daily basis I would be in big trouble. They are kind, respectful and trust that I have their best interest at heart..
I imagine that I am deaf. I do read lips but it is really hard for me to understand sometimes
 what is being said. My husband supports my every dream telling me that this is not a disability but a beautiful language that is spoken with my hands. He calls me his little bird as I try to teach everyone to speak to me in my language. I am supported by friends who always carry around little note books and pens and listen carefully as I speak to them. I can tell what I say is important to them and they take the time out to try to sign back to me. I am supported by the company that I work for. I teach sign language to the children at the end of the day after I finish teaching my prek class at the School For The Deaf. I am supported by my 16 children without them I would be in trouble. Without these supports life would be hard. I would only be able to communicate with those who had lost their hearing. I would feel sad that I take the time out throughout the day trying to listen and communicate with the hearing but feel disrespected when I am ignored because it is a little harder to communicate with me.
 

My Connections to Play

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce

When I was a small child we went outside and ran through the woods, challenged bridges that are much to scary as an adult for me to cross and was chased by neighbors for pretending we were spies and writing down their license plate numbers. My days of play started out in an apartment complex ventured into living in the woods with box turtles and ending by moving into the city. My play was supported  by neighbors and friends. My mother would let us out of the house and was told to come back before it was dark. There was a man in a truck that stopped off at the park in the middle of the day that would give you a sandwich and a juice. You sat in the grass, peeled the plastic off the Styrofoam plate and squeeze mustard  from a foil pouch. My play involved my friends, enemies and just the streets. We would wander into the local businesses and get free pieces or learn how to lazer writing on the sides of trophies. Play is different now. It is much more organized and there are more adults in charge. We were free to climb trees, hop fences and now everything is alot safer. We learned to work out problems, make freeze pops from juice and toothpicks in an ice cube tray. Now a days you don't see as much creativity. There are more electronics and there are more things bought. I don't think that I ever stopped playing. This is why I have a job as an after school teacher. I tell my kids the stories of when I was a child and we would sneak into these after school programs and watch these children play basketball, make giant tissue flowers. I thought this must be the most incredible job in the world. So I achieved one of my dreams. I remember what it's like to be a kid; sneaky and misunderstood. I try to incorporate as many social based games in my room as I can as well as letting them play the electronic. I don't think I ever gave up on playing. I just got old.

Relationship Reflection

• Relationships are like road maps. You spend time with these people and you develop these really amazing pathways of who you are to who are becoming. They remind you of things that are important in your life and who you are. These relationships grow with you and throughout the years when sometimes you lose contact with these people, they still live in you. This is why they are important to me. I need them just for mere survival.
• Positive relationships in my life right now is my husband. I am 38 and I have been with him since I was 20. This is something else that is truly amazing to me. Not only loving someone for almost half your life but also living with them. I am also in a relationship with my two dogs. Each has a story of where they came from and how we met. Each has a unique personality that sometimes I only understand. Each dog was unwanted at some point in their life.
• My husband is my grounding base. I am kinda a free spirit with to many ideas and plans. Each feels like a really great one until I try to implement it and things fall away. Still he believes in me. He knows when to intervene an when to let the story play out. Our relationship is important because of the growth factor. We have both changed so much through out the years and I get really excited to think about what is in the future
• I believe in relationships that some are permanent and some are fleeting. There are lessons to be learned from everyone that you meet in life. This is what life is about. You create these beautiful experiences and meet these really interesting people, you open yourself up ( sometimes to be hurt) and let yourself go. In relationships you learn to forgive yourself, live in the moment and you take this throughout your journey.
• A partnership of any kind is never 50/50. I think when you love anyone or anything, you are more willing to sacrifice and want to see others achieve their dreams more than you want to achieve your own. If the relationship is right, the other person wants to see you do the same.
• I say every year that I open my heart to these children, love them, care for them knowing that one day they will grow up and move away. I will never forget them though.

What I think about Child Development