Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

For this blog assignment I would like to talk about Global Children's Initiative. There was so much information and it is not an organization I had heard about prior to this class. As I explored the site I did recognize many of its theories from another agency we use in my Head Start program, the Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health program. Devereux uses many of the same thoughts as the Global Children's Initiative although it is focused in the U.S.  only.

Saving Brains

This was an interesting area of the web site. Saving Brains is a partnership led by Grand Challenges Canada and its goal is to improve outcomes for children living in poverty.  The program knows that the first 1000 days of a child's life are extremely important and so their focus is on ensuring a child's brain development is a positive one through proper nutrition and stimulation.  The Saving Brains organization has developed a body of research and practical knowledge to help develop, refine, and evaluate innovative solutions to healthy child development.

Our Kin

This is another organization striving to create equal educational outcomes for those in poverty starting with research to give methods to do better for these children and why. This organizations feels strongly that the best place to start with equality and excellence is with the caregivers themselves, giving them techniques and research-based education. The final step Our Kin uses is a multifaceted partnership with those in the communities such as policy-makers, doctors, educators, etc. Using all aspects of a child's life and community will help deliver a equal and quality education.

Toxic Stress


This area is also focused on in the website and rightly so because there are stressors in everyone's life both good and bad. The more positive stressors are addressed and tend to be those which make us cope better in our environment. The toxic stress this site speaks about is that of war, abuse, neglect, violence, and other negative influences which adversely effect the development of the brain. Children living in this type of environment often fall behind their peers in school and do not have positive relationships in their lives. Studies show that even in the worse environment, if a child has positive relationships they can still develop positively and have resilience to bounce back.

As I stated earlier, there is so many interesting pieces to the Global Children's Initiative website and it gives one hope for a brighter tomorrow.


References


 Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health(2017). Retrieved from http://www.devereux.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ny_index

Global Children's Initiative(2017) Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/

Sharing Web Resources

Save the Children

The title of this website caught my eye immediately because if we save all the children our world has a fighting chance.

     When exploring this site there are many areas which pertain to my professional development in that I love and care for children all over the world not just in my classroom. To bring it down into my own professional development I can research this site to gain access to information of those future students I most likely will have within my own classroom as immigrant refugees. I need to know what they may have endured so I may create a trauma free environment in both physical and emotional situations.

     This website is heart-retching as I learn more about the atrocities children are enduring around the world. This is what I find controversial and makes me think of  these issues in a new light because it just should not be. There is no excuse for it. Entering the newsroom of stories written in other areas of the world is where this information is found. 

Save the Children Action Network is the political voice for kids. We believe that every child deserves the best start in life. That’s why we’re building bipartisan will and voter support to make sure every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning and that no mother or child around the globe dies from a preventable disease or illness. By investing in kids and holding leaders accountable, we are helping kids from birth to age five survive and thrive. (Save the Children, 2017).

There are other statements such as the one above stating the governments involvement in this organization. Those in politics see the investment in young children as an investment into the future.

Economists are also represented in this site on the home page which asks for donations with this statement: By transforming children's lives now, we change the course of their future and ours. Learn more about how you can support our future (Save the Children, 2017).

Scientists and their research is also represented within the site as work is done to find the effects of poverty and trauma on young children's lives and it is never good.

This website is huge and there is so much to explore and so much for me to learn. I am not sure where to even begin to help "save the children."

Reference

Save the Children (2017) Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9506653/k.C303/Press_Releases_2017/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp

Getting To Know Your International Contacts-Part One

     Well, I am very disappointed that the four or five people I contacted did not return my e-mails. It would have been so interesting to learn from them. However, I did go onto the UNICEF web site and looked around at the information discussed around Africa though there were many other countries to look at.

      One story I read was about a 17 year old girl who was born in Benin, Africa, at home and so she has no birth certificate. This makes it impossible to go to a secondary school and onto a profitable job. In Benin, 4 out of every 10 children do not get a birth certificate within the first 10 days after their birth when it is free. They are born in their homes and most families either do not know about it or do not see the importance of having a birth certificate. Children without a birth certificate are often denied education and lack access to other services. This keeps the cycle of poverty always turning. 

     The next story comes from Agadez, Niger and discussed the children who live on the streets. One such boy left his home when his father died at 12 years of age. He collects tin from the dump to make some money. Some of this money he uses for food but for the most part is to buy glue for sniffing. The boy said it makes him feel nothing and he often gets beat up or robbed when he falls asleep. There is a child agency which can monitor about 50 children which is sometimes their only hope as well as their families'.

      Another story from Africa is based around the internal conflict of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger where at one time it had 11 million children out of school. Now that the conflict has escalated there are an additional 1 million children also out of school. These children are going to grow up with no education and no means to support themselves.

By 2030 a short 13 years from now:
     167 MILLION children will live in extreme poverty
       69 MILLION children under the age of 5 will die between the years 2016 and 2030
       60 MILLION children of primary school age will be out of school


We have to do something! NO child deserves to suffer like this.

Sharing Web Resources

Save the Children is the Early Childhood related web site I found which interested me and can be found at:

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXGIpI4E/b.6213813/k.4C6/eNewsletter_Sign_Up/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=6213813&en=kvlQJ4ORKhlQJ3MOKcINI4NSJfLZiOSJmLYL4OSJrK9JsJ

When I read the first newsletter my heart broke. I know things are bad for children in war-torn countries but I had no real clue what they have endured along with their families.

Women and Children Flee Famine and War in South Sudan

"The children and the elderly, they slaughtered them... I've seen children tied to their dead mother and thrown in the river"

 This is the first article I read and I now am overwhelmed of what I can possibly do for these suffereing people?!

The reason I am focusing on this horrific story is because the refugees from countries such as this often end up in my classroom. These children must overcome more than learning another language and customs, they must learn how not to be afraid any more. They need to learn to cope in a new world perhaps with trauma too deep for us as teachers to even know where to begin. This is the changing demographics of the classroom in my area. I wish I had an answer but I do know it is something we as educators need to know and to look at.

Getting Ready—E stablishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

     I had a little trouble with this assignment but I think I have it now. I contacted three different organizations and have not heard form anyone as of yet. I tried UNUCEF, The International School of Yangon (in Myanmar) and the Global Educational Network for People and Planet. I am excited about the school in Myanmar because I have had several students from this area and I would like to get to know their educational beliefs. I am really hoping to get to talk with others about their thoughts over the next few weeks.

For the next part of this endeavor I have chosen to learn more about the Safe the Children Foundation. I have signed up for their newsletters and updates and I hope to become more involved with them as well. This program reaches out to children all over the world and if we each tried to live our lives FOR the children this world would be a much better place!

My Supports

I looked up the word support to give me a jumping off point and Webster's II New College Dictionary gave this as one of its meanings: to maintain in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, of slipping. This says it for me, a form of support which holds me up during the day .I work in a stressful job and I am of the "sandwich generation" as I tend to my own parents and children.
I have several supports in place which minister to me physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially.
       1) Helping Others
 This a very important aspect of my life. Besides the fact that helping those in need is a moral obligation in my life it also takes my mind off of my troubles or stressors as I focus on others. If I did not have this support in my life I would begin to sit around and over think the worries I may be going through or make up worries as I reel through imagined scenarios.  

       2) Church
This is the most important support for me and should probably have gone first. When I am at my wit's end because a child is taking me to "that place" or a student's family member is screaming in my face, I find if I focus on prayer it sooths me. I have many church friends who I can turn to who do not judge or belittle me. If I did not have prayer or Jesus in my life I think I would easily fall into the negativity that is not only a common part of the job and area I work but is so much part of the news these days. In fact, I KNOW I would fall into the negativity around me.

         3) My Kids and Grand Children
Those of you who have children know what I mean. My children have grown into positive influences in my life and their wisdom guides me often. Other times, it is just great to hang out with them and their children to forget about the day. If they were further away from me and I could not see them as often as I do I think there would be great loneliness. Not having these guys in my life would cause great stress and sadness.

       4) Disengagement
This support system works well for me. The way I can do this is through reading a book or, I am embarrassed to say, those computer games of matching-three objects. Nothing can turn my busy brain off easier that a half hour or so of mindless matching and clicking. My life would not be over if I was not allowed this luxury. I would definitely need to find another sort of disengagement tool however because I cannot keep thinking things over and over in my head.


        5) The Lake
My favorite place in the world is "The Lake", a place I go during the summer for two weeks. Water soothes me and this is a place I have been going to since I was a child. My children come as well and we all forget about what is going on in our various homes and just enjoy nature. If this was not in my life (and sometimes I have had to forgo a trip) I am overwhelmed by life. I need to get away from it all and rest. If this was not a part of my life I would become over exhausted and that leads to forgetfulness for me.    

    
         6) Learning New Skills
My final support is a relatively new one for me. I have rediscovered a love of researching and learning new skills which span anywhere from health and beauty to how to best handle a situation in the classroom. It stretches my brain and gets me out of the daily rut we can sometimes fall into. To not have this support I would fall victim to how things "used to be" and forget there are new and interesting findings discovered every day.



                                                       Imagined Scenario
       One of the aspects of the Head Start program is every five years the agency, which is an umbrella type of agency, must re-compete with other agencies to keep Head Start funding. So far the same agency has won that competition for the grant money. My scenario is that this year ACAP (our umbrella organization) has not won the grant money and now a new organization has taken over. This new organization has its own staff so there is all new management. This organization, though well versed in child development, has not worked with Head Start before and does not know the program as well as it should. I will most likely keep my teaching position the first year as the new organization does not have teachers in place yet. This fact does not guarantee a teaching position the next year however.
      Some of my support systems mentioned above would be of great value, some would not, and some I could not even entertain. Prayer would definitely be a major part of getting through the stressful time of change as I put my trust in the LORD. To not have this in place would send me reeling into all kinds of doubt and confusion. My children would definitely be there to support me both emotionally and financially if need be. To not have them there to boost me up or even to live with if the case arose would leave me floundering with no place to go. I would need to make myself indispensable to the new agency and this can be done through learning new skills in child development and ELL knowledge. If I did not have my degree and was not further educating myself I would most likely be asked to leave and then I am homeless with no income. The Lake would be out of the question if I did not have a job and then the tumbling affect of overworked and exhaustion would take away clear thinking. I would continue to help others as this is a reminder of how blessed I am in my life. I know for a fact if this was not in my life I would sit around feeling sorry for myself.
      This is a pretty bleak scenario but one which actually could happen every five years of our Head Start program and it can and does lead to stress. This is why I am thankful for the supports I have in place.

"support."( 2001) In Webster's Dictionary II New College Edition. Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin Company 

My Connectin to Play

My Favorite Toys

I spent hours playing in trees. It amazed me all the place I could go while sitting in its branches.

Blocks were my favorite indoor toy (sometimes outside too). I could build any place I wanted and escape into that world for hours.

The stream by my home was the best. I could be anything from an explorer traveling along its banks, to an ice skater in the winter, to a scientist examining all the pond life I could find.

My parents were my biggest support system for play, one a kindergarten teacher the other an art teacher. Creativity was huge to them and still is. We were not allowed to watch much television so it left time for nothing but imagination. I lived in a rural setting so the rule was, we could play as far into the fields as we wanted as long as we could still see the top bricks of the chimney of our home. The role of play for me, looking back, was a way to escape the world. It calmed me, it excited me, it made me think I could be or do anything I put my mind to.

Play today is not the same as what I experienced growing up. Children do not (or cannot due to safety) play outside all day long, lost in the pretend, using materials of the world. I find I need to teach my students how to play when they come to my Head Start classroom. I also find that some of the teachers are uncomfortable when the children take items from one center to another to aid to their creativity. Technology is part of today’s world but I want creativity back in a child’s life. I want children to take a stick and make a whole world of play with it.

Play I lived as a child is still a big part of who I am today. I tend to think outside of the box and see the glass half full. Not only is the glass half full, but it is not a glass at all, it is actually a pitcher. I am a big advocate for play in the classroom and creativity is its base.  Working with inner city and immigrant children who may seem destined to what is dealt them need to learn creative ways to look outside of where they are to what truly can be.