Sharing Web Resources

Based on the FINE Newsletter, I found some information that is particularly relevant to my current professional development in that the role of parental involvement is an important factor in overall student success. The September 2012 issue of FINE Newsletter focuses on “Facilitating Continuous Family Involvement” (www.hfrp.org). With regards to politicians, economists, etc, the issue discusses how professionals within the field and community members can help parents become involved in school. I truly believe that parental collaboration with professionals and within the community can help relationships and overall student success. If a child feels welcomed and has parental support, they can build trust and confidence. Also, I feel that when everyone is on the same page when homework is assigned or lessons are implemented, it is easier to be involved and have awareness of the child’s strengths and likes and dislikes. Lastly, by having parental involvement, they can be a part of their child’s development and overall growth. “…families understand not only why their continued involvement is important, but also how they can remain effectively engaged as their children grow and develop” (www.hfrp.org). By reading further into the article, I noticed that communities involve themselves in creating transitional programs to help parents and children get ready for Kindergarten. “…such programs not only inform families about the kindergarten experience, but also act as a bridge to facilitate parents’ ongoing commitment to and involvement in their children’s growth and development” (Rosenberg, H. 2012). I feel that programs such as these are beneficial, but can raise controversy because of the funding. Without funding, there can’t be programs such as Transitional Kindergarten. I believe that new ways of thinking about funding such as with Transitional Kindergarten, can really benefit all children in the Early Years, but the controversy can be with funding for the programs. The newsletter brought up the issue about community leaders putting forth effort to fund the Transitional Kindergarten program, which clearly shows their upmost concern for a child’s early years in development. “…The brief includes recommendations for how other states and local programs can help facilitate family engagement during this pivotal time” (Patton, & Wang 2012). The community does work together to create the programs for families, and they provide vital resources for family involvement. Some insights that I gained from the FINE Newsletter are that there are dedicated professionals within the local, community, State, and Political level who are working towards the betterment of children and their families. With an economy that has poor funding for Special Programs for children, there are current programs such as Transitional Kindergarten and Head Start that are indeed working and prove to be positive influences in a child’s overall development. Also, programs such as these help bring society and families closer together through family involvement. References FINE Newsletter: The Family Involvement Network of Educators: Harvard Family Research Project: Harvard Graduate School of Education September 20, 2012. Volume 4, Issue 3. Retrieved September 29, 2012. from. (http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine- family-involvement-network-of-educators/fine-newsletter-archive/september-fine- newsletter-facilitating-continuous-family-engagement). Christine Patton, & Justina Wang (2012). Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten.(FINE) Newsletter Vol 4. Issue 3 Retrieved September 29, 2012 from. (http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/ready-for-success- creating-collaborative-and-thoughtful-transitions-into-kindergarten). Rosenberg, H. (2012). Creating Conditions for Effective and Ongoing Family Engagement. (FINE) Newsletter Vol 4. Issue 3. Retrieved September 29, 2012 from. (http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/creating- conditions-for-effective-and-ongoing-family-engagement).

Getting to Know My Professional Contacts-Part 1

Upon visiting various organizations’ websites, I established some contact as to a few email responses. The responses led me to no personal reference that I can utilize to speak with someone on a weekly basis. NAEYC, gave me a link to a newsletter which is now submitting me emails about their current efforts in the field. The newsletter is called FINE. They can be located by going to (www.hfrp.org). And their mission is to help families be a part of their children’s life, and throughout their children’s adult years. They strive to bring families together. They also work on other projects such as Early Childhood Education, Complementary Learning, Out-of-School Time, Evaluation and other research areas. UNICEF sent me an email stating that they do not hire staff to work with student projects, but they did offer a lot of information to research on their website. They post many newsletters, and have various groups of volunteers and people who visit different countries to help those in need. I resorted to the alternative to the assignment because I have not established contact with an official. I visited the World Forum Foundation and listened to a podcast from World Forum Radio. The link can be found by going to: (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/). I listened to all 5 of the 10 podcasts in the current work section and found two people who have definitely made a difference. Delfena Mitchell is a Director of a children’s home in Belize City. She works with children under age five to aid them from abuse, neglect, and orphaned. Her example of a little boy she saved is special because the little boy came to her not talking for over a year, and after treatment, he talked again. Another touching podcast was from Meridas Eka Yora. He works as a founder of three boarding schools in Indonesia. His efforts resulted from the massive Earthquake that hit the Indian Ocean in 2004. He has no children of his own, but he and his wife love the children who come to them. He treats the children as his own. He also works with children who were orphaned due to the disaster. In the Earthquake and Tsunami, over 500,000 Indonesian’s were killed. From all of this research, I found that it is so amazing that there are so many dedicated professionals all over the world that put up their time, effort, and love for children to help them overcome abuse, poverty, natural disasters, and diseases. I gained tremendous knowledge in that although, there are World Organizations that work day in and day out to help children through rescue efforts, volunteering, and through donation efforts, we can’t always save all of the children. Lastly I learned that all it takes is one professional who has a voice for a cause, and positive things can happen. By taking these few individual Organizations and the people from the podcasts examples, we can put our dreams into play, and make a difference as well. References The Harvard Family Research Project. (www.hfrp.org). UNICEF. (www.unicef.org). World Forum Foundation. Retrieved from. (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/).

Sharing Web resources

The link I chose to learn more about is UNICEF, but although they responded to my email and said they don’t hire a staff just to help out with school projects, they do have a lot of information pertaining to a cause, which is helping parents, families, babies, and children worldwide. I decided to change my views on such a large organization, and move toward a United States organization. I chose ZERO To THREE. They work for a cause as well. They support children, teachers, families, and other professionals in the Early Childhood Field. The link to the ZERO TO THREE website and their mission statement can be found by going to: (http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/). From here one can sign up to become a member, receive newsletters, and view a database of previous newsletters, find lesson plans, and read about current trends and policies within the field. I found one book review from a newsletter from The Harvard Family Research Project titled: “Inviting families into the classroom: Learning from a life in Teaching” By Strieb, L. Y. (2010). This newsletter reflected the topics we are studying at this time. Family involvement is an important part of teaching culture, getting families to have a voice in the classroom, and offering support by collaborating with teachers. “Such involvement both helps parents to understand the teacher’s role and teaching strategies, and offers a chance for parents to share their talents, skills, and cultures with the class” (Streib, L. Y. 2010). The newsletter offers various tips on how Streib used different strategies to involve parents in the classroom. Also, she gives great conclusions as to the benefits of involving parents in the classroom environment. I truly believe that having resources to help acquire new information pertaining to my field of study, helps one to keep updated and informed in the field. Lastly, by finding another source that works with young children, we can gain new techniques and find out useful tips and other ways to help families professionally. References Strieb, L. Y. (2010) Inviting Families into the Classroom: Learning from a Life in Teaching. New York: Teachers College Press. ZERO TO THREE (www.zerotothree.org/about-us).

EDUC 6162-1_ISSUES AND TRENDS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field Part 1: “Establishing Professional Contacts” I checked out the The Global Alliance of NAEYC, along with UNICEF. Both of these organizations work on a global level to help children and families in need. Upon visiting The Global Alliance of NAEYC, I found their mission to include not only helping children around the world, but they offer supplies and materials, and collaborate, and share information on a global level. I clicked on the World Forum Foundation and learned that they work with others to “exchange ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings” (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp). When I went to the contact us link. I found an address which is in the United States; they are located in Redmond, WA. I also found some phone numbers, which I can try to call and speak to someone about keeping up on new efforts. Lastly, I found an email linked to the World Forum Foundation. I sent an email and I hope to hear a response. I also had the opportunity to join the site and become a member, so we’ll see what kind of member benefits are in store for my new knowledge database for the betterment of young children across the globe. I haven’t heard anything yet from the contacts, so I may have to result to working on the alternative to Part 1, for the purpose of this assignment. References The Global Alliance of NAEYC (http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance). The World Forum Foundation (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp). For UNICEF, I found that they too, work hard to help families and children on a global level. I looked at info by country and found that they serve over 70 countries around the globe. I also was able to perform a search and found over 200 newsletters about different topics about children and their health and safety. I had the wonderful opportunity to subscribe to their e- newsletter as well. I feel that through UNICEF, I will find many topics to learn about, and be able to keep updated about current events around the world. Lastly, I sent a contact us e-mail, and hope to hear a response. One helpful tip about UNICEF, is that they help children on many accounts, they help treat Malaria, they offer nutrition, they help with immunizations, water sanitation, and many other efforts. References (http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html). Part 2: “Expanding Resources” The Early Childhood organization I chose to study is ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (http://www.zerotothree.org). They are a US based organization that “ 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” (http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/). ZERO TO THREE has various projects targeted to help military families, parents, and early screening for school readiness. ZERO TO THREE also has a professional journal with many articles one can read about how children’s and families’ lives have changed and benefitted. Lastly, there are also handouts and brochures parents and teachers can view and print out for references and tips. I had the wonderful opportunity to register with ZERO TO THREE as well. Hopefully, they give me some valuable input. References Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families http://www.zerotothree.org/ (May have to use http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ ) (Newsletters: http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )