Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website

After exploring the Harvard website, I discovered that “The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship” (website).   The Center on the Developing Child’s main focus is to improve early childhood education and car they have form four goal: Building a multidisciplinary science of health, learning, and behavior, advancing our understanding of how to reduce preventable disparities in well-being, catalyzing the formulation and implementation of effective, science-based policies, and preparing future and current leaders to make science-based policy decisions.

In addition, I learned the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University looks at children holistically. The article mentions, “Mental health concerns constitute a massively under addressed issue that has significant implications for the broader health and development of children and societies. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts” (website).

Website:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources

The Office of Head Start has been my choice to research and scan the website. The website offers many resources and 1000’s of Head Start Performance Standards which mandates and governs how programs are to run.

This organization supports my current professional development through “Head Start's commitment to wellness embraces a comprehensive vision of health for children, families, and staff. The objective of Child Health and Development Services is to ensure that, through collaboration among families, staff, and health professionals, all child health and developmental concerns are identified, and children and families are linked to an ongoing source of continuous, accessible care to meet their basic health needs” (OHS website 2011).

The Office of Head Start has been performing research since 2002 in regards to family structure. In a particular article I found about a possible approach to improving child well-being is thus strengthening the relationships of low-income couples through relationship skills education.  The website states, “The Building Strong Families (BSF) project, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been evaluating this kind of approach. The project developed, implemented, and tested voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting a child or who have just had a baby” (OHS website 2011).

I could not find any information that adds to my understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field other than Head Start is a federally funded program.

I found that Head Start offers many opportunities to grow as a leader and ECE advocate for example:

The Office of Head Start 1^st National Birth to Five Leadership Institute will provide opportunities for leadership development through the promotion of effective strategies for achieving school readiness and continuous program improvement. While all Head Start staff have a leadership role to play in achieving positive outcomes for children, families, and communities, this Institute is designed for staff and parent leaders. Programs are encouraged to select a team of leaders who, after the Institute, will be prepared to lead the way for 2011 and beyond.

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre

Unfortunately I have not established effective communication from the professionals I have email, so I studied the link http://www.childhoodpoverty.org as assigned. 

The three insights that I gained from this websites are a little overwhelming. For example, “Over 600 million children world-wide live in absolute poverty - an estimated 1 in 4” (online website). This is extremely frightening to me. Then I ask myself how can we as a society help combat this serious issue?  I barely finished the first paragraph before I found another astonishing statistic, “As one of the most powerless groups in society, children often bear the physical and emotional costs of poverty” (online website).  This article also brings to light that poor children often raise poor children and the cycle can continue for generations. 

Fortunately this website offered some light at the end of the tunnel and has like many similar organization decided to help through:

Research and policy to make a difference
The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre is a collaborative research and policy programme which involves Save the Children, the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) and partners in China, India, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Running from 2001 to 2005, it aims to contribute to global poverty reduction efforts by:
• Deepening understanding of the main causes of childhood poverty and poverty cycles, and increasing knowledge of effective strategies to tackle them in different contexts
• Examining economic and social factors at different levels - international, national and local - which contribute to poverty in childhood
• Informing effective policy to end childhood poverty, communicating research findings to policy makers, practitioners and advocates
• Raising the profile of childhood poverty issues and increasing commitment to tackling them through anti-poverty policy and action.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose is the Office Head Start

The office of Head Start mission and vision embodies the families. They have a strong focus on how to incorporate their families. The website states:

Head Start offers parents opportunities and support for growth, so that they can identify their own strengths, needs and interests, and find their own solutions. The objective of Family Partnerships is to support parents as they identify and meet their own goals, nurture the development of their children in the context of their family and culture, and advocate for communities that are supportive of children and families of all cultures. The building of trusting, collaborative relationships between parents and staff allows them to share with and to learn from one another.

This website also has “tip sheets” for educators, for example:       

Activities: Math in the Home

Knowledge in math and science begins at birth and is especially important when children enter more formal educational settings—like preschool.  Teachers and parents can help encourage children’s interest and curiosity in the world around them.  This resource offers many suggestions to use at home and school to promote math and science education. The website then offers activities that focus on math.  Another article foucases on dual-language earners and how to support them the wedsite offers the following suggestions: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Build positive, warm, nurturing relationships with English language learners so that they feel safe and less anxious. Not being able to communicate creates considerable anxiety for young children who cannot learn anything well if they are stressed. Speak English in ways that help English language learners understand. Use simple sentences, repeat what is said, use gestures and facial expressions, point to objects, and use everyday vocabulary. Gradually expand your vocabulary so English language learners continue to make progress in vocabulary development and are conceptually challenged. Help children link English vocabulary to real life-events, experiences with concrete objects, and pictures. Focus on the here and now until they become more proficient in English. Help children acquire book knowledge and appreciation, print awareness, and phonological awareness in their home language, drawing on family and community members as resources. Once acquired, these skills will transfer to English.

Link: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/programs/index.html#fam

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

The steps I took for this blog assignment:

1.     Research the different resources available

2.     Decided on the NAEYC website

3.     Decided on the countries of Mexico and Canada

4.     Emailed two professionals in the ECE field

I have not heard from those professionals at this time. I have decided that I will give some more time. I chose to study National Head Start Association website and became a member in order to receive newsletters, latest research and news. I choose to study National Head Start Association website because I work for a Head Start program in North Carolina.