Getting to Know Your International Contacts

During this technological age, one would assume that data would be at the tips of your fingers, but the truth of it is, there is very little data available about Zambian early childhood development programs. It was shocking to me that very little is known about the development of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Several community groups have come together to attempt to investigate the issues that exists.  The title of the project is “Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP)”. The project’s goal is to collaboratively measure the effects of an on-going anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia.

In Brazil, there are collaborative efforts implemented to improve child development. The Global Children’s Initiative is launching Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância. It is the first program that is being launched outside of the United States. The program aims to use science of child development and health development to help improve current policies that will benefit children and families in Brazil.

Un Buen Comienzo( UBC)  is another collaborative initiative that is implemented in Chile. UBC aims to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The idea is to improve language skills during the early childhood stages. It also aims to improve school attendance and socioemotional development.

It was interesting to read how all three countries are similar in that they are working collaboratively to improve early childhood education, not only for the children but the families as well.  Brazil, Chile, and Africa are restructuring there early childhood programs to assure that all children’s needs and areas of development are met. 

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

Sharing Web Resources

www.zerotothree.org

• The website zero to three contains information that is more relevant to my profession. The website provided information for parents and early childhood educators. The site provides strategies that will help preschool aged children to develop. Most importantly the site provides useful resources that will help parents and educators to understand brain development, language development, and it also provides resources on how to handle challenging behaviors.

• Even though I know that all children are different, the site made me realize that there is not a specific way to discipline a child. Children respond to consequences differently, therefore, the can not be one solution to a problem.

• Neuroscientist, politicians, and economists are providing information, creating programs, and researching the importance of early childhood programs. Neuroscientist are providing information on how the brain develops and how children learn. Politicians are reviewing the research data to promote and encourage the development of early childhood programs.

• The website provided information on public policy and current trends.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Website information: http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

As I read about the poverty issue that exist in China, I was given an opportunity to gain more insight on the issue at hand.

China is a country that has made tremendous strides against poverty. According to the website, www.childhoodpoverty.org, the decline in poverty is "due to far-reaching processes of economics and social transition. Although a globalised market economy has helped to reduce poverty it has created new forms of poverty.

It was also interesting to gain more insight on the impact that poverty has on children. The website revealed a clear understanding of the definition on urban childhood poverty. Urban childhood poverty is the lack of basic human needs such as education, nutrition, and etc. The lack of human needs exist because of the family's inability to afford them.

There were also recommendations made to reduce poverty. The recommendation that stands out in my mind is "improving migrant families’ access to government and community assistance by granting them equal access to urban services as long-term urban residents; making it easier to apply for urban registration would contribute to this"(childhood poverty research and policy center).
 

Sharing Web Resources

UNICEF:  http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

UNICEF is the leading advocate for children’s rights. UNICEF focus on 5 areas, that include child survival & development, education & gender equalities, HIV/AIDS, child protection policy and advocacy & partnerships.

Child survival and Development includes child survival, nutrition, and environmental interventions.

Basic education and gender equalities include free education for all students.

HIV/AIDS include research for mother-to-child transmission, pediatric treatment and prevention and children affected by AIDS.

Child Protection which covers protecting children from violence, exploitation, and abuse.

Policy advocacy and partnerships which includes policy analysis, leveraging resources, and child participation.

It was interesting to read about the fight for equality in education. It was shocking to read that there are still such issues. UNICEF aims to close the gender gap in primary and secondary education.