Final Blog Assignment

Three consequences of learning about international early childhood

• my understanding was deepened about the importance of a strong early childhood curriculum that supports families and children.

• awareness of different cultures and how my teaching style can effect each child.

• the importance of early learning 

One goal:  The goal that I have set is to serve all children in an effective manner so that his or her early childhood experience is a success. I will attempt to incorporate multicultural activities as much as possible.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Unfortunately I have not received a response from my international contact. I gathered information from colleagues and administrators. We discussed several issues that pertinent to early childhood.

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? 
At the present time, there are some major issues that exists within the Head Start program in which I work.  The monitoring team will be evaluating the effectiveness of the program. The team will monitor instructional habits, classroom procedures, classroom environment, paperwork, teacher's interaction with children, parents, and colleagues. The monitoring team is scheduled to evaluate the program in September. Teachers are preparing for the evaluation. They are making sure that the classroom is setup to meet standards set by the monitoring team. This is a stressful time of year for most early childhood educators.

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist? 
At the present time we are required to attend professional development once a month. Professional development is centered around standards set by the monitoring team. The professional development that occurs help to keep my colleagues and I abreast to new teaching practices.

Colleagues
Several of my colleagues feel as though we should have more meaningful professional development. Most of them feel as though professional development is held to give us more paperwork or something else to do. When asked about the paperwork....Many of my colleagues said that they did not mind completing the paperwork, but most of the paperwork is repetitive.

When my colleagues were asked about having the necessary resources.....Several of my colleagues believed that they have access to most of the resources that they need.

Sharing Web Resources

National Head Start Association-http://www.nhsa.org/

After browsing several websites, the website that is most pertinent to my area of expertise is the National Head Start Association website. The website contained information that is relevant to the development of early childhood.

The area that I chose to research was the news section titled, “National Head Start Association Statement: Organizational Letter Calls for Protection of NDD Programs”. Head Start along with 3000 other nondefense discretionary is asking for protection. The organizations are involved in early education, health, law enforcement, science, housing, workforce, transportation and public safety communities.

Head Start is a program that has been around for about 50 years. The letter entails specific information about the program. The program was designed to provide at-risk children with an equal education opportunity. The letter includes several facts about the percentage of children who are and will be affected by poverty because of the current economic situation; Head Start and Even Start are programs that are needed.

The website also revealed information about the Head Start Monitoring Task Force. The new DRS is requiring that Head Start have standards that help define high quality education. The website also made a shocking statement about Head Start. According to the website, “Head Start is vulnerable to poor implementation of the Designation Renewal process and to on-going attempts of our opponents to argue that Head Start has “no impact at all”(National Head Start Association).The above statement left me in awe!