GLOBAL CHILDREN’S INITIATIVE

 One insight I gained from exploring the Harvard University website was how the “Center on the Developing Child” has launched the “Global Children’s Initiative” as the centerpiece of its global child health and development agenda. Drawing on lessons from work done in the United States, the “Global Children’s Initiative” is implementing research globally. The organization is going to focus on three objectives to assist children in the early years of life; early child development, child mental health, and children in crisis and conflict situations. This project will be guided by a designated faculty.

The Zambian Early Childhood Project is a collaborative effort between many organizations to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia. The project assesses children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers—the first assessment tool of its kind in Zambia. The data collected will assist in identifying key interventions in the area of child development.

The Frontiers of Innovation supports the healthy development of young children with specific focus on disadvantaged children and families. The FOI initiative’s aim is to combine scientific insights, practical experience, and creative risk-taking to generate new policies and practices. The three major work streams of the FOI group include; Idea Groups, Innovation by Design States and Innovation by Design Sites. They will create a collaborative network to cross-fertilize their ongoing initiatives to achieve greater impact for the early childhood field.

The Harvard Website has an abundance of valuable resources on their website. The Center strives to present information, especially scientific information, in a way that is accessible to a wide variety of readers.

References:
 http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/

Sharing Web Resources

The Center for the Early Childcare Workforce has many resources available on their website. The specific information I find relevant to my current professional development is the section on Public Policy. After reading the resource material this week I have realized how vital it is to ensure I stay abreast of the local, state and federal initiatives dealing with early childhood education. Early childhood education is now more than ever at the forefront of policy initiatives at all levels of government (CCW.org).  We still have a long way to go, our work is not near complete!

One resource I took from the e-newsletter was an article titled, "Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function. This article discusses how children need a group of skills and how acquiring the early building blocks of these skills is one of the most challenging and important tasks in early childhood. The article addressed how these skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them pays off in school and life.

The website had resources and information directly related to state initiatives and public policy.  There was a variety of topics and web links to get information about specific state information. Author James Heckman writes, "The logic is quite clear from an economic standpoint. We can invest early to close disparities and prevent achievement gaps, or we can pay to remediate disparities when they are harder and more expensive to close. Either way we are going to pay. And, we'll have to do both for a while. But, there is an important difference between the two approaches. Investing early allows us to shape the future; investing later chains us to fixing the missed opportunities of the past. Controlling our destiny is more in keeping with the American spirit."

 
This website offers many interesting articles as well as links to other organizations that have information about the early childhood field. They have different tips each week to assist teachers and administrators with early childhood development. The newsletter offers the latest scoop on early childhood news. Exploring the website gives me an opportunity to grow as an educator.

Reference:

 http://www.ccw.org 

CHIP – Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre

 

 The CHIP (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre) is a collaborative project between, Save the Children, the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) and partners in China, India, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. The website is a resource for individuals wanting more information about childhood poverty. The case studies, publications and film clips were eye-opening. 4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions (CHIP, 2012).  40 % of children in developing countries suffer from malnutrition. At current rates of improvement, 1 billion children's mental development will be affected by malnutrition by 2020 (UN James Commission).  It is heart wrenching that so many children go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. In order to tackle childhood poverty positive change at many levels must take place.

 

This picture of two little boys from Mongolia was taken at sunset. Boys fetch water to help pay for sweets and small toys, but a majority of them use the money they earn to buy basic necessities for their families. Children begin working at a young age. They work long hours each day to help their families.

“Today's poor children are all too often tomorrow's poor parents.” (CHIP, 2012)  We need to do everything we can to make this phrase no longer a reality! Childhood poverty is an issue that takes every one of us to conquer.

Sharing Web Resources

Organization:  Center for Childcare Workforce     

Weblink:   http://www.ccw.org


 The Center for Childcare Workforce focuses on improving the quality of early care and education for all children by promoting policy, research and organizing that ensure the early care and education workforce is well-educated, receives better compensation and a voice in their workplace.  

The newsletter from this organization focuses on a multitude of topics, but the one that caught my eye was, "Licensing for Quality Care". This research based paper discusses the who, what, when, where and how for child care regulations.