Getting to know International Contacts Part 3

This week I asked my international contact, Jacqueline Perry what her hopes, dreams, and aspirations are for the future of her profession.  She stated that she has been in the field of early childhood education for several years and her dream is for early childhood to become more respected, appreciated, and understood.  She aspires that one day all children, regardless of socio-economic issues, race, culture, and background shall be privy to early childhood education.  I agree with her on this topic, and long for the day in the future.  

Like I have stated in pervious posts, our Canadian neighbors share many of the same viewpoint, expectations, and aspirations as we do in the United States.  

Sharing Resources

The website I found to be most helpful is www.hhs.gov US Department of Health and Human Services.  Currently if you visit the site, the three main topics are Open Enrollment Over for Obamacare, Healthy Eating, and Autism Awareness.  All of these topics take you to outside links with a  wealth of information.  If you go to the search bar and type equity in preschool, many  different links concerning the topic come up.  Many  of the links deal with head start and their different initiatives.

Like  i have stated in the past, this is wonderful site with a wealth of information that can be utilized within the field of early childhood education.

 http://www.hhs.gov

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

This past week I touched base with my Canadian contact, Jacqueline Perry.  I discussed with her the topic of school readiness in preschool and my concerns as  far as my view on the field.  She stated that school readiness is a concern in her country as well and there is much current debate on the topic.  There is discussion about what can be done to remedy the gap in  readiness and where the field  of early childhood is going.  Once again, this  is an example of how our neighbor to  the north is experiencing some of the very same topics and issues within the field.  Different country, however, same trends and concerns over our young children and the future of the field.

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I find to be very helpful, and full of current  and relevant information is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at http://www.hhs.gov.  I utilize this website quite often, as it is very user friendly.  There is a search bar where you can put in a search word and it will bring up several hits of information.  I utilize information on the site from health concerns to English Language Learners.  Recently, I utilized the site for a wealth of information on poverty, child hunger, and homelessness.  The resources located within the website are based upon all different viewpoints of different topics, and provides both pro and con views of the issues at hand.  

I recommend this website to anyone who may be searching for issues or trends in education or the area concerning children and families.  There is a wealth of information relevant to education professionals as well as parents and caretakers.  

Getting to Know Our International Colleagues

This week I have the pleasure of introducing Jacqueline Perry whom I made contact through the Canadian Association for Young Children.  We have discussed a few limited topics, especially poverty.  British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate and continues to worsen.  Much of this is attributed to the high number of single mother homes and growing welfare cases.  Low minimum wage  and lack of jobs attributes to the growing need for welfare.  Through the discussion, I realized that this is very similar to what we see in the area I reside. The minimum wages are comparable and the cost of living is similar as well.  It seems that much of the strife these struggling families endure is similar across country borders.  I look forward to continuing our correspondence and am very eager to learn more about the issues revolving around early childhood in our neighboring country.

Sharing Web Resources

This week I chose two websites.  NAEYC, because I utilize this website on many different occasions and find it to be a priceless resource. The other website is the Canadian Childcare  Federation, which is very similar to our NAEYC.

National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/

Canadian Childcare  Federation
http://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/

Both websites and organizations focus on the betterment of young children. I located the Canadian website through the NAEYC Global Alliance, and decided to  peruse it because of its close proximity to the United States.  I was very curious as to whether they were similar or different.
I found both websites to be very similar with he same concerns such as child health, care, and professional development.  There is also a concern on behalf of the Canadian Childcare Federation  for Aboriginal Child Care because  of the various Aboriginal Communities within Canada.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of making contact with 2 professionals this week.  I utilized The Global Alliance of NAEYC to make these contacts and I look forward to conversing regularly with my new colleagues.  The website I am exploring is the Canadian Association for Young Children.  I became very interested in this site in relation to the 2 professionals I connected with this week.  I have had extensive experience with the NAEYC website, and this appears to be the Canadian representation of such.