Saturday, June 21, 2014

International Contacts Part 3

I received several e-mails from international early childhood people saying they wanted to converse with me, but that was as far as it went.  After I responded to their e-mails thanking them, I never heard anything else from them.  So, I did the alternate assignment.


Since the 1945’s, UNESCO has been supporting and advocating for the world’s young children and early childhood education.  Over 193 countries work with UNESCO for recognition of the importance of early childhood education for children birth to age 8. 

I found it ironic that all countries, even those wealthy countries, have trouble allocating monies to fund early childhood programs and standards.  I also saw the term “holistic development” once again.  This term is fascinating to me and is something I want to study and learn more about.  Holistic development is dealing with the positive development of the “whole” child: health, nutrition, education, parent support, equity and social protection, and alleviation of poverty. 

Most importantly, this site works diligently to advocate for “high-quality” early childhood education.  Countries are beginning to commit and have committed to expand and improve comprehensive early care and education for vulnerable and disadvantaged children.  High-quality early childhood education promotes cognition and language, school readiness, motivation to continue and perform well, and confidence in young students, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds.  Because there are so many different government sectors concerned with young children, the ability to coordinate an effective program is still very difficult.
 

4 comments:

  1. Thank you sharing your insights with us this week. I wanted to point out that I find it odd how it is still difficult to establish a functioning and effective program; with so many concerned with the development of children and with everyone with a common goal, why would it be so problematic?

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    1. Money is always a problem..I wish there was an easy answer. I think school districts want to spend money on early childhood programs, but they can barely handle funding their current programs. Ugg, what are we to do??

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  2. Hi Kimberly -
    Thanks for sharing your post this week. I haven't personally really looked a lot into this website, but just from the information you have given, it is one that I will research more on and add into my resources. You have given me a whole new area to really dive into and research with the holistic development you discuss. To me this is how we should be looking at early childhood - looking at the "whole" child which not only includes the child personally, but the child's family and life outside of our care.
    Thanks again for sharing!
    Gena

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  3. Hi Kimberly I have enjoyed all you have shared and it gives me more places for resources as I continue on this journey in ECE. Thank you

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