Collaboration in the Learning Community

This is always one of my favorite posts, a chance to acknowledge my colleagues in our learning community. I have learned from different perspectives in culture and personal experiences I plan on taking with me in my personal life and professional communication as well.

I just found out I was invited to present at a workshop after two of my hero's in the environmental education world, Dr. Nilda Cosco and Dr. Robin Moore who founded the Natural Learning Initiative. I will use every tool in the book and insights from colleagues so I don't just scream when I meet them. I typically look forward to presentations although with this one my knees are knocking, so any suggestion are welcome. I respect everyone from all of my classes any input you have means so much to me. Thank you everyone and best of luck on the final stretch.

Adjournment

Throughout my life there have been many teams I have been a part of some easier to part with and others not. In my younger years, I would audition for our community theater musicals (I was a dancer not a singer!). The process of auditioning, being chosen and working together for the performance was the team’s goal. The director had a lot to do with how the team gelled; we worked closely together having our own parts that depended on the whole for the show. It was very difficult to adjourn after closing night, we weren’t sure if we would see the same people in the next performance and we typically ended with a cast party. These teams were so successful and we felt such a rush of adrenalin after each performance and a great feeling of success. I have really connected with people in these online courses, not all personally but I value everything people bring to my learning. I would love to have casual conversations with my colleagues that don’t require citing resources and learning about their work and direction after our classes. I think all of us will be somewhat relieved to adjourn, but for over a year I’ve checked my computer and will miss sharing the intellectual insights about our field. I think all experiences needs closure whether it is in sadness or celebration, but reflecting on the relationships and lessons learned.

Conflict Resolution

This is perfect timing, I am in the midst of a conflict between one of my teachers and a parent. I am taking the “third side”. The parent does not want to leave her 4 year old with us if she is crying; she has brought her child to the bus with great success of a quick kiss goodbye. One day this parent flagged the bus down as it was pulling away to get her daughter on. One of the teachers went to help the child on who started to cry. The mother was talking to the teacher wavering back and forth as 30 kids were waiting on the bus. The teacher was frustrated, the parent was frustrated and the child hasn’t been at summer camp since (one week).

The first strategy is empathetic listening to each individual involved. I will check back with each one to make sure I accurately understand their perspective. With empathetic seeing, listening and speaking I hope to make the parent comfortable in what ever her decision and support the teacher in respecting the parents parenting style.

The second strategy is to have a meeting with the parent and teacher so we are clear on how the family culture works. And explain our school culture and how it works in a group situation. All the while having the utmost respect for the family culture with open and honest communication.

This is an interesting explanation of empathy by Alan Seid. http://www.cnvc.org/how-do-empathy

Results of Communication Scales

This was an interesting insight for me I asked a coworker to evaluate me and my 23 year old son. The most interesting was the anxiety of communication, when I enter a conversation that deals with uncomfortable issues I am very nervous, often times I will write down different responses so I can self monitor my response. I don't always have time for that so I was pleased to hear that others perceive me as comfortable in those situations. This does however point out that I often enter communication of a sensitive nature with a goal in mind, therefore I am not truly actively listening because I have an agenda.

A comparison where my evaluators and I had the same score was what type of listener I am, I was grouped in #1 people-oriented. I really thought I was more action oriented in my work because the days are so busy and there is not often time for empathic listening. The description for group one is that I have clouded judgment because I am very trusting of others, this is right on.

As a director and teacher I need to be able to listen to others and trust in myself that I do not have to prove that I know what I am talking about by interjecting my own experience and knowledge. Often in early childhood education we are struggling to prove this is a viable, worthy field. I have gotten in the habit of making sure others know that I know what I am talking about, which has clouded my listening skills.

Many lessons to be learned!

Strategies for Cultural Communication

I find myself drawn to people of different races, religion, sexual orientation, varying abilities etc. I look forward to using the information and looking for the culturally specific nonverbal communication as well as learning how one would like to be treated.

I do find myself communicating differently with a woman at work who is from England. I feel we are very culturally different although there are no defining differences such as race, religion, political affiliation etc. I feel I tend to avoid communicating with her because she is quit negative and judgmental. I’ve tried to be the cheerleader and modeling positive non-bias actions and words, directly talking to her although she laughs and says I miss understand her. I feel like I’m crazy and not doing my job of listening, so I definitely need some strategies!

The three strategies I will use are attempting to think and feel what she is thinking and feeling as well as trying to understand how she would like to be treated. I will ask questions to make sure I am clear and fully understand what she is communicating both verbally and nonverbally. Lastly I will avoid negative judgment, something I am accusing her of and am doing myself. I am very open to suggestions if anyone has any.

Non-verbal Cues

This was a fun exercise even with my self-proclaimed observation skills I totally missed the boat on my interpretation of the non-verbal cues, in the show Parks and Rec.

With the sound off I had the relationship of the main character as a boss and her employees who were disgusted with her, they rolled their eyes, folded their arms, sighed and looked down. With sound on I discovered the employees were disappointed.

I assumed the main character was angry and a domineering boss, she did not smile much and her body posture was stiff. I thought she had a crush on a male coworker and was flirting with him, using a big smile and tilting her head when she talked.

With the sound on I realized this character was not domineering but she followed rules and is a bit nerdy. What I assumed was flirting with the male coworker turned out to be her wanting to be accepted by a male dominated work force. My assumptions were all wrong which changed the whole plot.

If I did this exercise already knowing the characteristics I would have seen a whole different picture. This really shows me that although I consider myself to be observant I cannot go on what I see and make assumptions. This is exactly what I have been doing with a coworker that I discussed in my discussion this week. Ooooo!

Communication Behavors

My brother is a director at Proctor & Gamble, his job has moved from a designer to a director that helps teams address relationship obstacles, eliminating each persons ability and how they can benefit the team. This is truly fascinating to watch in action in an everyday circumstance. As he calls it being transparent, this is so effective with his teenage daughter, a larger heated mediation or getting updated on the latest news of someone he hasn’t seen for a while. He is very present with his vision and body language and he never points fingers. With his teenager he will say I’m feeling you are upset as his daughter screams she is not, staying calm he asks what is she feeling and she is able to tell him. He listens intently and reiterates what she has said in hope he understood completely. The transparence come from no assumptions, for example rather than telling his daughter you are making me feel frustrated, he words it that he is feeling she is upset therefore there is not blame it is a clarification. 

This is particularly affective when dealing with conflict and I would like to model my communication as well as the calm demeanor he uses. Another behavior is being fully present whether it is with a child, an adult or a large group. If he lived closer to me I would just follow him around and observe, it is amazing to watch.

Professional Hopes And Goals

To take a step back and observe the colors, the depth and the texture of the diverse human condition is like seeing a mountain for the first time. It is humbling yet inspiring and the desire to get a closer look is infectious.

My professional and personal goal when working with children and families from divers backgrounds is to learn, to discover and to connect. My respect for nature is something that is a part of me, but I have discovered many mountains I can't wait to climb with respect to the human connection. Mountains are never easy to get to know and there are many trips and bumps on the way but the effort and energy spent has its own rewards.

My hope for the early childhood profession is to put anti-bias practices into every piece of the day and every interaction. Children are taught to be bias, social justice has such an impact when the connection occurs from the beginning. Children will be taught to notice differences and see them as positive diversity.

This has been quit the journey of self reflection, understanding and discovery as well as respect. Thank you all for your thoughts and experiences which makes my climb up this mountain such a rich experience. I wish you all best in creating justice in our social world.

(Photo of me and my son in awe climbing Wayna Picchu in Peru 6/2/13)

Welcoming Families from Mongolia

I am welcoming a new family from Mongolia to my childcare center. My goal is to make the family and child to my center feel as welcome as possible.

First- I will prepare the classroom with photos, some dress up materials such as brightly colored scarves. The photos would not be all costumes and surface culture materials, but also pictures of homes, people and environments found in Mongolia.

Second- I will check out books from the library, both children’s books and informational books about everyday life in Mongolia. So the child can point to pictures for a better understanding.

Third- Through my investigation on the Internet I discovered there are several languages spoken in Mongolia; Mongolian, Russia, Chinese and Turkish. I would learn the word welcome in these languages and articulating to the best of my abilities.

Fourth- I will search my community and organizations for any people, stores, restaurants where they may be people from Mongolia. I will learn as much as possible about the social workings of the culture and how people interact in a school setting.

Fifth- As in step 4, I will search the community for any Mongolian groups, places of worship, or Mongolian food items to direct the family to. When I meet the family I will pay very close attention to how they interact with their child, and pay special attention to names and repeat them to assure I am correct in my pronunciation.

When meeting this family I would hope to create a trusting relationship so I can eventually do a home visit and learn much more about the deep culture. I would hope that the classroom was inviting and that the child and family would feel they have a voice and presence. By finding a community of other's from Mongolia I would benefit in learning about the social culture and some of the language. Hopefully this would create some piece of home for the family and along with the childcare center would create a support system for them.

Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

The example that comes to mind is a conversation I had with one of my brother-in-laws. We were having a nice family dinner, my daughter (an adult) was there. One sister mentioned a friend she had who was a Lesbian, the topic was when my sister lived in Mexico, it was nothing about sexual orientation. My daughters first boyfriend in high school came out in college and he is my daughters best friend to this day.

My brother-in-law said it doesn't really matter because all gays are going to hell and shouldn't have the same rights as the rest of us. As the calm adult I told him how wonderful this boy Zack is, I call all the kids that go through my school, my kids and I didn't agree with him. My daughter, a recent graduate in Environmental Studies explained many same sex relationships in primates and many other animals in the natural world. The conversation escalated into shouting, swearing and tears.

The person experience the prejudice was not even present, but we got a taste of what he goes through on a daily basis. Zack said he does not get the prejudice remarks in our community because people knew him from a little boy and his sexual orientation a non issue. But he can not be captive in the safety of his home community.

I felt like someone was hitting my own child in front of me, it hurt and I got defensive and angry. In my brother-in-laws eyes Zack was not allowed to live as a free human, love who he wants and have a family. The final question is who or what would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity? My first thought was if it was one of my brother-in-laws kids he might think about his child but it might mean a greater rejection. All I can do is control my actions, perhaps if I could stay calm, respect his beliefs and try to convey my heartfelt respect for Zack and his rights. Because this is such a personal and cultural subject all we can ask for is respect for one another, which includes respecting others beliefs.

I would love any suggestions to the final question.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Fellow colleagues, by the time you read this I will be in Peru visiting my son and daughter in law, and will be very remote at times so I don't know if I will be able to respond. As soon as I get home I will read you posts, as I look forward to learning from all of your experiences. My apologies.

I think the most microaggression I have experienced is in the early childhood field. I feel I am always getting defensive and having to justify it as a viable career and an important part time of a child's and families life. I have heard parents refer a person when we are looking to fill a teaching position; they say "she is a great babysitter, I think she would be perfect for the job." Sometimes I just let it go, other times I try to explain that there is much more that goes into the job than babysitting. Wages for early childhood professionals are very low in comparison to Kindergarten teachers, so when the word "just" is put infront of early childhood the feelings of inadequacy pop up. Because I have been racialized only a few times I can only imagine the oppression felt by ongoing assaults, as Dr. Sue explained it is the accumulative effects that are so damaging.

This causes me to have a sharp ear as well as be impecable with my own words, and speak up so the shift to equality can take place!

Prospective on Diversity and Culture

What is culture and what is diversity?

Two of the answers I received were very similar, both from men, one a young white American, the other an Italian immigrant.
Culture=was defined as the collective personality of a set of people.
Diversity= was defined as different, or group of mixture of different people or beliefs.
I would say if I were asked these questions before this class this is how I would have responded. Through this course I have learned there is much more than collective beliefs or a group of people. These definitions are what I would consider surface cultures, but each person has their own culture due to experiences, privilege or disadvantage, environment, birth order etc. There is so much that makes us different that not even the differences are the same. The third answer I got was from a teacher who immigrated with her parents in the 70's from England. She said Culture and diversity are similar, it is the daily routine at home, a way of interacting socially. When she moved they felt like they were coming to cowboy country in Colorado, she knew they were cowboys because they had guns hanging in the back window of their truck, she had never seen a gun. Back in England the're whole village only grocery shopped on Friday or Saturday. Sunday after church people take a walk and picnic on the country side, then they go to the pub and have a Guinness or lemonade and sit outside talking for hours. Because the little town in Colorado was mostly ranch land there were no social shopping or gathering places. She never became accustom to this life style, she married a man from her home town in England and stayed in the area raising their children as American's.

This gave me such insight to a person I have been working with for years and never asked her about her culture. As I was writing the reflection this week I was speaking of a way my culture was misinterpreted and still felt anger towards this person, this experience took place in the early 70's. As I wrote it I realized there was no way this person could see the misinterpretation because it wasn't part of her reality. Suddenly I felt no more anger. I will really enjoy people much more asking questions to learn more about their deeper culture. 

My Family Culture

 The picture above is a little ceremony pouch, it contains a sage stick picked from my yard (the smell of it brings so many comfort feelings of home),  the shell is used in smudging / cleansing along with the sage stick. My family as a child was filled with religious ceremony, it has evolved through the years. And lastly the compass my father used in WWII, and a painted metal bead of my mothers. I would describe my parents who have passed and the memories and gifts that shaped who I am.

I would have to choose one picture out of many of my families favorite mountains, or backpacking trip. When describing this I would recount adventures and feeling the outdoor space gives me.

Last I would bring a wildlife book, not only would I love looking through it at pictures of familiar companions and describe to another the special features and strength each one holds, but also I would begin introducing myself with my new surroundings and its wildlife and learn from my new host country.

Being told I could only choose one item I would choose the pouch pictured above, this would be a scary feeling of being detached from the things I feel comfort and safety from.

My grandparents were in this situation, although it was their choice. Non the less I completely understand how food, traditions and language can be such an important piece of the comfort someone feels in a new place. I have always understood how important family is, but this gives new meaning to a family unit. I would want to go where ever my children lived, I would want to go to see the school my grand daughter would be in. All of the things we are told to make sure we accommodate extended family, that would be me. What a great perspective I have never put myself in.

Research

"Play is the highest form of research." Albert Einstein 

After this course, play is the furthest thing from my mind when I think of research, although Einstein's saying is very true. First I must thank my colleagues for your thoughtful perspective and great questions, Tammy your patients and extension of thought has been very valuable, I'll be honest, not easy! 

• This class has helped me be efficient when looking through research with tips to find just what I'm looking for. It has given me a great appreciation for research and all that goes into it. I have tools that help me discern what type of research (qualitative, quantitative or both), the validity and how ethical it is and the importance of that.

• I never thought I would be interested in conducting research, the more I learned the more my curiosity was peaked and I wish all of us were able to conduct our studies and share the result. I would really love to do a very small scale version of my research simulation because curiosity killed the cat, but the cat died happy. I have the utmost respect for researchers and I feel I have the tools to discriminate ethical and valid studies. 

• The lessons were many in planning, designing and conducting research with young children. First I felt I had narrowed down my design, as I was writing the outline I came up with so many extraneous variables. This caused me to go back and alter and change many of the pieces, such as the participants, the questionnaires, the interview method, and how many programs would participate, giving new meaning to flexibility. It comes down to relationships, whether it is with the participants or designing questionnaires or interview questions to research relationship.

• The biggest challenged was narrowing down the topic, we were all warned to keep it simple. Because I didn't heed the warning as I was picking what methods I would use it was overwhelming and would not be feasible. I choose some simpler quantitative methods to collect data and analyse then the meat of the research is the informal interview. This is where I felt the real relationship to cultivate learning would be reviled.  

• In the research process I feel a gentleness towards early childhood workers. Its funny, I haven't even conducted the research but by thinking of every angle I could and the challenges each situation brings, I can no longer blame anyone for not doing or knowing what is the best for children. The erge to cultivate a relationship with anyone in the early childhood field has become my new focus.  

Thank you again to everyone for this insite and learning. 

Research Around the World

                     Early Childhood Australia http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

                                      The ECA is equivalent to the U.S. NAEYC

One issue I was very interested was the National Quality Reform that took place about a year a go with the Australian federal government, where they are willing to invest in early childhood. “The benefits to children of good quality education and care in their early years cannot be overstated: they are immediate and lifelong.” This has spurred a $300 Million dollar investment in services and wages, very inspirational.

Some new insights I learned from this website is the focus on Intentional teachers, in comparison to explicit teaching, which is necessary for example in teaching kids how to use scissors. There are three parts that go in-depth on how teachers can use intentional teaching by following the lead of children, or initially teacher directed.  This is a great example how all forms of teaching follow the early childhood pedagogical philosophy. Below is the link to the video of the 3 part series.

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-learning-videos/talking-about-practice/intentional-teaching/

It is very interesting that ECA has been in existence since 1938, they were formerly called Formerly the Australian Pre-School Association. They have been producing professional research and documentation supporting early childhood for over 50 years. Because of their longevity I understand the investment the government is willing to put forth because they recognize the importance with such a long history. 

Research that Benefits Children and Families

            The research topic I am interested in is the benefits of children’s play/learning in a naturalized setting. There is more research out there then I originally thought, but the focus I would concentrate my study would be with programs in cities with limited natural space. The data would be collected in participating programs as they are right now. Then data collected after teacher training in the same programs and adding natural features to outside spaces. The purpose of this study would be to illustrate the gains in creative play, problem solving, child initiated experiences, expanded language and corporative play. All of these illustrated gains involve teacher support, asking open-ended questions and seeing play as an important part of academic growth.

        The benefits of this study would be creating quality-learning experiences for children of all socio-economical levels. This in turn would reduce the achievement gap when entering kindergarten. Benefits of teacher education on age appropriate open ended play as an important part of children’s development in all domains. Value would also come for communities to look at play spaces for young children in public parks and schoolyards. Many community natural spaces are built by the community itself, providing ownership and space for families to enjoy.

Topic of Research

Benefits of Naturalized Play Supported by Adults: Learning Experience for 3 and 4 years old Children in a Preschool Setting.

This is my topic; it has been transformed many times! I found it very difficult to narrow it down, and am not sure if I have achieved that? 

My large scope goal is to make quality child care accessible to all children. I had to back track quite a bit, because I think the way to achieve this is to have Universal Preschool. But one of the arguments against that is the fear of standardized assessments or implementing academic curriculum. I would like to emphasize play as an age appropriate learning tool to policy makers.

Because of my naturalist background and my hope to transform fixed plastic structures in playgrounds to naturalized play spaces, I must first illustrate the benefits of naturalized play. The more I have experienced and read, the only way nature play will happen successfully is by having teachers use this free, rich resource. This includes changing the perception that outdoor play is used as a teacher break, or that weather is bad.

I am really excited about this because it is my passion. I am apprehensive because there are so many pieces to the research puzzle. It helped me so much to use the texts 5 key points in writing a Literature Review, each article I read gave great examples. I am also getting great resources from the articles I am reading from the reference list. 

I welcome any suggestions or input!

Building Research

Hello All,
welcome and good luck in this current adventure.

3 Consequences of Learning

One of the professional and personal areas I learned from my New Zealand early childhood professional is, how similar our hopes and dreams for the children we serve.  We had the opportunity to skype with our classrooms this week. There is a day difference as well as a seasonal difference; school just started back after summer holiday for them. The children on both sides noted the clothing worn, t-shirts and shorts, where we all have turtlenecks and sweaters. The children’s smiling faces, all talking at once and sounding different, but all the same no matter which end of the earth we live. This was both a professional and personal joy, which ignites my passion for children, and families everywhere!

My second learning area is the form of assessments used in New Zealand, the learning stories. I will continue my contact with Sarah and plan on revising the portfolios we do in my program to eco more of the learning story format. Something the children have access to and build their own story through documentation, throughout the year.

The third area of learning is the human factor. Sarah just completed her two-year registration (we call practicum). She felt overwhelmed with the work and is relieved and excited to move forward with her career. I am currently feeling overwhelmed with my workload, but I’m sure the sense of relief will come. We are all in this field because we love the work, it doesn’t mean it is easy by any means but it is something we feel drawn to. I am grateful for this experience and meeting someone made from the same clothe to share and learn with.

International Contact Part-3

My colleague Sarah from New Zealand has been a delight to get to know. In our last discussion Sarah said she has just finished her two year registration process. After receiving your BA you have a two year practicum, or registration process where you work with a mentor in the classroom, after the two years you must meet 12 criteria. Now Sarah is doing the appraisal process to become a fully Registered Teacher, which must be maintained throughout her teaching carrer. This approach for early childhood teachers is why they have such a high quality system.

Sarah said; "I believe in inclusive education and equality. I want to empower children, so firstly by thinking about ways that the environment can as I take a step back and look for teachable moments."

Her challenges have been having 3 lead teachers in 3 years, she has no desire to be a lead teacher because of the massive amounts of paper work. Her success is her Kindy has been a part of ICT, which is Information and Communication Technology http://www.wonderingaboutict.blogspot.co.nz/ where they use technology in the classroom to build community and extend to the wider community. We have decided that we will skype with each others classroom. Her Kindy is a half day program, so we'll coordinate 10 am her time which will be 2 pm our time but a day earlier (thats a concept I have a hard time with). I am excited to keep this connection and will keep the hope that someday I can go visit this amazing ECE system. 

I have links to so many references because of Sarah and I would love adopt their Learning Stories as a form of assessment in my program. This has been a great experience.

Share Web Resource

I have been following The Global Fund for Children. I was interested in the Financial Times appeal that raised 4.89 million dollars to help children around the world. The thing that drew me to the GFC website is how they find grass root programs or people and support their efforts. Their efforts are things like getting children out of slavery and major survival issues.

I went to the link of the Financial Times and learned how they continued the the challenge of doing more with less money because of the economic times. One donor said it's easier to donate millions to one cause but the GFC has investigated people doing the work and support the small project with less money but the result are bigger. Some of the features were to make a big difference with a small grant. This makes it seem attainable to the average person.

This makes me think of the issues we have been discussing all week, providing the important early childhood education to all children, is such a big undertaking. Perhaps by government funds going to state we will be able to address the local needs first.

International Contact Part 2

This has been a most enlightening exchange with Sarah from New Zealand. Early Childhood is a part of the state sector, so teachers must hold a BA in ECE, and are paid the same as primary grade teachers, along with the same benefits. They use the Te Whariki curriculum for ages 0-5. This is where it gets good!

Te Whariki means “the woven mat”, this is an early learning story which forms the beginning of the child’s learning journey.

The learning story is the type of assessment they use, the four broad principles; Empowerment, Holistic development (Their intellectual, social, cultural, physical, emotional and spiritual learning is interwoven across all their experiences.) Family and community, Relationships.

Te Whariki's four principles are interwoven with these learning areas:
            Wellbeing
            Contribution
            Belonging
            Communication
            Exploration

Sarah said she would try to get a Learning Story with a parent’s permission. This curriculum comes from the Ministry of Education. The three main goals they have are Accessibility, Affordability and Quality. There is not talk of standardized testing, academic readiness, it is all interwoven as described above.  This looks and sounds like a model philosophy I hope someday we can achieve in this country.

Sharing Web Resource

This month’s newsletter I received from the Goble Fund for Children has an article on Children’s Defense Fund: Budget Principles. There are critical decisions about the federal budget impact on the nation’s children, I wrote my congressmen through the sites “Be Careful What You Cut”, and have gotten responses from them. Eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit would increase child poverty by 23%. There is so much information in the section called Policy Priorities, I am not well versed in politics but as I follow the these issues, participate with my own voice and get responses (I’m sure they are a mass response) from house representatives and congressmen and learn more about policies regarding children, my eyes are opened.

I just discovered the Research Library there was something called Each Day in America; it talks about what happens with poor children/families each day. I also just realized that I will use this resource library for course work, there are topics to choose from and I feel I just got a new library card. 

International Contact

My conversation partner is Sarah Collins who is a kindergarten teacher in Porirua New Zealand, kindergarten is children ages 3-5. She works in a Kindy (She said Kiwi’s are known for shortening many words) at Titahi Bay Kindergarten where the government pays for 20 hours a week for each child. There is a requirement that 80% of teachers are qualified, the Wellington Kindergarten (who she is employed by) is 100% teacher qualified. Because there have been recent cuts to ECE the Kindergartens are struggling. They ask for each family to give a substantial donation, but if a family can’t afford it they are still welcome. She gave me a great website with a video from the Wellington Kindergarten although this is not her specific Kindy. www.wn-kindergarten.org.nz

Sarah said they do not have serve any children in poverty at her Kindy, but there are others that do, she didn’t know much about the statistics, to be honest I didn’t know about my area until the recent assignment. She did say that many in poverty are Passifika families. These are Pacific nations people from the Pacific Islands, Samoan, Cook Island Fiji, Tokelau and Niue. The Wellington Kindergarten has begun a new initiative Etu Ao that is home-based care for Pasifika families. One Kindy offers lunches to help offset poverty; they will soon use that Kindy to house medical care and they have a van to bring families to the facility. 

I enjoy talking with her and hearing who she is through her written words for example; "That's not the Kindy's philosophy, just my prattle." I look forward to discussing more issues and learning. Below is a picture I got off the internet of her area. 

Global Fund for Children 2013 Winter Newsletter

This newsletter has a CEO Corner; it describes a grassroots program that was supported by the (GFC) recently. They are going through a financial appeal where people can learn about support opportunities; the latest grants are featured as well as a spotlight program that has been granted funds. There is an article on human trafficking and what GFC is proactively doing as well as projects around the globe.

This quarterly newsletter contains efforts for children by their own community members. In the audio interview Dr. Grace spoke of looking at your community and its divers situations to be proactive rather than reactive (Laureate, n.d.).  I read about a man, Daniel Tillias who opens his doors children in Cite Soleil a slum in Port-au-Prince Haiti, know for its poverty and gang violence. He combines sports, a community building and education as a refuge for children. With a small amount of money from GFC he was able to reconstruct two homes of children he serves, repair 15 tents where the local disabled community lives and repair the organizations community garden and more (Lindsey, 2013)

This was a man who grew up in this community, he knew the needs of the children and area and was able to accomplish so much. This is a way to support a community at its heart, by supporting its own members. This is an amazing story of being proactive, which brings home (literally) the idea that change and progress starts with you in your community, this is grass roots.    Here is the link https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/2013-winter-newsletter/

References:

 Laureate, (n.d.)"The Effects of Changing Demographics and Diversity on Children, Families, and the EC Field". Conversation with Dr. Cathy Grace (Director of Early Childhood Development, Children's Defense Fund).

Lindsey, K. (2013) 2013 Winter newsletter. Global Fund for Children. Retrieved from https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/2013-winter-newsletter/ 

Expanding Resources & Professional Contact

Expanding Resources:
I chose The Global Fund for Children because of their focus on grassroots programs. I also found some great book resources for my program of children's books, where some of the proceeds support The Global Fund. This organization strives for sustainability, through their Scout, Support and Strengthen strategy. They Scout developing areas that serve the most disenfranchised children, then they support local leaders to implement programs that will work under their specific circumstances and thirdly they support the leaders and community to network and become sustainable in their efforts.

Personally because of my environmental background, to create something that is sustainable is to truly make a difference. This new found website will be an amazing tool to gain perspectives and take me out of my comfort zone. When I hear of human trafficking where children are essentially in slavery, my heart breaks and I am very uncomfortable. But avoiding those issues does nothing in the way of making a difference and that is my mission in personal and professional life.

Professional Contact:
Establishing professional contacts has not been as easy as I hoped, but I love this connection and will continue working on making it happen. The list of contacts provided in the course work have come back as undeliverable, except the International Step by Step contacts. Unfortunately non of them have responded. I have a coworker from New Zealand, she gave me some contacts but unfortunately they are on summer holiday. I just realized that I have been communicating with a early childhood professional some time ago through my favorite website Children & Nature Network, I have just contacted her in Scotland and am looking forward to asking questions and creating a dialog about issues and trends. I also know a preschool teacher in my community from Bulgaria, this contact just popped into my head as I've been brain storming, better late than never.