Update On Professional Website

I have sent contact information to my chosen website and I have yet to receive a newsletter. The funny thing is, I searched that particular website and I came to another website that aroused my curiosity--the website was listed as Association for Childhood Eduation International. When I logged on, I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only does the site contain information about Africa, Asia, China, and other countries, they even had a list of events and publications offered, and extra resources for those who are interested. They have a section entitled "E-News." Each month, the E-News is updated. These things are interesting to me as an educator because I want to know what is going on in the world of early childhood education. For someone who has always taught middle school, I have no knowledge, other than what I have learned in class on early childhood education. I think by learning what actually goes on in other countries, we are more empathetic to those needs of the families there and in our own classroom. Politicians and other businesses are important to this site because the provide monies to support the educational programs and travel of individuals to other countries in support of what is needed there. Politicians also serve on the board and they do speaking engagements to promote the cause; therefore, although on the outside looking in, we might not think that they do much, it seems that they are there and their intentions are good. These programs need publicity and they also need money to fund their cause so in the end, it works out for everyone involved. The other insights that I gained from this particular website are the fact that on a personal level, I feel that it is refreshing to see people come together in support of poverty and education. I honestly believe that they are making a different. On a professional level, I am just glad that I have found a sight that is going to further my cause in making me aware of what is going on around the world.

"India's Childhood Poverty"

The country that I was chose to read about was India. I didn't know much about the country therefore, I decided to take a look at the information and needless to say, I was surprised at what I found. The information found below is the information that I gathered from the article:

1. Almost half of all children (about 62 million) under the age of five are malnourished and 34% of newborns are underweight.
2. In India, there are children 16 years old and below who make up a portion of the workforce.
3. Females are seen as inferior to their male counterparts and the girl child spends majority of her day out in the workforce because education is not seen as something that is beneficial to the females in India.

These are the three things that really tugged at my heart strings because in the United States, education is one of those things that children and adults have access to but in other parts of the country, education is like a mirage. It is only a figment in the imagination of those who can't receive it. I have known about the caste system but did not know that it is still in operation. Just the idea that the workforce in India is comprised of children who aren't even old enough to have a job or a part-time job are working to support a family. In order to counteract this problem, organizations are making arrangements to reduce poverty and ensure that an education is well in the reach of a child who deserves it.

Status of Organization Joined/Newsletter

Unfortunately, I was met with disappointment. I haven't heard from the organizations that I joined last week nor has there been any interesting blogs posted under these organizations;therefore, I decided to take a new route and I signed up to receive a newsletter from the National Black Child Development Institute. The reason why this particular organization caught my attention was because there was literature about how parents can become involved within the lives of the children. As a teacher, we always want the parents to be involved although many of them are not. As a human being, I realize the importance of having parental involvment because I am a product of a broken home and know that there are a lot of things that a child can get into when there isn't anyone there to guide them.

As for the website, another key factor for me choosing this particular organization is the way that they have included many black history facts...in NOVEMBER. I am used to seeing people wait until February to include black history factual information but this site has a lot of interesting stuff about the African-American race. I was ecstatic about the website.

Professional Blog On Early Childhood Issue/Website That I Chose To Follow

When I first read the assignment, I was thrilled to be given the task because it allowed me to reach out to other professionals who were skilled in an area (early childhood professional. Since I am a newbie in the field of early childhood, I knew that these people whom I contacted would be an asset for me and to me on my journey. I am not sure if I took the right steps but the results, I believe, will prove to work out in my favor. For the website or professional organization to study, I chose the Arlington Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals. Sometimes, we look to places further from home to do research on but the truth of the matter is, there are professional organizations in neighboring states as well that are doing things totally different than what we are doing in our area. This one is in Texas. As for the steps that I took to find this particular site, I heard about it from a friend. She is a member and she recommended it to me. I email them and left my contact information. I am waiting on a response from them.

The person I decided to blog with is Laura Bornfreund. Her platform is found under the New America Foundation. The one thing that captured my attention from this site was the title of the latest blog. The title was "The State of Preschool: Comparing the U.S. to Our International Competitors." I read some of the posts that were made and it seemed to be posts that were worthy of a response. Furthermore, I began to read her credentials. She is a policy analyst for New America's Early Education Initiative. She analyzes early education (birth to grade 3) studies and policies, researches and writes original policy papers, and contributes to this blog on a regular basis but the main factor for my choosing is the fact that she used to be a fourth grade teacher. I think that teachers are the ones in a better position to say what a child needs as far as education is concerned. I am angry that sometimes people who haven't been in the classrooms are making decisions that govern education. I have set up a feed to this blog.

My step to finding Laura was powered by Google. This computer mechanism is a God-send.