The Canadian Association for Young Children has similar issues that we have here in the U.S. I went to the news and resource section and found information on injury prevention, obesity, mental health, and poverty. These topics were found on their CHEO website which is a hospital. In their newsletter I found information on brain research/development during pregnancy and after birth. This all seems very relevant to me professionally since we have been learning a lot about these issues.
One subject that I found on the CHEO link was information on physical punishment, and it appears to be a hot topic right now. The hospital has many education classes and advocacy messages on preventing child abuse and injury in young children. It goes on to talk about the risks of physical punishment and alternatives to physical punishment. I thought it was a little different than in the U.S. because it not only states that it is not an appropriate choice, but gives reasons that are research based and follows through with classes to teach prevention strategies and alternatives.
The website resource titled "building blocks, building brains" gave information about how important brain development is in the early year, showing that neuroscience is playing a part in canadian research. It also stated that many programs and trainings in Canada do not yet incorporate this teaching about brain development, so it was a fairly new concept.
Other new insights that I gained was in the area of the environment. There were many workshops about environmental education like; Healthy Environments, Healthy Kids, and children and nature. There was talk about environmental toxins and reducing exposures to toxic chemicals and other hazards that impact children's health.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
International Contacts-Part 1
My International Contact is Jaqueline Che from Malaysia. I have not received a response from the organizations or individuals that I tried to contact, so I went in search of Early Childhood Professionals here in my community that have come from other countries. Jaqueline has been in the U.S. for about 7 years, where she attended Kansas State University and received her Masters in ECE.
Jaqueline works as a Center director and has experience as an assistant preschool teacher in Malaysia. She told me that the teachers there were teacher directed and did not let the children play. The Academics for 4 & 5 year olds is equivelant to our 1st grade. It was so hard for her to be a part of this rigorous schedule and she finally had to quit.
Jaqueline told me that women in Malaysia are discriminated against because the belief is that women should not be higher achievers than their husbands. Her parents discouraged her from getting her Masters Degree because they felt that no man would want to marry her. Women who are independent are looked down upon because Men are suppose to dominate. In a Muslim country the Muslims are the "sacred" and commander ones. She went on to say that Buddhist believes women are reincarnated to be women because of bad karma. Women are meant to suffer because of our lifestyle like pregnancy, menstruation, and being a class lower than men.
The number one issue facing ECE according to Jaqueline, is the amount of stress that is put on children in pre-k programs. They are having exams, spelling tests, and other high academic stressors. Parents are competing among their children for the best honors. Jaqueline sent me a couple of articles that help get her point across; one is from this mornings Everyday Exchange. It is an article about a mom who is suing her child's preschool because she felt that they misrepresented themselves when they said that they would prepare students for entrance exams to get into elite schools (Martinez, 2011). Here is the site, www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/03/14/2011/-03-14_manhattan_...
The other article is a country report on Poverty in Malaysia, and how they are eradicating it. I read the article, and it talked about current issues relating to poverty. Some of the topics included; fertility levels and trends, reproductive health, gender equality, health care, education and communication for adults, and STD's/Aids. I thought it was kind of odd that children were not mentioned in the article at all, neither was consequences of poverty on child development. It appears that they feel that population control is the answer to poverty in their country.
Jaqueline works as a Center director and has experience as an assistant preschool teacher in Malaysia. She told me that the teachers there were teacher directed and did not let the children play. The Academics for 4 & 5 year olds is equivelant to our 1st grade. It was so hard for her to be a part of this rigorous schedule and she finally had to quit.
Jaqueline told me that women in Malaysia are discriminated against because the belief is that women should not be higher achievers than their husbands. Her parents discouraged her from getting her Masters Degree because they felt that no man would want to marry her. Women who are independent are looked down upon because Men are suppose to dominate. In a Muslim country the Muslims are the "sacred" and commander ones. She went on to say that Buddhist believes women are reincarnated to be women because of bad karma. Women are meant to suffer because of our lifestyle like pregnancy, menstruation, and being a class lower than men.
The number one issue facing ECE according to Jaqueline, is the amount of stress that is put on children in pre-k programs. They are having exams, spelling tests, and other high academic stressors. Parents are competing among their children for the best honors. Jaqueline sent me a couple of articles that help get her point across; one is from this mornings Everyday Exchange. It is an article about a mom who is suing her child's preschool because she felt that they misrepresented themselves when they said that they would prepare students for entrance exams to get into elite schools (Martinez, 2011). Here is the site, www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/03/14/2011/-03-14_manhattan_...
The other article is a country report on Poverty in Malaysia, and how they are eradicating it. I read the article, and it talked about current issues relating to poverty. Some of the topics included; fertility levels and trends, reproductive health, gender equality, health care, education and communication for adults, and STD's/Aids. I thought it was kind of odd that children were not mentioned in the article at all, neither was consequences of poverty on child development. It appears that they feel that population control is the answer to poverty in their country.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Sharing Web Resources
I chose the international Canadian Association for Early Childhood Education website (www.cayc.ca/indexjournal.html). After doing more research on this site I was struck by one of their main missions which is, "Young children have the right to learn through play".
Obviously, if you look at the title of my blog I have a huge interest in this topic. They share several articles and research quotes to support this mission. The organization seems to have similar objectives as programs in our country like: policies and programs that effect the development of children, ECH community support, professional development, opportunities for effective collaboration, and recognition of outstanding contributions to the well-being of children.
They also have an interest in promoting family literacy. I have tried to contact someone in regards to their literacy program but have not gotten a response yet. Another thing that I learned while researching this website was that there is a big issue with environmental hazards and the affects on mothers breastmilk. The statement only referred to the over use of plastic and metal products which was starting to show up in mothers milk. They talked about the need for better regulation of these products.
Obviously, if you look at the title of my blog I have a huge interest in this topic. They share several articles and research quotes to support this mission. The organization seems to have similar objectives as programs in our country like: policies and programs that effect the development of children, ECH community support, professional development, opportunities for effective collaboration, and recognition of outstanding contributions to the well-being of children.
They also have an interest in promoting family literacy. I have tried to contact someone in regards to their literacy program but have not gotten a response yet. Another thing that I learned while researching this website was that there is a big issue with environmental hazards and the affects on mothers breastmilk. The statement only referred to the over use of plastic and metal products which was starting to show up in mothers milk. They talked about the need for better regulation of these products.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Establishing Professional Contacts
Part 1
I was initially nervous about contacting someone from another country but then I was excited! I think it will be interesting and a great learning experience. The two contacts I chose to e-mail were:
www.ulrike.konrad-ristau@agj.de
www.siobhanf@nippa.org
Part 2
The Resource that I chose to explore is the International Step by Step Association at www.issa.nl/. I am interested in this area because my heritage is from the Netherlands. I hope to learn about their ECH practices, issues and trends.
I was initially nervous about contacting someone from another country but then I was excited! I think it will be interesting and a great learning experience. The two contacts I chose to e-mail were:
www.ulrike.konrad-ristau@agj.de
www.siobhanf@nippa.org
Part 2
The Resource that I chose to explore is the International Step by Step Association at www.issa.nl/. I am interested in this area because my heritage is from the Netherlands. I hope to learn about their ECH practices, issues and trends.
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