An Uplifting Article about the Benefits of Early Head Start for Children and Families

I can still remember the many families that I came to know as a home visitor and family educator for Early Head Start (EHS) prior to 2006. Deep down, I always felt that EHS was a wonderful program that provided many avenues of betterment for families with young children.

Not too long ago, I ran across an article explaining the results of a study on the benefits of EHS. This national study was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and Columbia University’s Center for Children and Families in conjunction with Early Head Start Research Consortium. The study clearly showed that EHS had a positive influence on children’s (three-year-olds) cognitive, language, and social emotional development. It was also reported that the parents of those EHS children scored higher than the control group in aspects of home environment, parenting behavior, self-sufficiency, and benefits proved better for EHS fathers.

I am not surprised. I watched many single EHS mothers gain in confidence as they took part in their child’s development. I also believe that part of that improvement came from knowing that someone cared about them and their child and I believe that supporting the relationships between the parent and child is primary factor for such improvement.

I will never forget my years with EHS and I will always be thankful for the opportunity to grow as I strived to lift others.


Reference:

Administration for Children and Families. (2006). Early head start benefits children and families: Early head start research and evaluation project. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/reports/dissemination/research_briefs/research_brief_overall.pdf

My Topic for Simulation: English Language Learners (ELL)

I have spent many years working with ELL children and their families. My years in Head Start and Migrant Head Start became the beginning of my association with children and families whose backgrounds extend beyond the backdoor of America. They embody culture, values, and ideas that are critical in assessing who they are.

I have so often seen children from immigrant families feel the urgings from their parents to lose the “old ways” and become American so they can succeed. Immigrant parents often desire their children to trade their first language with their new second language, English. I am of course, speaking of Latino children.

Having another language other than English should be seen as a blessing. However, most families do not usually see it that way. Just today, I encouraged a student to write a poem for their mother in commemoration of Mother’s Day in Spanish instead of English, because the mother speaks, reads, and writes Spanish only. This particular student was adamant that they were not going to do such a thing. In fact, when I initially instituted learning a daily Spanish word for everyone in the class, my Spanish students seemed a little embarrassed even though the rest of the class were excited. The school year is almost at its end and the previous feelings of embarrassment have gone by the way side and the ELL children seem to feel proud to help the other students learn Spanish.

I continue to work at gaining an understanding of the many barriers these children face, developing an environment that will help them through their learning process, and learning how to recognize and support positive self-images for them. I feel that those points are important in helping such students feel worthwhile and included in their new culture.

Constructing the week one research chart, has helped me to understand the correct path for finding out all that I want to learn about my topic. I think I finally realize that I need to search deeper within the research field. Instead of reading articles that have some correct ideas, I need to direct my search to find qualified information. In order to make noted headway with my ELL students, it is essential to require supported evidence of what works best with those children and their families.

I am open to any suggestions that will help me find my way through this course and put me on the correct route in working with ELL children.

Thanks in advanced to anyone who has great ideas they are willing share!

Consequences of Collaborative Learning

I am so excited to share that I finally received an email reply from a professional whom I contacted. It is not an international contact, but an early childhood educator who spoke via radio on “World Forum”. I cannot begin to explain how I felt when I saw the email. Needless to say, I was surprised to hear from someone since it is at the close of the course. None the less, I am overjoyed. I would like to take just a little time to share what this professional had to say before I address our week eight assignment. The professional who took the time out of her busy schedule to write me was Susan Lyon, Ed.D. She is instrumental in bringing and promoting Reggio Emilia, Italy here in the United States. She spoke of high quality care and education for infant, toddler, and preschool children as a critical issue in the field of early childhood. She further commented that all children should be cared for in places that give them opportunities to thrive, and women should have choices that are all of high quality as they look for care and education for their children. She said that there are many ways to advocate for high quality care an education, but the most “powerful” way she has found is to work with schools both public and private in raising the quality of care by investing in the professional development of teachers. She posed that we should ask ourselves, “Why are we doing what we are doing with children?” There was much more that she elaborated on, but I will suffice the above for getting across her main points. Three Consequences I learned: 1. That there are positives happening globally for children. We can learn much from each other no matter where we reside. 2. Never give up. Someone will eventually contact you. I have not given up on establishing an international contact. 3. Reading and researching about happenings around the world can inspire us to continue our work with children in our own communities. My goal as related to international awareness: 1. I will continue to discover and rediscover positives in the international field of early care and education in hopes that I can one day be as Susan Lyons and bring to pass something like Reggio Emilia, Italy to a small rural Idaho community. Good luck to everyone in reaching their goals.

UNESCO and Cultural Diversity

I am continually interested in and try to keep abreast of issues concerning linguistic and cultural diversity in education.

In visiting the UNESCO website, I was immediately drawn to an article under the tab of Latin America and the Caribbean. Once there I found the following linguistic and cultural diversity facts fascinating:

There is a critical issue of losing languages. Out of 6,000 languages and dialects in the world, there is a threat of losing 50%.

Almost every two weeks, a language vanishes. When languages disappear, cultural and intellectual heritages also leave. Languages are our path to knowledge and they are unique making them an important support for human growth and development.

Linguistic diversity is connected to natural diversity. Together, both promise that there will be future generations to carry on progress.

In the country of Peru the Quechua or Aymara are the dominant languages. However, the schools still use Spanish when teaching students. This presents problems for children as they struggle to learn how to read and communicate.

CARE (National humanitarian organization) has stepped in to aid schools in Peru. They work to create classrooms that have essential materials for learning a second language of Spanish.

They also provided training to teachers helping them to understand intercultural and bilingual education requisite by Peru. They also put together and distribute information and organize workshops directed to local authorities, families, and civil society members educating them on the significance of bilingual education.

Efforts like those listed above give hope for preserving mother languages (UNSECO, 2012).

It is interesting to note that educators in such countries as Peru have to contend with linguistic and cultural issues just as we do here in America.

Reference:

UNESCO. (2012, February 20). Education for sustainable development – preserving linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved from the UNESCO website at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/resources/online-materials/single-view/news/education_for_sustainable_development_preserving_linguistic_and_cultural_diversity/

Equity and Excellence for ELL Children

In spending time on the NIEER website I found information on the current status of ELL learners in California. In an article by Rebecca Plevin on News Media America’s website titled Limited Preschool Access Dims Success for Latino Children-And California’s Future. It can be found on the following URL:

http://newamericamedia.org/2012/02/poor-preschool-access-dims-success-for-latino-childrenand-californias-future.php

I have spent a good part of my life working with Latino families and continue to embrace connections to that culture today as I work with Latino and ELL learners as an elementary teacher. In California, many young Latino children are not receiving a much needed boost for academic success and yet they make up more than half of all children under the age of five. High quality preschools only see fourteen (14) percent as enrollees. Fresno County has more migrant children than any other part of the state, and they are lucky enough to have a migrant education program that strives to alleviate such a gap by providing high quality one- on-one help through a home visiting program.

In Filer, Idaho, we have an ELL program that provides small group extra help for ELL children. The program begins working with children in kindergarten. Having been a part of that program, I know that it is a good program. However, in working with those students, I can see that such help needs to come well before kindergarten. Being a small rural community, the closest Head Start programs are in towns further away, and I am not sure how accessible it is to the children in my town. My next step is to find out if Head Start in Buhl and Twin Falls serve the children in Filer. Also, are there any Head Start home visiting programs in Filer?

I just love how these articles plant ideas and encourage me to search for avenues of support for children and families in my small world.

LEARNING MORE

 

I have not given up on establishing an international contact, and put out new feelers at the beginning of this week.  I have yet to receive a response, but will let you know if and when I do.

In the meantime, I listened to the Susan Lyon from the World Forum Radio.  She is instrumental in bringing Reggio Emilia philosophy to San Francisco and integrated that philosophy in her work with the Persidio Child Care Center.  She began the Innovative Teacher in the San Francisco Bay area.  She continues to work on behalf of children and as present is working to build and establish the first Italian immersion preschool.   I researched the Innovative Teacher website (http://www.innovativeteacherproject.org/innovative/staff.php), and was able to email her and ask two questions.  However, I have yet to hear a reply.  

In my research of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Global Children’s Initiative website, I found the following global activities of interest:

ü  Un Buen Cornienzo (UBC), “A Good Start”

UBC is a group effort in Santiago, Chile, to increase the value of education for children from four to six years old through teacher development.  They also work to improve health issues, school attendance, and social/emotional development through the involvement of families in their child’s education.

ü  Nucleo Ciencia Pela Infancia (NCPI)

Center on the Developing Child and David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies both at Harvard University, Fundacao maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal, Faculty of medicine at the University of Sao Paula, and Insper work together to assist Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders in Brazil to establish a more equitable society.  They have an agenda of four activities to further their efforts.  Those activities are as follows:

·         Building a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development;

·         Synthesizing and translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This will include working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, Frameworks Institute, to effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context;

·         Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers;

·         Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, (2012).

ü  With support from the World Bank, the Center has translated three videos in Spanish.  They are titled, InBrief: The Science of Earlly Childhood Development, InBrief: The Impact of Adversity on Children’s Development, and InBrief: The Foundations of Lifelong Health.  The videos focus on important issues in early childhood. 

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2012). Global Children’s Initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/?tw_p=twt

Professional Development with NIEER

When I visit the NIEER website, I spend most of my time in the publications section.  I find myself drawn to the newsletter Hot Topics, videos, and policy briefs all located in the publication section of their website.  NIEER presents many modes of viewing current trends in early childhood, which are relevant to me as a professional in the education field.

One resource that I cannot seem to get out of my mind is the video, Preschool: America’s Best Investment.  In this production, W. Steve Barnett (an economist) talks about the findings from his research of preschool programs in the last twenty years.  Within this media presentation, he talks about how tax supported cost have grown tremendously over these last two decades due to an increase in special education programs, welfare programs, and the criminal justice system (Barnett, 2008).  He continues to relate how investing in young children now can curb that cost in the future with a 16% return on dollars invested in such programs (Barnett, 2008).  He also followed the High Scope study that compared two groups of children from the ages of 3 to 27.  Both groups where from poor families, and were from the same tough neighborhood.  They were treated equally with the exception that one group attended a high quality early education program and the other did not attend any preschool program.  The findings showed that the group who did not attend a program encountered more difficulties during their school years and needed more special services (Barnett, 2008).  By the age of 27, the other group (attended a high quality preschool program) were 80% less to have ever been arrested, earned 59% more, and were three times more likely to own their own home (Barnett, 2008).

The one statistic from the video that I found most interesting was the fact that research substantiates the need for early childhood education for all children.  James Rohr (CEO for PNC Financial Services Group) cited that one half of drop out students are from middle and high income families (Barnett, 2008).  I have always had the distinct impression that over half of drop outs were from low income and poverty families.  Knowing such data exists, can be a boon to the cause for early care and education.  I can picture more support from all levels of people if they know that all children would benefit from education early on.

As I listened to the voices of Barnett and Rohr, I was impressed that individuals from backgrounds other than early childhood were proponents of an organization that does not seem even remotely close to their world of understanding.  It gave me such a good feeling to know that others who are not educators are interested in children.  You may say that it is only because they are interested in the money aspect.  I do not believe that their hearts cannot be touched as they view the world of a child.  That is why I truly believe that it is through the voices of others that our desire for all children to succeed will be recognized.  

Other new insights for me were more reinforcements in others being involved in the early childhood arena.  It gives me confidence as I advocate for children.  That confidence comes from the reality that those not from the early childhood field understand the needs of children and families.

Reference:

Barnett, W. S. (2008). Preschool: America’s best investment.  NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research). Retrieved from http://nieer.org/docs/index.php?DocID=112