Encourage Literacy Developement

Encouraging students can be task, but many children appreciates the push. My research for encouragement can bring forth alot of effoer and success. There are many positive contriubutions in the research. The role of the teacher is to encourage all attempts at reading, writing, and speaking, allowing students of varying ability to experience the different function and use of literacy activities. Teacher interactions with students with disabilities build on students' knowledge as they develop literacy skills. Teachers use a variety of methods of communicating with students by asking questions, labeling objects and experiences with new vocabulary, and offering practice to help students remember and generalize new concepts and skills. Teaching staff plan activities so that students "have opportunities to integrate and extend their literacy knowledge by reading aloud, listening to other students read aloud, and listening to tape recordings and videotapes in reading corners". Also, staff teaches students how to use the materials in their environment to promote interest and use of literacy materials throughout the classroom. Another strategy involves staff members intentionally making mistakes to demonstrate editing and revising ,modeling for children the importance of making mistakes while demonstrating the writing process.

Some students begin elementary school struggling with literacy experiences. Creating a literacy-rich environment in school enriches literacy experiences of students who may have limited exposure to literacy due to delays or disorders in their development. Making literacy a part of the environment and ensuring that all children have access to the general education curriculum (e.g., Braille for children with visual impairments, assistive technology for children with physical, communication, or cognitive delays) occurs in many ways. Teachers assess the abilities and challenges of students, then problem solve to determine what opportunities will best meet the needs of these students. Specific recommendations for alterations in the environment are best made on an individual basis and with consultation of special educators and related service providers.

As teachers design their learning environment, it is essential that they consider the diverse needs and skills of the students they teach. As they integrate the skills and background of their diverse students, teachers should ensure that each student is represented in their classroom design and instruction. They can individualize the environment to meet the needs of students with disabilities and ensure appropriate opportunities to participate in literacy activities are consistently available. "Children with diverse literacy experiences have difficulty making connections between old and new information".Structuring the classroom in a planned manner that immerses students with disabilities in accessible literacy activities provides them with opportunities to create connections between oral and written language, thereby gaining access to the general education curriculum.

Personal Research Journey

During week two, I was able follow the research process. I gain a better understanding how the research process really works. The process was vaild and reliable. With all the online databases and resources I understand how credible any research page needs to be. During this process I can gain a meaningful and effective ways to research. Research can enrich a child's mind.  In the field of Early Childhood we must stay enrich will the new world of education.

Additional Resources:

National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/
(Newsletter: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php )

The National Association for the Education of Young Childrenhttp://www.naeyc.org/ 
(Review also the position statements: http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements )

Consequences of Learning

I cannot believe these eight weeks have to come to an end. I enjoy reading my course mates blogs and comments. Thank you for being supportive during these weeks!

There are numerous of consequences of learning about the international early childhood field. High-quality early learning and care are fundamental to ensuring educational excellence and children’s readiness to learn. Twenty-five years of research and analysis have shown that children in high-quality early learning and care programs are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and earn more as adults. A consequence of the national failure is to provide all young children access to affordable, quality early learning and care. Another consequence would be language ability. Many children and teachers are unable to speak bilingual. Being bilingual can provide better ways to communicate better. Different ethnic backgrounds can also provide a consequence when learning about international professionals. Having a Different ethnic background can encounter problems if you are not aware of what is going on. Many parents and families have different beliefs and it is up to the early childhood professionals to understand them. My goal as EC professional is to become aware of all ethnic backgrounds of the children that I am working with. I want to be able to relate with them in ways that I can feel like someone they can trust.

Quality Education

UNSECO have many beliefs on quality education. The first step in making such decisions knows what makes a program “high quality.” Research suggests that the most effective programs are center based — preschools, nursery schools, learning centers, and the like. Center-based care does not encompass programs operating out of a caregiver’s home or programs involving only caregiver visits to a child’s home.

Strong evidence pointing to the benefits of high-quality early childhood education, and how to achieve them, comes from carefully conducted short- and long-term studies. The studies compared school and life outcomes for participants in the program to those of a randomly selected control group of children who did not participate. Although the programs varied in duration, the age at which care began, the curricula used, the characteristics of the families and children, and some of the social and health services provided, the results are remarkably similar. At risk children who participate in high-quality, center-based programs have better language and cognitive skills in the first few years of elementary school than do similar children who did not have such experiences. They tend to score higher on math and reading tests, and they are less likely to repeat a grade, drop out of school, need special education or remedial services, or get into trouble with the law in the future. They also tend to complete more years of education and are more likely to attend a four-year college. These and other studies also found the most significant benefits accrued to low-income and minority children and those whose mothers had a high school education or less.

Excellence and Equity of Care and Education for Children and Families

I continue to view the organzation Voices for Children. This organzation takes pride in the things to they for children. They also have many promises for and education as well as teachers. They believe that education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another through institutions.

In education, a teacher is a person who provides schooling for others. A teacher who facilitates education for an individual student may also be described as a personal tutor. Many teachers carried out these roles for children in Voices for Children. The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out by way of occupation or profession at a school or other place of formal education. A teacher's role may vary between cultures. Teachers teach literacy and numeracy, or some of the other school subjects. Other teachers may provide instruction in craftsmanship or vocational training, the Arts, religion or spirituality, civics, community roles, or life skills. Voices for Children provide many news letters which I found very insightful. http://www.voicesforchildren.org/

Getting to Know Your Contacts!! Part 2

The Global Children’s Initiative (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/) is an outstanding program. This website for very insightful, since I still have not receive any contact form my international professional.
Recent research has increased the awareness of parents, educators, and policy makers about the importance of the early years of life. The remarkable transformation that occurs in all areas of development during the first 5 years of life lays the foundation for all future learning. How children will learn and the pace at which they learn will be influenced by the environments they encounter. Environments, which encourage children’s development, will support them physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually. Physical needs will be supported through programs that improve, support, and enhance their growth and physical development. Emotional, social, and intellectual development will be supported through programs that use an integrated approach to programming. These types of programs allow children to develop skills that will enable them to adapt to and seek mastery of their surroundings as well as provide a foundation which will ensure lifelong and meaningful learning.

The Global Children’s Initiative is a great program to ensure healthy development in all domains.  Physical and mental health are significant determinants of school readiness. Teaching teams learn about specific strategies that ensure children can achieve their maximum potential in these areas.  Overall health and physical fitness include three elements:  gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and health status and practices. Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others 2005). It encompasses both intra- and interpersonal processes. The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand one’s own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner, to regulate one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others, and to establish and maintain relationships. (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child 2004, 2)

Cohen, J., and others. 2005. Helping Young Children Succeed: Strategies to Promote Early Childhood Social and Emotional Development. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures and Zero to Three. http://www.zerotothree.org/policy (Outside Source)(accessed on December 7, 2006)

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Winter, 2004. “Children’s Emotional Development Is Built into the Architecture of Their Brains,” Working Paper No. 2. http://www.developingchild.net (Outside Source)(accessed on December 5, 2006)

Voices for Children!

http://www.voices.org/

Voices serves children and youth of all ages, from infants born drug-exposed to youth on the edge of independence (up to their 21st birthday). One quarter of the children Voices represents are five years old or younger. Over 50% are teens or older youth. Regardless of age, all children and youth who have been victims of abuse and neglect and find themselves in foster care face many threats to their health and well-being.

Of the children Voices served last year, at least 68% had been physically abused, 13% had suffered sexual abuse, 22% were drug-exposed infants, 20% had suffered from serious medical neglect and 35% experienced physical neglect. Most are victims of multiple types of abuse, neglect and abandonment.
In addition to the trauma they have suffered, our kids often suffer from health, mental health and behavior problems, developmental delays and academic failure. Voices’ children are diagnosed with serious psychological or educational challenges at a rate two to seven times higher than the general child population.

 

The importance of helping others is a principle that can be found in every sphere of society, in one form or another. Views differ as to what motivates the helping individual, or group, but, in the end, it's ones subjective experience of the act that gives it credence, or not

Humans seem to have an innate ability to help one another. This ability may very well be the aspect of "us" that promotes the survival of our species. A compassionate sense of existence drives us to be there for one another; even strangers. The Voices for Children really shows the benefits of helping children and their families.

Children eligible to enter school are provided with benefits intended to help their parents overcome the financial restrictions that might prevent their children from enrolling in school – items such as school uniforms and shoes, school fees, backpacks and other supplies. Which is wonderful! Great job, Voices for Children!