Sharing Web Sources

The Interational Child Resource Institute is the international  website I chose and the section I have spent the most time is the project “Commotion.”    The Project is a community space in San Francisco where children, families and educators are invited to learn and grow together through movement, sensory experiences and creative play.

They have developed a unique curriculum that incorporates tumbling, music,

dance, creative play, and martial arts as a means of fostering healthy

development, self-awareness, and self-expression.

nsory experiences, and creative play. This was of particular interest to me because our school does not have physical education and we have been searching for a program that we could bring to our school.

This organization has individuals and groups doing what they can to provide. For example a man rode his bike 470 miles to raise funds and another group walked raising up to 21, 000 dollars.

This organizations informs its readers mostly of updates abou current or past projects.

 

 

International Contacts

Unfortunately I was unable to connect with a partner (so far). I listened to a podcast on the World Reform Radio. Delfina Mitchell who is the Director of the Liberty Children’s Home in Belize City.  The podcast focused on orphaned, abandoned or abused children. This was the closet topic I could find to poverty available on podcasts. The conversation was described a little boy who had been in the home and shut down until he had an experience riding a horse which helped him to open up.

I also visited childhoodpoverty.org and read the section on poverty in China. Three insights I found interesting were:4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.

Also the number of poverty-stricken children declined in the 90’s.

In Beijing, China’s richest city, 75% of poor families could not afford education fees even when receiving government assistance.

It was interesting to see such a high poverty level in China.

Sharing Resources

The organization I selected is the International Child Resource Institute. This organization helps to improve the lives of children and families around the world. The areas of focus for this organization are early childhood care and education, children’s rights, empowerment of women and children, maternal and child health and grassroots community development. This international organization has many projects around the world including the United States, Kenya, Nepal, Ghana, India, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Norway, and Chile. The link to this website is http://www.icrichild.org/. The organization publishes a monthly newsletter. The most recent focused on seeking ratification from the United States on the Rights of the Child.

Something interesting that I found that connects to our topic this week (Changing Demograpics), the projects were based on the needs of the culture. In Nepal and Ghana, there were needs to support and train teachers, in Zimbabwe the need was to serve those children who have been affected by AIDS and in the United States, the need was more bilingual schools.

Here is a link to photos of some of the projects ICRI have been involved in http://www.flickr.com/photos/icrichild .

Making Professional Connections Abroad

Learning about education, more specifically, Early Childhood in other countries is fascinating. You find many similarities and even more differences. Some of the challenges are similar world-wide, especially when it boils down to budget.

The steps I have taken to establish connection with other professionals are sending emails to contacts listed with The Global Alliance of NAEYC. I sent ten messages out and so far six of them were undeliverable. I have also emailed several representatives in other countries that are listed with UNICEF. I am still awaiting a response. I am in great hopes that some of the organizations will respond.

The World Forum Foundation Radio will be a great alternative but it does not compare to having  personal contacts.

When deciding which Early Childhood Organization website to follow I knew that I wanted a site out of the United States. So I visited the sites in other countries and decided on the International Child Research institute site. I signed up to receive updates and their quarterly newsletters.

Although I have not made any professional connections I will continue to try for the next few days and if none have been made then I will follow-up with alternative suggestions.