Dear blog viewers,
It has been a privilege to participate in scholarly
discussions with each and every one of you.
Even though my class in ending I plan on continuing my blog. Here are some suggestions of some resources
that I find especially pertinent to the field of early childhood;
1.
Here is
one video related to early childhood and poverty. This video gives a view of poverty from a
family in Malasia and it details exactly what the family has to go without as
well as the situations of their school age children.
2.
This second video details the views on poverty
from the perspective of Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s
Defense Fund. Marian Edelman gives a
very thought provoking speech on the present status of our impoverished
children as well as what we in the US must do to change their present
situation.
3.
This third video is from 60 minutes. The video discusses the present status of
childhood poverty in the US and how the percentages of child poverty are
getting closer and closer to the numbers during the Great Depression
4.
I would also recommend purchasing the book, Talk on the Go for parents that may want
additional suggestions of things they can do to stimulate the language skills
of their children at
home, on the road, at the store and outside
·
Dougherty, D.P. & Paul, D. R. (2007). Talking
on the go. American Speech Language Hearing Association, www.asha..org
5.
I would also recommend the Anti-Defamation
League as an organization that will
provide articles on multicultural books and books that are anti-bias for
children
6.
I would also recommend visiting the Alliance for
Childhood (Crisis in the Kindergarten; Why children need play in school site
for the fact sheet on Kindergarten testing and some things that parents can
start doing right now
7.
I would also recommend the Friendship Circle
blog as a marvelous blog to visit. They
give suggestions of toys to help children with special needs, ipad apps for
children with special needs, how music helps children, resources for families
and ways a Speech-Pathologist can help your child
·
Friendshipcircle.org
8.
Early childhood organizations that I would
recommend for current research and information related to early child
development/learning and development all over the world from birth and up would
be; Zero to Three, Children’s Defense Fund, National Association for the Education
of Young Children, Association for Childhood Education International and
Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child
9.
Some of my favorite inspirational quotes are;
·
“If a child cannot learn in the way we teach, we
must teach in a way the child can learn.”
–unknown
·
“Every student can learn, just not on the same
day, or the same way.” –George Evans
·
“Always walk through life as if you have
something new to learn and you will.”
-Vernon Howard
References
Dougherty, D.P. & Paul, D. R.
(2007). Talking on the go. American Speech Language Hearing
Foratv. (2008). Child poverty in America-marian wright
edelman. Retrieved from
Harvard University, Center on the
Developing Child. (n.d.) Retrieved from
National
Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, Zero to Three. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.zerotothree.org/
Sixty Minutes.
(2011). Child poverty has risen to 60
million in the United States of America.
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpS_eJkkAxc
Super
Simple Learning. (2013). Quotes. Retrieved from
supoersimplelearning.com/quotes/
Hunt,
Jessica. (2013, June 4). How music can
help children with special needs[Blog post].
Retrieved from www.friendshipcircle.org
UNICEF
Malaysia. (2011). Grit and hope: A
young girl strives to rise above hardship. Retrieved
You have provided some great resources in this blog post! I especially found the ones on poverty inspiring; they definitely put things into perspective. I think many times people take for granted what they have and do not realize what poverty can do to families. We overlook what is not right in front of our eyes. I truly feel that people cannot truly sympathize with others in these circumstances until they find themselves in the same situation.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I have been in a similar place. When my children were young, my husband lost his job. He found another, paying $50 a week. I had to work 3 jobs, which didn't even come close to enough to pay our bills. We struggled for a couple of years, but the one thing I remember is having a great support system from people we knew. We had anonymous individuals leave gift cards on our door and Christmas presents on our porch so that our children would have what we were not able to provide for them. Fortunately, we are no longer living in those conditions, and we were not as bad off as some families are, but we all learned a great deal from the situation. In trying times, we can become stronger and learn from the hardship; my children do not take for granted what they are given. They are appreciative for what they have, and they have both grown up to want to help those in need. We repay the kindness we were shown each year at Christmas by buying gifts and providing items to people in need.
I feel that we need to better educate the public on this issue and the negatives that come from children being in these situations. Even though professionals are attempting to ratify the problem, without everyone believing it is a problem to be solved, it will be one that continues to be an issue forever. What do you think we can do as early childhood professionals to improve the awareness in this area? What can parents do? We want children to accept those who are different and empathize with others...should children be exposed to conditions which their classmates may be living or should we shelter them from these things?
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all those wonderful resources. I checked out the resource Talking on the Go. It is one I will be purchasing. I was impressed with the idea that their are printable parent letters, an effective way to increase parent involvement at home.
I found the quote, "Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will." Vernon Howard, a truism.
Sharon Lloyd