International Contact

This week Ms. Carmen told me a little more about the educational system in Romania and her hopes for the fture.  The educational system in Romania has undergone several changes in the last few years.  The future of Romanian education looks quite bright, but the process is bound to be slow and the achievements will take time.  Change has been slow and a lot of teachers are not willing to change so there is a teacher shortage.  Textbooks are old and outdated and will take time to update. 

Teachers have opportunties for professional development by attending different workshops, online trainings, and opportunties to continue their education through college classes.  There is a need to continue growing through professional development opportunties.

Some of Ms. Carmen's hopes and dreams are to continue working with children and to improve the education in her country.  She wants each child to receieve a quality education and help those in need.  She wants to continue her work with the Step by Step program.

Sharing Web Resources

The outside website that I decided to explore was the Early Childhood Council in New Zealand.  I carefully looked over the resources page to see what resources are available to teachers, parents, and students.  On the parent's page, there are links to all types of resources including how to tell if your child is ready for preschool, how to tell if the center is effective, and coping strategies after a traumatic event.  There is also a link for the online store.  By reading their newsletter, they try to help all families and make sure that children are treated equally and fairly.  Each child is entitled to a quality education.

The National Head Start association tries to treat each child equally and not discriminate against anyone.  Head Start offers services to children from low-income families and children with disabilites.  Children from middle-income families, however, are not able to attend and it is inequity against them.

References
National Head Start Associationhttp://www.nhsa.org/
Early Childhood Council New Zealand (EEC) http://www.ecc.org.nz/MainMenu

Romanian Kindergarten

When speaking with Carmen this week, she explained a little bit more about the Romanian kindergarten program.   Parents can enroll a child in kindergarten at the age of three, though all children leave kindergarten at the age of six. Since this portion of the educational system is not mandatory, this phase of the educational system is relatively short. Most kindergartens are split into three or four different groups depending on a child’s age.  Children who attend kindergarten in Romanian are often taught foreign languages, physical fitness, and some computer skills and the children are served a meal each day.  The food is usually cooked inside of the kindergarten classroom.  Parents have a choice to send their children to a short kindergarten, which usually ends around 1pm or they can stay as late as 6pm.  This is because so many parents work and this is to accomadate their schedules.  Most of the kindergarten schools are privately ran and some families that can't afford to send their children to school.  These children will not begin school until they are six or seven years old.  The transition is often difficult for these young children.


I would say that the early education field in Romania is not equal to everyone.  Not everyone can afford to send their children to kindergarten programs at the age of 3.  These children do not begin formal school until they are six or seven years old.  They begin formal school already behind their peers and it is hard to catch up.  They are from poor families that don't have the means to buy extra materials to help at home.  This was the only issue of equity that Ms. Carmen emailed me back with. 

Sharing Web Resources

I am researching the National Head Start Assocation. This website is full of useful information involving the topics that we have discussed this week.  There is a section that has information about disaster reflief funds, scholarships and awards, and training sessions for early educators.  Funding a big issue with Head Start.  Every year the politians want to cut funding for Head Start.  They need to look and see what a good program it is and how it helps so many children. 

After reading some of the statements from parents on the blog, it made me look at Head Start in a different way.  All of these parents are so supportive of the program and each one had a special story of how Head Start helped their child and their family.  It makes me feel good to be part of something so special. 

I believe neuroscientists supports Head Start by helping to develop the curriculum.  Head Start focuses on the whole child and involves a lot of free-choice play.  Neuroscientists study the development of children and Head Start goes along with child development.

My Conversation Partner

My conversation partner is Carmen Lica from Romania.  She works for the Step by Step Center for Education and Professional Development.  The Centre for Education and Professional Development is a non-governmental organization that was formed in 1998 to continue operating the Step by Step program, which was first implemented in Romania in 1994.  Mrs. Lica says that her organization provides training on early childhood education, protection of children, and care of infants and toddlers. 

Mrs. Lica said this organization helps children and families of poverty by giving trainings to their teachers and families and donating money to help support programs to benefit these families and children.  The Step by Step Center is doing a lot of good for children and their families.  I have learned that there is more poverty around the world than I realized.  I want to help as many families in this situation as I can.  Romania is home to a large population of people living in poverty.  Mrs. Lica told me that almost half of the population living in rural areas are poor people living in poverty.  If we all work together, maybe we can make a difference one child at a time.

National Head Start Association

I chose to focus on the National Head Start Association website.  Their web address is http://www.nhsa.org/  The focus of this website is to offer conferences, professional development, and other services to it's members.  It also provides news and ways to become an advocate for Head Start. 

I was reading through the blog on the website and parents were posting about how they loved the Head Start program.  One parent's story caught my attention.  She was concerned because her daughter was not talking, only mumbled, and the doctor said it was normal.  When she sent her daughter to headstart, they discovered that the daughter was deaf in one ear.  She had to have surgery and did speech therapy through headstart for two years.  When her daughter started kindergarten, she was talking, could be understood, and was doing great.  Had the child not gotten enrolled in headstart, she would have started kindergarten and nobody would have known anything was wrong until it was too late.  This story really caught my attention because being in the early childhood field, we observe these things and have all kinds of opportunities to help children and families.  I enjoyed reading all of the success stories on this website.

Expanding Resources

Establishing contacts with professionals in other countries sounds like a great idea.  It is a good way to expand our resources.  However, I have found it very difficult to locate and communicate with people from other countries.  Most of my emails have came back to me, thinking it is spam.  I was able to communicate with Mrs. Carmin Lica from Romania.  She is in involved with Step by Step Centre for Education and Professional Development.  I also made contact with Kate Yocum.  She used to teach education in Finland, but now lives in the United States.  I sent an email to Mrs. Eva-Hammes-Di Bernardo of the German National Committe for Early Childhood Education in Germany.  I am still waiting to hear back from her.  This assignment was really tough.  I am hoping that I do not have to pick the alternate option.

The website I decided to look at was the National Headstart Association.  I choose this website because I work for headstart and thought it could help me on my job.  The website is very imformative.  It has all kinds of opportunities for workshops and conferences.  I believe this website is a very good one.  The link is http://www.nhsa.org/

My Supports

There are many different types of supports. These can include: emotional, physical, finanical, social, and academic support. My husband gives me support from all of these areas.  My husband is a wonderful support for me.  He supports me by always being there for me emotionally, helping out with household chores, and taking care of our children when needed so I am able to focus on school.  My husband always encourages me to do my best with my schoolwork.  We are a team and I could not do this without him and his support.  I also have a huge support system with my mother.  She helps out by watching my children and always being there for me.  I am very blessed to have my husband and mother in life and to have them help and support me so much.  It would be very difficult without these supports.  I don't think I would be able to go back to school or buy my children things that they need.  I would probably have to work two jobs or live in a very tiny house or apartment if I did not have my husband.  His supports is what I need on a daily basis to keep me motivated to keep pushing on when times are tough.

I often think of the challenges that children and adults face when they are bound to a wheelchair.  They need all kinds of support from others for their daily living.  If I found myself suddenly having to be in a wheelchair I think it would be difficult.  I would need a lot of emotional support.  It would be hard watching everyone else walk or run and knowing that I can no longer do those things.  I'm sure there would be times that I would need someone's shoulder to cry on or to complain and vent my anger with.  I would need physical support.  I would not be able to drive myself places so I would need support there.  I would also need someone helping me around the house doing everyday tasks that would not longer be easy for me.  Finding a decent paying job may be difficult so I would need financial support.  I also would need help with my children.  I have two very young sons and would need help raising them.  I think being in a wheelchair would be very challenging and difficult for me.

Connections to play

My "connections to play" post can be found under the page titled "My Connections to Play."

Relationship Relfection

Having a positive relationship with family and friends is very important.  We need to have strong relationships so we always have someone we can depend on to be there for us.  I have a very strong relationship with my family.  My husband and two sons are so important to me.  My husband is very supportive of everything that I do.  I also have a very close relationship to my mother.  She always helps me in any way that she can and is also supportive of me. 

My relationship with my mother with a very positive one.  She raised me, mostly by herself, when I was younger and growing up.  She worked very hard to raise me in the right way and teach me right from wrong.  She always put me and my needs before her own.  I feel like she is my best friend. 

My relationship with my husband is also a positive one.  We were drawn to each other from the moment we met.  We became very close and had a lot of the same interests.  We became friends first and stayed friends for a few months.  I believe this helped our relationship because we really got to know each other before we got married. 

I believe I have the best children ever.  My sons are 3 and 1.  My relionship with my oldest can be hard at times.  My son was recently diagnosed with sensory processing disorder.  We have a lot of challenges, but we continue to work through them and each day I feel our relionship grows stronger.  My youngest son is a mommy's boy.  He is attached to my hip at all times.

It is difficult to maintain a positive relationship at all times.  There are struggles and disagreements from time to time.  Each person has to figure out ways to deal with issues and work through them.  This is the only want to maintain the relationship.  Talking and trying to work things out is a must.

My husband and I have a great relationship and I feel that are partners when it comes to raising our children.  I believe that all parents should have a partnership when it comes to raising their children.  Whether they are together or not, they must be partners when it comes to their children.  This is what is best for the child.

I hope that I can be a positive influence to the families of the children that I work with.  By having so many positive relationships in my own life, I hope that I can mentor and help build stronger relationships.