Sharing Resouces

The website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) have so much valuable information I am continuing to learn about Common Core. The Common Core State Standard Initiative position statement on Still Unacceptable Treds in Kindergarten Entry and Placement was one that I will speak about. Teachers have little or no part in decision making that determine curriculum and instructions in their classrooms. Next there are questionable practices in appropriate uses of screening and readiness tests: discouragement or out right denial of entrance for elgiable students: the developmental od segregated transitional classes for children deemed unready for the next traditional level of school and an increasing use of retention.

What made me think of issues in different ways were the attitudes and practices which erodes children's legal rights to equal public schools. There are drastic changes being placed on children which have resulted in well-intended interventions which are inequitable, ineffective, and wasteful of public resources.  Other insights I learned were: NAEYC’s state policy efforts focus on researching and tracking national and state trends and informing NAEYC affiliates, policymakers, collaborating organizations, and other interested parties about NAEYC’s positions on state public policies and their impacts on children birth through eight and their families. (Alivin Rhian 2015). A discouraging trends are schools are discouraging parents from enrolling their age-eligible children in kindergarten.

This information led to me gaining more knowledge of understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field which are:

They are right. Our field has been addressing this goal for decades. In fact, within NAEYC there are reams of documentation and a rich history of discussions and similar initiatives. At the risk of seeming to see the world through rose-colored glasses, I argue that today is different. Today, as never before (NAEYC 2015).

• Social scientists in early learning and developmentally appropriate practice are strongly supported by hard science—neuroscience—confirming that learning begins at birth
• Economists state clearly that there is a strong return on investment to society, families, and individuals when young children have access to high-quality early learning
• Significant federal, state, and local public funds have been invested in a system of early care and education
• Stakes are high for all young children—regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, or socioeconomic status—to start kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life 
• Seven in 10 Americans say they favor using federal money to make sure high-quality education programs are available for every child in the United States .

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-1

Neither one of my contacts have responded to my question on poverty, so I goggled poverty in Singapore and I found a podcast on poverty Singapore Hidden Poverty Problem, and a article on Singapore Hidden Poverty Problem. Singapore is ranked as the sixth most expensive country in the world to live in. Singapore has both the highest number of billionaries and millionaries in the world with an average per capita income over $52,000. There is no distinct difference between urban towns and rural villages. Singapore is a small island where both the poor and wealthy live in proximity to each other (Cho Christina, 2015).

One tenth of Singapore population is living in poverty which makes it the 26th most disparate income out of 136 countries. People living in poverty are living in 13 square feet government apartments who rent is determined by how much they can afford to pay. Impoverished children school fees are subsidized by the government and the food is provided not by wages earned but by charitable donations (Cho Christina, 2015).

In the video the mother was not able to pay for her child's asthma medication who has a family of six children. Poverty is seen behind closed doors and not in the streets, One member of the government has been trying to raise the awareness of poverty, and in the video the government is planning to add more funding into its budget for people living in poverty so that benefits may start to trickle down.

Resources:

Cho Christina. 2015. Singapore Hidden Poverty Problem.
Video. 2014 Singapore's Hidden Poverty Problem

Sharing Web Resources

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is an organization that promotes high quality learning for children ages 0 to 8 years old with emphasis on practice, policy, and research. There are over 60,000 individual members from the early childhood field and this organization has more than 300 regional affiliate chapters. NAEYC has a collective vision that all young children thrive and learn in a society dedicated to ensuring they can reach their full potential.
NAEYC hosts three of the most important and well-attended annual events for educators, administrators, and advocates in the early learning community: NAEYC's Annual Conference the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development, and the NAEYC Public Policy Forum (NAEYC, 2016).

NAEYC mission goals are to improve professional practice and working conditions, to support early childhood programs, and build a high performing inclusive organization of groups and individuals. NAEYC objectives are to provide professional development opportunities, set and publicize standards that promotes excellence, intergrate diverse perspectives to generate new knowledge, build public understanding and support, and advocate public policies and funding. NAEYC is at the forefront in influencing local, state, and federal early childhood legislation, advocating for policies that reflect comprehensive approaches to providing equitable access to high-quality early learning, with a particular focus on children living in poverty, multilingual children, children of color, and children with disabilities (NAEYC, 2016).

Reference,

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2016). http://www.naeyc.org/content/about-naeyc

www.naeyc.org

Establishing Professional Contact

I was able to establish professional contact with Professor Elizabeth Ann Wood-Academic Staff-School of Education-The University of Sheffield England and MS Silke from Singapore a member of the Asia Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC). I contacted Professor Wood through email and she was kind enough to return my email. Professor Wood sent several of her papers and books to gain knowledge about ECE issues such as:

(ii) Chapters in books

Wood, E. (2015) Beyond Ethics in In D. Yamada-Rice and E. Stirling (eds) Visual Methods with Children and Young People: Academics and visual Industries in Dialogue. Palgrave.

Wood, E. (2015) Interpretivist research in play: the illumination of complexity, in S. Farrell, S.L. Kagan, and E.K.M. Tisdall (Eds) The Sage Handbook of Early Childhood Research, London Sage. 291-303.

Wood, E. (2015) ‘I wonder why our dog has been so naughty?’ Thinking differently from the perspective of play, S. Robson and S. F. Quinn (Eds), Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Thinking and Understanding. Abingdon, Routledge . 19-30

Wood. E. (2015) The capture of play within policy discourses: a critical analysis of the UK frameworks for early childhood education. J.L. Roopnarine, M. Patte, J.E. Johnson and D. Kuschner (Eds) International Perspectives on Children’s Play. Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Wood, E. (2014) The play-pedagogy interface in contemporary debates, in E. Brooker, S. Edwards, M. Blaise (Eds) The Sage Handbook of Play and Learning. London, Sage.

Wood, E. (2013) Contested concepts in educational play: a comparative analysis of early childhood policy frameworks in New Zealand and England. In J. Nuttall (Ed) Weaving Te Whāriki: Ten Years On. New Zealand, NZCER Press.

Articles in Journals 

Yahya, R. and Wood, E. (2016) Play as third space: bridging cultural discourses between

home and school,  Journal of Early Childhood Research. DOI: 10.1177/1476718X15616833

Wood, E.  and Hedges, H.  (2016) Curriculum in Early Childhood Education: asking critical

questions about content, coherence and control. The Curriculum Journal, DOI: 10.1080/09585176.2015.1129981

Nuttall, J., Thomas, L. and Wood, E. (2013) Travelling policy reforms: re-configuring the work of early childhood educators in Australia. Special Issue on ‘Global transformations and educational work: Remaking the idea of a teaching occupation.’ Globalisation, Societies and Education.

Nuttall, J., Edwards, S., Lee, S., Wood, E., & Mantilla, A. (2013) The implications of young            children’s digital-consumerist play for changing the kindergarten curriculum. Cultural  Historical Psychology, 2, 54-63.

Wood, E. (2014) Free choice and free play in early childhood education – troubling the

discourse. International Journal of Early Years Education. 22, 1. 4-18. doi:10.1080/09669760.2013.830562

Fisher, J. and Wood, E. (2012) Changing educational practice in the early years     through

            practitioner-led action research: an Adult-Child Interaction Project.

            International Journal of Early Years Education, 20:2, 114-119.

Wood, E. and Hall, E.  (2011) Drawings as spaces for intellectual play, International Journal

            of Early Years Education, 19: 3-4, 267-281. 

I joined the social network of ARNEC and Ms Silke and I became friends and I am reading and watching her articles on this sight. I now receive the monthly e-news flash from ARNEC.

National Association for the Education of Young Children is the organization and website that I have chosen. This organization provides strong educational advice, awareness, and support of childhood education I would like to know what my colleagues think of this sight and have any of you used it in any of your previous classes.  

National Association for the Education of Young Children (http://www.naeyc.org/).