Sharing Web Resources

I have explored the purpose and the principals of Save the Children. However, this week I dug deeper into the taking action section of the website which focuses on advocating for children through legislation. This section defined advocacy, gave tips on effective advocacy. It also discusses aid effectiveness and ways to structure finances to make the biggest impact. This section also provides information on current legislation on specific topics.

Within the aid effectiveness tab there is a link that provides a brief about Save the Children’s thoughts and recommendations to the Obama Administration in regard to providing aid to other counties.  I know the importance of advocacy; however, writing letters to the Presidents’ Administration is out of my own personal comfort zone, therefore, I find it to be a bit controversial.

Last week the topic of poverty struck a personal cord with me. This week I have enjoyed reading about the different ways to advocate, fundraise and make a difference in children’s lives. I realize in order to make an impact on my community I need to step out of my comfort zone. It has been inspiring to read about how others’ are making a difference and the ways I can too.

Childhood Poverty

Unfortunately, I was unable to make contact with any early childhood professionals outside of the United States, therefore, I was forced to do the alternative blog assignment.  I was able to listen to the most recent pod cast from the World Forum Radio.

I listened to Susan Lyon talk about her progression from being intrigued to how children think and perceive things to creating the Innovate Teacher Project in California.  Susan Lyon brought the “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to San Francisco  after being intrigued by a small child’s perception of the word “city”.  During this process she was interested in seeing how children viewed things around them. She visited several schools in her area.  Once the exhibit came to San Francisco she worked with Italian education and created several professional development trainings.  She wanted to advocate by listening to children and using/creating a environment that children thrive in.

After bringing the “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to San Francisco she created the Innovative Teacher Project in 1994.  This project encompassed a net of works.  Each month teachers’ were able to attend a round table and present there school and walk the environment.  She wanted to show that qualify work can happen in public schools.  Susan is now working to create the first full immersion Italian preschool program.

I also explored the website http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/.  This website offered a lot information about childhood poverty. One thing I learned is that poverty is cyclical.  Children living in poverty today have a higher chance of living in poverty as adults.  It is often passed down from generation to generation.  When thinking of poverty this is in the back of my mind, however, reading the facts makes it more true to me.  However, attempting to eliminate childhood poverty is one way to stop this cycle.  An international community has developed the Millennium Development Goals which aims to cut poverty in half, cut 2/3 of deaths of children under age 5 and provide all children with at least a primary education by 2015 (CHIP: Knowledge for tackling childhood poverty).

References:

Lyon, S. (Performer) (2011, April/May). World forum radio. World Forum Radio. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

Chip: Knowledge for tackling childhood poverty. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

Save the Children

The organization I decided to learn more about is Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.org).  Save the Children is an organization that works both inside the United States and around the world to help save the lives of children when there is a disaster. They provide food, medical attention and education to help rebuild communities. Currently, they are serving over 120 nations. Save the Children is founded on 5 core values: accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity.  Their website provides a lot of opportunities for involvement including volunteer opportunities, sponsoring a child or simply signing up for their newsletter in order to be more informed.

I signed up for their newsletter, however, I haven't received one yet. I can't find it their newsletter is weekly or monthly.  But I did find some information in their "spotlight" section which is honoring Mother's. :-) Please check out the website! It has a lot of great information.

Professional Contacts

I spent a lot of time this week looking at different websites and learning about different organizations. I finally decided to contact partners' from the Global Alliance in Spain and South Africa. I am still waiting to here back from these contacts. I also have some friends who are in the military and live in other countries and may reach out to those people if I don't hear back.

I also spent some time looking at the different organizations to learn about each week. I decided on organization Save the Children. As I read about what they do and stand for their mission really stood out to me and I wanted to learn more about them. They have a newsletters and free email updates which I will subscribe to.

I look forward learning about early childhood outside of the United States throughout the course of this class.