Early Childhood Advocaters: CHIP

What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

As an educator in a Title I school, more than 60% of our students live in poverty. I realized the comment that “poverty denies our children opportunities,” true but unsettling. As educators, we cannot settle for this. As budgets get voted down, and extra money is not coming to districts, we must put in our extra time to help these children before/after school. We cannot allow our children living in poverty become the future’s poor adults. Creating paths and glimpses of hopefulness to children, gives them a reason to look beyond their horizons.

Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

Although I do believe it, I just cannot reason with myself how impacting living in poverty can be for children. It’s upsetting to me that malnutrition, and other factors can affect a child’s development and can damage the rest of their lives. It is imperative to me, that all children get the equal opportunities in my classroom, so as their teacher I need to start going the extra mile. Not only do I have to make sure educationally they are being provided fairly, but now at home I must check with them. Many parents may not have the money to put food on the table, so how do I make sure my student is eating a well-balance meal at home, or getting the proper amount of sleep? Students of all kinds deserve a fair childhood and the chance at a fantastic future ahead.

What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

Through research, CHIP hopes to reach policy makers and advocates, to support their efforts to stop the spread of childhood poverty worldwide. The website hopes through policy makers, they can receive the proper support and have these policy makers spread the efforts of CHIP. Economically, CHIP supports a case study that supports the efforts of economists to invest in early childhood education and poverty support groups, to control various economic policies, such as inflation.

What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

When reading a few of the publications, I found that CHIP advocates for poverty all over the world. When browsing these published readings, I found it astounding that even though these children are from opposite parts of the world, they all are dealing with the same factor and feelings, poverty, and the lack of opportunities that lay ahead. I find that as poverty resides in 1 in 4 children throughout the world, we cannot allow the children to continue in this life cycle. It is important as educators, to invest as much time as possible to create opportunities for them.

Retrieved from www.childhoodpoverty.org

100 Languages & Childhood Poverty in China

Podcast Alternative:

            I listened to the Podcast, Episode 10 with host Michael Kalinowski and guest Susan Lyon on the World Forum Radio. I would like to comment on the brave and challenging step that Susan Lyon took to bring the 100 Languages of Children from Italy to San Francisco. As the Director of Initiative Teacher Project, Susan invested a lot of time to a gather up a network of schools, both private and public sector and successfully implement this program. This program, which is based on learning through children’s environments, as well as seeing the world through their eyes, has been successful in the San Francisco Bay Area.

            I also can relate to Susan Lyon, as she said at the age of twenty-two she was working with a young boy who had special needs. She ended up telling him an answer to the question. When she gave him the answer: “city,” he responded with a comment she will never forget, “small word for such a BIG place.” If only as educators we can start to put ourselves in the students’ shoes then maybe we can connect and teach more effectively. I commend Susan for making the brave move and exploring education to better the lives of young students. I think it is wonderful the efforts she has made.

Childhood Poverty in Urban China:

Unfortunately, after E-Mailing the professionals at the World Forum, I researched the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s webpage:  http://www.childhoodpoverty.org.  I chose to study poverty in urban China.

       I.            I was amazed to read that 45% children in China living in poverty were not completely vaccinated due to financial troubles. Since medical expenses are so high in China, many parents cannot fully vaccinate their children. This seems extremely upsetting, since many of these vaccinations keep children alive and well, and due to their parent's financial burden, their health is threatened.  Compared to the United States, all children are given the chance to receive vaccinations, and are safe from those unfortunate diseases (Benyon, et. al… 2005).

    II.            It is clear that in the report, rural education is a lower in standards, than urban education.  Parents are forced to pay tuition and other fees to send their children to these schools. This is said to be because in urban schools, there is opportunity for the students to get a better education.  To solve this problem, the schooling should be fair, with equal teacher training, comparable curriculum, and clearing away the tuition fees for those who are in poverty. All children should have the opportunity to receive fair education; they should not be deprived because of their family lives in poverty (Benyon, et. al… 2005).

 III.            The amount of social support for those living in poverty in China, makes it difficult for them to gain any sort of help. Many of them go on living with serious illnesses, due to the high cost of medical expenses, or many of them go without food. Having social programs in place for those living in poverty should be implemented more for these people, especially with children involved. Unfortunately, there are not enough social reform programs for those living in poverty for them to take advantage of and many are living in these unfortunate conditions (Benyon, et. al…).

Benyon, Lousie., Mahar, Katie., Wei, Chen., CHIP Report 14: Poverty Among Children in Urban China: A Survey of Poverty Affected-families in Three Cities (2005).

About Me

My name is Stephanie Forino and I am currently a teacher in upstate NY. I love children and seeing the world through their eyes. Being a teacher is one of the best steps I could have taken in my life. Every morning when I wake up, I'm excited to go to work and see what a new day will bring.

I have a lot of support at home, including my fiance, my sister, my mother, and my family. My friends are also a wonderful part of my life.

Right now, I have one course to take (this one) and I will be certified to teach all grades through 6th grade. I'm extremely excited to see what this course will bring, and the doors it will open up.
I am currently planning a wedding, which is extremely stressful at times, but I am enjoying it, and I have a ton of support around me that help. We will be married July 20th, 2012 in upstate NY.

Expanding Resources

 

I have E-Mailed two professionals; one from China and one from Ghana. I look forward to hearing back from them. I'm hoping we can communicate effectively, as I feel this step is interesting and resourceful. Although, I will fall back on the alternative if needed.

I have selected this website. I work in a school with various ethnicities, and I find this website to be the most resourceful for me.

National Black Child Development Institutehttp://nbcdi.org/
(Newsletter: http://nbcdi.org/support/sign-up-for-nbcdi-newsletters/ )

NBCDI Organization

The website I chose to study is the National Black Child Development Institute:

National Black Child Development Institute
http://nbcdi.org/
(Newsletter: http://nbcdi.org/support/sign-up-for-nbcdi-newsletters/ )

Brief Description of the NBCDI:

During the time of social reform in America the National Black Child Development Institute was developed. This time was in 1970. During the 1960’s the people of the black community rallied to gain equal rights. The significance of this post, is the great reminder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who helped blacks all over America gain fairness and equal rights. On Monday, we celebrate him, and all the opportunities he gave to the black communities.

This organization was made by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation whose concerns were the protection and the health of young mothers and babies during this time of social reform. As the Institute was incorporated, groups were organized within communities as a basis to create a better way of life for the Black child who was not old enough to have a voice in this particular issue. This group focused on children from early childhood education to secondary education.

NBCDI’s Mission Statement is “to improve and advance the lives of black children and their families through education and advocacy.” The organization has improved the quality of life for millions of children from providing proper foster care, adequate adoption policies, fairness of healthcare and education bills and funds for College. The NBCDI has changed the lives of many children, and continues to. Support in this organization should not be overlooked and continues to be encouraged.

One issue/trend from the website that caught my attention:

Closing the achievement gap has clearly been one focus of the NBCDI. It is clear that this organization is honest when it says that there is still some work that needs to be done on the national level to close the achievement gap. The states that have mastered at doing this are Alabama, Hawaii, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Texas. There are still a lot more states that need to get on board with doing so. These states can share their methods of investing time and money into childcare and education, as well as, the preparation for reading and math. Another bit of good news, is the performance of low income students in 2011. These students have performed better compared to other years. Since 2009, there have been no changes in the fourth grade reading scores and there is a twenty-five point score gap between Black and White students. Only fourteen percent of black students scored proficient, as fifty percent scored below grade level. At the advanced levels only two percent of black students scored at this level, as eleven percent of white students scored at advanced level. Thirty-three percent of white students scored proficient on the fourth grade reading test and only twenty-two (compared to black students fifty percent) scored below grade level.

What I learned from this posting by the NCBDI:

I learned that despite in a couple of categories the scores are fairly equal, on a national level we still have a long way to go to close the achievement gap. This unfortunately means it still can take decades. I think as an educator it is important to find the reasons for these unfortunate differences in test scores. As a reading teacher, reading is extremely important and must be done at home, as well as in school. Monitoring this can be difficult for the teacher, but the teacher could make it easier by monitoring this through parent/guardian communication and comprehensive worksheets or reader response journals. Also, I would be eager to learn how the states that were successful implemented their reading program and successfully closed the achievement gap.