In the first days of this course I had visited the website of the National Black Child Development Institute. My interest in the website was based on the fact that the Institute was conceived and still run as an advocacy group for the development and promotion of strategies aimed at improving the life circumstances of the Black child through policy change. In my past post, I had mentioned the aims and goals of the Institute and in addition mentioned one issue that was of particular interest to me: the black - white test score gap in America's public school system. The information from the website about test gap got me thinking and made me see things clearly thus realizing the need to close the black-white test score gap as the best of indicator of the promotion of racial equality in the United States.
On my visit to the website again this week, I found an interesting and highly informational section of the site- the CHILD TALK section of the site. This section can be assessed through the Initiative menu and it has many highly researched articles which provide a range of information for professionals, families and centers with young children on topics related to their health and well-being. Two of such articles are “Being Healthy is Fun” and “How can Children be Obese and Hungary At The Same Time?” It may be surprising, but the truth is that hunger and
obesity can exist together in the same child, adult,
family or community (Johnson-Askew, 2011). I found this a hard pill to swallow but Dr Johnson-Askew, using many researches in the field of Science, Medicine, and Nutrition shows the connecting dots between obesity and hunger.
The issue of obesity among children deserves the attention and action of all in view of the health implication for the children and the society. This is the focus of the article “Being Healthy Is Fun” the article focus on programs making the difference in improving the health of children and
families in communities across America. One of such program is Donna
R. Joyner Foundation “GROW Green Get Fit”
curriculum
. The GROW Green Get Fit program aims to instill into
children the virtues of a healthy and positive lifestyle
based upon 5 key seeds of growth:
• Seed 1 – Physical activity 5 days a week will help our
bodies get stronger
• Seed 2 – We can grow 5 fruits and vegetables
ourselves
• Seed 3 – We can eat 5 fruits and vegetables each day
to practice eating healthier
• Seed 4 – Each week we can do 5 things to help others
• Seed 5 – we can volunteer to help others 5 times this
year.
This program involves activities that will in addition to bringing movement and nutrition
awareness into the classroom give children the
opportunity to plant and watch a garden grow as they
and their parents work together to bring a message that a
meal can be good and still bless your heart.
Sources:
National Black Child Development Institute http://nbcdi.org/
http://nbcdi.org/blog/2010/08/27/child-health-talk
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
MY INTERNATIONAL CONTACT
After more than two weeks of waiting to get response from my initial contacts and with no response coming from any of them, I decided to contact a former colleague in South Africa to help me. Luckily for me, he linked up with a friend of his by the name Rebbecca Moyo. Rebbecca Moyo taught at preschool and elementary levels for 29 years before she retired two years ago to start an NGO together with the husband. Their attention has been on helping children who lost their parents as a result of the AIDS scourge and those who have been invested with AIDS. They plan to start a school soon to cater for these children from preschool to secondary school.
Poverty is a great problem facing many African countries. South Africa, though ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank is still trying to break the grip of poverty more than a decade after transition from apartheid. From my discussion with Rebbecca, more than 40% South Africans are living in poverty. Though the poor are mostly blacks, there has been an increased in the numbers of whites that are living in poverty in recent years. Rebbecca mentioned that there are now squatter camps for Afrikaners (White South Africans) and the population of the dwellers is growing steadily. She mentioned a particular camp named Coronation Park that housed close to 500 white squatters. This clearly shows that poverty is a general human issue not necessarily racial.
According to Rebbecca more than 5 million South Africans are living with AIDS and that about 200,000 died of AIDS yearly. South Africa’s HIV and AIDS epidemic is having a devastating effect on children in a number of ways. Some have become orphans, some have dropped out of school, and many has become “child parent” a phrase she used to describe young children that have taken up the responsibility of taking care of their younger ones as a result of the death of their parents. As a result of poverty and lost of one or both parents due to AIDS, more children are being removed from school- either to stay at home to care for the sick or to work in order to care for themselves or supplement the family income.
In my next discussion with Rebbecca, I would be asking her about cultural responsiveness in South Africa school in view of the pluralistic nature of the society and other issues that has to do with early childhood education.
Poverty is a great problem facing many African countries. South Africa, though ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank is still trying to break the grip of poverty more than a decade after transition from apartheid. From my discussion with Rebbecca, more than 40% South Africans are living in poverty. Though the poor are mostly blacks, there has been an increased in the numbers of whites that are living in poverty in recent years. Rebbecca mentioned that there are now squatter camps for Afrikaners (White South Africans) and the population of the dwellers is growing steadily. She mentioned a particular camp named Coronation Park that housed close to 500 white squatters. This clearly shows that poverty is a general human issue not necessarily racial.
According to Rebbecca more than 5 million South Africans are living with AIDS and that about 200,000 died of AIDS yearly. South Africa’s HIV and AIDS epidemic is having a devastating effect on children in a number of ways. Some have become orphans, some have dropped out of school, and many has become “child parent” a phrase she used to describe young children that have taken up the responsibility of taking care of their younger ones as a result of the death of their parents. As a result of poverty and lost of one or both parents due to AIDS, more children are being removed from school- either to stay at home to care for the sick or to work in order to care for themselves or supplement the family income.
In my next discussion with Rebbecca, I would be asking her about cultural responsiveness in South Africa school in view of the pluralistic nature of the society and other issues that has to do with early childhood education.
Friday, November 11, 2011
SHARING WEB RESOURCES
For the second part of last week's assignment I visited the website of the National Black Child Development Institute.Conceived as an advocacy group by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation, the Institute aims at creating a unified voice that will develop and promote strategies to improve the life circumstances of the Black child through policy change. The focus of the Institute is on early childhood education, child welfare, elementary and secondary education, and health and the mission statement is “To improve and advance the lives of black children and their families through education and advocacy."
In order to accomplish its mission, the Institute provides material and disseminate important information to all individuals who work directly with children, in particular child care professionals, educators, parents, social workers and academicians. Additionally, the Institute provides direct services at the local level through its nationwide affiliate network composed of volunteers, who work in concert with the Institute to improve child welfare services, provide access to universal early care and education, build family support services, and provide vital information on children's health.
One current issue that caught my attention is the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress report that was released on November 1. It is noteworthy that there is still a 25 point score gap between Black and White students, though there is a slight decrease from what the score was in 2009 (26 points) and a remarkable improvement of what the score was in 1994 when it was 38 points there is need to pay more attention to the black -white test score gap. Probably, closing the black-white test score gap will be the best of indicator of the promotion of racial equality in the United States.
Resources:
National Black Child Development Institute
http://nbcdi.org/
In order to accomplish its mission, the Institute provides material and disseminate important information to all individuals who work directly with children, in particular child care professionals, educators, parents, social workers and academicians. Additionally, the Institute provides direct services at the local level through its nationwide affiliate network composed of volunteers, who work in concert with the Institute to improve child welfare services, provide access to universal early care and education, build family support services, and provide vital information on children's health.
One current issue that caught my attention is the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress report that was released on November 1. It is noteworthy that there is still a 25 point score gap between Black and White students, though there is a slight decrease from what the score was in 2009 (26 points) and a remarkable improvement of what the score was in 1994 when it was 38 points there is need to pay more attention to the black -white test score gap. Probably, closing the black-white test score gap will be the best of indicator of the promotion of racial equality in the United States.
Resources:
National Black Child Development Institute
http://nbcdi.org/
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources.
Connecting with professionals and groups in one's field offers a lot of benefits such as expansion of one's knowledge base and effectiveness. Through such connections one is also able to identify best practices.Learning from what others do is a valuable strategy for professional development in all fields.
I found the aims and purposes of the Global For Alliance for the Education of Young Children to be in line with the purpose of this week's blog assignment and I have written letters to six contact addresses of participating members from different continents apart from America. As at now I am yet to get a response from any. I sincerely hope I would get at least two favourable responses, otherwise, I might be considering the alternative option in the assignment.
For the second aspect of this week assignment which is the expansion of our resources in the field of early childhood education, I visited the website of National Black Child Development Institute. I have subscribed to the institute newsletter, updates, and alerts and might be applying for membership of the institute.
I found the aims and purposes of the Global For Alliance for the Education of Young Children to be in line with the purpose of this week's blog assignment and I have written letters to six contact addresses of participating members from different continents apart from America. As at now I am yet to get a response from any. I sincerely hope I would get at least two favourable responses, otherwise, I might be considering the alternative option in the assignment.
For the second aspect of this week assignment which is the expansion of our resources in the field of early childhood education, I visited the website of National Black Child Development Institute. I have subscribed to the institute newsletter, updates, and alerts and might be applying for membership of the institute.
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