Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

Global Children initiative began a leadership program outside the U.S.. The program is called Nucleo ciencia Pela Infancia (NCPI). This is a scientific program that was created to help with strategies to improve the well being and life of vulnerable children in Brazil. The NCPI consisit of six partner organizations. All of the six partners are using science as their base to inform about child development. The NCPI is trying to inform that life long health, learning and behavior starts when children are young. 

The title of the next article that caught my attention was Grand Challenges Canada. The name of the program is saving brain. Saving brain is designed to nurture early brain development. This program seeks to improve outcomes for children living in poverty through interventions. These interventions will nurture and protect early brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child's life. They are hoping to help break the cycle of poverty. Different projects are being implemented in middle income countries in Africa, Asia, The Carribean and in Latin America.

The third article that I read was Un Buen Comienzo (UBC). A "Good Start " is a collaborative project in Santiago Chile to improve early childhood education. The idea of the program was to improve the quality of education for four to six year old. They were especially targeting language development. In order to improve school attendance and socioemotional development the project addressed  critical health areas. They also worked to involve the children's families in their education.

Reference
 (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)

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On the initial page of the website Harlem Children's  Zone it stated " A National model for breaking the cycle of poverty. Education + family & community + health = results".That statement resonated with me because in my family child care business I am faced everyday with children living in poverty. As a family child care provider I have been gathering many pamphlets for my parents to different programs to help them combat the present situation they are in.

One of the early childhood programs at Harlem Children's Zone is called baby college. This program reaches out to expectant parents, new parents and other caregivers. This program gives all involved a understanding of how the child's brain works and why it is so important to stimulate it. They also teach the fundamentals of child development. The program teaches all of the skills to raise a healthy and happy babies. Most early childhood programs do not target expectant parents. Reading this article has made me think that we do need to target parents before their child is born. Equipping them earlier can only make the outcome even better.

In 2008 Senator Barack Obama pledged to create a anti- bias program inspired by Harlem Children's Zone. In 2010 President Barack Obama was able to launch that program. The name of the program was "The Promise Neighborhood Program" as part of his neighborhood revitalization initiative.  The promise neighborhood program provides federal funding to neighborhoods to help insure cradle to career success. This program is overseen by the U.S. Department of education.

There is a great emphasis on making sure that children are ready for kindergarten. At the Harlem Children Zone they have a program called Harlem Gems. This program targets Pre kindergarten children. The reason this program is different is that it  has a summer program for the children before they start in September. This allows the children to explore the classroom and get familiar with many of the materials.  In September the children will be ready to thrive from day one.  Even though having a preschool program that focuses on getting the children ready for kindergarten is not new having a preprogram that allows children to explore before is a new idea.

Getting to know your international Contacts Part 1

I still have not heard from the international people or websites I contacted. On the unicef website http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html I found a website about chronic poverty. Chronic poverty  research centre (CPRC) was an international partnerships of universities research institutes and NGOs, it completed ten years program in 2011. This research states chronic poverty is and who and where it is likely to happen. 

Chronic poverty is prevalent all over the world. The place it is concentrated more is in Sub- Saharan Africa. A high population are poor and they stay poor over long portions of their lives. South Asia economic growth rates are have been improving, their poverty rates are lower but a large number of people still remain in chronic poverty. Within countries chronic poverty is not usually distributed  evenly. Most households that are in chronic poverty are located in remote, less favoured or areas that are in conflict.
It is very important to understand the social and economical and political reason and processes that made them poor and keeps them poor. The article stated the knowledge they have about the causes of chronic poverty is limited.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 1

The website I selected for this weeks assignment is National Center for Children in Poverty (http://www.nccp.org/). The vision Of NCCP's is to create family economic security, strong nurturing families and healthy family development. NCCP uses knowledge gained from research to enforce public policies. They are trying to ensure a more positive outcome for the next generation. Because NCCP brings to light emerging challenges and offers ways on how to turn research into practice. this agency is respected by direct service providers and advocates across the country.

This site offers many resources to its users. This agency has publication on a range of topics. These topics can be accessed by date, title, project, topic and facts sheets. Other tools this site offers is called data tools. They include basic needs budget calculator, young child's risk calculator, family resource stimulator, 50 state demographic wizards and a 50 state policy tracker. These tools offer the
viewer the opportunity to view the needs of a family by state and age range.

This site worked on a project called NYC Partners for Preschool Quality for Preschools promoting high quality preschools in NYC high needs communities. They trained staff to create strong support for children's learning. This project also supported the preschool  program so that there will be continuous support and hoping for quality improvement.

I obtained a wealth of information from evaluating this website. I knew many families in the United States are the working poor. What startled me was the number of families that are below the poverty level.  These parents work but are not making ends meet wages and unstable jobs leaves them under the poverty level and their daily needs are not being met. When children live in poverty it affects the entire development of the child. It may impede the child's ability to learn. When a child is young or if poverty is continuous and deep there is a greater chance of an adverse affect on the child.

(http://www.nccp.org/)

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Harlem Children's Zone



The name of the organization I decided to research is Harlem Children's Zone. The Harlem Children's  zone takes a holistic view of the children and families that they serve. Many of the children involved in this organization have tough challenges in their lives. That is why they give each child indivualized
 support. They are hoping to produce self sustaining adults. They have twenty sites across the country.

One of the articles that sparked my interest was titled Healthy Harlem. That is a issue that concerns obesity in children. The organization performs a comprehensive work up on each child. The children that are obese an intensive intervention plan is applied based on the findings. Once again they take the whole child into account. They have age appropriate exercising and start the children on a healthy path teaching them about nutrition. They also work with the parents of the children. They include the parents with cooking classes, a farmers market with free fruits and vegetables. Free fun exercising classes are also provided.

This website is a wealth of information. The HCZ model can be applied to all children from all demographics and diversity. It takes a holistic view of the child and family. It is a great resource for all educators.

References

Harlem Children's Zonehttp://www.hcz.org/(Newsletter: https://donate.hcz.org/signup )