Sharing Web Resources Week 4

The website that I have been reviewing is Save the Children.  I am impressed of all the information that is gathered in this website.  They work with the most vulnerable children throughout the world, and there is information in the website of what they do in each country that they work.   While reviewing the website under the tab Take Action I found information about becoming an advocate for children.  Since I started my degree I have been more interested in advocacy than ever before.  It is an area of my profession that I want to continue developing and learning.   They have links to join their efforts through important social networks, they provide information in the most important trends and issues and encourage you to participate and speak to congress and information in legislation and what is advocacy.  Also they have information about the elected officials and what techniques are most effective to advocate for children and families.

One of the biggest consequences of poverty is malnutrition and lack of health services.  When people are poor they lack of means to provide for themselves and their family an appropriate nutrition and health services.  This organization works to ensure to provide these services in the areas where they work.  Besides worrying about the nutrition and health of the children we also have to worry about the state of health of the parents.  When parents are not healthy they lack of the energy to thrive for their children.  This situation makes it difficult for them to break the chain of poverty. 

In the website I found this statement “What does "go without" mean in America?   This means little access to books, early education, proper nutrition and play.  Children that face these issues have a hard time to thrive during their first years of development.

Facts in USA:

·         Four-year-olds from families affected by poverty are 18 months behind other 4-year-olds developmentally.

·         In 60 percent of low-income households, there are no books at all in the home.

·         In rural communities, 52 percent of children living in poverty are overweight or obese.

Obesity is another issue in early childhood.  Nowadays in the USA obesity has become a great health issues within the children.  This is due to the limited access of healthy foods and parents low education.

If politicians, neuroscientists and economists work together to create policies and programs that decreased poverty many of this issues could be drastically reduced.  Then we can have more healthy people and children that can develop and become productive citizens for our nation. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

Unfortunately, I did not get a response from the people that I attempted to contact over in Peru.  I am a little disappointed, but I will not give up.  For this week, I chose to listen to 2 of the podcasts.  I listened to Susan Lyon from Innovative Teacher Project and Barbara Jones Founder of Pine Groove Montessori School.  What I noticed in their podcasts is that they both  were interested in alternative education.  The early childhood field is changing, and more professionals are becoming interested in programs that promote high quality services.  Also, programs that are able to individualized and look at children from a different perspective.

With all the issues and trends that we find in our communities nowadays.  There is a great need of people and programs that are able to meet the needs and interests of all children.

During this week, I have been learning about poverty.  I was struck to learn how poverty can affect the healthy development of a child.  I look at poverty as a chain; a chain that needs to be broken.  If we provide the children in poverty with the services and systems that they need, we may help them to break with the poverty cycle.  They break the cycle by becoming  self-sufficient  and productive citizens in the country.

Sharing Web Resources

The International website that I selected is Save The Children.  

Save the Children is an organization that works in more that 120 countries to protect, save and improve the life of children.  Also, they have an emergency response program that is prepared to protect vulnerable children during and after disasters. One of the issues I found in their website is health and nutrition.  This entity works to provide access to health and nutritional services to children and their families.  They develop strategies and programs to make sure that they are reaching as many people as possible.

It has been proved that children benefit of quality health services and well- child check ups.   Unfortunately, not all children in the world have access to quality health services.  Even in the United States there is a great percentage of children and families who are not receiving their schedule check ups and services, due lack of insurance coverage.