Excellence & Quality

Pictures have the power to speak so much louder and stronger than documents.  A single photos has the ability to bring on so many emotions. Being that I am also a believer in what the bible says, I find or take pictures of my professional goals.  Habakkuk 2:2-3 (KJV) says,

 "... Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

Here is a glimpse of my professional goals, I would like to do the following:

1) Own and operate multiple quality Christian based primary educational facilities (ages 6 weeks to 8 years old):

2) Providing superior education to every student that enters through the doors: including foreign languages, art courses, fitness classes, educational field trips, science and chemistry, and cultural history classes.... to name a few things 😁

3) Hire a superb diverse staff that loves to teach, learn, enjoys children, and works as a team (with the ability to compensate them well) 

4)  Provide financial aid and scholarships to children who are not able to attend due to financial complications 

5) Leave a legacy as to what a great educational experience would be like... 

 I know that it is a lot, but I love when I share my goals and people tell me that I can't achieve it.  It gives me the opportunity to send my business card and a thank you card, once the goal is met!  

To my knowledge there are no current EC quality issues being discussed in my community.  Working in a hospital, they are more concerned with healthcare rather than education.  Unfortunately, that leaves me to have to research developmental opportunities.  As of right now, I have been more focused on my goals and school work..... which are one of my many goals 

National Black Child Development Institute

After my week 6 assignment, I decided to do some research on NBCDI (National Black Child Development Institute).  I know that they would be advocates for EC equality and accessibility.  I am glad that I took the time to read through the site.  The organization advocates for children from birth to eight years old.  NBCDI works with federal, state, and local agencies to help low income children receive quality education, credible staff and educational support, support in creating developmental and culturally appropriate guidelines and lesson plans, and evaluations that appropriate for each level of education (https://www.nbcdi.org/what-we-do/early-care-and-education).

There are a variety of things that I have learned through looking through the site.  The organization supports seeking out talented trained educators and compensating .  Providing children with educators that are trained decreases the achievement gap especially for low income children.  NBCDI is in favor of creating a diverse staff and inclusion of school and community based educators (https://www.nbcdi.org/what-we-do/early-care-and-education).  The site as a whole was interesting and educational.  I hadn't heard of them, but decided to do some reading.     

Issues and Trends of ECE 

So I had a time going to reaching out to other ECE (early childhood education) professionals.  The first 2 responses that I got were from professors in London. They had told me that they were too busy with their own responsibilities to assist me with my assignment. (completely understandable... I have a busy life too) 

As a result, I went to a totally different continent (Australia) to see what they were all about.  After reaching out to several daycare directors, I was able to get a response.  Toni and Kellie were gracious enough to answer the following questions:

• What do you view as your biggest challenge in the field of ECE? 
• What has been you most rewarding moment in your career thus far?

Toni, a manager, answered:

Her biggest challenge is documentation and having time to build quality relationships with the children and their families.  She enjoys watching her children grow and mature. 

Kellie, also a manager, answered:

Her biggest challenge is the government families package which highlights the need for early childhood services to allow families to return to or remain within the workforce.  The package takes away from quality education and care despite their criteria.  Some of Australia's most vulnerable children will not have access to ECE and or be minimized.  Second, the media is emphasizing the need of childcare centers, and pressuring the licensing bodies.  There have been 5 new openings over the past 2 years, but most have struggled to remain open 

Kellie also feels as if she is rewarded everyday working with children. 

Based upon what Kellie is saying there are some inequalities for the children in Australia.  I don't have a full understanding of the job package in Australia, but I can tell that it is directly effecting their center.    

I am loving the impact of HCZ...

Harlem Children's Zone is an organization that is really tugging at my heart.  I love how they are impacting every area of early childhood education, and really every stage in life .  They have "Baby College", "Three Year Old Journey" and "Harlem Gems".  Each of the classes focus on a portion of early childhood education.  Baby College educates expecting and new parents in areas such as healthcare, child development, communication, and how to raise a healthy baby.  Three Year Old Journey is a way for parents to get educated on the developmental stages of their child.  The program is a way for parents to receive education while their children develop social skills with trained staff.   Harlem Gems is HCZ's pre-K program.  100% of their pre-K class was prepared to go to kindergarten.  That is an awesome accomplishment!  HCZ's goal is to produce nothing but positive futures.  It is a model that I would love to mirror in my career.   

HCZ takes early childhood education to a new level by starting while the child is in the womb.  I would have never thought to have such an elaborate program, but just last year they impacted 13,477 lives.  It is an amazing contribution to the community and to the nation's economy.  Multiple presidents and celebrities have complimented HCZ on their accomplishments.  The video below was posted as a testimonial to show the impact that they have made on their participants' lives.  I am sure that there are plenty of other organizations advocating for better early childhood education, but this one has the numbers to prove it.  I am so happy to see the positive effects of making a positive impact at birth! Watch the video... its less than 2 minutes!! 

Retrieved from: https://hcz.org/news/ 

Do you have the Power?

I have a friend that was born and raised in India.  She is now a physician, but frequently goes home to help and visit her family and friends.  She told me how she was poor, and had no toys.  Her father would not buy his children toys, because he was saving for their future.  The children would get sticks, rocks, and wood from outside and make figurines.  Those would be her toys.  She lived in a very small house and shared a bed with her siblings until leaving for college.  Based upon her experiences, I have always wondered what was the range of poverty in India.

Doing research about India I read about the following issues:

• 1.3 billion people around the world don't have a way of getting electricity (https://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Child_Poverty_Insights_TERI_June_2013.pdf). 

• Although 84.9% of villages have a electric line, only 46% of the rural homes have access to electricity (http://indianpowersector.com/home/about/)   

• Indian families use biomass cooking fuel as a way to cook food as a result of no electricity, kerosene, or other resources.  (The fumes generated as a result of burning cause acute respiratory infections, immune deficiencies and low birth weights.)

• Biomass cooking fumes caused around 177,000 deaths under 5 years old. 

So the logical question would be...  Why would you expose your family to the fumes and pollution if you knew that it could hurt you family?

I am guessing that their logical answer would be..... Hopefully eat today and worry about dying later.

Its hurtful to see a person suffer like that.  So I thought to myself, what can we do to help.

• Find charities that would help in sending the appropriate cooking mechanisms such as kerosene, candles, wood, etc.  

• Partner with the Minister of Power to fund projects to access power to the electric lines

• Educate communities on how to generate their own power 

I am out of ideas to eliminate the issue. However I do know that all it takes is one idea to start a ripple effect of change.  

Resources
https://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Child_Poverty_Insights_TERI_June_2013.pdf
http://indianpowersector.com/home/about/

Harlem Children's Zone

Harlem Children’s Zone also known as HCZ

The Harlem Children’s Zone focuses on helping children and families avoid the hardships of poverty.  They are able to accomplish their goals through education, community outreach, and healthcare.   The program works with children from birth until the end of their college career.  HCZ has a variety of stages that focuses on every level within a child’s life and the family as a whole.  They educate families through their finances, healthcare, education, parenting, and other areas.  The organization is non-profit and relies heavily on donations.  Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and presidents including Obama and Clinton have recognized Harlem Children’s Zone.

HCZ doesn’t have a newsletter that cycles at a particular time.  They write articles based upon their achievements.  The success rate of Harlem Children’s Zone is phenomenal: 

• ·      They have a 97% college acceptance rate in 2017  
• ·      97% college graduation rate (since 2000)
• ·      9, 000 children participated in the healthy run/challenge
• ·      1.2 million healthy meals prepared by HCZ food service in 2017
• ·      100% of Pre-K students tested school-ready in 2017
• ·      88% of funding goes directly to the program

  The organization is awesome and tried to encourage other organizations to follow in their lead.  HCZ has a mentoring program that allows other companies participate in a 3-day educational session to show others their steps to success.  The organization has shown me how to impact the entire family.  Harlem Children’s Zone starts with caring hearts, education and support.

Check them out… I am sure you will love them too  www.hcz.org

Establishing Horizons & Expanding Resources

Hi guys,

I believe I was a little confused on the blog assignment for this week.  I read the assignment and thought that I knew what I was doing, so here we go.   I reached out to 2 different Early Childhood Education Professionals.  Each were different professors.  One professor was from University College in London and the other was from University of Melbourne in Australia.

 I wrote the following email, and hoped for the best.

Hello,

My name is Alisha.  I am a graduate student at Walden University majoring in Early Childhood Education.  I am writing you as apart of my assignment in my Trends and Issues in Early Childhood Education Course.  I am seeking other Early Childhood Education Colleagues to get their perspectives from around the world.  Your participation through email will assist in the completion of this course and my career.  I would like to reach out to you a few times to get your professional expertise on a few topics. 

Can you start by answering the following questions?

·      What do you view as the biggest challenge within the field of Early Childhood Education

·      What led you to the career of education

·      What has been your most rewarding moment during your career thus far

Thank you for your time, and I hope that you can continue to assist me in my career through Early Childhood Education.

Regards..  

I received one email back stating that she was not a early childhood educator, but an elementary.  I was surprised, because I looked at her bio to confirm their fields.  Oh well... I guess I will reach out to another person.... So I guess I am still at 1.5

Part 2 

I have chosen the Harlem Children's Zone as my organization.  I love the way the company has impacted so many people.  It is amazing the progress they have made, and the lives they have changed.