Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 1

In the beginning of the course we were asked to establish communication with a Early Childhood Professional form another country. I began my search for contacts and sent out emails and was unsuccessful in gaining communication. I also could not get the podcast to work. For this weeks blog post I am unable to introduce my international contact or discuss the podcast, so I chose to visit the website  (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/) I chose to focus on poverty in Kyrgyztstan. I chose this country because I had no prior information about the country or the poverty state they are in. 


After reviewing the information presented on the website I was able to come across some insights/ideas about Kyrgyzstan and poverty. 
-Majority of the population (about 60%) make a living from agriculture.
-At their independence, Kyrgyzstan was one of the poorest ex-Soviet Republics( estimated 32.9% of population living below Soviet poverty line)
-49% of urban people under 20 and 55% of rural under 20 years old lived in poverty in 2001 with 18% unable to afford even the basic food needs. 
-The government is working on reducing poverty. They have developed a 15 year vision, Comprehensive Development Framework, for the country. the first 3 year plan is the National Poverty Reduction Strategy. 


With looking at the statistics I found about this country, it seems as if the government is taking a step in the right direction in order to improve their countries current state of poverty. 




Refernces:
 (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)

Sharing Web Resources

I chose an international website and subscribed to a free e-newsletter. Here is the link for the website: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. The focus of this website is to provide professionals, parents and families with the latest information and issues relating to education and child care from birth to eight years. 

Although I did not receive anything in my email, on the homepage the website offers a quick overview of what was discussed in the latest newsletter. There is also a link to go to the current newsletter.

One current issue/trend that stood out to me from the newsletter was an article title $30 Million Available to Improve Early Education and Care. The article discussed how the Australian Government looking for quality organizations to apply for $350 million in grants to help improve professional development and inclusion. “The support provided allows staff working in early childhood to get the skills and support they need to deliver higher quality education and care services, including making their centre more inclusive for children with additional needs.” (Ellis, 2011) I think it is very important that government take a positive role in education. The Australian Government seems to be taking an active role on improving their Education and making sure the children benefit from their choices.

References:

http://ministers.deewr.gov.au/ellis/350-million-available-improve-early-childhood-education-and-care

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Hi everyone!!!! Hope you are all having a great start to this course and having luck establishing your contacts. For part 1 of this weeks post we were asked to establish professional contacts with early childhood professional outside of the United States. I first began searching the internet for early childhood organizations. I became unsure of what sites were real and which would offer me the best information. I decided to goto the resources that Dr.Klein set up for us. I have emailed about 5 professionals from the Global Alliance website. Two of the email addresses(Ireland and Netherlands)  immediately sent an email back saying they were invalid addresses, one office will be closed till January 9th(Armenia) and I have yet to hear back from the last two address( South Africa and Georgia). I am hoping that I will hear back from someone soon. I think it would be a more sufficient experience through emailing professionals as opposed to listening to the World Forum website and/or radio.
   
For part 2 of this weeks blog we were asked to "immerse yourself in one early childhood organization’s website in order to get to know specific ways in which the organization supports the early childhood community and the resources it offers." I have chosen to stick with this weeks theme of connecting outside of the US and chose the website for Early Childhood Australia: The Australian Early Childhood Advocacy Organization. This particular website offered a free newsletter which I subscribed to. I am hoping to learn about education in another country and possibly gain some new ideas and thoughts about how children grow and develop.