Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I still haven't heard from any of my international contacts so I did the alternative assignment. Targeting toxic stress in children was the article I read. This article was in its experimental phases but it had some great insight. Toxic stress in children can enable them to cope with normal stress in their adult life according to this article. Some of the causes of toxic stress in children are recurrent abuse, chronic neglect and constant exposure to violence. Another important fact from the article was that not all children from poverty are affected by toxic stress. Children that have adults in their lives making them feel secure and helping them deal with the stress have a better chance in developing skills for their adult lives

Sharing Web Resources

• What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?  This organization is really touching because it stated that over 90 % of children have biological parents who cannot support them. This hits close to home because my students are going through some of the same things. They have parents for whatever who aren't taking care of them and some are living with grandparents, foster parents, or other relatives. The benefits of government assistance is really another deciding factor in most of my students survival.
• Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways? I didn't see anything to change my perception of this organzation other than the fact that they have such powerful supporters.
• What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field? This website names a few world famouse personalities such as Angelina Jolie, the Dalia Lama, Nelson Mandela, and Anna Netrebko as contributing friends and supporters.  They are helpful by spending time with the children, supporting the organization, giving donations, and in some cases helping the children to find homes.
  
• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter? I was sort of shocked because I didn't know that so many major people played a role in helping this organization.  It was really good to see that they are helping because sometimes when I watch television I think that those are paid infomercials.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

Unfortunately I still haven't established contact with anyone so I did the alternative assignment. I chose China as my topic for childhood poverty. As many of you may know China has the largest population of people in the world. They also a have a huge poverty level. It is stated that 4.2 million Chinese children live in abosolute poverty. That is a lot of people and my heart goes out to them. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a heart for children and that's part of the reason that I enjoy working with them so much. It also says that another 8.7 million children live in disadvantaged conditions. I did read that the abosolute poverty numbers and proportion of children living in poverty have decreased since the 1990s. It's to see them doing better as a country but I know that there are still a lot of less fortunate children and I feel bad for them. I pray that God will bless their counrty as well as everyone else's especially the children.

Sharing Web Resources

http://www.sos-dd.ru/eng/about/

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES RUSSIA

SOS Children’s Villages Russia is an independent non-governmental organization that provides a family approach to the long term care of orphaned and abandoned children. They  bring orphaned children back to the natural atmosphere of the family giving them back a mother (an SOS-mother), a home and a happy childhood in a supportive Village environment. They also help children shape their own futures and get ready for independent life.They have benn exending their work with families through family strengthening programs snce 2006. They do this by working for disadvantaged families to prevent crises that can in the worst case scenario lead to children being placed in out-of-home care. I chose this particular organization because I feel that they really are dedicated to help kids succeed as well as saving then from almost certain destruction. I know that there may be plenty of organizatons like this but this one really stands out to me.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Being that this class was unavailable to me until yesterday, I have been unable to contact two early childhood professionals. Therefore, I believe T need to try the alternative to number 1. I reached out to someone in Africa and in Europe. I also watched a podcast video of Barbara Jones on the World Forum Radio. I really enjoyed her story about how she came into Montesoi education which led to her opening up a school.