While exploring the Australia site, I discovered a site called NYU Child Study Center (http://www.aboutourkids.org/about_us). The NYU Child Study Center is an organization focused on the treatment of psychiatric disorders in children. Further exploration led me to a disorder guide describing disorders from acute stress disorder to social anxiety. The statistics are sad, “75 percent of mental health disorders have their rood in…childhood…millions of children are never properly diagnosed” (http://www.aboutourkids.org/about_us). Parents can also utilize the site, as there is a tab for families seeking professional help. This resource tab helps parents in identifying problems, seeking treatment and even information and facts on medications. The wonderful feature of the site is that there is a tab to translate articles and information into Spanish.
I was also able to find a tab for Early Childhood Services to further guide parents and educators to appropriate information. Through this tab one can find resources for evaluation of problems, consultation services as well as treatment services.
The site was extremely interesting especially since most recently I have encountered a few children in my pre-school program who are presenting quite a few behavioral red flags. Sadly, the parents of these children are not ready to face what may or may not lie ahead and they are not interested in some of the resources we have available. There is a wealth of resources on the site to help administrators and educators alike from news in the field and important research.
As I revisited Early Childhood Australia, I sought to find some of the same issues we have been exploring the last few weeks. I began to go through the newsletter and found a newsletter on “Understanding Cultural Competence” and “Learning Outcomes. The links are as follows; http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/eylfplp/newsletters/EYLFPLP_E-Newsletter_No6.pdf
Cultural competence is of great importance to the people of Australia as it plays a role in a child’s healthy development fostering growth in a child’s personal life as well as fostering positive educational outcomes. One area of importance was to create a community of culture among young children so as to build an inclusive Australian society. An attempt was made to do just that; in a school system where Aboriginal Torres Strait Children did not attend, a local elder from the Aboriginal Tribe was invited to come talk to the children. The elder spoke about his culture, sharing with the children his language, stories about his people and information about how the Aboriginal peoples took care of the land. The children had a great experience.
Learning outcomes are important for all children. Learning outcomes are defined as “A skill, knowledge or disposition that educators can actively promote in early childhood settings, in collaboration with children and families” (www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au). According to the learning outcomes, children have a strong sense of their own identity and children are connected to and contribute to their world. Through the learning outcomes young children can become successful, confident and creative learners who then are active, informed members of society.
Lastly I examined some of the news releases to find any similarities and came across a piece “Quality childcare more important than cost”. The link is as follows;
The problem at hand is that many early childhood education care services are providing poor quality because they are failing to meet basic standards. Much like here in this country, if standards could be put into place, a greater sense of high quality childcare would be available as well as be more affordable for families.
Through my exploration of the websites, I have found a sense of commitment to young children and not only to their academic success but to their success as human beings. The commitment seems to translate to advocacy that provides resources and information to create environments where young children can reach their full potential. Oceans may separate us, but children are all the same; they need to be valued for who they are, and where they come from. Perfect environments do not exist, but we should all continue to forge ahead to create those perfect environments where children can grow and prosper.
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Hi! Georgia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the website and need to do some research on a child that I have in my classroom that I suspect having issues. I am glad that they offer information for families. I will pass this website on to my colleagues.
Amanda Stapleton-Tuhy
Georgia,
ReplyDeleteCulture is an important factor in all countries and may have some important factors in the early childhood programs. Having knowledge of a family culture can help you understannd and relate to a child.
Georgia,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that no environment is perfect. It is our job to do the best we can with what we do have available to us.
As always, your blog is very informative and encouraging!