Sharing Web Resources

Child Care Aware of America is the site I have chosen. Thursday 16 March 2017 an article was posted on the site about President Trump purposing the elimination of programs that support child care. The bill looks to cut the funding of federal support to 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) (Nichols, 2017).

These programs are ones who directly support children and families who are low-income. The 21^st CCLC supports families with summer learning programs and afterschool care.  The CDBG creates the ability for low-income families to afford gain access to affordable housing, and assists with meal funding programs and community based educational programs (Nichols, 2017).

Programs that in rich our children and the families in the communities are important. Being able to have these funds to keep these programs available to the communities is highly important. While researching within the site I found a study done with the issues many millennials have with being able to afford child care. Should funding be cut federally the possibilities that programs may have to raise fees is there to be able to offset the costs of running a quality program.

Early education is an important part of growth and development for children as well as their families. Ensuring the quality programs are accessible to the communities is something the governments does need to take into consideration.

http://usa.childcareaware.org/2017/03/president-trump-proposes-elimination-of-programs-that-support-child-care/

http://usa.childcareaware.org/millennial-map/

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

         For this assignment I have found two colleagues who are a part of the military community, yet are in different parts of the world in different organizations. My First contact is with a colleague in Aviano, Italy Sayako who is originally from South Korea and now is a Director of an early learning facility. Sarah is my other point of contact who is in England and travels working with a variety of nursery schools. Both of these ladies will be able to supply me with a wealth of knowledge on the issues and trends they face overseas.

            I have emailed both ladies and corresponded back and forth discussing good days and times as well as set up times lines of how quickly they will be able to respond. Both ladies are excited to correspond and learn what we each have to share.

            When choosing a website to follow and immerse myself in I choose one I am not familiar with, but that I would be able to highly benefit from professionally as well as personally. I chose National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. I have used the website here and there for other courses as well as some research and would like to better familiarize myself with what the agency has to offer and the resources it has.

            I am excited to learn from everyone’s different contacts and see what they offer in our field of early learning. I would like feedback on the questions people are most wanting to know about the different countries. I would love to hear about the different environments of classrooms as well as the playgrounds and outside environments. I would also be interested to see what we can find out about the child-centered learning that takes place.  

Daily Supports

My daily environment contains many supports that allow for me to be successful each and every day these are the most important to me. First, my policies and regulations giving me the guidance and support to maintain a positive program. Being able to have the knowledge of what is seen as important in running a program where fun, safety and inclusion are emphasized. Secondly, my facility is set up for success. The materials within are in good repair and are plentiful for all children within the program to have choices of proper developmentally appropriate materials to utilize. Finally, the families within my program. The communication had between the parents as well as the children allow for feedback on what is going well and what can be improved.

            These three supports allow for me to be able to function in a positive manor each day. Without the rules and guidelines there would not be policies and procedures to train other educators on or to ensure families are aware of the expectations. Without the facility I would not have a safe place for the children and families to come to each day. The materials in the facility allow for children to learn through play and exploration without the materials the children would not have tools to manipulate. The communication had and the families and children as a whole would mean there would be no one to serve and learn from. Gaining the feedback and experiences shared allows for me to grow as an educator each day.

            A challenge would be ensuring the safety and inclusion of the children and families in the program with those in the community. To be able to overcome any obstacles that this challenge faces I would need my three supports I utilize most to succeed. Being able to rely on the policies and regulations, my facility and the communication from those within would guide me to learn what I need to know to make the inclusion and safety possible. The information I have from the community allows for me to be able to create an environment in the facility to allow for the cultures and community to be best served. While creating the positive environment referring back to my policies and regulations ensures the safety of all in the facility staff, families and children.

Without these supports the safety would be questionable and the communication would be difficult without clean guidelines. The improper facility would possibly cause danger to those within the building or on the playground. These three supports are the only way I am guarantying myself for success for myself and all those involved in the program it gives a strong framework to build off of.