- Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead?
There are many links on the NIEER website. Some of the ones I found interesting
were:
National
Center for Early Development & Learning - Administratively based at the Frank
Porter Graham Child Development Institute, NCEDL was a collaboration with the
University of Virginia and University of California, Los Angeles.
The center was created to provide national leadership and advance new knowledge
in the field of early childhood development and learning. Goals of NCEDL were
to: determine the state of the nation and conduct research on critical issues
in early childhood practices; develop partnerships with diverse constituencies;
synthesize knowledge and recommend future directions; and translate research
into practice and disseminate information to diverse audiences.
Children,
Youth and Families Education and Research Network (CYFERnet) - CYFERnet's Web site brings together the
best, children, youth and family resources of all the public land-grant
universities in the country. Materials are carefully reviewed by college and
university faculty. Through CYFERnet you can also interact with your colleagues
and share your work nationally.
CYFERnet
provides:
- information on for child
and youth devleopment, parenting, families, and community development.
- practical research-based
tools, curricula and activities for working with children, youth, families
programs.
- a database to help you
identify experts in the areas of children, youth, and family across the
country.
- opportunities to interact
with CYFAR professionals in our webinars, blogs, online communities.
- access to the latest
research, statistical, and demographic information.
- resources and instruments
for program evaluation.
- information on 3000 community-based programs serving
vulnerable populations.
- information on the
programmatic use of the latest technologies.
I
really enjoyed the Activities, Lesson Plans and Learning Resources page. It gave non-formal education resources
for child and youth after-school programs, summer programs, camp and special
events. It included lesson plans, activities, instructions, curriculum, videos,
and tips that even parents can use at home.
National Center for Children in Poverty - Identifies
and promotes strategies that prevent child poverty in the US and improve the
lives of low-income children and their families. The site allows you to research each state independently as
well as produces reports that cover the entire country.
- Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find?
I am most interested in the Special Education
section of the website. It has
many publications and links to other websites that have a tremendous amount of
information on various special needs.
It also gives links to news articles from various media sources across
the country on special education issues.
- If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available?
Unfortuately, I have not received a newsletter
or email from the site in more than 2 weeks.
- Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education?
Since the website is basically a database of
publications and research initiatives, you can find various articles about
equity and excellence. Two
sections in particular that has a lot of information on these topics is the
Governance and Accountability section and the Quality and Curriculum section.
- What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?
Of interest, there was an article about a child advocacy
group that filed a lawsuit against Fisher Price for their claims that their Laugh
& Learn mobile apps teach babies language and counting skills. According to
the complaints, the companies say in marketing material that their apps teach
infants spatial skills, numbers, language or motor skills. But, the complaints
claim, there is no rigorous scientific evidence to prove that these kinds of
products provide those benefits.
In addition, there was an article about how the
middle class gets priced out of preschool. According to NIEER, access to
preschool across the country is actually lower for the middle class than for
the poor. Middle-income families don’t have access to Head Start, like poor
families, and they can’t afford expensive places, either.
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteDid the article about the high cost of preschool for middle class families have any recommendations on how this issue can be addressed? Any suggestions for policymakers? As a new parent I remember feeling frustrated when I was looking for childcare for my daughter. The programs I considered to be of high quality were quite expensive for my family but neither would we qualify for any subsidies. Fortunately, I was able to find a good program that was a little less expensive. Next to our mortgage, childcare is our next highest expense which I’m sure is the case for most families. An article I read about the cost of childcare stated that the US Dept of Health and Human Services recommends that families spend no more than 10% of their income on childcare but the reality is that families are having to spend as much as 16%!
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI also read an article this week about the high cost of child care, and how middle class families are unable to afford quality care. I researched an Australian website and the Australian Government have two ways of helping families pay for their child care, one is a Child Care Benefit and is income based. It helps low-income families. The other is a Child Care Rebate which helps families based on other factors, such as parental employment, parent attending school etc. The rebate program is aimed at helping families who do not qualify for the Child Care Benefit. I really liked this idea because it gives all children the opportunity to receive high-quality care.
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteWorking in a child care center, I cannot tell you how many times I have toured families and they were unable to bring their children because the cost was too high, but they did not qualify for child care assistance. It breaks my heart every time when I have to explain to these families that there isn't assistance available. What can we do to improve cost and accessibility for middle income families?
Jamie
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post information, I am always looking for activities and ideas for lessons. Good information and references. I plan to follow up. KArmstrong