Farewell and Good Luck

    It is really hard to believe that it is already time to write my last blog for my Master's course.  When I first began this journey almost two years ago, I had no idea how to blog or if I was doing it right and this has become just one of the many things I have been introduced to through this course.  One of my favorite courses was the course on child development and how we had a chance to look at the fetus as it grows all the way up until the age of eight.  I have taken child development classes for my undergrad degree, but I never got to look at this in so much depth.  I am now working with infants and being that I currently have no children of my own, I have always been a bit anxious that I was not doing the right thing or that I lacked the proper knowledge.  This course really helped me feel more comfortable and I gained a lot of useful I share with families to this day.
    Another course that I enjoyed was the course on budgeting.  It gave me  chance to work directly with my director on realistic budget issues our center has each day.  I understand now why we do the things that we do and I can explain these things to the employees now too.  Being on the other side, I never understood how limiting a budget can be, so it was so important for me to have a chance to look at this.  I also liked that we had a chance to make our own budgets because, even thought I struggled getting all my figures exact, it was great hands-on experience should I ever have to do the real thing.
     I also learned a great deal from doing my capstone project.  I never realized the information that was available on natural outdoor learning environments and I never thought I would love it so much.  I enjoyed doing the research and dare I say, creating my project.  Even though it was stressful, it seemed like something that was so beneficial.
    The last thing I learned and the one that I feel is the greatest, is the reminder of how important time management is.  There were a number of days/nights when doing homework was the last thing I wanted to do, but I stuck it out and knew that it was in my best interest.  I have always been good at time management, but this program has taught me that I can work full-time, be in school and still maintain an active personal life outside of all of this.  I moved 3 times during this program and took two major vacations out of the country and each time I was able to balance everything.  (even if it was just a bit stressful).  Maintaining a balance is truly important and it is this that I also take away from this experience.  I believe in hard work, but you also have to have time for yourself, your family and your friends.  I also learned that I really can accomplish anything I set my mind too.  
   As for my long-term goal, I really don't know.  People at work and in my family have asked me "What do you want to do now?" and I don't have an answer yet.  I am just looking forward to having some time to process what I want to do and not rush into anything.  I really enjoy my job that I am doing right now and I think I would like to continue moving up within the organization, but I really don't know what the future holds for me.  I'll just take it day by day.
   I want to thank everyone in this program and course for being so incredibly supportive.  Without all of you, I don't think I could have done this.  We have all worked so hard and I am so excited to move on to the next journey, as I am sure all of you are as well.  As of right now, I have plans to go to graduation in Orlando in Jan. 2014 so maybe I will run into some of you there.

I found these three quotes and chose to end my submission with them because they all have meaning to me in my personal and professional life.  It's been a year full of changes, which all turned out to be positive, and I think all of these quotes are great because we must accept the challenges that come along, own our lives and love what it is we do every day!!

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown

“It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.” – Mother Teresa

Congratulations to everyone and I wish you all the best in whatever your next adventures will be!!  Now go have a cocktail....we've earned it!!

                The first organization is the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.  It can be found at www.omep.org.gu.se/English/.  It is an international, non-government and non-profit.  There may goal is to defend and promote all children’s rights to have an education.  One of their projects that I found interesting was called Birth to Three.  Its purpose is to provide education for sustainable development and WASH from the start.  (WASH stands for water, sanitation and hygiene).  The individuals working on this project go into homes, community health centers and preschools to ensure that all children have clean water, use proper sanitation and have proper hygiene.  The organization works with the UN, UNICEF and many other international organizations.

      While there were no current jobs listed, I would like to do the job of National President of a region in Europe.  This person produces newsletters, attends national meetings and represents their assigned area in all educational aspects of Early Childhood.  I would love to represent a region in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece or Ireland because I love traveling abroad and have always had an interest in what it would be like to live and work abroad.  For this job, I believe you would need to be organized, fluent in the language of the region where you live, in addition to speaking English and be very knowledgeable on that regions educational systems to you could discuss what is going on within the region and also recognize areas that you would need help in. 

                The second organization I found is the Association for Childhood Education International which is located at acei.org.  There motto is “Bright futures for every child, every nation”.  There are different advisory groups all over the world (Canada, Peru, Oman, India, Singapore) and anyone can pay dues and be a member of this organization.  This organization produces various professional educational magazines and gives a lot of opportunities for networking with people in other areas of the world.  The one program I really liked was the “Love Me, Teach Me” program/campaign which encourages parents and teachers to interact more deeply with children.   All children have the right to have an identity, to participate in education, and the right to have security, stability and protection.  The campaign focuses on teaching adults how to do this with the children in their lives.  I also liked that there is an ACEI radio station and they have broadcasts posted on the website of various topics that are discussed.

                The position that I thought looked interesting was their Country Liaison Program position.  I could pick any place in the world and move there and my job would be to gather information about the Early Childhood practices and policies there, share this information with members of the group, provide ideas on staff development and promote international and intercultural understand (www.acei.org).  Again, you would have to be organized, knowledgeable of the educational practices of the area and willing to travel frequently for meetings and conferences.

                Another organization I found was the Pacific Early Childhood Research Association found at www.pecera.org.  I searched this website more out of curiosity because I do not know much about the Pacific Island culture or educational system.  The purpose of this organization is to support and research Early Childhood education and get the word out to others about it.  They strongly promote research and studying of EC.  They have an annual conference, produce various journals and there is a database of members that other members can connect with.  Another interesting thing I found is that the founder and honorary president, Bernard Spodek, is a professor at the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana, which is one of my state universities located just a few hours away. 

                The last organization I searched information also had a job I found interesting because it is a job I used to do.  The site is reggioalliance.org and they have a position for a preschool teacher in Japan.  The person that does this job would work with families from Japan, the US, the UK, Belgium, Taiwan, and India.  This job is interesting to me because I have never worked with such a diverse group of children before.  I would have to have creative lesson plans based on the Reggio Emilia concept, be a good communicator with my parents and maintain an organized classroom.

                The website, reggioalliance.org is the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance and they have various conferences individuals can attend, different networking opportunities and a lot of really neat pictures and information about schools based on Reggio Emilia from different parts of the world.  The section of the website that I really liked is from Reggio Emilia, Italy and gives information on infant, toddler and preschool centers in the area.

 

References

www.omep.org.gu.se/English/

www.acei.org

www.pecera.org

reggioalliance.org

National/Federal Organizations and CoP's

     The first Community of Practice that I found that I would like to be a part of is found at futureofchildren.org.    It is made up of individuals from Princeton University and The Brookings Institution and these individuals work together "to translate the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy."  (futureofchildren.org).  They write really great journals and articles on a huge range of early childhood topics and produce policy briefs each year.  The reason why I really like this organization is because they have good sound research practices and they get to have a direct impact on politicians who make early childhood policies.  One of the jobs I was really interested in is the job of outreach director.  This individual gets to work with different groups of people and share the research and work that the group has completed.  For this job, you would need excellent communication and organization skills to be able to keep track of all the different research and how it affects different groups you will work with.  You would also need great time management skills to be able to prioritize the work you do.
     The second organization is my favorite national organization that I have found and it deals directly with my capstone project:  Children and Nature Network.  This organization can be found at childrenandnature.org and I love this organization!!  Their main goal is to bring nature experiences to children and families and try to re-establish a love of the outdoors for today's children.  They base their ideas off of research they have found and share this information with a wide variety of audiences.  They have different newsletters you can sign up for and the site is loaded with different research on the topic of nature and children.  There are guides on how to use nature in your classroom and also how to have nature experiences as a family.  The job I would love to have is National Coordinator, Nature Clubs for Families.  The individual who currently has this job works with community members in different cities to establish nature clubs for families and helps them get ideas on how to do this and how to get them up and running.  You would need to be a very enthusiastic about nature to have this position, be a people-person and be able to lead and coordinate different groups of people.  You would also need to be a good communicator over different types of media because you may be communicating with individuals from all over and it may not be face-to-face.
     The last organization I found is Early Learning Leaders.  I chose this because I feel like it would be great to be part of their CoP.  This groups primary purpose is to increase the knowledge of child care owners and directors by providing workshops and a national conference on differnet Early Childhood topics.  You can become a member of this organization and have access to even more information, such as different trainings and help with getting your center accredited.  The group can be found www.naccp.org.  I would choose to keep the job that I have now and become a board member to work with this group of individuals.  The board members come from all over the US and have different levels of experience.  They meet to discuss Early Childhood issues, look over research that has been found on these issues and plans the trainings and conferences that they offer.  For this job, communication and research skills would be necessary.  I think you would also have to be a good public speaker, as they do some speaking engagements throughout the year.

     The first organization I found is great for any of you seeking information on Early Childhood issues and I hope everyone takes a chance to look over what I have found.

References
futureofchildren.org
childrenandnature.org
www.naccp.org

       

            I was able to find two local agencies and one state agency that caught my attention.  The first agency I found information on is the Early Childhood Coalition which can be found at www.eccqc.org.  The reason this caught my interest is because of a child I had in my classroom years ago that I always wanted to have observed because I thought he was somewhere on the Autism spectrum and his family refused on chances to get him observed.  I feel like this organization could have been a great asset to this family and helped them in their struggles with their child.  The organization provides support services to children with varying special needs and they focus on Creative Curriculum and the Illinois Early Learning Standards (Early Childhood Coalition).  I had never heard of this organization until I looked it up and I was shocked to see that it serves 660 children located in 33 centers and home-based classrooms.  The things I found really interesting about this organization is that they have community circles, which reminded me of our communities of practice we discussed this week, where families and other interested individuals can meet to talk about different issues or topics.  They have a meal and then discuss whatever their topic is about.  I felt like this was similar to our community of practices because these individuals are passionate about something and want to share their knowledge with others and also learn from others in the community circle. They also offer free developmental screenings for all children residing in Rock Island County, which is the county I live in and where my center I work in is located.  I did not know this service existed until I looked at the website and this is great to know because this is a great service that we can provide to our families if they would like to have their child screened.  There were no jobs listed currently available with this organization, but if there were, the jobs would require great communication, collaboration and organizational skills.  A person would have to communicate with their colleagues and also the families they are working with.  Depending on the child’s needs, an individual working for the organization would have to work with other workers or the child’s teachers to give the child the best services they required for their specific need.

            The second local organization I looked up is Bethany for Children and Families which can be found at www.bethany-qc.org/index.htm.  I drive by one of their buildings everyday on my way home from work and have done races in the past that was a fundraiser for this organization, but I was never quite sure what they did.  Before I started this grad program, I considered going to grad school for social work and this organization would fit great should I ever decide to go that route.  Their motto is “to keep children safe, strengthen families and build healthy communities” (Bethany for Children and Families).  They are a licensed child welfare agency and they have been in the community since 1899!!  They have expanded their services and now they offer foster care and child welfare services and currently specialize in at-risk youth.  Early intervention is something they are really striving to deliver to the community.  I felt this organization could be very beneficial as a resource for parents in my current position should anyone ever need to seek certain services.  Their board of directors functions like a community of practice because it contains various figures from the area, some business owners, some philanthropic investors, and some educational figures and they meet as one large group at times and they also break out into 5 different community groups.  The members have a strong desire to provide services to the community and are passionate about the work they do.  As far as jobs go, the only ones currently open are for a dental hygienist and a dentist, which I would never qualify for or want to do.  If I could obtain a job through them, I would go the social work route and try for something in either adoption or foster care services because I would love to be able to help children either find their forever homes or at least one home where they are safe and loved.

            The third organization I found is called Children’s Home + Aid and it is out of Chicago, IL and can be found at childrenshomeandaid.org.  I first learned of this organization last year because through my work you can choose different organizations to donate money to and this is one that I chose.  They protect, educate and counsel over 40,000 children, help them overcome poverty, abuse and neglect and also provide adoption and foster care services.  Their governing board is made up of various community figures and business individuals.  What I found the most interesting about this organization is that they have what is called the woman’s board and for the last 92 years,  this group of woman have “dedicated their time to help abused and neglected children” (Children’s Home + Aid).  Their big fundraising effort right now is for Early Childhood Care and Education on Chicago’s South Side.  They also focus on school readiness, crisis intervention, and parent support services.  The reason I liked this so much is because it seems rare to have a group of only women leading an organization and meeting on a regular basis to get things done for the early childhood community.  There are many jobs available through the organization right now, but the one that really caught my eye was for a program coordinator for an after-school program.   The person researches grants, provides family involvement programs and also sets up the schools health model.  I used to work at a before and after school program and I always felt it was very important to have quality after-school for kids that was safe, educational and also provided them with physical activities to participate in.  I also like that health is included in this position because this was one of the words on my wordle that interests me and I could have a positive impact on many young children in this role.  In order to do well at this position, I would need good communication and organizational skills and also be able to oversee other staff members.

            After doing some research on a variety of organizations, I realized how many there are all over and it is just a matter of looking to find one that can assist teachers or families in early childhood education.

 

References

Bethany for Children and Families-www.bethany-qc.org/index.htm

Children’s Home + Aid-childrenshomeandaid.org

Early Childhood Coalition-www.eccqc.org