Time well spent

Hello Everyone,
My three deeply felt learning from this program are:
1. How to develop and provide information about accessibility, high quality of care options for special needs children and the family.
2. It has provided me with understanding of how to advocate for improved standards for early learners and special need learners.
3. It has really taught me how important it is to organize a community of practice to meet the child's and family's needs.


My Long term goal is: To make sure every special need child I serve is provided and receives the best quality and appropriate service available.


This class has been a very informative class, with great information. It has provided me with information and skills that will be utilized in my future endeavors with families and early learners. I have learned so much from my classmates and instructor on serving families and children. I hope that each of you will excel to the highest level in your careers. Good Luck to everyone and thanks for all of your great input in this informative class.


Dotsy

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community Internationally

 I chose Save the Children because they invest in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for the future of our next generation. Children of all culture deserve a healthy start and they should be given the opportunity to learn and grow to their greatest potential.

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

Available position: Education/ literacy,/ child development, Health and Nutrition

I chose UNESCO because their goal is to assist with the building of peace. There are so many countries that are having difficulties and this organization is design to assist with poverty through education, communication which leads to respect and human rights.

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

Education

• Advanced university degree, preferably at Doctorate level, in education, science, social sciences or related field. A first-level university degree in combination with at least two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

• At least 15 years of relevant experience in the field of education at national and international level backed by several years of experience in senior management positions.
• Experience in resources mobilization and partnership development.

I chose UNICEF because it works with families and children with disabilities. It specifies that children with disabilities faces discrimination in the form of negative attitudes, lack of adequate policies and legislation (UNCEF.org). UNICEF vision is to build a world where every child can grow up healthy, protected from harm and educated, so they can reach their full potential (UNCEF.org). These are all important goals and relate to my challenge for this class.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.unicef.org/

The available position  requires a post level that is commensurate with the management responsibilities entrusted upon to the Section Head. The post incumbent will directly supervise an Education Specialist (N04). a Child Participation Specialist (P3) an Education Specialist (N03) a Child Protection Specialist (N03), and a Programme Assistant (GS6).

Jobs/ Roles in the ECE Community: National/ Federal Level

IDEA has developed a community of practice approach in working with state agency personnel to address the human side of change that will assist with the complex needs and issues to obtain funding for our preschoolers educational needs.


NAEYC is an organization that has the same beliefs that I have regarding specific preparation and professional support in a child's development and learning that will lead to a child's being offered richer language and other content experiences.


Division for Early Childhood (DEC). This agency promotes policies and advance evidenced based practice that will support and enhance a child's developmental needs from 0-8.


This would assist with identifying the language needs of preschoolers and would add to addressing the need for more funding.


 At this time I am currently working with youth and plan to continue in this field and later contracting as an advocate for Head Start.

I am currently receiving the skills I feel I need to competently fulfill being an advocate for Head Start as a Child Care Consultant Trainer.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The three organizations I chose are: Early Intervention, Mississippi First, Making a Plan (MAP)

Early Intervention is a federal organization that allows families to receive needed services for children birth to 3years of age. It provides early intervention service such as occupational, speech, physical therapy for children born with a disability. This service is a quality service because it does not have to be a severe disability in order for the child to receive services. The child is also is provided academic stimulation by a certified teacher.

Mississippi first is a non-partisan, non-profit organization specializing in education policy research and advocacy.

Making a plan is a local agency that addresses the needs of children, up to age 21 years, with serious emotional disturbance, as well as, co-occurring issues such as intellectual disabilities and substance abuse issues. This agency can assist families to meeting the educational needs of their children.

At this time I am currently working with youth and plan to continue in this field and later contracting as an advocate for Head Start.

I am currently receiving the skills I feel I need to competently fulfill being an advocate for Head Start as a Child Care Consultant Trainer.

Profile of a Volunteer

The volunteer effort I am profiling is the Community Development Club in my community. The person that I have elected to profile works very hard to keep this program going. This program is set up to keep our community safe and assist families that are in need. The individual makes sure that all meetings are set up in a timely manner and make sure everyone that is eligible is being served. I will not use this person name, because they prefer that I did not.

This person is to be commended for starting this club and getting community members to participate. They are currently in the process of working on grants and funding to complete a building to be used to have meetings and activities that will benefit our community. This individual has the natural talent to influence others to work with him to complete task and other benefits for this organization. He devotes a great deal of time and energy in making sure this organization is a success.

This individual has shown me that with lots of hard work and motivating others to join in, that we can accomplish anything. I have seen great strives he has made with collaboration and networking for the success of this organization. My take away message is have goals and follow through and make sure to inspire others to become team members to be successful in advocating for a need.  Our children are our future and we must invest for their growth and development.

Using social media to get connected

Social media is a widely used tool today. I feel it has it pros and cons. I have seen where it has been very helpful to students, teachers and others for networking and providing great interaction for learning. This provides advanced learning outside the traditional classroom. I have also seen where it has caused a great deal of stress, such as cyber-stalking and other inappropriate behavior.
These behaviors can leave a great deal of emotional and stressful scaring.

I feel web blogging is a great way to express ideas that can enhance learning interactions with good reliable sources. Individuals are able to share new and innovative ways to be an advocate for all walks of life. I have acquired great deal of information from the blogs we are doing on a weekly basis in this class.

As an up and an coming advocate his information will assist me in working with families to provide quality services for the early learners. I will be able to share resources and information and receive quality information from colleagues that are advocating for the early learners. Social media can be very rewarding if used in the proper manner.

 I am not a big social media fan, so if my colleagues have other shareable ideas please share.

"Advocacy Messages"

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men
      (Frederick Douglas)


Wisdom begins with wonder
      ( Socrates)


What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all children.
        (John Dewey)


 All of these campaign message resonate to me because it shows compassion and understanding to children needs from birth to adulthood. These writers have shown that they can see the need of families and children based on what society should wants and need in order that a child can grow and become a productive citizen. Children need a good foundation to be able to build a concrete stable and productive quality of life.

"My Own Capacity"

The issue that impacts me regarding young children and their families and fuels my passion is: Making sure early learners receive any speech and language services that they may be in need of. This is a very important time for their language development.

The resources that are currently available are: Early Intervention that is currently done through our local Health Department, working with local colleges in their speech and language departments, and the local school system that must provide services to three year olds are a few the agencies and resources that can be utilized.

I hope to grow by becoming more involved with my legislature and other government official to get them to understand the importance of early childhood education. I hope to be able to work collaboratively with other advocates, families and business to get the needed funding to better empower our education system to hire highly qualified and certified instructors to educate our early learners.

"My Role as an Advocate"

My motivation for wanting to become a young child advocate is because when I began school there were no advocates except your parents. The parent is a great advocate to have, but the problem was most parents were not as knowledgeable regarding the child’s needs. Children do not understand what they need and sometimes it is difficult for families to be able to know what their child needs are, or to follow through aggressively to meet their needs. An advocate can take the time to research and assist families and other stakeholders on meeting the young child’s needs.  

Micro level will look only at the individual level, whereas the macro level looks at the national level. Each child has to be look at from his or her individual need. Micro level needs are so important because each child needs different levels of attention. One child may have a speech difficulty, whereas the next child may need help with a physical disability. Each child’s need may be uniquely different. “One size does not fit all” for children. The macro level can assist with children general needs and set the wheel for getting assistance from a national level to serve and provide various services for all young children.

Early childhood community leaders must have the ability to honor the rights of diversity, through positive and welcoming ways. They must understand how to build respect, trust, and equitable relationships. They must work collaboratively with families and communities.

State leader must understand how program are to be ran and managed. State leaders must be knowledgeable on the use of data to inform accountability. Leaders must be transparent to provide accessibility and understandable information in the various programs.

My advice to someone interested in becoming a leader in a child advocate role for young children and families would be to let them, you will need determination and sometimes you will receive a great deal of “ No’s”. This cannot be a “give up situation”. You must have patience and compassion for families. You must be able to listen and communicate with various agencies and government officials on behalf of your families. The most important aspect is to make sure you know what the families and children needs are.

Personal Advocacy Reflection by: Dotsy Roberts
I can remember working in the helping field and working with a family that was in need of a wheel chair for their child. The mom did not understand that there were funds available to assist with getting this done for her child. After speaking with the mom about how the child got around due to her disability and she stated she physically carried her at the age of 6 yrs. of age. I explained that was to much and I later contacted Medicaid and was able to get the wheel chair she needed. The mom was truly thankful and this was less of a burden for the family. This was a single mom who needed to be assisted with her disabled child.

Informed advocacy

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my blog site. This class will focus on advocating for families and children.