After reviewing the UNESCO website it is clear that the United
States is not the only place where quality and equality in early childhood is a
problem. The first thing that I noticed is that this organization is working to
bring quality child care programs around the world. Places like Africa, the
Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean are all a part of this
organization as is North America, Europe and Asia. Some of these nations have more
money to put towards early childhood development than others but all of them
realize the importance of early childhood development and are trying to make it
the true start of a child’s education. Something else about this organization is
that they are also pushing for curricula that puts the entire child first. It
is not all about academics and cognitive development. They are trying to
advance the education of the holistic child which is something that a lot of
people that do not work in the field do not realize. Parents always to make
sure that their children are “learning” but pay little attention to their
development and this organization is trying to spread the word around the world
that it’s not just academics but the whole child that needs to develop. This is
a great website and it was wonderful to red that so many people around the
world are trying to help children receive a quality education, especially those
that cannot afford a private education.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI agree I like the UNESCO website too. The child needs to be put first and we as educators need to focus on the learning of our students.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI was also impressed to see that there were many other countries that are having problems getting and keeping early childhood programs up and running. There continues to be a lot of talk of quality and inequality and a lot of ideas of how to overcome these problems but no solutions. Many of the quality and inequalities seem to come down to money and education. It does seem like we have the same money problems that even the poorest countries have and we are supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world. I tend to think that maybe early childhood education is just not a big enough priority here in America.