Exploring Issues in Early Childhood

Good Morning

This week we are exploring issues and controversies in early childhood education and child development. Currently I am in Latin America and have gained the opportunity to expand my horizons within learning about different cultures, communities, and issues that accompany children from various socioeconomic backgrounds throughout the world.

Unfortunately, internet here is not the best so streaming a podcast this week was not an option. However, upon researching Save The Children- an organization that helps children in The United States and abroad as well as National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), I have come across a plethora of information that has expanded my knowledge on childhood development while raising questions.

Firstly, Save The Children is an international organization that helps children in The United States and abroad grow up happy and healthy through means of assisting in poverty alleviation, health and nutrition, and education. 1 in 5 U.S. children grow up in poverty with 90% of them in rural communities. That BLOWS my mind seeing as we are the world's leading super power and a first-world developed, industrialized country.

In a country run by capitalism and the global economy, HOW can we have 1 in 5 children in poverty? Resturants and chain stores like Whole Foods and MCDonalds literally throw money away when they toss hundreds of pounds of fresh food that goes unsold at the end of the night. Immigrants literally flock to our country to study at the leading universities because of our quality education system yet some of our own citizens go without educational foundations like pre-school.  Health care is LITERALLY a monopoloized market that puts people in precarious situations where they have to decide between their health and livelihood.

HOW!?

I teach ESL to rural students in Ecuador and every last one of them idolize The United States. They literally dream of going to give themselves and their familt a better life and live the "American Dream". It baffles me how The United States- my country- can be the world's leading super power and an international influence while still maintaining third world country conditions to its nations less affluent citizens.

This discussion lead me to look into the NBCDI because I have NEVER heard if it before. As a Black woman, firstly, I am PROUD that this organization was created by BLACK WOMEN in support if how the American Education System treated Black children. #BlackGirlMagic

As an African-American, I grew up in this disparities that are often normalized in my community as the status quo. It wasn't until high-school and college where thise disparities came to light through my lack of education in simple subjects like The Cold War (Which I still don't get) and WWI that made me realize I was grade levels behind my peers and had to work twice as hard just to get the same grades.

What I enjoy about the NBCDI is that that center the whole-child through their methods through reaching and engaging policy-leaders, communuty officials, professionals, and parents to ensure Black children are allowed a quality foundation in their education. Programs, trainings, and advocacy are just some of the limited resources available to educators, professionals, and parents of Black families that assist in the development of cultural knowledge of Black children as well as educational tools to better serve our youth.

I enjoy how this is exclusively fit to serve the demographic of Black children because we as a community have our own issues that cannot be coupled into the "POC" umbrella. Programs that are available to educators and ECE professionals that help enlighten and inform on best practices to serve the serve these vulnerable populations of children allow The United States to increase our stance and dedication towards early childhood education and assisitng in decreasing the amount of children that lack access to quality education.