Sharing Web Resources
El aumento notable en la diversidad cultural y linguitica entre ninos y famlias participantes de programas para nino pequenos requiere urgentemente nuestra atencion. Una de las necesidades mas apreminantes es la de mejorar las practicas de evaluacion de ninos que aprenden el ingles (NAEYC, 2009).
For this week's blog assignment, I spent some time thoroughly searching the NAEYC website for resources pertaining to equity and excellence in early care and education. One of the links I located, featured some valuable resources regarding immigrant children and early childhood education.
One article, in particular that caught my attention was "On assessing young English language learners" (NAEYC, 2009). The article stressed the importance of assessment for young children. These assessments should be used to support their learning and development (NAEYC, 2009). However, many young children whose home language is something other than English, receive assessments that have invalid results or are ineffective due to language barriers (NAEYC, 2009). Appropriate adaptations should be provided for children whose home language is other than English. When proper adjustments are made, the results of the assessment provide a better understanding of what services and supports are needed (NAEYC, 2009).
The first paragraph of my blog this week, will be very easy to read for my classmates that can read and/or speak Spanish. For those of you who cannot speak and/or read Spanish, my first paragraph will be meaningless and a waste of time. This is just a small example of what many non-English speaking families deal with on a regular basis. Fortunately, many of us in the early childhood field have been made aware of the importance of family-first and respecting the home-language of each child. Federal and state funding needs to be provided to hire bilingual and bicultural staff (NAEYC, 2009).
New insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field I have gained this week-
*By 2030, 40 percent of school-age children will have a home language other than English (NAEYC, 2009)
*Resources are widely available for early educators to learn more about how to work with diverse populations
*We all need to stand-up and be advocates for increased early childhood funding to provide high-quality programs that meet the needs of ALL children
References-
http://www.naeyc.org/
Classmate blogs I commented on:
http://julievillers.blogspot.com
Julie- As I have mentioned previously- The NAEYC is one of my main resources for finding the latest information pertaining to education. Also, I use it for lesson plan ideas and answers to questions pertaining to issues that may come up.
I agree with you on questioning why there are still no many unresolved issues, when the answers and solutions are at our feet. MONEY is the key to solving many of these issues. Getting the policy makers to clearly understand the importance of a high quality early childhood education for all children still has a ways to go. Once they realize it has direct impacts on their personal lives, we will see more issues resolved.
Donna
http://jennilewis8512.blogspot.com (Jennifer Lewis)
NAEYC-My very favorite resource for teaching, as well as updated information on the latest information on policies dealing with education. Just today I was reading on their website about how to get early childhood programs NAEYC certified. I would be interested to find out how many early learning programs in my area have this certification. They are currently offering scholarships for the upcoming conference this summer. It covers all cost including hotel, meals, conferences etc.
Donna
Thank you for giving us a relate-able example of what is like to not understand the language of your community. I was able to experience this during a mission trip to El Salvador a few years ago. I thought I was preparing myself well by learning popular phrases, basic questions, and names for various objects. Not only could I not remember 50% of what I'd prepared, I also couldn't communicate my feelings, my thoughts, or even participate in some conversations. It was hard, and it took understanding and patient people to help me feel welcomed and useful. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLearning a another language can be difficult. When ever travel I always have some sort of dictionary helper but It's rarely ever useful. In teaching my students I always try to put myself in their shoes to understand where they are coming from. You are right children are seldom ever tested in the most effective way on second language acquisition.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your blog what I found to be very interesting is the fact that you said that funding should be provided to hire bilingual and bi-cultural staff. I agree with this statement a lot because I feel that this type of staff would make a great contribution to children and families because it will add to their knowledge and help those who don't speak the dominant language in the child care program to better fit in.
ReplyDelete