PreK Now- Part 2
The entire site so far has given me some professional development. My area of expertise lies in Pre-K and Kindergarten. I have been reading the daily newsletters and watching a couple of the videos online. So far, there has not been a day that has past that hasn’t included budget cuts in education within the newsletter. It breaks my heart to read about this because Education should not be the first place to start cutting funding. There is a section that is just for Educators which is what I have been focusing my attention on. It includes classroom tours, state profiles for Pre-K, resources for the classroom, and video clips to help educate teachers just to name a few.
The most covered topic in the newsletters regard funding cuts starting with preschool programs and Pre-K. I am not a policy maker, but I am definitely a child advocate. I have been reflecting on ways that could eliminate the need to cut funding. I mentioned this week in discussion that families should be charged by income. That means that everyone can pay even if they are in poverty, and their bill will be very small. The military does this for childcare as well, and every child gets to go. They also offer incentives for people who want to do in home child-care, and this is another example of what states could do.
We have been examining the role of economists, scientists, and politicians this week. All areas were covered. The funding cuts mentioned involved the economists. There is a section that tells you to Vote which encourages political views. There is also mention of governors who are battling these funding cuts. The science realm comes in with the research part of the site. It is very evident to everyone that our early childhood programs like Pre-K must stay and come with more advantages than disadvantages. There are current articles to read to suffice this.
My new insight about issues and trends this week came from the online video I watched through PreK Now. I took the virtual classroom tour. It included pictures of a high quality Pre-K classroom and program. Some things that were mentioned include the following:
Teachers ask students probing questions
A well organized and resourceful classroom with pictures everywhere
Family involvement
Health screenings
Positive Teacher
Teacher acknowledging all students work
All of these mentioned are issues that we have already covered in our program so far. This is a good site to recomment to fellow colleagues who are not aware of what is going on the education realm with current issues and trends.
Stacey, Thanks for the input. Love to watch classroom tours so checked out the website.
ReplyDeleteStacey it is sad to see all the possible cuts that are happening in the field of early childhood. Currently in the organization that I work at, it is most likely that part of the Early Head Start program will not be funded. I am not sure how many families will be affected, but there will be some families that may not have quality childcare next fall.
ReplyDeleteStacey I always enjoy reading your blog. It seems that many early childhood programs are being cut when they are definitely needed. Some schools are eliminating all of the their Teacher Assistants and some are not letting their Pre-K program come back in the 2011-2012 school year. I hope things will turn around soon and that officials realize what a mistake is being made by not giving these children the opportunity to experience these programs.
ReplyDeleteStacey,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that education funding is a hot topic this week! This is a good thing since that was our class topic. I feel that our tax dollars would be best spent in the early years too. I would like to say that your ideal to have all families pay something makes me a little uneasy. Speaking from my own perspective, on paper it looks as if I make good money. The truth is after paying the bills, I barely have money to last the rest of the month. I am an educator so, everyone thinks that I have money. If I had to pay for childcare at this moment I don't know what I would do. Fortunate for me, my baby is twelve years old. I definately agree that there are ways we all can contribute, and I believe every 3 and 4 year old needs to be in a high quality childcare center. Perhaps a small contribution based on income is not a bad idea, as long as it is fair and possible.
I also think that we can create volunteer programs to assist in childcare centers, perhaps this will help the costs of programs.
Thank you for your comments.
Jennifer Jones