Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I have yet to receive any information from my international contact person or from the national contact person so again I had to complete the alternative assignment. The ultimate mission of The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child Council is to close the gap between what we know and what we do to promote successful learning, adaptive behavior, and sound physical and mental health for all young children. Central to this concept is the ongoing generation, analysis, and integration of knowledge and the critical task of educating policymakers, civic leaders, and the general public about the rapidly growing science of early childhood development and its underlying neurobiology. The four goals and strategies include: Bringing credible and accurate knowledge to bear on public decision-making that affects children’s learning, behavior, and health. Rethinking the challenge of knowledge translation in order to strengthen its impact on the lives of children. Building broad-based and informed leadership to represent the interests of young children in the public and private sectors. Promoting a new national dialogue focused on rethinking the meaning of both shared responsibility for children and strategic investment in their future. I thought it was interesting when I viewed the article, “Early Childhood Program Evaluations: A Decision Makers Guide”, because it correlated with this week’s resources with what and how we can improve the early childhood education arena for both parents and policymakers. Similar to Kagan’s article this piece also made aware of the measurements the accountability of the programs and way in which all states could obtain a common core standard for early childhood programs throughout the US. The first article also explains how to use this tool if you wanted to conduct a study of families in the early childhood program, and how to access an overall program. This website also provided the research of the brain and how it works in younger children. It also shows how the brain works during hearing, vision, talking of early language skills as well as cognitive skills. I also thought it was interesting in another article where it expresses how young children are affected by stress and other traumatic situations during the first years of life. “From pregnancy through early childhood, all of the environments in which children live and learn, and the quality of their relationships with adults and caregivers, have a significant impact on their cognitive, emotional, and social development. A wide range of policies, including those directed toward early care and education, child protective services, adult mental health, family economic supports, and many other areas, can promote the safe, supportive environments and stable, caring relationships that children need.”(2013, p. 1) “Early Childhood Programs Evaluations a Decision Markers Guide” http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/multimedia/interactive_features/decision-guide-interactive/ Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),