International Contact

Applying the Science of Early Childhood in Brazil. This is a project that is taking place and is hoping to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families and Brazil. This program will be working with many leaders and policymakers to help acheive a more prosperous society. I think this is great sharing the importance in early childhood around the the world. Many countries don't have the means of learning the importance of early childhood but with programs like this they are getting the chance to help the children and families in their country to have a better understanding early childhood education. I would love to keep updates on this and see how the program progress throughout the year. It would be interestering to know how other countries embrace the importance of early childhood in their country and compare it to ours here in the United States. Together, these organizations will engage in the following activities: •Building a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development; •Synthesizing and translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This will include working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, Frameworks Institute, to effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context; •Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers; •Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience (http://developingchild.harvard.edu). This week, I listened to World Forum Foundation Radio podcast Episode 9: Barbara Jones. In this podcast, Ms. Jones describes her journey from college graduate to the owner of her own Montessori program. She shares how her disillusionment with the public school system led to her discovery of the Montessori method. She found that what she had learned in college was different from what she found in the public school system and so set out to search for something different. After taking a job at a small Montessori program in southern California, she went to London to become certified in the Montessori method. She then moved to the Maine where she worked for a private school for several years. During this time, she had discovered an old school building that she thought would make a good location for her own program. After several years of waiting, she was finally able to purchase the building and started Pine Grove Child Development Center which celebrated its 25th anniversary. Ms. Jones describes the beautiful original floors and large windows that overlook a large park preserve in which the school is located. This information in this podcast can be viewed from the perspective of equity and excellence. Teacher education and experience and access are two factors addressed in several of the resources for this week. When visiting the Pine Grove website, I discovered that all teachers at this school have a 4 year degree and are required to attend 40 hours of professional development training each year. When listening to the podcasts I just struck me that it would be great if we could take places and turn them into these ideal schools for others around the world. Even though this school does charge a tutition just reading about it kind of made me realzie how places can be turned into a speical place for chidlren and give them a learning experience. It is what you seek when you are a teacher and how you want to teach your children. Episode 9: Barbara Jones. [Audio podcast]. (2012). Retrieved June 1, 2012 from http://worldforumfoundation.org