The Project : The Abecedarian Project

Have you ever thought about people who need help in your community and ways you could help? In Aniak, Alaska, there was a need in the medical field because the town only had one doctor. A team of teenagers saw this need and decided they could do something about it and formed a team called the Dragon Slayers. On the other side of the country, Cassandra saw a different kind of need in her community. Because of harsh Rhode Island winters, fuel for heating homes is really important. She and her friends learned about biodiesel and how it could help her community. In the two articles, Defeating Dragons and Food That Fuels, young people saw community needs and helped bring positive change in unique ways.

“The program also encourages parents to: volunteer in the classroom, participate in home visits by the teacher at least twice a year, enroll in job training programs, literacy programs, or other adult education programs, serve on policy making bodies, apply to work in the program, and serve in state, regional, or national Head Start Associations (Mallory and Goldsmith, 2002).”

Assuaging poverty is one of the gist missions of the Harlem Children’s Zone. In the United States today, exceeding “13 million” children live in poverty. We understand that children, who experience the backlash of poverty, often live in an unpleasantly conditions, unstable homes, and are at a great distance less likely than other children to get a favorable education and/or sufficient health care. The exposure to life of poverty more often limits learning abilities; bringing about the inability of getting the best jobs and earning maximum income, making it impossible for them to live up to their full potential, which will more like result in imprisonment.

prepare, set out and support activities and experiences that encourages learning and development in each area of the relevant early years framework

In 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act transpired which included quite a lot of organizations like Job Corp, Vista, and Project Head Start. The top organization listed above is Project Head Start created in the year 1965. The plan is to help children ages three to five years old of low income families. The goal and attention remains to introduce these young kids to an early start to education, to help with thinking skills, as well as academic skills, good nutrition, health services, and parent involvement to make them successful in the future. The program not only helps children but aids in helping the family as a whole. For example, a number of parents are taught the English language; others learn to read. Head Start also assists family members

Education has come a extensive way from the times of Plato and Aristotle, but from each new era came a person with a concept that effected the world of education eternally. Sisters, Margaret and Rachel McMillian influenced education through their development of the Open-Air Nursery School in more way then one. Not only had they introduced the idea of starting education at a younger age then the fledgling kindergarten program, but their school was devised for kids from low- income areas that needed the extra care as well. A unique concept of the time that grasped my interest and made me want to discover more about their program and it’s effect on Early Childhood Education.

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is an exclusive nonprofit organization that advocates children. Founded in 1973, this organization defends all children’s rights, primarily the poor. Ms. Marian Wright Edelman first started CDF in Washington D.C. The mission of the CDF is, “to ensure every child a Heathy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.” (Taylor,1) This six week summer program is designed for children in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. The objective of this program is to stricken the amount of academic material lost over the summer months. This program is centered on children in jeopardy of academic failure. Children living in poverty-stricken communities tend

The DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) draws upon promising practices from a national body of work that suggest that dual-generation programming is an effective strategy for breaking the cycle of poverty. Specifically, two-generation strategies that suggest integrating education, employment opportunities, and peer support for parents and academic and support services for their children will produce far more promising outcomes for both the parents and their child.

The artifact I have chosen to attach to the discussion board was CE230 unit nine project. What I learned based on that assignment was how to develop creative activities for young children from the age of five and seven. After completing the different activities with the students in this project we had to show what were the student’s objective and what leaning experience where you trying to achieve and was it accomplished with this activity. Example after completing the activity you would indicated if the student was able to follow directions. You would observe if the child was able to correctly solve the problems and it the students showed interest in the game. I recalled when I was in grade school we played Math Bingo it was fun and educational.

Students in Katherine Owen's language arts classes at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School were challenged this year to complete a “Make a Difference” project. Sixth grader Celia Hawk decided to set up a “Little Free Library” for the CFIS school cafeteria, where students in grades 4-6 could stop by to take a book to read and leave a book for others. After discussing the project with Principal Sarah Read, Celia learned that students at JM Gallagher School on Cleveland's near west-side were in the process of building their own Little Free Library in a new community garden located next to the school. Celia decided to collect

The Foundation had just donated the funds to expand housing for the Seed’s Orphanage, which was home to seventy- five children. Our mission when going was to spend quality time with the children by organizing ten days of fun activities. Each of the children in the orphanage had endured various versions of abandonment, abuse, rape, and neglect. Bonding with the children and experiencing life in an impoverished area was truly life giving.

The thought was by working with children at an early age it would provide them with the tools and encouragement to embrace life and find meaning for their own lives. This is a worthy challenge, however now I see the need to seek an active role on the macro level. Assisting people in embracing and cultivating their personal skills and qualities is exciting but without equal access and fair opportunity these same children could be doomed to an inevitable fate of being stuck in the system. There must be a change in people’s mindset regarding genuine poverty and the true struggle of American citizens, from the forsaken Native American reservations to the old mining towns in rural areas of American to the impoverished citizens in both urban and suburban America. These changes will not manifest until policies and laws are changed. It can only happen when people unite with a solid strategy to dismantle the personal kingdoms created by corporate America and the government, replacing them with a commitment to implementing programs and services that eliminate some of the inequities of the

Throughout the day I was able to learn and see the structure in which this program is designed and how it works for the children. Because it was a summer school program they merely just played and had fun most of the day. The biggest group activity was doing the craft for the day. Some kids were eager to participate and other were not. The project was manageable but somewhat difficult and it took all hands-on deck to get it finished. The teachers decided to bring in the kindergarten class so that the older kids could help them get through it. The bigger kids were troopers and really stepped up to help them. The teacher maintained a well-structured and organized classroom even when there were lots of children.

Children and adolescents are capable of impacting their communities and even the world in amazing

Overall, I did not enjoy doing this project because it was extremely difficult, especially having to wake up in the middle of the night to take care of the baby, but I also believe it was highly educational since I got to learn many new things. This project allowed me to experience the difficulties which many endure in the early stages of baby care. By taking care of the baby, waking up in the night, performing many tasks for the baby, it made me more empathetic towards mothers and appreciate their hard work.