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News from Iran

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Mehra Jalili is the National Representative from Iran for the World Forum Foundation. Upon her return from the 2009 World Forum she shared this news:

"When I was in London after the World Forum, since I had to stay in London for a couple of days, everyday I went to the Internet cafe and read the uncensored news of Iran, which we cannot get in Iran now. I was so heart broken and sad when I saw Neda's pictures, the girl who was killed on the street, and some other young people who were beaten or shot to death. I couldn't wait to go back to my country. With lots of anxiety I got to Tehran. Everybody was angry and so upset.

"Now what is left for us are the unjust acts and the severe security state of the country. Many people are arrested. Do you remember the song that Colum Sands sang at the World Forum about not being able to name who or what has happened? That is becoming our state of being. Sometimes I feel I cannot breath. I hope the world joins us in condemning all the oppression going on against the innocent people who just ask for their freedom and their rights.

"Once again I thank you, Roger. Please pray for the people who are trying hard to speak up and express their opposition by sacrificing their lives for freedom. It is a high price that we all have to pay. God bless you all."

World Forum Peace Initiative

One of the first projects of the World Forum Foundation was the International Working Group on Peace Building with Young Children (IWGPBYC) that was launched at the Building Bridges Working Forum in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2004. At the 2007 World Forum in Kuala Lumpur, the IWGPBYC launched its publication, From Conflict to Peace Building: The Power of Early Childhood Education Initiatives - Lessons from around the World. This book captures stories from conflict zones around the world where early childhood programs are the catalyst to bringing fractured communities back together. Copies of the print version of the book can be purchased in the Exchange online bookstore, and chapters of the book can be downloaded at no cost at the World Forum website. Since 2007, the IWGPBYC has continued its work having added representatives from Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, and Serbia.

Global Conferences

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The following are upcoming conferences of our World Forum Alliance partners:

Effective Investments in Early Childhood for Enduring Social Progress
International Step by Step Association
October 14 - 17, 2009 — Bucharest, Romania
www.issa.nl

IV International Early Childhood Forum
CINDE
November 4 - 6, 2009 — Cali, Colombia
email: maricusa50@uniweb.net.co

Inclusive Education and Diversity in Early Years
Arab Resource Collective
November 5 - 7, 2009 — Beirut, Lebanon
email: ecd@mawared.org

Daycare Trust Annual Conference
Daycare Trust
November 17, 2009 — London, United Kingdom
www.daycaretrust.org.uk/events.php

NAEYC Annual Conference
National Association for the Education of Young Children
November 18 - 21, 2009 — Washington, DC
www.naeyc.org/naeyc/conference

Annual International Conference
Association for Childhood Education International
April 28 - May 1, 2010 — Phoenix, Arizona
www.acei.org/confhp01.htm

CAYC National Conference
Canadian Association for Young Children
April 29 - May 1, 2010
www.cayc.ca/indexcal.html

Professional Development Institute
National Association for the Education of Young Children
June 6 - 9, 2010 — Phoenix, Arizona
www.naeyc.org/naeyc/conference

XXVI World Congress
OMEP
August 11 - 13, 2010 — Gothenburg, Sweden
http://www.omep2010.org/

Fueling the Fire
Early Childhood Australia
September 29 - October 2, 2010 — Adelaide, South Australia
www.ecaconference.com.au/

More Upcoming Conferences

To learn about other upcoming early childhood conferences, or to post your event, see our Conference Calendar.

Employing Net Gen-ers

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In his book Grown Up Digital, reviewed in Work & Family Life (June 2009), Dan Tapscott offers the following guidelines for getting the best results from Net Generation employees (individuals born between 1977 and 1997).

Rethink authority. Be a good leader, but understand that in some areas you will be a student and that the Net Gen employee will be the teacher.

Rethink recruitment. Don't waste money on ads. Use social networks based on trust to influence young people about your company.

Rethink training. Engage for lifelong learning. Rather than relying on traditional training programs that are separate from work, look to strengthen the learning component of all jobs. One way to do this is to encourage employees to blog.

Don't ban Facebook or other social networks. Harness them instead. New tools like wikis, blogs, Twitter, social networks, jams, tele-presence, tags, collaborative filtering, and RSS feeds can be the heart of the new high performance workplace.

Rethink management processes. Design jobs and work for collaboration.

Put Net Gen-ers in the Driver's Seat. Involve them when you design workspaces, management systems, and collaborative working models.

Exchange Resources on Supervising Staff

Finding and keeping qualified staff is an administrator's key responsibility in ensuring quality care. The Exchange book, Staff Challenges, offers over 200 pages of real-world articles authored by recognized experts on recruitment, policy and procedure development, orientation, training, motivation, supervision, and overcoming challenging situations. An indispensable tool for helping you confront staff issues on a daily basis with authority and wisdom.

Fadeout Myth Refuted

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

An article in Preschool Matters, the newsletter of the National Institute for Early Education Research, reported the results of a British study confirming that all children benefit from quality preschool participation:

"New research findings refute the myths — used by opponents of preschool for all — that pre-K benefits ultimately fade out and are of no benefit to middle-income children. Instead, the evidence concludes the opposite — that high-quality pre-K sets the stage for later success and for children from middle- and low-income families.

"Edward Melhuish and colleagues found that 10-year-olds who had attended high-quality preschool scored 27 percent higher in math skills and performed better in other subjects compared to their peers who had attended low-quality preschools. Earlier studies comparing the preschoolers to children who had attended no preschool produced similar findings.

"Researchers determined that the benefits for children who attend a good preschool include improved mathematics, reading and social skills over several years. Melhuish, a professor of human development at Birkbeck, University of London, says he and his colleagues found that high-quality preschools offer learning opportunities over and above what most homes can provide. Children's ability to work independently improves significantly as a result of preschool, something he points out is a high predictor of future academic success."

Get Credit for Reading Exchange Articles

Receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for reading Exchange articles! Now you can meet your continuing education requirements from your home computer in your spare time! The process is simple, takes place entirely online, and best of all, is extremely affordable. Exchange is proud to offer you this unique opportunity in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Cost of Going Green

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In their Exchange article, "Deconstructing ‘green'," Charles Durrett and Louis Torelli confront the question of whether constructing a green child care center costs more than one with traditional construction:

"The added ‘cost’ of a green constructed facility is about 5%. For example, we pay an extra 5% to purchase wood that comes from sustainable forestry practices — practices that don’t destroy precious habitats, nor watersheds, nor future forests, etc. — leaving enough trees to purify the air for our future. I say ‘cost’ because the real costs of not developing a new center this way far exceeds the additional 5% ‘cost’. What is truly vexing is that the typical developers of new centers routinely (as in 90% of the time) pass up opportunities for 20% savings in the cost of their new center to actually make the facility more sustainable. That is, build it for 20% less but more sustainable. For example, we use much more wood than necessary and we use the wrong insulation — insulation that is not recycled, is chock-full of known carcinogens, and does not save much energy. There is a very, very long list of excellent and benign building materials today that require a little skill to locate and use in any location. But in America, as a culture, we want stuff, not necessarily skill. A few years ago we had a client who wanted three sustainable centers. We specified everything down to the kitchen sink, literally. Between the two contending sink manufacturers, the client asked that we check which had the best maternity leave policy. Since the quality and the costs were neutral, the center chose to purchase from the manufacturer with the most favorable maternity policy. Choosing a manufacturer based on the company’s family benefits is an example of green practices extending beyond a building material or construction method.

"There are hundreds of ways to save money when designing sustainable centers. One is to develop the outdoor environment with elements such as covered play areas, gardens and nature, construction, dramatic play, and gross motor areas. Creative use of outdoor space to maximize interacting with the environment is a vital component for early childhood centers and is essential to a sustainable program. While it’s not a replacement for the building, a well-designed outdoor environment can, in effect, expand the childcare facility. These are not only less toxic and less consumptive than buildings, but they all contribute to a much richer child development program. They are also much less costly! Child care facility construction costs can be as high as $350 a square foot. Since outdoor spaces can be developed for as little as $25 a square foot, this can be a particularly beneficial design strategy when a program does not have the funding to develop a facility with more preferable, generous-sized classrooms."

Great Resources on Environments at Exchange

Exchange has a wide variety of resources on environments that can be purchased separately or altogether at a discounted price in our Environments Tool Kit. Exchange environmental resources in the kit include...

Books:

Caring Spaces, Learning Places: Children's Environments That Work
Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul
Learning With Nature Idea Book: Creating Nurturing Outdoor Spaces for Children

Beginning Workshop Units:

Environments for Special Needs
Environments
Environments With Families in Mind
Outdoor Environments
Space
Environments to Engage Children
Learning Materials

After-School Programs Matter

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Students who take part in high-quality before- and after-school programs show substantial improvement in academic achievement, school attendance, student engagement, and social and emotional development. This is the conclusion of a National Governors Association report, The Quality Imperative: A State Guide to Achieving the Promise of Extended Learning Opportunities. The report outlines seven strategies states can pursue to improve the quality of extended learning opportunities (ELO)...

Create an ELO quality team of key stakeholders to envision, develop, and administer an ELO quality system.
Identify federal and state funding sources to support the state ELO quality system.
Set state ELO goals and program standards that are research-based and adaptable to the wide variety of programs.
Measure ELO performance by determining the extent to which programs meet state ELO program standards and demonstrate results tied to state goals and program mission.
Provide incentives to improve ELO quality through quality rating systems and mechanisms that tie funding to program quality.
Support a strong ELO workforce by helping to recruit talented individuals into the field and by providing for professional development.
Connect students with quality ELOs by performing an ELO supply and demand analysis, targeting resources to those with the greatest need, and informing parents

Last Days for Free Shipping

On June 30 the offer of free shipping in North America when purchasing Exchange professional development resources expires.

Emotional Intelligence and You

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In her new book, Leading on Purpose: Emotionally Intelligent Early Childhood Administration (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009), Holly Bruno emphasizes how important it is for early childhood leaders to employ emotional intelligence in their work. Bruno defines emotional intelligence as "the ability to read people... having the capability to acknowledge and understand feelings and to use these feelings as informational guides for thinking and action." Leaders with emotional intelligence acknowledge...

There is no thinking without feeling, and no feeling without thinking.
The more conscious we are to what we are experiencing, the more learning is possible, and,
Self-knowledge is integral to learning.

And, the most effective early childhood leaders utilize emotional intelligence in every facet of their work — their work with children, parents, board members, teachers, custodians, bus drivers, vendors, volunteers, and community members.

Exchange Resource for Leaders

The Exchange book, On Being a Leader, includes articles on evaluating your leadership style, being a boss, the traits of effective leaders, and improving your leadership effectiveness. This is just one of many Exchange leadership resources on our web site.

Recession's Impact On Kids

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The current recession could be over by the year's end, but its impact on children will continue through next year and may virtually erase decades of improvements in American children's well-being, according to a new report by the Foundation for Child Development. The Foundation's Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project recently issued its annual composite assessment of children's well-being. Along with updating the index through 2007, the assessment concludes that through 2010, virtually all the progress made in family economic well-being since 1975 will be wiped out because of the recession, taking a lasting toll on children. The projection is based on the analysis of data from past recessions and economic forecasts for the future.

The report provides a composite child well-being index based on 28 indicators, organized into seven domains, including family economic well-being, health, safety and behavioral concerns, and educational attainment. Each year's results are measured against figures from 1975, when the index started. While the index has shown ups and downs in children's quality of life over the years, predictably correlating with recessions, the index could fall back to 1975 levels by 2010 largely because of a decline in families' economic well-being.

The percentage of children in poverty is likely to peak at 21 percent in 2010, the report says, comparable to figures from past recessions. Twenty-seven percent of children — 8 million — will likely have at least one parent not working full time year-round in 2010. Median family income is expected to drop for all families, but especially for single male-headed households. Along with the direct impact of the decline in families' economic well-being, children will likely suffer from a range of indirect effects of the recession, the report forecasts. Obesity may rise from parents' reliance on cheap meals, behavioral problems could increase if adolescents who are not in school cannot find jobs, and state and local budget cuts could limit the availability of pre-kindergarten programs.

Beat the Recession with Free Shipping

For the remainder of June, when you purchase one or more of the 2,238 professional resources from the Exchange Store, we will ship your purchases free of charge anywhere in North America. The discount is automatically applied during checkout!

Celebrating Ten Years

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

At the recently concluded 2009 World Forum, delegates joined in celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the World Forum Foundation. Once again it was a smashing success, and here are some numbers to prove it...

Delegates traveled a combined 5,750,000 miles going to and returning from the event;
Delegates had a combined total of 8,900 years of experience in early childhood education.
Delegates spent a combined total of 29,900 hours lecturing, listening, learning, sharing, discussing, dancing, crying, laughing, and developing deep friendships.

If you missed the 2009 World Forum, you have many opportunities ahead to join in the connecting. You can purchase the 2009 World Forum Compendium — a CD with presentations, professional resources, World Forum project updates, and the delegate directory. And, on www.WorldForumFoundation.org you will be able to view...

The 2009 World Forum Photo Gallery in mid-July;
The official 2009 World Forum video in mid-September
Announcements of future World Forum events that were hatched at the 2009 World Forum.

Two World Forum Publications

At the past two World Forums, publications of World Forum Working Groups were launched. At the 2007 World Forum in Kuala Lumpur, the International Working Group on Peace Building with Young Children launched its publication, From Conflict to Peace Building — The Power of Early Childhood Initiatives: Lessons from Around the World.

And at the 2009 World Forum in Belfast, the Working Group on Teacher Education launched Conversations on Early Childhood Teacher Education. Both of these books can be purchased on the Exchange web site.

Thinking Small

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference (New York: Broadway Books, 2009), Linda Kaplan Thaler offers advice on making small talk, going the extra inch, and taking baby steps. In her chapter, "Make It Big by Thinking Small," she offers these little nuggets of wisdom....

See the glass as half empty. Look around and see what's not working, what cries out for a solution. Take three items you use on a routine basis and ask yourself what small change would improve them.

Be four again. Ask small questions. Don't be afraid to ask why, and, more importantly, why not. If you admire someone's success, be nosy about how he or she achieved it, instead of envious. Ask the specific steps they took and how they reached their goals.

Save Big with Free Shipping

For the remainder of June, when you purchase one or more of the 2,238 professional resources from the Exchange Store we will ship your purchases free of charge anywhere in North America. The discount is automatically applied during checkout! That's right — we can meet your professional development needs with...

2,014 Exchange articles
90 Beginnings Workshops
63 Out of the Box Training Kits
46 Books and CDs
25 CEU Kits

What Do You Think?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

When someone has asked, "What do you think?" have you ever regretted that you responded? Like when your spouse asks, "Do I look fat in this?"

In Work & Family Life (June 2009) David Maister offers this advice on giving advice...

Ask yourself: Does she really want my advice? Or has he made up his mind and just wants me to agree with him?
Consider the impact of your advice on your relationship. When asked for personal advice, instead of replying directly, encourage friends to ask questions that will help them come up with their own conclusions.
People don't like to hear "You are wrong." Being too direct can be harmful. Try to make positive as well as negative points — and be sure to say that you will be supportive no matter what decision is reached.
Invest time. Be willing to spend some time and effort helping friends reach good decisions. They will remember that you cared enough to help.

Helping Young Children Make Friends

The Exchange book, Connecting: Friendship in the Lives of Young Children looks at friendship as it develops in the context of early childhood programs, where people come together in unlimited combinations of age, experience, sex, culture, and background. This thought-provoking collection of articles offers practical tools and ideas for facilitating relationships among children and adults with contributions by experts including Ashely Montagu, Judith Leipzig, Kay Albrecht, Lella Gandini, Margie Carter, Diane Levin, and a host of others.

Absence of Affirmation

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

"Organizational Researchers have been telling us for years that affirmation motivates people much more than financial incentives, but we still don't get it."

This from Hans Finzel in introducing the mistake "Absence of Affirmation" in his book, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007). He goes on to explain...

"How many bosses expect their associates to run on autopilot?... Do you work for someone who expects the impossible but never encourages you? If you do, I know you are having a hard time at your job. Do you have people who work for you, whom you never encourage with a kind word of appreciation or a note of encouragement? Let them know you appreciate them and watch their reaction."

Leading People in Early Childhood Settings

If you as a leader are having challenges motivating your staff, the new Exchange CD Book, Leading People in Early Childhood Settings, can provide you plenty of ideas. This Exchange CD Book offers an inspiring collection of 50 articles in PDF format offering a plethora of practical ideas and strategies for meeting the challenges of leadership in an early childhood setting.

Searching for Stimulus Dollars

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Early childhood programs looking for ways to tap into American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds should look at more than just the early childhood funding. This was the message Danielle Ewen from the Center for Law and Social Policy delivered to attendees at the "Shared Services for the ECE Industry" conference in Denver on June 3. Although her advice was directed at organizations exploring shared services models, it can be instructive for a wide range of early childhood organizations.

In Ewen's remarks, which can be downloaded from the CLASP website, she urged fund seekers to look at a variety of ARRA funding streams such as...

Over $100 billion flowing through the Department of Education including State Fiscal Stabilization Funds; Title I, Part A; IDEA, Parts B and C; the Teacher Education Fund; and Teacher Quality Enhancement.
Funding for business owners such as Small Business Loan programs; Rural Communities Facilities Program; and America's Recovery Capital Program.
Professional Development funding such as American Opportunity education credit; Americorps and VISTA; and the Workforce Investment Act.
Funding for employers of low-income individuals such as SNAP; WIC; and the Emergency Food Assistance program.

As noted at the end of Ewen's remarks, CLASP also provides a series of online audio conferences giving more details on how to secure ARRA funding.

A Tool Kit for Managers

Exchange has packaged six of its practical management resources into a single “Manager’s Tool Kit” and is offering the entire set at a 33% discount — separately these resources would cost $175, but we are offering the entire Tool Kit for only $112. Resources in the kit include:

The Art of Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organizations
Managing Money: A Center Director’s Guidebook
Beginnings Workshops Book #8 - Professionalism
250 Management Success Stories from Child Care Directors
Developing Capable, Creative Teachers CD Book
Leading People in Early Childhood Settings CD Book

The Rights of Children

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Today 650 early childhood professionals from 76 nations are meeting at the 2009 World Forum on Early Care and Education. In the Opening Session, Sasa Milic from Montenegro challenged delegates....

"Violence grows in numbers and forms while degrading the social heritage of a contemporary human being. We hear (or do we?) the cry of the modern world for the respect of the rights of women, children, disabled persons, refugees, and the rights of every single person which are being denied from day to day. Even the basic right to live. These rights are being denied to those that have the weakest power of voice, but speak the wisest words of all — the children.

"The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child would be needless if only we knew how to listen... to listen to our children, to listen to the child we used to be and we never stopped being. If we could only see with our heart, as the Little Prince could, as all children do. Maybe we could understand then. Children demand their right as soon as they are conceived, when they are not able to judge according to the color of the skin or the abilities, as adults often do. That is the very moment they raise their voice against discrimination! They demand their right for the proper information — when they seek answers to their numerous questions, when they drag our sleeves seeking ’impossible’ explanations; they demand the protection from abuse whenever somebody raises their hand; but, above all, they remind us of their right to be loved.

"When speaking of the concept of human rights and the rights of the child, we have to mention the phenomenon of globalization. The temporal and spatial condensation of the world, as the heritage of the globalization, makes us more and more similar. The movies we watch, the books we read, the food we eat, the clothes we wear... these and similar attributes become less and less distinctive features. Having in mind this very fact, we have an increased need to be valued equally here and there, to enjoy the very same rights here and there, and to have those rights respected and recognized equally and properly.

"As the wise F.M. Dostoyevsky once said, the essence of pedagogy should be embodied in the task of loving children for their angelic purity, because they are here to make us happy. For the sake of their and our happiness, let’s provide them with the right to be loved."

Experience the 2009 World Forum

If you are unable to attend the 2009 World Forum on Early Care and Education, we have a way for you to have a virtual WoFo experience. We have limited number of CDs, The 2009 World Forum Compendium, that were given to all World Forum delegates which capture presentations from the 2009 World Forum, other resources made available to World Forum delegates, and updates on World Forum projects on AIDS, Peace, Men, Nature, Global Leaders, and Teacher Education.

Child Care Fees - What's Happening?

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Every year Exchange conducts a survey on child care fees in North America. This year the survey will be especially significant in measuring the impact of the recession on fees.

We need high participation in the survey in order for the results to be meaningful. On our web site we publish the average weekly fees (based on standard survey methodology) in regions of the United States and for Canada for children who are...

6 months old
2 years old
4 years old
6 years old

When participation in a state or province reaches a set threshold, the web site also displays average fees for that state or province.

We invite you to share confidentially the fees for your program by participating in this week's Exchange Insta Poll.

A Tool Kit for Managers

Exchange has packaged six of its practical management resources into a single “Center Manager’s Tool Kit” and is offering the entire set at a 33% discount — separately these resources would cost $175, but we are offering the entire Tool Kit for only $112. Resources in the kit include:

The Art of Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organizations
Managing Money: A Center Director’s Guidebook
Beginnings Workshops Book #8 - Professionalism
250 Management Success Stories from Child Care Directors
Developing Capable, Creative Teachers CD Book
Leading People in Early Childhood Settings CD Book