National Black Child Development Institute

The website that I chose to study is that of the National Black Child Development Institute. Being an African American who lives in a town that is predominantly made up of African Americans, this website was of much interest to me. I think that the section entitled "Who We Are" was most interesting to me because it talks about the mission of the NBCDI. I, like the NBCDI, have the desire to help children and families in my community through education and advocacy. Because my son has autism, I have become passionate about helping those with special needs. Being that most of the children in my community are Black children, they are the ones who I will be privileged to serve. I think that there is a great need for more organizations like the NBCDI.

The information about family engagement reaffirmed the fact that I also want to help families understand the importance of familiy involvement in the educational journeys of our young children. I know that this is a controversial issue. However, it is my belief that family engagement is crucial. The NBCDI has a program called the Family Empowerment Program which helps families improve positive influence in the lives of their children. I am certainly looking forward to being involved in my own children's education, and I want to help promote positive influence with other families. NBCDI was proud to announce that President Obama talked about focusing more on early childhood education during his State of the Union address.I was glad to know that the NBCDI has chartered an organization in my home state of Mississippi. I definitely feel that the NBCDI is doing an excellent job promoting education and advocacy in our Black communities. It is always good to know that positive things are taking place in our communities, families, and schools.

International contacts

Getting to know International Contacts

I have been able to get a response from any of the international professionals who I contacted. Therefore, I viewed the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre's website. I chose to read about China. China has the world's largest population at 1.27 billion in 2001. China has made great strides in reducing the percentage of people living in poverty. By 2001, 5 percent of China's population lived below the national poverty line. There has been a lot of economic and social transistion in China which has lead to the reduction in poverty. However, the poverty rate has increased in Western China. China has carefully used foreign investment. In fact, china receives more foreign investment than any other country in the world except for the US. 4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty, and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.



Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I decided to contact early childhood professionals in Mexico and Nigeria. I looked at the resources that were given for the blog assignment. Those were the two that stood out to me. I have the desire to one day become fluent in Spanish so I chose to contact a professional in Mexico. I have always been intrigued by the cultures that exist in Africa so I chose to contact a Nigerian professional. However, I have not yet been able to get a response from the professionals. Therefore, I may have to choose the alternative resource.

I viewed the sites that were listed in the second part of the blog assignment. I was most interested in the National Black Child Development Institute's page. Being an African American, I want to learn more about early childhood programs that meet the needs of our young children in the Black communities. I look forward to learning more about this organization throughout the duration of this course.