"Plan B" for week Three!

I have given up on my international contacts. I haven't heard from anyone. I opened up the "World Forum" website and found myself intrigued by an organization dedicated to the well being of children all over the world. It made me curious about it's funding sources and its ability to generate and maintain interest with early childhood professionals world wide.  As a public school employee I also fantasized about filling out a conference request form to go to a conference in Ireland and having the conference approved....

One of the keys to engagement must be the working groups. Each member to the Global Summit has chosen an area of interest to devote themselves to. I took a look at the work of the "Play Group" and found kindred spirits. I emailed the contact on the workgroup website. I will keep my fingers crossed but not hold my breath.

I am on spring break with a bit of time on my hands so I took in three podcasts with interest. I listened to George Forman from the University of Massachusetts on World Forum Radio. It was an interesting piece on learning theory and Piaget. The last podcast recording on the World Forum Radio was in February of 2011.

https://ccie-media.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/WFR_08_GeorgeForman.mp3

I then found myself on the Whole Child podcast listening to three esteemed women talk about home and school partnerships. The focus was on elementary schools but the subject was of interest to me so I stayed for the whole 40 minutes.
 http://www.wholechildeducation.org/podcast/partnerships-between-home-and-school-the-real-missing-link

Finally, I listened to a podcast on NAEYC Radio called "Who Will Save Kindergarten?". A quick podcast about the importance of play and the urgent need for professionals to advocate for play in a kindergarten classroom. My favorite take away from this podcast was this; all children were automatically ready for kindergarten twenty years ago because kindergarten was a place to honor their innate ability to play!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/naeyc-radio-national-association/id328570104

Lastly, I spent some time on the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Center (CHIP) website. The CHIP was created to fill in the gaps internationally related to the knowledge base, international research, and documentation of policy around issue of childhood poverty.  The funding phase of the CHIP program is now over, in fact the website is a bit dated as a resource. The organization expressed hope on the site that the page would stay open until at least 2007. It has. 

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php

As I end a week submersed in research, websites, and policies related to childhood poverty, I cant help but feel sad and overwhelmed. It seems to me that very well intentioned, well funded, and well organized groups have been working for two generations or more to end poverty.

                                                                  And still.....