In my last blog I had the opportunity to review a podcast on an organization called Liberty Place in Belize of Central America. I decided to look further into this organization and relate it to this week’s blog. As mentioned last week Liberty House is an organization that houses abandoned and abused children, however in reviewing the Liberty House Web site, this organization also houses children that are special needs or who are HIV positive.
While reviewing the Liberty website I found out that this organization has adopted an early childhood approach called the Pickler Method. This method focuses on the development of the whole child, allowing infants to grow when they are ready, being influenced by Montessori and the Reggio Emilia approach. Though I had never heard of the Pikler approach, this seems to be a progressive movement and has also influenced early childhood practices in the United States. Gaining this new information has most definitely added to my resources in my journey of professional development.
Another bit of information that really influenced me on the importance of international networking was an organization that was iinspired by the Piker approach is a group called Working Group for Rights of Children without Families. This groups mission supports that all countries should be ready to provide the best of care for children that have been placed in group settings because of natural disaster or lost of family members. 2009 was the first time this group met and it included countries from all over the world. I am learning that networking international could be much more powerful than imagined; Early Childhood Professionals could cause positive affects on children all over the world. Uniting together with the world could bring about a powerful affect on how economist, neuroscientist and politicians view early childhood as a whole. There is power in numbers!
Pikler Fund USA http://pikler.org/WorkingGroup.html
Liberty Foundation http://www.libertyfoundation.org.uk/projects_libertycareprogram.html
Hi Gloria,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the information you found, the Pikler Method sounds really interesting, it will be neat to find out more about it! The Working Group for Rights of Children Without Families also seems like a great organization/resource. From looking at the international websites and listening to the global podcasts I've noticed that children who have been orphaned due to natural disasters or conflicts is a huge global issue. It's great to know that there are so many organizations out there working in the best interests of the children but this is something that I think doesn't really get too much attention here in the US. I agree with you, international networking seems to be very powerful; it is so inspiring to read about organizations and projects from other countries that have done so much good!