Words of Inspiration and Motivation

When I taught at Carden Heights elementary school, teachers were encouraged to write weekly quotes on the blackboard to engage children in reflection and discussion. Periodically throughout the year, a student in the classroom would refer to a particular quote, giving life to the powerful words.

Here are two quotes from two major contributors to the field of early childhood.

First, thoughts from Marian Wright Edelman, president of Children’s Defense Fund:

"The outside world told black kids when I was growing up that we weren't worth anything. But   our parents said it wasn't so, and our churches and our schoolteachers said it wasn't so. They believed in us, and we, therefore, believed in ourselves."

Keywords: “Parents, churches, schoolteachers believed in us” Believing in a child is the first brick to build their foundation.

"You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation."

Keywords: “enough committed fleas” As one expects to be a superhero; one misses the point and ends up doing nothing. Marian Wright Edelman’s words emphasize that there is no small effort and that, in fact, any change starts at the individual level.

References:

African American Quotes. http://africanamericanquotes.org/index.html)

Second, quotes from President Clinton, major contributor to Head Start:

"I've been struck by the upside-down priorities of the juvenile justice system. We are willing to spend the least amount of money to keep a kid at home, more to put him in a foster home and the most to institutionalize him."

An incredible amount of money is spent on fixing society: it makes more sense to extend a hand when it is needed, and multiply preventive programs that help youth grow with dignity.

The following is a short compilation of President Clinton’s thoughts:

"The purpose of government is to rein in the rights of the people."

"Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all."

"There is nothing more precious to a parent than a child, and nothing more important to our future than the safety of all our children."

"Everybody counts, everybody deserves a chance, everybody has a responsible role to play and we all do better when we work together."

"By lifting the weakest, poorest among us, we lift the rest of us as well."

"The inability to get health care because people lack insurance, kills, less traumatically, and less   visibly than terrorism, but the result is the same. And poor housing and poor education and low wages kills the spirit and the capacity and the quality of life that all of us deserve."

I chose these quotes because they address concerns and goals set by organizations that help children and families. Presidents’ words weigh a lot and may have more impact in the resolution of childhood and families’ issues. I am thankful for Presidents who believe they are part of the whole and who think that “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

References:

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/mental_illness_is_nothing_to_be_ashamed_of-but/337019.html

Finally, here is an excerpt from a conversation between interviewer David Boulton, “co-producer and creator of Children of the Code, a learning-activist and technologist”, and Arthur Rolnick, “senior vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and an associate economist with the Federal Open Market Committee” (Children of the Code), and major contributor for Public Early Childhood Education and advocate for universal preschool movement (Walden):

               

 David Boulton: Excellent. Do you have any sense of what we're investing in birth to five?

 Arthur Rolnick: In pre-K, I don't. You know, the big investment, of course, is Head Start and Head Start averages about $8,000, per kid, per year. There is no funding for about forty percent of the kids who are eligible for Head Start. Eight thousand dollars per kid, we estimate, based on the studies of high-quality early education is about twenty-five to fifty percent below what it should be to get the kind of quality we need on average. So, it's way underfunded from a research perspective. It's focused on at-risk children, and there are some very good Head Start programs. But on average, Head Start is not getting the returns because the Head Start program is not well funded and it is not embedded in the type of market environment that we're suggesting with scholarships and mentors for at-risk parents.

                …

 Your original question was: How did I get involved in the economics of ECD? The answer is through the back door, looking at economic development and realizing that most of the economic development that is publicly funded in this country is counterproductive, that is, it is over funded. However, there is an area in which we're under funding, and it's ECD birth to five. And ECD should be viewed not just as education, but as economic development.

Thanks to this week’s assignment, I discovered “Children of the Code” whose mission is to make progress in the understanding of the whole child:

"The Children of the Code is an entertaining educational journey into the challenges our children's brains face when learning to read. The series weaves together archeology, history, linguistics, developmental neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, information theory, reading theory, learning theory, and the personal and social dimensions of illiteracy. "

References:

Arthur Rolnick. The Best Investment We Can Make.ChildrenCode

http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/rolnick.htm