Reflections based on Exchange Every Day (Week of 9/7/09)

Aloha fellow early childhood educators!
I sincerely enjoy reading the daily email messages from Exchange. I especially appreciate the quotes - I use them as a tool of motivation for my staff.
A little about me - I'm a director of Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc (MEO) Head Start. The program is funded for 298 children, and the agency is a non-profit community action program. I plan to design a more comprehensive blog (with photos and a narrative to share more about my life) once I return back from a vacation. I'm current in Las Vegas - I experienced my first full-blown concert with pyrotechnics - I saw Nickelback in concert at the MGM. Amazing!! I return tomorrow and will use this weekend to design, or better yet - individualize, my blog.
Getting back to the various readings from Exchange, I want to comment on several items that cause my attention.
I was not surprised to read that New Zealand (8/27/09) received recognition as the most peaceful country in the world. It is an extremely beautiful place - it's picturesque views remind me of Hawaii. I have never been there, however I know that it's one location that I long to visit. I have a past employee that was a nanny for a family several years ago. She accompanied the family on a two-week trip to New Zealand and brought back photos of her time there. It was absolutely breathtaking! Prior to seeing the photos, I had no idea that this could is a place that I would long to visit. One day....
My heart sank as I reviewed the list of least peaceful countries, especially as I thought about the families that reside in these locations. For the majority of these individuals, they lack the resources to make changes in their environment, therefore are "stuck" in a place that fails to provide a sense of security for children, elderly, adults - basically every single human being. Children are exposed to a stressful lifestyle on a daily basis. Although part of their everyday life, one cannot help by wish for something better. Walking in a neighborhood safely, playing at a local playground, going shopping at an open market - all these simple acts of recreation is not so easily accessible for those that live in these countries. I need to keep these thoughts are the forefront of my mind to lack taking these activities for granted.
Another thought is that the United States did not make the top nine list. I failed to conduct a search to see where we fall on the list, however I do know that our country is not the most and not the least. I will do my best to encouraging peace in hopes that it will make a difference. I believe it does, which fuels my passion to respect human rights and resolve conflict without violence.
Another message I want to comment on is the one titled "Disparities in Development Persist" (9/2/09). As a director of a Head Start program, I am dedicated to providing a quality child development program for children of lower-income families. The Head Start program was designed specifically to create a system to support families to increase protective factors that leverage disparities.
Head Start supports families to obtain a medical home for their child, meaning that the family has a pediatrician that they can access on a regular basis for medical attention. Immunizations, physicals, and dental exams with oral health treatments are monitored for completion.
The program links parents up with various community resources to design a plan for those that want to continue their education. Many parents have not completed high school, so obtaining a GED may be a first step. For others, creating a link to Maui Community College to determine a possible starting point to returning back to school may provide a means of increasing income to achieve self-sufficiency. Another goal attached to this factor is an increased awareness of how important education can be to an individual - especially to this parent's child. Adults that appreciate education are role models for their children, and also hold a higher value of promoting education for their child.
All elements contribute to parents building a secure and nurturing attachment to their children.

In my work as a Head Start director, I recently had an "aha" moment regarding how important our program is to many families. I already had a grounded sense of understanding, which is most logical, that being the fact that parents that qualify for services will receive preschool care for their child free of charge. While considering the many options offered to families that can pay for services, I realized that families can elect to send their child to a Montessori program, a Christian based program, a Hawaiian language immersion program, etc. Families that apply for Head Start do not have a choice of what kind of program they are shopping for, meaning that the program needs to resemble a "one size fits all" program. The significance to me is that the program needs to meet the various needs of each family, that the staff working for my program has to remain open minded, and that families need to have a voice in the program - and we need to have compassionate understanding to listen with respect.
Head Start has a heavy focus on parent involvement. Parents assist to design lesson plans, curriculum planning, and individual plans for their child. This is how the program can be morphed into one that reflects currently enrolled families. This is what makes Head Start uniquely different than other programs. Every option is valuable, important, and has a place in our community and world.