In this episode Tashieanna O’Connor is joined by Merrill Gay of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance.

In this sobering but hopeful discussion Merril talks about the consequences of the recent elections, and how the outcomes may have negative results for Head Start and childcare programmes in Connecticut and around the country, as well as implications for providers, many of whom are not from the USA.

He will also share some peculiar challenges specific to Connecticut as there are spending limitation programmes that mean government has funds it won’t spend, and drops some hints about some good news hopefully coming out of the next legislative session.

Find the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance

https://www.cteca.org/

Find Child Care for CT

https://www.childcareforct.org/

Reach out:

If you would like to share your experiences or join Tasheianna for an episode, send a mail to:

childcarechallengespodcast@gmail.com

In this week’s thought provoking episode your host Tashieanna O’Connor is joined by Alex, a paraprofessional from The Bronx.

They dig in to Alex’s experiences in inner city schools and the challenges that face the children, many of who have struggles outside of the classroom.

Alex believes that many challenges faced by children in their schooling can be countered by involved parenting, but reaching those parents can be difficult, while most care they can be single parents, or have multiple jobs to make ends meet which means they struggle to be available.

Alex and Tashieanna also go into methods for communication with parents for maximum impact, and the importance of more life focussed education and skills

So tune in and get a fascinating perspective on these and many topics.

Reach out:

If you would like to share your experiences or join Tasheianna for an episode send a mail to:

childcarechallengespodcast@gmail.com

This week Tashieanna is joined by Paulette Atkinson, a teacher working in Miami Florida working with high school students with special needs, particularly with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities.

Paulette shares stories of joy working with kids with needs and importance of the curriculum focusing on life skills and taking children out in public, and challenges like paperwork and admin requirements meaning less time to spend with the kids.

But while many public school systems have proper programs and curricula, with elections coming it’s important to ensure that you are not voting for politician who will cut these programs for short term gain.

While you may feel your vote doesn’t matter, especially in the presidential election there are also congress people and local elections which have a huge impact on local issues like education.

For tutoring and reading instruction contact Paulette at patkinsongrant@gmail.com

Election resources:

https://www.usa.gov/voter-research

https://www.vote411.org/ballot

https://www.votesmart.org/

https://portal.ct.gov/sots/election-services/voter-information/voter-registration-information

Reach out:

If you would like to share your experiences or join Tasheianna for an episode, send a mail to:

childcarechallengespodcast@gmail.com