Part 1
When I first read this assignment, I thought this would be very interesting but didn’t know where to begin. I finally decided which places I would like to contact and chose four (4) different places: Australia, Florence, Germany, and Canada. So far I have only received one response and that was from the UNICEF- in Austrailia suggesting that I contact the Department of Education in Australia. I contacted them and they forwarded a ton of information.
I also decided to explore the social network Facebook. I found some groups and joined; I picked Australia and Singapore and chose a couple of different people from these organizations to contact. I am still waiting to hear a response but I believe that I have a better chance from hearing those via Facebook. I will certainly post something if I hear from anyone.
Part 2
I chose to further explore the National Institute for Early education Research, http://nieer.org/. They post the latest information about research bills trying to be passed, etc. It’s a great way to stay up to date, get ideas and resources all at the same time. They provide newsletters, events and even a state by state breakdown of such pre-k programs and their cost, percentage enrolled, etc. Overall I found the site very interesting and can’t wait to get their newsletters