So long, farewell

I cannot believe that my time at Walden is coming to a close.  I have started and stopped working on my Master's degree at least five times with 4 different universities. Three years ago, I became passionate about starting my own early learning center and thought, it is now or never.  I researched universities and programs and decided on Walden. I am so glad that I did.  I feel like I have to skills that I need to get started and knowledge of skills that I need to work on. For example, I learned that I will need help with the business aspect of running the center. In the Budget and Allocation class, I was $100,000 over budget the first time I worked on one.  There were so many things that I did not take into consideration, such as, staff benefits, insurance, legal fees, etc. My husband has an MBA and I told his I will definitely need his help to get started.
In Developing People and Leading teams I learned much about my leadership style and the way that I communicate. I also learned new techniques of how to handle conflict. The conflict resolution network is bookmarked on my computer and I find myself using it frequently.
My third most important learning goes along with the first, it is grant writing.  I have been interested in grants and grant writing but did not  know how to get started.  I now have resources booked marked and I have written a grant for work.  I will say, that it is probably my least favorite thing to do and I regret telling my boss that I could do it. However, it is practice for when I am able to open my center.
My long term goal is to open More Precious than Rubies and be an adjunct professor at the local community collage.  This way I am able to make a difference in children's lives now and in the future but training future teachers.

https://youtu.be/s0SUEMGZU04


It has been great learning with everyone, I know so of us have been in class together since day 1.  I wish everyone the best of luck with your goals and dreams. I am on facebook as Kaleena Wiseman and my email is kaleenabattles@gmail.com if you would like to stay in contact.

International Organizations

For this week's blog assignment I looked at three different international organizations. The first one was an easy pick. It is to be a missionary that focuses on children's ministry.  This is what my undergraduate degree is for and what I had planned to do with my life. World Gospel Missions has several positions available, from teaching at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center in Bolivia, to missionary kids' teacher and children's director in Papua New Guinea. To be a missionary with WGM, you need to have at least an associate degree in theology and be of the Wesleyan-Armenian theology. They also preferred that you are debt free.    So far this career has not worked out for me, but it is still something that I am passionate about.

Another organization that I am interested in is Compassion International.  They are another mission organization that is all over the world.  They are mainly known for their sponsor a child program, but they do so much more than that.They strive for holistic child development.  "Holistic child development means we begin, in some cases, with prenatal care and go all the way through leadership development for qualified young adults. It means we take a long-term approach to what we do and go beyond simple involvement in the lives of the children and families we serve," (Compassion International,n.d., What we do, para.2).
 In Bolivia, they run a school for rural, improvised areas that otherwise would not have a school.  They employee locals and traditional missionaries.  They work with the whole community to improve the lives of children and their families.
Compassion International does have child development specialist and advocates on staff.  I think this would be an awesome career. The site did not go into details about what the qualifications are for this, but I would imagine a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, child development, or social work along with strong skills in working with a diverse and poverty stricken population. 
My last international organization is the association for childhood education international. 
"ACEI works for the education of all children, but has a special interest in ensuring that our energies are focused on meeting the education needs of the most fragile and vulnerable children," (ACEI, n.d., about, para 1). I love this about their mission statement. They provide training and research in global children's education, they operate schools, and advocate worldwide for the education of all children.  They have courses and training available to be an education diplomat.  There are three courses that are approximately 10 weeks long for each.  I cannot find information on if you are hired after completing them, or what jobs are available. I requested more information yesterday.  I will update if I hear back from them, as this is a possible career that interest me. 
References
Association for childhood education international. (n.d.). About. retrieved from https://www.acei.org/about/
Compassion International. (n.d.). What we do. retrieved from https://www.compassion.com/child-development-model.htm
World Gospel Mission. Retrieved from https://www.wgm.org/