“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

John Dewey

Disclaimer: I was invited by Latina Bloggers Connect to participate to Donate a Photo, a social movement created by Johnson’s® and Save the Children®. Together they are bringing awareness to the importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs, so that every child can reach their full potential. As a photographer and educator, it is my pleasure to share my two cents on this matter and make my own contribution 🙂

As you probably know by now, one of my life missions in life is to be teacher and share my knowledge with all those who need to be instructed or want to learn.

With my babies: Julie, Peter, Chae-Yong

Throughout my teaching career, I have taught to a wide range of ages from kindergarten to international students to government employees from all social spheres and many nationalities. I’ve also taught at the other side of the planet, which by far has been my biggest, boldest and best adventures as well as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and would do it again in a heartbeat. Well, who knows, I might do it again 🙂

One of the greatest accomplishments (as well as challenges) has been teaching to young children (from 4 to 7 year olds). They did require extra care, tons of patience but I learned quite a lot by working by their side day after day.

They clearly motivated me to do a lot of research, plan my days, weeks, months ahead of time and at the end of the day it was so rewarding!

During the course of the year, I was amazed not only to see them develop physically but also to see their progress and realize that we do have a tremendous impact and influence in their young lives! Hence, that is why I am also a passionate activist when it comes to education matters.

Did you know that through its programs, Save the Children provides support to 300 000 U.S children in need, and JOHNSON’S® shares in this mission to make a positive impact on baby’s cognitive, social, and emotional development?

JOHNSON’S® has been a longstanding partner of Save the Children, a global organization dedicated to early childhood development with recognized leaders, quality programs and a proven model that invests in childhood every day, in times of crisis and for the future.

Like JOHNSON’S®, Save the Children believes in giving children a healthy start. The organizations know that by transforming children’s lives now, we can help change the course of their future.

Through its pioneering programs, Save the Children invests in childhood right from the start; helping to ensure girls and boys in need have the best chance to succeed.

. More than 60 percent of low-income families have no books in their homes for children.

. Disadvantaged children who don’t participate in high-quality early education programs are:

50 percent more likely to be placed in special education
25 percent more likely to drop out of school
60 percent more likely to never attend college
70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime
40 percent more likely to become a teen parent.

Save the Children has championed various policy changes benefiting more than 57 million U.S. children since 2010 – transforming their lives and their future. Last year alone, Save the Children’s U.S. programs helped serve 300,000 U.S. children – giving them a healthy start in life.

To take their commitment one step further, JOHNSON’S® and Save the Children are uniting to develop a global toolkit that will integrate early stimulation and learning into community-based programs in low resource settings.

In collaboration with JOHNSON’S® scientists, Save the Children educational experts are utilizing their input and advice to create a holistic approach, integrating health and science to create an evidence-based toolkit that can be adaptable to local settings and helps support happy, healthy development of babies.

The holistic toolkit will incorporate the latest brain research focused on child development to support early brain development and offer practical solutions and interventions that can be integrated into health, nutrition, and community-based programs globally.

The toolkit will support the improvement of healthy development outcomes for babies, while furthering the capacity parents seek for responsive care giving.

As a brand, JOHNSON’S® is advancing research and education about happy, healthy baby development, advocating for more babies to have an equal start in life and creating safe, engaging environments for baby not only for today, but for the years to come.

Johnson’s® created an app called Donate a Photo and the hashtag #SoMuchMore to help children in need.

How can you contribute?

• Download the app on iTunes or Google Play. Then from the list of causes, select Save the Children®.
• Upload a photo of your choice, add a description and include #SoMuchMore
• Select the social media profiles you want to post and share it on.
• For every photo uploaded during the holidays, Johnson’s® will triple donation amounts to support early childhood education programs!
• Posting one photo a day is permitted.
• The more photos you post, the more funds for Save the Children® are raised!

Let’s join forces and help provide children living in poverty advancement in early childhood development with education programs that will change young lives…FOREVER!

SOCIAL MEDIA CORNER

Be sure to follow Johnson’s® Twitter account and share your photos at @JohnsonsBaby and with @SavetheChildren by using the hashtag #SoMuchMore.

Website: http://www.donateaphoto.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jnj

Twitter: https://twitter.com/donateaphoto

Instagram: https://instagram.com/donateaphoto/

Feel free to share this post or video, I thank you in advance.

Until next time!

Tashi Delek, All the best.

Kay 🙂

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and Latina Bloggers Connect. The opinions are all mine.