MY SUPPORTS

MY SUPPORTS

I have a wonderful support system around me. I work in an environment where the goal for everyone is the same…. They want what is best for the kids! We all work every day to help benefit the kids around us. My husband is also my support. When I come home and had a bad day he is always there for me and reminds me why I do what I do! Having the support I do helps create a warm, caring environment for the children. It would be extremely difficult to get through the day without the support that I have. If you don’t work as a team then it will be much harder to create a warming environment. If my support system was not in my life it would be hard for me to stay on my feet. As I have said before my husband is my number one support and if he was not there I would have a very hard time. My children are my support system because I go to work for them. I can’t wait to get home from work to see them.

I have recently moved 3 hours away from my family. I have a new job with a new support system. They have been wonderful and very supportive of me.  My husband and children are now my only support system around me.  As far as my work I have many people that have helped me make this adjustment. It is so important to have your co- workers be supportive and to help have the same goals (to advocate for our children). If I would have started a new job and not had the support that I had it would be more difficult to be positive and create an environment that  would benefit our children the most! I am very new in my job so I have needed a great deal of direction and if I did not have the support from my co workers that I have had I would have a difficult time adjusting!

Childhood Connections to Play

Childhood Connections to Play

Growing up all I did was play, play, and play some more. I remember my parents would have to make me come inside. I wanted to stay outside and play with my friends in the neighborhood all night long. It seems like when I was growing up that is all we knew to do. I hardly ever watched T.V. We were forced to use our imaginations (what children do not have to do anymore). I had the freedom to do whatever as long as I was playing! My parents loved the fact they my sister and I played outside. They encourage us to go outside and play.

Play today seems to be much different. It seems like children can not go outside and play until dark, because fear that someone may take your child. Kids want to watch T.V or play video games, that is their idea of play. It takes the freedom to explore and create games of their own.

            My vision of play for my children, I want them to really enjoy playing and be able to express themselves. I want play to be fun for them. I don’t want my children to sit on the couch all day and play video games. I want them to have an imagination and create their own games.

            Play has always been important in my life and I hope it will always continue to be. Play needs to be for children and adults!

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.” ~ Abraham Maslow (psychologist)

Reflecting On Building Relationships EDU 6161

I choose my husband and my dad.

It is important to build relationships with other because you know that you always have someone there when you need them. To get through life you need others to help you. Rather it be adivse or someone to cry with, or laugh with. You know that person is always there for you and they know you are always there for them. My parents were always there for me. They made me who I am today. My dad always told me if I am going to do something I better give it 100% and I have always followed that.

Other people that I have positive realtionships with are my mom, sister, and my best friend Barkley.

My husband is one of the most important relationships to me. He has become my best friend. We recently moved about 3 hours from my family, so we have to depend on each other. We have two boys a 2 year old and a 5 week old. The way we maintain positive relationship is we respect each other.

My dad is another relationship that means the world to me. He is the best dad in the world. I know that I can always depend on him. We talk on the phone everyday. If I ever need advice I go to him. I think respecting each other is the key to maintaing healthy/postive relationships.

Some challenges to keeping a positive relationsip is we get busy and tend to forget to call or keep in touch. Another challenge could be difference of opinions.

In both my husband and my dad they are caring, brave and understanding.

I have taken what each of these people have given me in my life and I want to pass it to my two boys. I have a two year old and a 5 week old. I also carry it over in early childhood. I want what is best for the children and I show them compassion and that I am always there for them

Week 8 Blog

Blog Week 8: When I think of Child Development

“Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate”

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

-          Dr, Seuss

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Early Childhood Education: Blog Week 6: Testing for Intelligence

Blog assignment Week 6: Testing for Intelligence

This topic has always been an issue for me. When I was in school I made really good grades and was top of my class. But if I heard the word standardized test I would panic and I never did well on this type of test. So my opinion about testing may be way different than others. I had the grades but as for a big test that determined what college I could get in or getting into grad school… I would freak out. My sister was the same way. We always joke around about our family and big standardize test. I feel that kind of testing does not define the academic level of a student. They need to look at the whole picture! From my own experience it can really affect your self esteem and put a real stress on your academic work. I understand the concept of why they use the test, but it does not need to be the only focus. They need to account many other factors besides these standardized test. As the assignment for this week states the early childhood profession needs to recognize that understanding the whole child requires a wider perspective!

When looking at Hungary it seems that they too use standardized testing as an approach to determine the academic level of a child. There school seem much similar to the US and hold teachers accountable for their children’s academic level and use a similar method. I feel that the US holds the teachers more accountable than the governemnt in Hungary. Schools do have to meet requirements that are set for them.

http://www.childresearch.net/PROJECT/ECEC/europe/hungary/report10_01.html

Blog Week 4: Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

We have learned how we can observe children and we are learning how to better understand a child’s development and ways we can encourage healthy development. Until now we have not really looked at how stressors could affect a child’s development. The assignment asked to pick a "stressor" that either you or someone you know has experienced and ho w they coped with it.

The "stressor" I choose was abandonment. There is a girl I work with that has talked to me about her father and how he abandoned her as a young child. She said until about the age of 30 she never really thought about it or realized he may have something to do with her commitment issues.  She said she has always blocked it out and until she was trying to figure out why she was so afraid of committing to a man she realized it was her father. She remembers as a little girl packing her bags and standing by the door waiting on her father to pick her up. She said she would wait for hours looking out the door. Her father never showed up. He always told her that he was coming to see her, but he never showed. She said that she remembers feeling disappointed and sad. After about a year, she said that she realized he was not coming to see her. As the years went by she soon forgot about her father although she said some days she would think about him. Her father affected her biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial domains because she felt abandonment.  As an adult she blacked out anything to do with her father and that is why she has a commitment issue. She felt that all men would leave her.  At the age of 30 she began seeing a psychiatrist and wanted to seek help. That is when it all came out and she had a better understanding of why she was the way she was. She is now married and has a little boy. I think everyday children have a father or even a mother walk out on them. They may not realize at the time how hurtful this is for the child.

Hunger in Latin America is what I choose that I wanted to learn more about. 62 million people live in extreme poverty and suffer the consequences of hunger according to the World Food Program. More than 200,000 children in Latin America under the age of five years old die from malnutrition and water-borne diseases. When you are hungry the last thing on your mind is learning.  Chronic hunger and malnutrition can cause significant health problems.  Children that are malnourished do not get enough nutrients such as iron, vitamin A and zinc in their diets.  Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness, iodine deficiency can cause mental retardation and delayed development. Iron deficiency in infancy can delay development and make older kids less active and less able to concentrate. All three domains are affected in a child’s development with hunger and malnutrition. Poverty, hunger, disease are not the only stressors in this country. Environmental pollution is another stressor. They have to worry if their water is clean that they are drinking out of and even in the houses they live in. Dirt, bugs and other pollutions are other problems that we in America may not have to worry about.  As a child worrying about theses stressors could affect their brain development as well as their social skills. They walk around in panic mode and are unable to play and live happy like a child should do!

http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/hunger.html#

Child Development and Public Health: Blog assignment 2

Child Development and Public Health: Blog assignment 2

I choose Nutrition/Malnutrition because I am the school nutrition specialist. I feel that a child’s nutrition can impact their development greatly. Studies have shown the correlation of proper nutrition and a child’s academic success. This summer we are providing students with free breakfast and lunch in low income areas so that they will not be hungry. There would be so many kids that would not eat in the summer time if it was not for this program. During a child’s developing years it is so important that they  receive the proper vitamins and minerals for their brain development and their growth.  My job is to ensure that these children are receiving healthy meals while at school.

Hunger and malnutrition in Africa have been on the increase since 1960's reaching a climax in the 1980's when over 150 million people were affected by one form or another. Over 15 million are suffering from malnutrition compared to 20 years ago.  In an article I was reading about malnutrition in Africa it states that a child can have an IQ up to 15 points less than a child properly nourished.  Here is a website to check out about the malnutrition in Africa www.worldhunger.org/.../world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm .

It is so sad that so many of children are going to bed hungry. It is a growing concern for Africa, but America as well. We as America need to come together and make a difference!!