Relationship Reflection
Relationships are what make a person. Relationships allow others to see who you are as a person. Without relationships, whether they be family, friends, coworkers, school friends, or any type of relationship for that matter, we as humans would be lonely. We need conversation. We need friendship. We need laughter. We need love. Without relationships we don't have all of these things. Television can't do these things for us. Radio can't do these things for us. We need human interaction and love on a daily basis.
My husband is my best friend. We are able to talk about everything together. I tell him my fears, my concerns, my funny stories and he does the same for me. We talk everyday about our days. We share everything with one another and without him, I can honestly say that I would be lost. He is my rock and my everything. He makes me happy and smile. When my husband and I began dating, it was during a time when my grandmother was passing away. Everyday we texted or talked on the phone. We hadn't even met yet in person but talked on the phone daily. He was there for me during a rough time and I will never forget that. That is one of the reasons I fell in love with him.
My mom and dad are also two people that I can share anything with if I need or want to. They are so strong and have done so much for me throughout the years. I may need them but we talk about everything and they are great parents. I maintained my relationships with my parents because I didn't want to have bad relationships with my parents. They are the only parents I have. We had tough times but we worked things out and are very close now.
My grandma is also one of my closest friends. She is a great listener and has wonderful advice if I need it. I can share anything with her and know that she is not judging me in any way. She is always there for me. She is my only living grandparent and I would be lost without her. She is amazing!
I feel that having good relationships at work (early childhood education) is important. I need to maintain great working relationships with my coworkers, the parents that I service and the children in my program. My coworkers are important because without them, my program wouldn't run as well as it does. I work to maintain my relationships with the parents because I need their trust and support when things are changing or things are difficult. The children need friendship from me ( with boundaries) because they rely on my to take care of them and teach them. Without me and my coworkers, there would be no program.
I am always willing to meet new people and develop new relationships. Without them, I would be lost. I am such a social person and I love human interaction. It makes me the person that I am because of these relationships.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!
-- Dr. Seuss
This quote reminds me of children because their imaginations are so amazing! WE as adults seem to only focus on what is in front of us and around us. We don't tend to be creative unless we are around or with children. Children bring out the child in us!
-- Dr. Seuss
This quote reminds me of children because their imaginations are so amazing! WE as adults seem to only focus on what is in front of us and around us. We don't tend to be creative unless we are around or with children. Children bring out the child in us!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Holistic Child
Working with children allows me to observe their interactions with one another, their families, their teachers, and how they learn and what they learn. Children learn at different paces and learn things faster than other things. Children are excited to learn and often times do not know that they are learning when they are learning.
Children's physical development and cognitive development should be assessed at different times throughout their childhood development. How a child perceives something, how they talk, form sentences, comprehend directions, learn new concepts, take directions, and other similar activities that allow an educator to assess their development. A child should be assessed on how they play with others, if they are able to take things apart and put them together, if they are able to jump, run, skip, climb, their balance, their timing, the way they use a ball whether it is to bouncing it, dribbling it, throwing it, and all types of outside play. Children should be able to show their fine motor and their large motor skills through these activities. All should be assessed so that caregivers and educators know that they are developing the successful way that they should be.
China does not consider academics until the child is age five. However, the children are provided with many different opportunities in the school day. They use their playground more during the day for physical and large motor skill activities. There are classrooms at schools as well as rooms with beds for naps in the afternoon. Their school day may start at 8am and end at 5pm. The children are provided with many subjects during the day including math, writing, reading, history, art, music and other subjects that the teacher sees fit. Children use manipulatives to show how they learn to count and pattern blocks. The Chinese offer quite the school day for children. America does not provide many if any schools like that.
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/earlyed/read_vaughan.html
Children's physical development and cognitive development should be assessed at different times throughout their childhood development. How a child perceives something, how they talk, form sentences, comprehend directions, learn new concepts, take directions, and other similar activities that allow an educator to assess their development. A child should be assessed on how they play with others, if they are able to take things apart and put them together, if they are able to jump, run, skip, climb, their balance, their timing, the way they use a ball whether it is to bouncing it, dribbling it, throwing it, and all types of outside play. Children should be able to show their fine motor and their large motor skills through these activities. All should be assessed so that caregivers and educators know that they are developing the successful way that they should be.
China does not consider academics until the child is age five. However, the children are provided with many different opportunities in the school day. They use their playground more during the day for physical and large motor skill activities. There are classrooms at schools as well as rooms with beds for naps in the afternoon. Their school day may start at 8am and end at 5pm. The children are provided with many subjects during the day including math, writing, reading, history, art, music and other subjects that the teacher sees fit. Children use manipulatives to show how they learn to count and pattern blocks. The Chinese offer quite the school day for children. America does not provide many if any schools like that.
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/earlyed/read_vaughan.html
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Hunger
When I was younger, I had a friend that grew up in a home where if they were fed dinner one night a week, they were lucky. Their only meal daily was truly their school lunch which was paid for at a reduced price. There were times when she rarely ate her lunch because she was embarrassed to eat everything on her tray. I always tried to share some of my lunch with her but she wouldn't always take it. I also knew that she didn't try a lot of foods because she rarely ate. It was very sad. However, the good news is that today she manages a makeup counter and has a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. She does whatever she has to in order to ensure that her family is fed every meal everyday. :-)
The Gonzalez family in Honduras depend on seasonal work in order to provide food for their seven children. They are only able to eat twice a day and it is the same meal every time; beans and tortillas. Clearly tortillas do not provide the necessary nutrients that the children need to grow up healthy. They need better food and nutrition but unfortunately, they don't have the option right now. If only there were enough crops and animals to provide food for every part of every nation. I know that hunger exists but I do my best not to think about it because all it does is make me sad.
http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/honduras-hunger-200904-enews
When I was younger, I had a friend that grew up in a home where if they were fed dinner one night a week, they were lucky. Their only meal daily was truly their school lunch which was paid for at a reduced price. There were times when she rarely ate her lunch because she was embarrassed to eat everything on her tray. I always tried to share some of my lunch with her but she wouldn't always take it. I also knew that she didn't try a lot of foods because she rarely ate. It was very sad. However, the good news is that today she manages a makeup counter and has a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. She does whatever she has to in order to ensure that her family is fed every meal everyday. :-)
The Gonzalez family in Honduras depend on seasonal work in order to provide food for their seven children. They are only able to eat twice a day and it is the same meal every time; beans and tortillas. Clearly tortillas do not provide the necessary nutrients that the children need to grow up healthy. They need better food and nutrition but unfortunately, they don't have the option right now. If only there were enough crops and animals to provide food for every part of every nation. I know that hunger exists but I do my best not to think about it because all it does is make me sad.
http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/honduras-hunger-200904-enews
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Nutrition in kids hits home with me every day. I may work with older children in an after school setting, but I have been around children my entire life. I have seen children that are underweight and I have seen children that are overweight. It hurts my heart when I see these children because I am positive that they are either not being fed enough or fed too much. However, I do also realize that some children just choose not to eat because they are either picky eaters or they are to interested in playing so they don't eat as much as they would normally.
I also hate when I see some of the food items that parents pack in their children's lunches. I am sorry but Oreos, Doritos, fruit snacks and a leftover piece of pizza do not constitute a great lunch for children. I am not the master at packing lunches, but what happened to a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, an apple or banana, carrots or celery and a yogurt. I understand that no child wants all healthy stuff so I would throw in a small bag of chips or 2 cookies. That at least helps children as they grow to make better choices when eating out and while snacking at home.
Another aspect of nutrition among children that bothers me are the school lunches. A chocolate chip waffle with syrup does not cover all of the food groups. We, as a country, complain about child obesity, yet we do not provide nutritional lunches or enough physical activity because reading and writing are more important than the health of our children. You can't tell me that 20 mins a day of physical activity is that hard to incorporate into curriculum.
Nutrition around the world is always a debate because there are so many countries that are poor and do not have the resources that the United States does. However, many of the countries that are poorer economically, do have a very large amount of land that they can use to provide fruits and veggies throughout the country. However, the price of these crops doesn't always allow for families to afford the food that they need. Then where there seems to be enough money, people still eat poorly by eating junk, too little or too much.
Nutrition is always a hot topic for me because I do work with children everyday and I always cringe at what I see my children eating. I wish that I could pack their lunch or provide the school lunch for them because I am appalled at what constitutes a lunch these days. Nutrition isn't a part of the curriculum anymore either which doesn't help teach the children at least an iota of education regarding nutrition.
www.economist.com
I also hate when I see some of the food items that parents pack in their children's lunches. I am sorry but Oreos, Doritos, fruit snacks and a leftover piece of pizza do not constitute a great lunch for children. I am not the master at packing lunches, but what happened to a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, an apple or banana, carrots or celery and a yogurt. I understand that no child wants all healthy stuff so I would throw in a small bag of chips or 2 cookies. That at least helps children as they grow to make better choices when eating out and while snacking at home.
Another aspect of nutrition among children that bothers me are the school lunches. A chocolate chip waffle with syrup does not cover all of the food groups. We, as a country, complain about child obesity, yet we do not provide nutritional lunches or enough physical activity because reading and writing are more important than the health of our children. You can't tell me that 20 mins a day of physical activity is that hard to incorporate into curriculum.
Nutrition around the world is always a debate because there are so many countries that are poor and do not have the resources that the United States does. However, many of the countries that are poorer economically, do have a very large amount of land that they can use to provide fruits and veggies throughout the country. However, the price of these crops doesn't always allow for families to afford the food that they need. Then where there seems to be enough money, people still eat poorly by eating junk, too little or too much.
Nutrition is always a hot topic for me because I do work with children everyday and I always cringe at what I see my children eating. I wish that I could pack their lunch or provide the school lunch for them because I am appalled at what constitutes a lunch these days. Nutrition isn't a part of the curriculum anymore either which doesn't help teach the children at least an iota of education regarding nutrition.
www.economist.com
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Birthing Around the World
I myself have never given birth. I have also never experienced the birth of a family member or someone close to me. However, I am pregnant and will be experiencing birth in February. We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our son!
In high school, I did do a career shadowing project with a labor and delivery nurse. I was able to experience the birth of a little boy. There was a woman in excruciating pain and she was throwing up and everything but once her son was out and she was holding him you could tell that the pain and the sickness were a distant memory for her. It was amazing to watch and I will never forget it.
In South Africa, women are horribly afraid of giving birth. They are expected to watch another woman give birth in order to face their fears. After birth, the mother is to be secluded to her hut until the bleeding stops and the placenta and cord is buried. It is said that the mother bites the cord and placenta is buried so that it is returned to mother earth. After that the mother waits for her child to urinate and pass a stool before the child is introduced to the village outside of the hut.
I learned that birthing in South Africa is something that I would not be interested in doing. However, I believe that if I was born and raised in South Africa, I wouldn't know any differently and would very easily participate in the birthing rituals performed there. I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with doctors to take care of me and the baby and be my support system if something goes wrong.
In high school, I did do a career shadowing project with a labor and delivery nurse. I was able to experience the birth of a little boy. There was a woman in excruciating pain and she was throwing up and everything but once her son was out and she was holding him you could tell that the pain and the sickness were a distant memory for her. It was amazing to watch and I will never forget it.
In South Africa, women are horribly afraid of giving birth. They are expected to watch another woman give birth in order to face their fears. After birth, the mother is to be secluded to her hut until the bleeding stops and the placenta and cord is buried. It is said that the mother bites the cord and placenta is buried so that it is returned to mother earth. After that the mother waits for her child to urinate and pass a stool before the child is introduced to the village outside of the hut.
I learned that birthing in South Africa is something that I would not be interested in doing. However, I believe that if I was born and raised in South Africa, I wouldn't know any differently and would very easily participate in the birthing rituals performed there. I can't wait to give birth in a hospital with doctors to take care of me and the baby and be my support system if something goes wrong.
Littlejohn, M. (2010-2013, November 2). Spiritual
Birth. Retrieved from Spiritual Birth: The Spiritual Art of Birth:
www.spiritualbirth.net
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Course Resource Page:
- NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
- NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
- NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
- Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
- FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
- Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
- Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
- Websites:
- World Forum Foundation
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. - World Organization for Early Childhood Education
http://www.omep-usnc.org/
Read about OMEP's mission. - Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/
Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements. - National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/ - The Division for Early Childhood
http://www.dec-sped.org/ - Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
http://www.zerotothree.org/ - WESTED
http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm - Harvard Education Letter
http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85 - FPG Child Development Institute
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/ - Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/ - HighScope
http://www.highscope.org/ - Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/ - Center for Child Care Workforce
http://www.ccw.org/ - Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org/ - Institute for Women's Policy Research
http://www.iwpr.org/ - National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/ - National Child Care Association
http://www.nccanet.org/ - National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/ - Pre[K]Now
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067 - Voices for America's Children
http://www.voices.org/ - The Erikson Institute
http://www.erikson.edu/ - YC Young Children
- Childhood
- Journal of Child & Family Studies
- Child Study Journal
- Multicultural Education
- Early Childhood Education Journal
- Journal of Early Childhood Research
- International Journal of Early Childhood
- Early Childhood Research Quarterly
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Studies
- Maternal & Child Health Journal
- International Journal of Early Years Education
- Extra Resources:
- www.calsac.org
- www.helpkidzlearn.com
- www.smartkidswithld.com
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