My Connections to Play

Play for me was a way to adventure into this world!  I had many supports through my playing years especially my mother.  I remember my mother letting me pull out the pots, pans and mixing bowls to bang around or pretend I was cooking in the kitchen.   She also let me lead and show her what I wanted to play with for instance, if one day I wanted to pretend I was a teacher she was always a wonderful student or patient if I was playing doctor.  Play was important part of my childhood in my family and I was blessed to have parents that joined in and let me investigate the world!

"Play energizes and enlivens us. It eases our burdens.  It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities."
                                                                                                        - Stuart Brown, MD

"Children need the freedom and time to play.  Play is not a luxury.  Play is a necessity."
                                                                                                        - Kay Radfield Jamison

I loved imaginary play and wearing my mothers clothes and accessories.  

My teddy bear was a big part of play during my younger years

I feel that play today is different from play when I was younger because I feel that families do not give children the freedom to explore the outside world like I did.  Playing outside was a necessity for me and I loved feeling the wind and smelling of the fresh air around me as a child.  I feel that technology plays a role for young children which has differed since I was young. Technology is important to us but children need to explore and discover with hands-on materials not just searching the internet.  It is my hope for young children to adventure in outside play and explore the natural beauties around them.  It is also my hope that children will discover new materials or items by touching and feeling them.  For example, if children are interested in trees it is my hope that they will want to go outside and touch and feel the tree to learn about it and not just research it on the internet.  

I was taught many life lessons through play as a young child.  I feel that I would not have the love of cooking if it was not for my mother letting me destroy her kitchen  to explore through play.  I also believe that because I had a positive experience with play during childhood that is a reason I want to be a teacher.  I want to share my passion of play with my students and teach them life lessons. 

 

Building Positive Relationships

My #1  relationship is with my husband.  We have a wonderful partnership because it is based on love, communication, trust and respect.  I believe there are many factors that go into building and maintaining a relationship but for my husband and me....if you respect one another including their differences and communicate your feelings you can move mountains.

 Having positive relationships  is key to being happy for me.  The relationships that I have with my friends and family give me support and happiness that I need to take on the day!  I cannot put a price tag on the happiness and love that my friends and family bring to me.  I am blessed in so many ways to have them in my life!

My Family Relationships are very important to me!

When I think of Child Development

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted."
                                         - Garrison Keillor

As educators we are constantly assisting children to develop and learn to their full potential and our time is never wasted!

I want to thank all my classmates for giving me encouragement through this course.  Best of luck to everyone as their journey continues through the next course. 

Testing for Intelligence

I believe we should still assess children in the middle childhood age on social-emotional skills.  It seems that schools only focus on standardized test that measure reading, math, writing and science skills but not social-emotional.  Yes, we observe and assess social and emotional skills during early childhood because that is when these skills are truly developing but children of all ages still go through changes and are still learning how to regulate their emotions.  Academic skills are very important for children during middle childhood but as educators I believe we should still focus on social-emotional skills because these skills will get children through all types of issues or events in life.

Research shows that Asia is still coming up with ways to assess children and questioning if it is an integral part of the curriculum.  I feel that the US also has had this questioning as well but I am a firm believer that curriculum and assessment are part of each other. 

One thing relating to assessing young children that I think is important is OBSERVATION.  It is not just about quick evaluation or assessments it is important to observe children through out the times in the classroom to truly see their development and learning.

Francis & Taylor. New Directions in Assessment of Young Children in the Asia-Pacific Region. Early    Childhood Development and Care. February, 2011. 181(2). 

Consequences of Stress on Chilren's Development

Natural disasters can be become a stress for anyone.  I remember being in first grade and a tornado hit the area we lived in and destroyed one of my friend's homes.  I recall my family and I riding by their house the next day and there was debri, clothes and other items scattered everywhere around the yard.  I feel that my friend and her family coped with this natural disaster because they knew they had a community around them that cared and loved them.  Our school and church collected clothes, food and money to assist them to getting their lives back on track.  I also remeber Red Cross was there to offer support and resources for the family.  This was a huge stress and fear that was placed on my friend but with the love and support they had from our community decresed the anixety they felt.  This family recovered and became stronger than ever and was able to rebuild their home. 

After reviewing several articles one stress that affects children's development in China is over crowded homes.  Over crowded homes include children and their immediate family but also extended family and grandparents.  Over-crowded homes can also lead to poverty due to needing more food to feed the entire family.  The over-crowded homes can not be eliminated but individuals are trying to provide parenting practices for families to help decrease their stress.  By learning new parenting skills to decrease family stress can help the family have a strong bond.

Child Development & Public Health

This week I have chosen to discuss Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), this is a meaningful topic to me because I have worked with a family who had a baby pass away from SIDS.  When I worked with this family they had their second child that was enrolled in our infant room.  They truly had a passion to teach people about the risk of SIDS and prevention.  The information that I have learned about SIDS and will continue to learn through research studies will impact my future work by providing families with knowledgeable information and preventive steps to reduce the risk of SIDS.  This is information will also be valuable to me and my co-workers as I continue to work in the childcare field and build a postive relationships with families.

I chose to research SIDS in the Asian culture and found out that infants of the Asian decent are less likely to pass away from SIDS than a Caucasian infant.   The research showed that this was due to Asian women breastfeeding their infants and mothers sleeping with the infants.  The study revealed that Asian culture truly believe in "co-sleeping." 

Reference

Parker, S. (2012). Asian Americans: The Facts.  Retrieved from http://www.healthguidance.org.

Childbirth in my Life & Around the World

Childbirth in My Life:
As for now...I do not have children of my own but I was there to witness the birth of my only niece.  My sister-in-law had a scheduled c-section due to a few ongoing health problems.  Her health problems had nothing to do with her pregnancy but because of her history the doctor wanted to play it safe and put her under while conducting the c-section.  I will never forget that day October 15, 2007 when Abby was born.  The whole family was as the hospital bright and earlier to meet Abby.  We were all standing by the nursery window waiting patiently for the arrival of Abby.  At around 7:35 am they brought  Abby into the nursery where we watched the nurse take care of her. My brother was also in the nursery with tears of joy and his new daughter.
The birth of Abby was an experience I will never forget because she is my only niece and I had been waiting what seems like forever to  be an Aunt.  This experience also brought my brother and I closer and I have enjoyed watching Abby grow and develop into a sweet and talkative little girl!  I believe birth and prenatal development has a huge impact on child development.  The way that the child is brought into this world and how the parents intend to raise the child has an impact on child development.


Childbirth Around the World:
I read a interesting article about Asian women giving birth in East London.  In this article they spoke about how Asian women proceeded to commit to Western maternity care by giving birth in a hospital and also taken prenatal vitamins.  The women also wanted their husbands and partners present during the birth which showed that the traditional Asian ideas have been modified.
After reading this article it shows me that some cultures may change.  Women giving birth may want to keep some parts of their culture but may add a few other ideas as well to benefit the baby and/or themselves.  The article is similar to my childbirth experience because the women did give birth in an hospital and wanted to take prenatal vitamins for the benefit of the baby.  I know that my sister-in-law took prenatal vitamins, changed her eating and sleeping habits for the benefit of Abby.