Sharing Web Resources

•What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

The one section on the site zerotothree.org that was particularly relevant to my current professional development was the article about how to determine if children are school ready.  Many of my students will be entering kindergarten next year.  It is important for me as their teacher to ensure that they have the necessary skills and abilities to enter without having any difficulty.  The article also gives key tips for the parents to help them feel comfortable sending them to school and what signs to look for if they may develop trouble.

 •Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

One idea that was on the site that made me think about the issue in a new way dealt with trauma.  I understand that many children go through some sort of trauma, many on a daily basis due to their lifestyle.  I never understood or realized how much it impacted them later on in life.  The journal article explained how the experiences they have now can ultimately affect them later in life.  They may not show signs of anything now, but it may develop once they reach adult hood.  Although children may seem to recover fine from something, we never know if it will bother them once they reach a certain age.

 •What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

The website offers various links and resources that helped me understand how economists support the early childhood field.  It offers articles in regards to the public policy and how education will be impacted due to the most recent budget cuts.  It explains how the president has given additional money for 2014 to the Early Head Start programs because each child needs the extra help when it comes to education.

 

 •What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

One trend that I gained from exploring through the website is about military families.  The website zerotothree.org offers various suggestions and resources for military families to explore.  They offer book suggestions to help young children understand why a parent may not be home for a long time as well as various activities to do with them.  It is a very useful tool, especially now when many families are dealing with this issue.

References

http://www.zerotothree.org/

International Contacts - Week 2

I chose to research the country Mongolia and its struggle with poverty.  One interesting insights that I gained was reading that it appears the economic system of Mongolia is improving and becoming more stable, little are seeing the benefits.  The gap between the people living there benefiting from the better economy and those who are not is steadily increasing.

Another insight that I gained is as of 1990 about 96% of the population was illiterate.  Due to significant budget cuts from the national budget, the education programs suffered.  After time, the enrollment rates are beginning to rise and dorms are beginning to open up again.  Children living in poverty have a high dropout rate due to economic reasons.  The buildings and equipment are of poor quality, making the teaching quality to suffer as well.  The children that are fortunate enough to attend school are not getting the education they deserve.

The final insight that I gained from reading about Mongolia and poverty is many children are forced to never attend or drop out of school and work.  They do jobs such as cutting wood or fetching it for factories or markets.  More and more families are resorting to living in the streets with young children, even with the weather reaching as low as minus 30-40 degrees.

The country is suffering and as a result so are the children.  Mongolia needs to reexamine their education system and finds appropriate ways where the children that need to work can still have access to some sort of school.  They can offer courses at night or allow them to bring material home with them to work on independently.  It is difficult to be in that situation, especially if the family ends up on the streets in freezing weather.  They have to find ways to come together as one and fight for their education.

Resource

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#12

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I selected is called zero to three and can be found at the website zerotothree.org.  The main focus of the organization is to provide parents, teachers, and caregivers or children from the age of birth to three years of age.  They have a special forum created especially for military families as well to help the children better understand where their parents are and sometimes why they have to move so often.  They state directly on their website what their focus and missions are which is to help promote the healthy development of infants and toddlers.

One particular newsletter from the website that caught my attention was in regards to parents and identifying when their child is ready for school.  This is a main concern for a majority of the parents I interact with in the beginning of the school year because the children are so young.  The letter identifies various ways in which to help get the children ready along with different clues to look for the parents determine if they are or not.  It is a great tool for any parent to read and to help them to help know what to expect when their child leaves for the first time.  The bottom of the article also stresses the importance of sharing the information with any parents that may be struggling with the idea of sending their young child off to preschool.  As they state, “sharing is caring.”

After reviewing the topic of getting children ready for school, I realized how important it is for parents to take time to explain to their children where they are going and what they will be doing there.  The article stressed the importance of emotions and how the parents have to be prepared for their children to become upset when they go to leave them at school.  Some parents have a hard time letting go, especially when it is their first child.  The website explains steps that can be taken to help avoid the separation anxiety on both the parents and child’s part.  That should be a big help for many families new to not only preschool but also leaving their child in the hands of someone else.

 

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/school-readiness-infographic.html

Establishing Professional Contacts

I began by trying to figure out how I wanted to contact a representative from an international setting.   After carefully looking over everything, I decided that for me the best option would be the alternate assignment for part 1.  Since my internet connection can get a little sketchy at times, I would feel more comfortable knowing I had the option of listening to the professionals on the radio then stressing about responding to emails in a timely manner. 

For the second part of the assignment I decided to select the Zero to Three  (http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ ) organization to study.  I had previously stumbled upon their sight and found it to have a multitude of resources for professionals in the early childhood field.  I enjoyed the sight and often found myself referring back to it for the current journal articles.

Has anyone else found it difficult to select only one site to study?  I feel as though since we are in the field of early childhood, all the sites would benefit us to become familiar with.

My Supports

I have a few factors in my daily environment that are supportive to me.  The biggest support I have is my fiancé.  Without him I would not be able to function on most days.  I have recently begun my own journey with taking control of my health and although he may think I am crazy at times, he stands behind me.  Whenever he notices I am overwhelmed or simply had enough, he reminds of why I am doing it and always says encouraging words to me. 

Another support is my mother.  Although we may not see eye to eye sometimes, mostly with the wedding planning, she always stands behind me and my decisions.  I know that I can be very difficult to get along with at times and she is the only one that can tell me to calm down without making it worse.

Having two close support systems have helped me feel comfortable in my day to day life.  I know that I always have someone close who I can approach and talk to whenever I feel upset or like giving up.  Without these supports life would be very challenging.  I feel as though I may give up on many of the things I am so passionate about if it was not for certain people standing behind me.

If I ever lost my two support systems, I would probably not be able to make it, especially my fiancé.  I have never been as close with anyone as I am him.  I am able to confide in him things that I have never told anyone else.  He knows me better then I know myself and without him I would be lost.

The challenge that I imagined would be to live in a commynity that does not speak my language or I do not speak theirs at all.  I would want the people I deal with to understand and try to help me get through the task of not being able to communicate with others.  If I had my support systm such as my fiancé, I feel as though I would be able to over come this challenge and issue.  Having him there as y support, I would have many benefits such as someone who would understand what I am going through, make me feel comfortable, and be there for me whenever I need someone.  Without these supports in that situation, I probably would not be able to function and would feel very alone.  Not having anyone around to help, almost isolates people and makes them fall into a depression which I feel is what would happen if I did not have those around me who mattered most.

My Connections to Play

All throughout my childhood I loved playing with my younger sisters.  We often came up with new games and activities to keep ourselves busy while our parents were working.  I was always in a rush to grow up looking forward to being an adult.  As an adult, I see that I was being silly and had no idea what was in store for me.  The following two quotes are familiar to me and made me smile when I saw them, reminding me of the easier times as a child.

Stay a child while you can be a child. - STEPHEN SONDHEIM, Into the Woods

Children's games are hardly games. Children are never more serious than when they play. - MONTAIGNE, Essays

I always played in my backyard as a child.  We had a giant closed in yard with a swing set, pool, and lots of grass to use as our playground.  The following pictures were items that I was never seen without.  The first one is a shovel to dig up dinosaur fossils, which I was convinced I found at one point.  The second is the container in which I kept whenever I found a cool insect or weird object when I was digging.  The final is what I remember our swing set looking similar too.  It brings back a lot of fond memories.

Growing up we were always encouraged to play.  We were allowed to play outside with the neighborhood kids and were not looked for till dinner time.  My parents set the downstairs of our house up so that we had a kitchen area as well as our toys all in a central area.  We would be down there for hours on the days when we could not go outside.  The parents in the neighborhood also made sure we had the right equipment to play baseball or soccer games amongst the children on the block.  Everyone was very active and had a great time playing outside.  They all supported our play and encouraged us to go outside and interact.  We were taken to different parks to play larger games of baseball and never thought twice about staying till all hours of the night.

Play today is very different from when I was a child.  Parent’s are working much more and often have to rely on either people outside of their families to watch their children or technology to keep them occupied.  Children, even the preschool children in my class, are being placed in front of a TV or game system and left alone for hours.  They are not being encouraged to get off the couch and run around outside for some fresh air.  They are no longer creating games or rules like I did while I was a child and are often lacking the imagination to come up with their own methods or strategies when they play a game.  My hope for the young is that they learn to put down the controllers and turn off the TV.  They need the physical activity and the fresh air.  Children need to run around and get out the extra energy that they are building up by staying indoors not doing anything.

Play always played an important role in my life and it still continues to do so.  I enjoy being active and going out to do things.  The activities in which I partake have changed over the course of the years but they are still similar to those that I enjoyed as a child.  Without play as a young child, I feel that I may not be as active and enjoy interacting with others.  It prepared me for the real world in terms of sharing and listening to other’s ideas before expressing my own opinion.  Those experiences have shaped me into the adult today who still loves to have a good time and run around with the soccer ball at the park.

Relationship Reflection

Relatioinships are extremely important to me.  I have always had one pariticular person in my life who I was extremely close to or looked towards for assistance.  I have been with my fiance for 3 years now and will be married next year.  We have been friends for at least 10 years proir to our dating.  Without him, I have no idea how I would make it through my day.  Relationships help us develop and become stronger as an individual.  They also help give us the social interaction that we some times need that others will not be able to provide for us.  Having one particular relationship or partner that is able to calm us when needed or make us happy on a rough day, helps to make each day more enjoyable.
 
I have two main people with whom I have positive relationships.  The biggest one would be my fiance who is able to put up with me on my roughest days, regardless it be from stress or something that happened at work.  Another positive relationship is my mother.  She has gone through a lot in her life and it gives me inspiration to keep trying and working hard. Nothing has come easy for her and each day she walks around with a smile on her face just happy to be alive. 

The relationships I have with my fiance and my mother are completely different.  I feel more comfortable telling him certain things about my finances or about a fellow co worker where as my mother is my confidant and the stuff I cannot tell him I know I can tell her.  My relationship with my fiance is positive because he has helped me grow to be the person I am.  Although we have only been together a short time, we have been in each other's lives for much longer.  We have always been looking out for each other, making sure the other one was making the right decisions in life.  Whenever I get upset about something small, he is quick to bring me back by reminding me of all the good I have in my life.  The support I get from him helps to make our relationship stay strong and give us the confidence that we will be successful in marriage.  The relationship with my mother also has positive factors such as her giving me the comfort of confiding in her information that I normally would have kept to myself.  It helps us have trust and know that the other will not share the secret.  My mother is also very honest with me.  I consider that factor a very big aspect of strengthening our relationship.  Some times the truth hurts but we need to hear it anyway.
 
Along with positive factors, there can also be many negatives ones as well.  I have had friends that I have known since kindergarten that we no longer talk.  It is difficult at times but they were not being very supportive or helpful in my current situation.  By them not providing me with the support and guidance that I needed and only focusing on the negative, it hurt our relatoinship signifcantly to the point where we stopped talking.  Being able to tell someone your honest opinion, especially a close friend, is always helpful but when you insist the other person is wrong and never let them figure it out for themselves, there can be quite a bit of problems.  Another challange to developing and maintaining relationships can be something simple as communication.  Without either person willing to pick up the phone and call, the lack of communication can ultimately end a friendship.  Friends should not wait for the other to call.  Often everyone gets wrapped up in their own lives and forgets or too much time passes.  We need to remember to call when were thinking of them and just say Hi.  A little goes a long way.

A partner is someone who you can depend on in good times and the bad.  Whenever someone quickly throws in the towel, they are not the right person.  A partnership has to be mutual between two people.  If one is putting in all the work, the relationship will never make it to a partnership stage.  In order to be a partnership, two people must be willing to work together and solve any issues, listen to the other person, provide care and compassion when needed, and most important communicate with each other.
 
The experiences I have with relationships impact my work as an effective early childhood professionally quite a bit.  By having the strong relationships with my fiance and mother, I feel more confident talking with the families of my students as well as my coworkers.  I enjoy talking with others and listening to what they have to say.  The families that come into my room are more comfortable discussing their problems with me because they know I will listen and not interrupt.  I enjoy what I do and working with the families is another perk.  By having the strong relationships that I do, I am able to strengethn the ones I have within my school by taking time to listen and talk with everyone.  Communication is the most important tool anyone can use.