When I think about research....

What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

                I’ve learned so much more from this course than I had originally thought.  I was even worried about taking the class due to the term ‘research’.  I have a new appreciation for those who perform research and a better understanding of the importance they provide to any field in which they work. 

In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

                I have been enlightened to see that working in research encompasses much responsibility and much care towards participants.  It is not the get the facts anyway you can approach that I had thought of.  Researchers must be very careful in providing ethical concerns, validity, and reliability. 

What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

                I learned the most important part of research is the consent and the participants, if that is what you are researching.  I learned there are several ways to collect data and also several methods in which using other professionals can become helpful.  Working with children always requires sensitivity and although some being studied are young, their outcome and ethical concerns with them are still highly important. 

What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

                My biggest challenge in this course was coming to terms with my own personal issues for my study.  After discussing my topic with my instructor in the form of an assignment, I was able to see from her comments that I perhaps needed to step back from my own biases on a couple of points before I could move forward into helping others with my research. 

What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

                My ideas have been continually modified through taking all of my Walden courses.  With this course I would say that getting your hands dirty in research and trying to come up with new solutions and better ways of helping children and families is only the beginning in what we can do, but is the most important step. 

As always, I have appreciated greatly the support and help from my colleagues.  Your ideas and comments have been beneficial to my growth as a student and professional.  Thank you!

Research Around the World

I decided to answer the following questions through the website, EECERA, the European Early Childhood Education Research Association.  The link is http://www.eecera.org/conferences/. 

What are some of the current international research topics?

                I read that the organization just had a conference in September of this year in regards to how researching is being done in early childhood, and where exactly can they expand and improve.  In fact, to word them correctly, “This theme focuses on what practices exist for early education and what should be developed?” (EECERA. (2011)

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

                From the notes of the conference, I was able to observe that the same issues they were discussing, economic versus education, obtaining an inclusive classroom, educator training and qualifications, are the same issues we have been discussing throughout our Walden journey. 

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

                I found a topic titled “Aims of EECERA” and within this tab I read the organization lives up to.  They perform and create new and advanced ways to research everything that deals with early childhood.  With the changing times and more and more people suing over every little thing, I would guess that finding ways to research without crossing anyone’s boundaries would be a little difficult.  I also read that they offer awards to students who are currently enrolled in a postgraduate college who choose to write research papers and present them to the organization.  Many of the requirements were familiar to me from what I have learned from my current class. 

EECERA. (2011) 21st EECERA Annual Conference Switzerland 2011. Retrieved from http://www.eecera2011.org/.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Strange but true, the assignment this week about providing an example of how research conducted proved to be positive on children and/or families, directly made me think of the show “Wife Swap”.

I have only seen a couple episodes, but I can say that families experience a huge wave of change and it is the children as well as the husband who express frustration.  The families are able to see that getting along outside of their bubble is sometimes harder to do than they believe.  The wives are thrown into other ways of doing things, sometimes experiencing great heartache, grief, and embarrassment along the way. 

And if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the show or experiment, the two families can get together and talk about what they liked and disliked about the change.  I believe this experiment creates positivity because it alleviates the sometimes felt; the grass is greener on the other side theory.  It reminds families of what they have together and often that their so-called routine needs working on so all members are happy. 

My Personal Research Journey

My original topic that I am interested in regarding early childhood is infant temperament.  I have wondered if infants who have calm and easy going parents are more likely to have a calm and easy going baby.  Or if parents who are high strung would have a high strung baby.  To narrow down my topic I had subtopics that included, is a baby’s temperament predetermined or shared with a parent(s), does the mother’s stress have any effect on the baby’s temperament, and what are the temperaments evolution over time.  
 

To choose one of the subtopics was a little difficult for me and hopefully my colleagues will be able to assist me in this.  I am more interested in a baby’s temperament in regards to the mother’s.  But since I haven’t done any research on the topic and don’t quite sure know whether a mother’s temperament has any effects on her baby, I wondered as well if a calm mother were to have an ill-tempered baby.  And if she did, would that just be how the story goes, or did the mother’s perhaps stressful pregnancy have anything to do with the baby having such an opposite temperament from her? 

So ultimately to wonder if a baby’s temperament stemmed from the mother’s actual temperament or from the infant’s unique own, or if the mother’s stress during pregnancy had anything to do with it, was a hard decision to make in terms of a subtopic.  I think it would be difficult to research whether a mother’s child had a temperament normal to what they should have or due to something like stress because the baby cannot be reborn to different circumstances to test out the waters of the other side. 

Although we have an assignment due this week asking us to pick a subtopic for our simulations, I am at best a little undecided and am hoping my colleagues will read this and be able to give me a little help.  I will report back with anything new.

Final Blog for Issues and Trends

Wow, where to begin to thank all of the websites I have visited in my exploration for information.  The Internet can be a positive force in this sense.  Three consequences of learning about early childhood internationally is that I have learned the issues effecting others outside the US, I have become inspired and motivated by what is being done in some of the poorest parts of the world, and that I have been able to share stories with my colleagues and am able to get the word out. 

My goal for the field of early childhood and international awareness of issues and trends is that the Global meetings do not stop, but only multiply.  I understand that the field is slowly gaining the importance that it deserves and through the process of speaking up and speaking out we can make a difference globally. 

The importance of collegial relationships to me is the bond that takes place when people with similar interests get together.  But in this case not only similar interests, but similar passions and the want to make changes happen.  I like the fact that I can bounce ideas off of colleagues and receive feedback that is part wisdom, part experience.  This has been a great journey in education and one I plan to keep repeating. 

Three New Ideas Learned from UNESCO

The most saddening side to not hearing back from my international contacts is the gained professional contact and information that I have missed out on.  I was really excited to hear from Italy, a place I have always wanted to visit.  However, thanks to knowing the website for their UNICEF program, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/italy.html, I am able to visit and get to speed when needed (thank you Internet).  

 

On the website for UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, I watched a short video about Moscow’s kindergartens.  It was nice to see the children experiencing their culture and learning with adults as well as their peers.  They emphasized singing in their language as well as learning English.  They dressed up with their parents in traditional garments and the excitement displayed by the adults to sing and dance encouraged the children.  It would be nice if in America parents could attend the kindergarten setting with their child to sing and dance, but I feel that art and expression is being pushed far out of the boundaries for kindergarten. 

I was made aware that the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education website has stepped up their own language barriers.  Besides English, there are now four other languages available in which to view the website material, those include, French, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. 

There was also an article that caught my attention regarding the inequality of child care quality versus costs.  “Good quality childcare comes at a price, said Helen Penn from the University of East London. She estimated the cost at between $7,600 and $22,000 a year. In many countries she added, it is provided mainly by entrepreneurs.  This exacerbates inequalities, the rich being able to pay more for higher quality service” UNESCO, 2010)  This headline is something we have been steadily talking about in class.  How can we improve on quality care when the funding is non-existent?  Also, why is it so easy for some to see the benefits and need for quality education and care for all children, but others seem to think it is okay for now to set on the back burner? 

UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/world-conference-on-ecce/single-view/news/market_control_of_ecce_is_not_an_option/

Sharing my Web Resource- Save the Children

I chose a different approach to reviewing my Save the Children website.  I had noticed this link before but had never followed it.  Up at the top of the main home page, under Ways to Give, there was something called a Gift Catalog.  Gift Catalog?  After clicking on the link I was able to find out that this was a place where you can directly purchase an item for a child and their family.  But unlike regular catalog items there is no option for this fall’s latest J.Lo cardigan.  These items are cows, donkeys, goats, a child’s education, and ready-made food to name some of them.  I was really surprised that I would be able to buy such useful items up front. 

There was also a link to their blog, and they have started a Twitter account as well. 

Under What We Do, I found a title called Success Stories.  Who doesn’t want to read something like this when all around are famine and heartache?  I clicked on it and was able to read many stories of how Save the Children has been helping to save lives and bring hope to many, many families. 

I read a story about a mother in Egypt who had three miscarriages because there were no health services for pregnant women in the area in which she lived.  Can you believe that?  She was unable to obtain care in the city because of the cost of getting there.  She was a farmer’s wife and they didn’t have a lot of money.  So she would just wait and see how long she could carry each baby.  That is her child’s earliest care, in the womb, and he/she is unable to receive it due to lack of income, and lack of services.  After three miscarriages I am sure this mother was wondering if she should or even could keep trying.  She found out from word of mouth that Save the Children had come to her village and through their help she was able to carry the baby full term with the proper medical care, and deliver him.  The inequity that she faced before Save the Children helped her is something that even the poorest in America do not know anything about. 

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

International Early Childhood

I have not received any responses from the many emails I have sent to childhood professionals around the globe.  This week I have gained insight into what is going on in the world around me through a Harvard University website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/.

I looked up the Harvard University’s website about the “Global Children’s Initiative” and learned that Chile is doing something about their early childhood programs.  An organization called Un Buen Comienzo, or A Good Start, plans to help teachers and childhood workers further their “professional development” (Harvard University, 2011)   They plan on doing a study of 60 early childhood programs that involve children from ages four to six.  The most interesting part is that Chile is the first South American country to start something like this.  This could really revolutionize a start to improving early childhood programs throughout Latin America.   

There was also a conference in Moscow around this time last year, where a goal of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization was revisited.  The goal was “In 2000, the world’s governments established a set of ambitious international goals—such as ending extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring that every child worldwide completes at least a primary education, and reducing child mortality by two-thirds—to be achieved by 2015” (Harvard University, 2011)  To me these goals are great but we all know how fast 2015 is approaching.  How can the UN possibly fulfill them all now?  It will however, be great to see how far they have come in 15 years. 

From reading through this website it is hard to take in all that is happening in the huge world around us.  It is also hard not to want to jump in and help.  What seems to be the best remedy for this is to find a place locally that I can volunteer or donate to.  At least starting somewhere has its advantages because the help grows and grows from that point on and a little help goes a long way to providing a safer and healthier life for a child. 

Harvard University. (2011). Un Buen Comienzo. Global Children’s Initiative. Online article retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/ubc/

Harvard University. (2011). Global Gathering in Moscow Put Spotlight on Early Childhood Issues. Global Child Development. Online article retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/topics/global_child_development/moscow-conference/#

Save the Children website

There is an article on the Save the Children website that talks about what they are doing currently in East Africa.  It’s a touching story and also an inspirational one.  The woman featured in the article, Amy Richmond, is a child protection advisor with Save the Children and she recaptures for us a day in the life for her in East Africa.  Basically she wakes up early and has a minimal breakfast, why eat when there are thousands starving right?  “First stop is reception where dozens, sometime hundreds, of children arrive each day. As soon as they’re registered, they’re rushed into a Save the Children feeding center – many of them eating their first meal in days” (Save the Children, 2011)  She goes around the camp keeping the area clean and also trying to connect lost children with their parents or someone who will care for them.  She gets the opportunity to listen to their stories and to find hope in how much they want to succeed in education and in life. 

 These issues really make you stop and think about your own current situation and how you couldn’t even fathom really what these people are going through.  Although I cannot go to East Africa or even the next state over at this time, there are many volunteer organizations that I and we can partake in.  I feel that economists, neuroscientists, and politicians understand the need for such organizations as Save the Children and can see the benefits it provides the U.S. when other countries can depend on us for help.  Hopefully we will always be in a state to help others. 

 On an ending note, there is a story that I want everyone to read.  It’s so devastating that I don’t feel I can properly narrate it back.  Here is the link, http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.7749871/k.F928/Pregnant_and_Alone_a_Teen_Escapes_Somalia.htm?msource=emeen30s0911.  This story will bring tears to eyes, outrage to hearts, and make stomachs sick.  But it is a tale from the life of a real person, someone who actually went through this.  Please read it if you can. 

Save the Children. (2011). Day in the Life of a Relief Worker in East Africa. Retrieved from the Save the Children website http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.7729197/k.B044/Day_in_the_Life_of_a_Relief_Worker_in_East_Africa.htm?msource=emeen30s0911

Getting to know International Contacts

I haven’t heard a thing from any of the out of country childhood professionals I have tried to contact.  I decided to try the alternative assignment for this week and went to the website provided for information on another country. 

Kyrgyzstan

It’s sad to say but I had never even heard of the country Kyrgyzstan (pronounced Kur-gi-stan).  After learning about the country’s poverty rates, I could only stop and consider their situation with prayer.  Kyrgyzstan used to be part of the Soviet Union until in 1991 they were able to gain their independence.  After that they had to basically start over and become a country all their own without the pressure of the Soviet Union, but also without the regulations they had been living under and were used to for so long. 

Finding their independence came with a price because not only were they “one of the poorest ex-Soviet republics” at the time, they also had to shift from a “planned to market economy” (childpoverty.org)  These were drastic but needed changes and they were able to join the World Trade Organization seven years later.  Although most of the economy is fed from their agriculture, it hasn’t been enough yet to sustain most of the population out of the poverty gutter.

These numbers will put a damper on your mood and a tear in your eye, “57 per cent of urban infants under 1, and 65 per cent of rural under 1s lived in poverty” in 2001.  Although before Kyrgyzstan’s independence most children utilized education benefits and also the country “had much higher levels of health and education than many higher-income countries,” (childpoverty.org) since the independence the country has declined drastically from both of those areas.  Now children can be found working full time jobs to help with income. 

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre CHIP (2007). Country Overviews Kyrgyzstan. Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#25.

Sharing Web Resources

I have been looking over the Save the Children website.  Here is the link- http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

This website is inspiring.  Save the Children was first started in England and now there is also a Save the Children USA.  From reading the different articles on the website I was able to learn there are three main goals of the organization.  Child protection, Education and Child Development, and Health and Nutrition (Save the Children, 2011) encompass the biggest objectives.  With these aims in mind Save the Children has helped children and families in “120 countries on 6 continents”!  They have also estimated helping “64 million children” (Save the Children, 2011) 

I wanted to point out something that touched me; I read on the site that they have “Dewormed children in 16 countries in 2010, including more than one million children in Ethiopia alone” (Save the Children, 2011)  My mother used to tell me about her having worms when she was child, but I figured something like that didn’t occur anymore- kind of like Smallpox.  I was very surprised to learn this news and to think of how naïve I am to diseases and issues in other countries.  It was a real shock and heart breaker but also a humble reminder of the place I call home and how fortunate I am.

Another shocking (to me) issue on the website that I saw brought up repeatedly was the simple issue of germs.  There were so many instances in which this organization was able to help large communities by simply teaching the children to wash their hands, thereby the children went home and taught their families the knowledge they had learned about germs.  Other things included boiling water, or making dehydration medicines.  In Bangladesh, “Save the Children helped organize nearly 53,000 school children in Bangladesh to wash hands together on Global Handwashing Day – making the Guinness Book of Records for the second year running” (Save the Children, 2011)  Amazing the simple things we take for granted. 

Establishing a Professional Contact Outside of the US

I've been asked to establish two contacts outside the US that are in the Early Childhood field.  I am very excited about this mainly to learn about a new program that is helping children in another country.  A new way of doing things, new ideas, and other opinions regarding young children, count me in!  I have contacted UNICEF in Italy and the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education in Germany.  I have chosen these two countries because I love Italy, and I have been to Germany.  I also considered the fact that if I can develop solid relationships and I ever needed to go abroad for work....  why not try to get an assignment somewhere where I know a friend or two!  I am looking into contacting others as well if I do not hear from the two I have chosen so far.  But it hasn't even been a week, so we'll see.  !!!!

I also need to view an Early Childhood Organizations website and review how they are helping in the field.  I have chosen to view the Save the Children website.  I first learned a little about Save the Children through a magazine article in which Jennifer Garner, who is a spokesperson, was helping children advance in reading.  You know before starting these courses, I probably wouldn't have given the article a second glance.  But since learning more and more about the Early Childhood field I have been able to expand my knowledge base and realize there really are needs that I can fill. 

Daily Supports

The types of supports that I need as an individual on a daily basis include

-          My glasses- I’m legally blind and if I didn’t have these puppies life would be harder in many ways.  My glasses allow me the ability to mow the lawn, drive a car, prepare meals, and see more than 3 inches from my face! 

-          My sticky notes- Heaven forbid if I didn’t have a sticky note to write down my lists of endless thoughts that go on in my mind.  From grocery items and appointment reminders, to things I need to do around the house and a dream I had last night.  If I didn’t have my sticky notes many of my tasks and to do’s would be forgotten.

-          My daughter- She helps me to focus on the best things about life which are- curiosity, learning new things, and keeping an imagination.  If I had never known her I would have missed out on what it was like to have someone depend on me for their survival.  I would have never felt the love I feel so strongly in my heart every time I look at her.

-          My friend Rachel- Rachel is my help line.  Lucky me she answers the phone when I call even if she is sure that there will be tears coming from the other end.  She helps calm me when storms approach and she is my instant common sense relief when I’ve lost my mind.  If I didn’t have Rachel I wouldn’t have a steady ear to talk to, to release tensions and stress. 

A specific challenge that I currently do not have would be to lose my husband.  Emotionally this would devastate me.  He is my rock and who I gain my confidence and trust in my abilities from.  I would probably pack up my daughter and I and leave my current state and move back to where I am from to be with my family.  Practically I would need to pay off all of the debt we incurred together and I would most likely sell both of our cars and our belongings to do it.  Physically, I would feel weak at first and helpless.  But, I know for the sake of my daughter I would have to overcome my emotional distress and be strong for her and I to survive and start a new life, but to always remember him. 

It's time to Play!!

My mom gave me more freedom when I was younger than when I was a teenager, believe that!  I remember always being outside playing.  She never had to tell me to go do something or to stop complaining about being bored, I just never was!  I was also an only child which I believe led to my ability to entertain myself so readily, to that I can also thank her.  A neighbor of mine was building a home next door and before the bottom half had been built there were mounds of dirt inside.  He would come by frequently to check on things but told my friends and I that we could ride our bikes on the hills if we wanted.  I’m sure glad he said that because we spent all the time we could riding around pretending to do tricks and making the mounds into shopping centers, restaurants, even houses! 

I had store bought toys but what really fascinated me and kept my attention was being outside and taking in anything I could get to grow an imagination off of.  My friends and I would gloriously make mud hamburgers and soups, we’d find sticks to throw as darts, we’d catch crayfish in the stream behind our houses, and we’d spend all day in the woods pretending to be explorers.

I’m very saddened by how play today has been downgraded to having to be entertained.  Part of the problem is the crime rate and the fear of losing a child to kidnapping, etc.  But another part of it is the gaming systems, the television, toys that require a high price tag because of the brand name they are sporting, but really don’t involve a wide array of play.  I want to and I hope I can still find my imagination somewhere to make better places in our own yard for my daughter to discover things. 

I think play in my life helped me gain confidence and a great fondness for nature.  I gained the confidence by playing with the other children and sharing ideas that they also liked and bounced off ideas from.  I gained confidence because I could jump over plants and I could make the greatest mud pie ever, so I felt good and accomplished.  I wasn’t being tested on how to perfectly hop a mound of dirt on my bike, it was just the fact that I tried and I lived up to my own expectations, not anyone else’s.  That is what made me happy and grow. 

Today I am fascinated about the things I used to do.  Now, I ride a bike pulling my daughter in a child bike trailer and I feel like I might die of heat and never make it over the next hill.  But as a child I could ride my bike for hours and not get tired!  We all lose something along the way called spirit and commitment to ourselves.  Suddenly a company requires our full attention and we must give to pay the light bill.  Too much seriousness too fast I think.   

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

“If animals play, this is because play is useful in the struggle for survival; because play practices and so perfects the skills needed in adult life” Susanna Miller

Relationship Reflection

Relationships to me mean that I am never alone.  I have great neighbors, friends, and an ability to provoke conversations and talk with strangers.  Relationships and partnerships provide a structure of guidance and trust.  To build a relationship is to be human and to be social.  In companies the word far more used would be partnerships, but these partnerships help companies to gain profit and to learn from product production and if in other countries, differences in economy, language, and how to do business successfully. 

I have a positive relationship with an old friend, an ex-boss, and my neighbor, just to name a few.  My old friend and I have been able to keep in touch through emailing and family outings.  We remember to check in with each other and care about what the other is going through.  She is very supportive of me and my decisions and I of her.  The thing we have learned to do best is to listen.  My ex-boss has become a welcomed ally.  I have proven my work ethic to her and she believes in my abilities.  This has strengthened my confidence in my work performance as well as creating a bond between what we both believe to be right and how we can better ourselves professionally.  Since she has trained me it also benefits her to see me perform well.  Our relationship has remained strong due to our knack of striving for more.  I see that my relationship with my ex-boss can be considered a partnership because if I plan to get back into her line of work I can use her as a reference.  I can also seek professional guidance from her and mature understanding.  My neighbors and my family were not always so friendly.  We started out being unsure of each other due to strong differences in religious beliefs.  This relationship I believe means the most because of the trying times we had but were willing to work around them.  Now my neighbors are first to be called when we need a hand, to borrow something, and just help with anything.  We have realized the kindness of friendship and the importance of having someone to trust and be considerate of you. 

A challenge that I had personally that many may have had as well is with a relative.  It feels more forced when it’s a relative that you must get along with, however, it doesn’t mean that you must like each other just that you act civil.  Ironically enough, this person that I had an issue with was my mother-in-law.  We are from different backgrounds and it was very hard for us to understand each other.  It seems that I also wanted to impress her so much that I would end up getting carried away and look like a fool.  In her eyes, I was taking away her “baby boy” and I never stopped and took the time to realize that.  If I had of been able to put myself in her shoes, I could have saved us years of ignoring and bickering.  I could have been the bigger person and stopped the charade. 

I feel this is kind of like how educators and caregivers for children feel towards parents and some families in general.  Perhaps we don’t see how hard it is and just how stressful it is for a family to drop off their little one into the big world of preschool or kindergarten.  We also don’t recognize some cultures, or races, and may be wary of how to act.  If we focus too much on how we are supposed to act or be perceived I feel that it will be assumed as an act that we are putting on.

My mother-in-law and I were able to get over our hump by being approachable.  My mother-on-law had developed a common theme about me and when she realized it wasn’t true she was able to accept me and listen to what I had to say.  Now we joke and get along great.  I only wish we hadn’t of wasted so much time. 

When I think of Child Development...

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/momentsofmotherhood/4-year-old-aelita-andre-gets-her-own-ny-art-show-sells-paintings-for-27k-2494801/
This video tells a lot about the ability to let go and let a child create.  We all know children are creative and in their own way at that.  Somewhere along the way I think adults lose that sense of freedom.  In this video the little girl is able to create paintings without someone hovering over her or telling her about staying clean.  She is given the ability to not only be a child, but to be her own person and to be congratulated on her achievements.  This video reminds me to let go and let children be children and not to control them, but guide them. 

Testing for Intelligence??

I think this question is extremely inconsistent with what any paper test can measure.  Mainly because I know adults who never graduated high school yet they can decipher computer codes or take apart and put back together whole engines.  There are some people who couldn’t find it in themselves to ever accomplish an A, yet they have more common sense in their pinky than some with a law degree.  Measuring a child’s mind and their ability has to refer solely on that child’s ability to come up with an answer.  I would severely suggest not saying that a child who cannot run up to and kick a ball has a lack in ability to kick a ball, when the same child could throw a ball like a big leaguer, or finds that math comes easily. 

So, to measure or assess a child holistically I think more of a job interview should be approached to the child.  Verbal questions as well as written.  I also wouldn’t consider time as a factor in completing answers because if our elders have taught us anything it’s that patience is a virtue and also speaking too quickly often spoils what the mind intended to say. 

One thing I read that was interesting, and that also reminded me of a report I did on dinosaurs (ironically), is that children in Brazil who sell items on the street can confidently hustle prices and arrange payments and take and give back money.  However, these same children would not be as efficient if you put them in a classroom with other students and expected the same math greatness out of them.  Here’s the interesting part- they know math, only the math they need to know to survive.  “A drawback to the general intelligence school of thought is that it is heavily dependent on psychometric evaluations. Consequently, it cannot take into account the vast array of different talents that people have” (Paik, S. 1998)  So an IQ test would put these kids way below, when in fact they are running businesses! 

For the comparison to dinosaurs, I wrote a paper on the intelligence of these long ago creatures and found out that they had been mislabeled for years!  The brain size of dinosaurs were being compared to our modern day birds and reptiles and in return were being found to be quite small, thus equally less intelligence.  Although, dinosaurs managed to stay on this planet for millions of years and thrive and evolve.  They weren’t less intelligent than our friendly fliers today; they only were as intelligent as they needed to be to get by. 

Paik, Han S. One Intelligence or Many?  Alternative Approaches to Cognitive Abilities.  Washington University, 1998. http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/paik.html

Childhood Stressors

My friend’s dad told me about how he grew up in an area where he felt racism.  He is Chinese, Hawaiian, and Caucasian.  He said the Hawaiians would not accept him because he wasn’t full blood, nor would the Chinese, and he felt he couldn’t fit in with the Caucasians because his skin was too dark and his black.  He said that he was always confused and wasn’t sure if he should even learn traditions.  I asked him if he spoke to his parents about it but he said they weren’t much comfort and he often was alone.  To this day her dad is pretty closed up emotionally.  He usually takes the first impression as the only one, and if he so much as feels that someone doesn’t like him he does all he can to stay away from them.  He even is confused for how he feels about his grandson being interracial.  So as you can see, although the past is in the very far past, he still holds tightly to it and how it made him feel.  I cannot leave any information as a resource for this because he is highly personal and doesn’t want anyone to know he feels this way.   

Children in Iraq have high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder.  It can be expected due to the war we are currently in and the war they have been in for years upon years.  After the Gulf War “94 children in Iraq were interviewed at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after the war” only to find out that the same level of stress was present all three times.  At the two year interview the stress had gone just a little bit, but it was still very high.  I couldn’t imagine trying to cope with what they have seen. As far as I know nothing is being done o minimize the stress except for what little hope their parents and American soldiers bring to them.    

I was giving a driving test one time to a young man from Saudi Arabia.  When I asked him about how he felt about the way Americans perceived the Middle East, he said calmly that we overreact.  I said so you don’t have car bombs explode all the time and the streets are safe to walk down?  He said that yes they have regular bombings but that it wasn’t a big deal.  I was amazed to find that he felt these things were normal.  He told me about the first explosion he saw, but spoke of it as we would speak of going to Disney World.  He said the thing he fears most in America is our lack of knowledge.  He said we rely too much from the media to form our opinions for us.  True. 

Dyregrov, A., Gjestad, R., Raundalen, M. (2002). Children Exposed to Warfare: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol. 15, No. 1. Pgs. 59-68. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/g27k05pu38546394/

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding wasn’t always as important to me as it is now.  When I was pregnant everyone kept asking me if it was something that I was going to do.  I would always reply that I would if I could and move on.  A friend of mine only had one breast that would produce milk, but she was very adamant about the benefits and continued to breastfeed well after one year old.  She was a huge inspiration to me when I began and was frustrated because nightly feedings were every two hours and I was the only one who technically had to get up.  But I did it, and lasted a whole thirteen months before my baby decided she had had enough.    

The benefits that I was providing to my child by breastfeeding far outweighed the bad.  And breastfeeding is far cheaper!  It was a bond between my baby and me and provided alone time when we just wanted to be together and let the world stand still.  It was also amazing to think that I was doing something that women centuries ago had done!

I researched breastfeeding in Australia and found that in the 1970’s “40-45% of women breastfed their infants after being discharged from hospital,” however, by 1995 82% of babies were being breastfed (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003)  My mom told me something similar that when she had her other children (in the 60’s and 70’s) that she never breastfed because it wasn’t pushed upon the mother.  She said no one mentioned it or knew the benefits of it like they do now.  This could explain the jump in percentages over the years.  

My future work hopefully will be in regards to emotional development in children and providing adequate examples for them.  I have seen multiple sites that talk about the emotional development with regards to breastfeeding and feeding this way has mental and physical positive elements to it. 

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003). Breastfeeding in Australia, 2001. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4810.0.55.001.

I thought something would go wrong....

Something that could have effected the weight of my baby but didn't was that for the first 5 months of pregnancy I was extremely sick.  I couldn't keep anything down, not even water.  My doctor tried giving me a small white and red mint candy and said I should be able to keep it down.  Took about 2 mins for that to come back up. 

I had to go to Instacare every week and get an I.V., surprisingly this was the only way I could hydrate.  I was nauseated 24/7 and actually threw-up about every 10 mins.  Driving to work and back home was the worst.  It took forever to get to my destination because I had to keep pulling over! 

Then one day I woke up and didn't have to rush to the toilet.  It was amazing!  I thought the worst was over, then I got into the shower and passed out!  Luckily my husband was home and was able to take me to the hospital where they again had to give me an I.V. for being dehydrated. 

I lost 10 pounds, but was able to eat after I was about 6 months pregnant.  I was really worried about how that all would affect my baby but she came out 6 lbs. 9 oz., and 19 1/2 inches long.

The birth of my child

I’d never held a baby before, and then I went into the hospital to give birth. 

 My husband and I had been through quite a lot before the birth of our daughter.  We were planning to buy a house and our real estate agent would be waiting in our driveway ready to go every day when I got home from work.  After searching, we’d get home about 11 at night in time to go to bed just to get up for work and start this all again.  We did this for about four months. 

 When we found a house we were preparing to close on it, and my husband’s job told him he was being relocated.   I was 8 months pregnant and we began preparations to move to another state and I quit my job.  The sellers threatened to sue us, we had to hire an attorney, our real estate agent who found out he wasn’t making a sale decided to sue us too. 

 We were afraid of a lawsuit in the middle of moving so my husband ended up taking a demotion so we could stay.  I got my job back and we went ahead and closed on the house we had been planning to buy.  I was then 9 months pregnant.  I was told from the buyers that the home would be spotless and that they considered themselves neat freaks.  When we moved in the house was filthy.  Urine on the toilets, dog hair all over the stairs, food still in the fridge, and marks all over the walls. 

So at my full bellied 9 months I was on hands and knees scrubbing pee off toilets and bleaching walls and the fridge.  I had to scrub the entire house.  My husband was gone on a business trip.  I felt alone, scared, and most of all tired. 

One morning I went to work with incredible pains, but I didn’t want to tell anyone because I had so much to do and so little time to do it in.  I was then three days past my due date.  My husband got back into town and that evening he took me to the hospital just to get checked out.  They decided to keep me there and I was upset.  Mainly because we weren’t prepared with the car seat, our bags, I was still in my work clothes, and most of all I hadn’t eaten.  The hospital wouldn’t let me eat or have anything to drink. 

15 hours later I wasn’t even dilated yet but they wouldn’t let me go.  I was given something to make me dilate, which I wasn’t very happy about, and then the moment came.  It was all like one huge moment.  I was pushing, I couldn’t see a thing, then they threw my baby on top of me without warning, I wasn’t sure what to do.  I wish someone had of told me that would happen, or at least what I was supposed to do.  I was afraid I wasn’t supposed to touch her yet and I laid there- frozen.  A nurse scooped her up in an instant, people were running about, my husband and mother were trying to take pictures, I felt like I was laying there in silence.  Then I heard my baby cry.

The next three days were jam packed with no sleep and I decided I better get used to it.  All the stories I had heard about the rest after delivery must have been folk lore.  They couldn’t leave my daughter in the nursery because she wouldn’t sleep.  My husband passed out on the couch in the room even with our daughter crying, doctors coming in, and nurses attending to me at all hours.  My husband had to actually teach me how to hold her, how to change her diaper, and basically what this little creature was all about.  I thought this was supposed to be easy and something about ‘come to me’ as in a mother’s instinct?  Nope.  I didn’t get that trait, or the memo.  My husband had to leave again a week after she was born and my mom left back home to Delaware.

All in all I think I was stressed before, during and after my daughter’s birth.  I’m actually curious if that stress is why my daughter’s always had a hard time sleeping.  If it is, I would feel just terrible.  However, she is now almost three, and the doctor’s say she is quite advanced, about two years.  She is very smart, talks wonderfully, is bossy, sassy, curious, empathetic, and loves to learn new things.  I couldn’t have asked for a more special gift.  She’s taught me much more than I think I could ever teach her. 

I read an article on birthing in India.  I found out that they rely more on touch and healing in terms of being together and supportive behavior rather than medicine and machines.  The woman who wrote the article was a midwife from Canada who was visiting India, spoke about a woman on a train who was in labor but who insisted on having the baby at her own home.  Before she made it home the author wrote she was “satisfied to know that she had an easy birth on the train with Lalita and other women passengers!” (Smith, D. 2002)

The author also told of how in Bihar, India,  the removal of the placenta “is to reach up inside the uterus immediately after the birth and tear the placenta out for fear it will rise up in the body and create bleeding.” (Smith, D. 2002)  Since the author wasn’t used to this type of removal she waited more than eight hours for the placenta to fall into a place she could easily grab it.  Apparently the woman who had given birth’s family was outraged, and there was talk about possible revenge if anything were to go wrong. 

I was also very shocked and saddened to hear of an oil massage tradition.  In this tradition “they customarily pour oil into the ears and nose (of the baby).” (Smith, D. 2002)  The baby actually died from being suffocated by it.  It’s a tradition many midwives in India are trying to suspend.  I realized that although both India and the U.S. take care in providing comfort to upcoming mothers, that the U.S. is not as personable.  I see the U.S. as having hospitals which provide a service, you pay, and then ways are parted.  In India, I was made aware that they are extremely cautious about remaining calm, using massage, and giving birth at home surrounded by many women- sometimes not even knowing all of them. 

Smith, Diane (2002). Birth in India: One Chosen Perspective. Midwifery Today the heart and science of birth. Retrieved from http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/india.asp.

Code of Ethics

Looking through the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) and DEC's (Division of Early Childhood) code of ethics, there were three that stuck out to me personally and professionally.  These three are as follows,

From the DEC-
"We shall demonstrate in our behavior and language respect and appreciation for the unique value and human potential of each child."
What I find great about this ideal is that they used the words human potential and reminded us all that simple yet powerful fact that is the right of all human beings.

From the NAEYC-
"To support co-workers in meeting their professional needs and in their professional development."
This is great because we all have room to grow and recreate ourselves, and we all need a little help getting there.

"To promote knowledge and understanding of young children and their needs.  To work toward greater societal acknowledgment of children's rights and greater social acceptance of responsibility for the well-being of all children."
I appreciate the goal here.  To heighten society's awareness of the issues that involve children.  But to also make society aware of the huge part they can play.  

A Collection of Resources

The NAEYC's website gave some helpful insight in their article "Where we stand on child abuse prevention."
http://www.naeyc.org/

The ACEI is a global organization dedicated to the well being and education of young children and their families all over the world.
http://acei.org/

Some fellow coworkers of mine from the Attorney General's Office have always offered precise insight and helpful tips.  I know they are a group of people I could always turn to if I had questions regarding early childhood.
Children's Justice Task Force Staff-

Tracey Tabet
CJA Grant Coordinator
CJC Program Administrator

Laura Seklemian
CJC Training & Development Coordinator

Gerri Sheffield
Lead Legal/Board Secretary &
Membership Coordinator

A website that I enjoy trying to follow and try new tips in young children education is
http://www.child.com/

The world of psychology is forever amazing me and a website and magazine that provides helpful articles is
http://www.psychologytoday.com/

Words of Motivation and Inspiration

"Our emotions serve as the orchestra leader for getting the whole mind and brain working together."
                       - Stanley Greenspan-psychiatrist for autism and others with emotional and learning disabilities.

"Part of being who you are has to do with feeling your feelings, which means you'll have a wide range of emotions, not just constant sunshiny happiness."
                       - Janet Gonzalez-Mena-child, family, and caregiver educator and mentor.

"I'm not here to save the world, I'm here just to make a difference in the community that I'm working."
                      - Raymond Hernandez- Executive Director, School of Early Childhood Education

"It's not all about you, you gotta take your ego out of it and think about what's best for this child.  And you care about them enough to help them transition to what's the next, what comes next and what's best, and I think that that's really important.  And I would not have known that if I hadn't lived it."
                       - Renatta Cooper- Program Specialist, Office of Child Care

 

 

 

Personal Childhood Web

I posted my personal childhood web to the right and realized there was no where for my colleagues to make comments!  So, here you go. 

Another Quote, which touched my heart

I came across a quote today in an email I received.  This quote seemed to reach out to me and goes along with my children have voices motif.  It helped me to generate what perhaps I already knew inside me, but what I hadn't told others.  I feel this is a statement that rings both serious and sad, and also humorous depending on the context.  Children view what occurs in their lives as normal.  Adults are here to protect them.  They don't know life any other way than the way their life is going.  It takes people who can and want to help, to step into a negative situation and let the child know things are different and sometimes bad things happen but they can be changed. 

When I was a child, I had a alcoholic father who under the poison would abuse my mother.  Cops coming over, fighting, yelling, and crying were all a part of my life that I took in as normal.  I thought everyone's parents fought that way.  I found it odd my friends would ask me about it.  We do not have to let this and other abusive environments be normal.  This quote has also given me the strength to realize I would be humbled to talk to children at school's about home violence incase they are a part of it, but just don't know it yet. 

The quote is as follows,
"Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt would ask me why I had never told anyone how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established."

-Rudyard Kipling, British author (1865-1936)

A Work Of Art From A Work Of Art

This was from awhile ago, but it is still the best work of art that I have on camera so far.  However, the floor was not the center piece of this display.  In fact my daughter's legs joined in the fun as you can see.  I chose to post this as a special work of art by a child because as messy as it looks, in a child's eyes it is a better use for the powder.  :)   It helps us to realize how imaginative the world can be. 

Children Have Voices

I changed the title of my blog.  I feel more comfortable with this heading.  Previously I wasn't too sure what to name my blog but after some consideration on what it was I wanted to do with my Masters degree in Early Childhood Studies, I was able to round out the details a little more. 

Basically, I believe children are born with their own personality.  However, I am also aware that they gain personality from imitating their parents.  They receive much of their coping information from how their parents handle situations.  They may either imitate or act different than what their parents display.

When children are involved in a negative situation, they view how their parents handle the emotional distress, and the child may either choose to imitate this or feel something different.  However that could end up being negative or positive for them.  The positive is that they learn how to cope with negative information and become a stronger person in the long run, or the negative is that they don’t know how to express themselves or act any other way.

This hits close to home because when I was a child my feelings and thoughts weren't validated.  If I was asked my opinion it was overruled or called stupid, or it was simply cast away for reasons that it wasn’t “right."  I have learned to cope with stressful things with a dry humor.  I feel this was created by having no outlet for my emotions, or no help in explaining to me just what I was feeling. 

In conclusion, I would like to help children handle their emotions and thought processes, which can aggravate emotions immensely, and show them how to voice their opinions in a positive way.  But first I must learn more about their development and behavior, and how they learn at different stages.  Which is why I have chose to obtain a degree in this field.  I believe children have voices, let’s make them important. 

Simply Amazing!

I've been teaching my 2 1/2 year old 4 new things each week.  We learn a letter, and how to write it, a color, a number and a shape.  I have her color each thing with her favorite paints, then we post them up on the fridge for all to see.  Throughout the week we visit the paintings to refresh our memory of that week's fun learning's.  I can't tell you how many butterflies I felt in my stomach when I showed her how to write a little a and she was able to copy me and do it!  When she displayed this new action to her father I could tell how incredibly proud he was.

It made me not only proud that I had done something to help my child, but it reminded me of the empty chalkboard little children have, just waiting for positive information to fill it!  Her success at learning and our ability to have fun with it only recharged my batteries to accomplish and plan for next week when we will learn new categories.

Blogging- First Time!

I'm new to blogging and hope with a little practice I can make this page my own.  I was happy to learn I am not the only one in my class that's a newbie to this.  Together maybe we can make it all make sense!