My Connections To Play

Quotes:
" It's better to play than do nothing" (Confucius)


"Play is the beginning of knowledge" (Anonymous)




The things that I was connected to where my play kitchen and legos, I loved to pretend play and I also liked building things.(not my actual kitchen or legos....lol)

 

 

 

 

 

 

My cousin supported my play because she was the one that always played with me. I would love when she came over we would be in my kitchen all night and after that we would pretend like we where building towers and all kinds of things.

 

 

 

My feelings on play today is that it very different then it was when I was younger. The difference is that technology is a lot more advanced, we didn't have I-pad or Xbox's we where not afraid to go outside and play in the dirt. Just last week my two year old said she wanted an I-pad for her birthday....lol, technology is everywhere.

 

 

 



Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because they help me function so to speck, especially when the relationship is positive. The most important relationship to me is the one that I have with my family members, no one family member in particular my family is pretty close nit. My family is a very big deal to me they are always there when I need them and sometimes when I don't, but they are so loved by me. I think that in order to maintain the positive relationships that I have with my family is to keep the lines of communication open and to be open and honest with each other.  Another important relationship is the one that I have with my daughter, even though she is young I hope to keep the loving relationship that we have. All in all I really love my family and I am very blessed to have the family that I do.

Favorite Book

The childen book that I love is Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess. I love this book because it teaches children not to judge something by the way it looks. It teaches them to try new things you never know you may like it!!

Personal Childhood Web

I have three individuals that have had a great influence on my life:

Bessie Adams(grandmother)

Rosalind Gunnells(mother)

Linda Gunnells(aunt)

These three individuals have helped me out in different ways.

My grandmother, many say that the grandmother’s are the rock of the family their the ones that keep the family together, well my grandmother is one of those grandmother’s. During my whole life I can remember my grandmother always being there, she was there when I was born I would always be over her house she would take care of us when my mom was in school and me and my brother would alwyas be around her. She would tell me all the time I could do whatever I wanted and be whatever I wanted to be and when I got old enough to actually realized that she was in my corner I knew that I could do anything that I set my mind to she  and for that I will be forever grateful!!

 My mother was always the number one person in my life besides my grandmother they kinda shared the title. My mother helped me all though school and when I got to college my mom got sick and I was thinking about quiting school so I could take care of her, but she told me no to finish because she wanted to be there for my college graduation, she never made it to my graduation but she was always in the front of my mind during my last semester of college. Eventhough it was hard that last semester I made a promise that I would finish and I did. She keep me going when I wanted to quit and I will forever love her!!

My aunt well what can I say about her she’s great!! She is the nurturing type and when my mom past she was there like much of my other family,but she was at the four front, She looked out for my brother and I. She made sure I got back to finish my last semester of school she treated me like one of her own and made sure that I finished school like I had promised.

I can truly say that I have a great family and they all  have and still are very supportive I love my whole family!!!

I'm Inspired

“When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.”
-William(Bill) J. Clinton

“I have long believed that the development of a child does not begin the day he is born-or at age three-but much earlier during the formative years of his parents.”
-Dr. Edward Zigler

” I had a built in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world to fix all the injustices.”
-Louise Dernam Sparks-

” We have an opportunity to shape a childs future for the better.”
-Sandy Escobido”-

Resources

• 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, from http://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, from http://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, from http://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, from http://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, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
• 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.   Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article’s title.

Resources For Children’s Rights:
UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://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. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • 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.
• Early Childhood Resources:
• • 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//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
  • 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/
• Three Additional Book Resources:
• I Love You Rituals by Dr. Becky Bailey
• What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick by Gloria Mayer, RN & Ann Kuklierus, RN
• Simple Steps by Karen Miller

Ethical Codes

Ethical Responsibilities to Children: Provide care and education in settings that are safe, healthy,and responsive to each child.
My Meaning: Always provide the best care to each child, they should come to school and be and feel safe even if it is not the best environment at home.
Ethical Responsibilities to Families: The primary importance in children’s development is the family, we acknowledge a primary responsibility to bring about communication, cooperation, and collaboration between the families and the early childhood program.
My Meaning: Always communicate with the families in regards to the child’s development. The family is the child’s primary focus and when you show them you are working together to help them it makes them feel important.

Professional Practice: The practice principles to promote and maintain high standards of conduct for the early childhood professional.
My Meaning: Treat the children and families with respect at all times. Give the children the best care possible and always act in a professional manner when communicating with families and children.

Birth Experience

I choose to write about my own experience, which was a fairly pleasant one!!

• What I Remember:
• Clean Hospital
• Medication on request
• Classes before hand
• Experienced Staff

I choose these experiences because this was the first time I actually realized that it was the real thing, starting with the classes. Birth has a very big impact on child development I think because it starts with the mother’s nutrition and her environment which in turn passes to the developing baby.

• Region or Country I choose:(Philippines)
• Clinic just for the poor where students mostly take the roll of midwife
• Births without medication mostly
• Water births
• Child care classes

There where some differences as well as some similarities, for instance the child care classes where available to the mothers just like they are where available to me. The major difference was the medication, meds are not available on request like it was for mine.

Food For Thought

Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when your body does not get enough nutrients. Malnutrition is directly responsible for about 300,000 deaths per year in children younger then five years of age. Some causes of malnutrition are not having enough food, poverty, inadequate diet, and also certain medical conditions. South Asia has the highest prevalence of malnutrition with 336 million people with 46% being children. Malnutrition in south Asia is the single largest cause of child mortality with more then 1/3 of deaths. This topic is meaniful to me because I work with low income families and I know some of the children that I have come across really didn’t have enough food to eat because their parent could not afford food. It gives me a better understanding that not everyone can afford the basic necessities just to live.

A Child's Stress

There are many different stressors that children face, as a child I faced the stressor of my mom being sick with cancer. I can remember her going to the many doctor appointments taking her treatments, being in the hospital for weeks at a time basically leaving me and my brother to grow up faster then usual. Seeing the way her body changed physically was really hard but though it all she still remained positive and was always her cheerful self even in the end.
Seeing the way my mom struggle with her disease was hard all in it’s self, but for the children that are in Africa and other underdeveloped countries they are faced with several stressors. They are not just faced with disease but hunger, violence, mistreatment just to name a few. All these factors can have a huge effect on the way a child develops emotionally, physically, and socially. Like me those children more then likely don’t have a support system that will help them though rough times. I am grateful that I had people in my corner to help me along the way before and after.

Assesing Children

When it comes to assessing children I think that the whole child should be assessed and not just a certain aspect like personal social skills. My job as an educator is to assess children using what we call ages and stages questionnaire within the first 45 days of the child entering the program. The questionnaire that we use assesses the whole child: motor skills, communication skills, personal social skills, and social emotional skills. I think that it is very important for the educator to get to know the whole child and not just one aspect of the child. In Asian cultures they use two different kinds of assessment tools classroom and external assessments. Teachers focus on performance both instruction and assessments. They believe that classroom assessment should align with what students have learned and how they have learned. Some of the tools used are performance based, self assessments, peer assessments, teacher observations, and quizzes or tests. This provides a more comprehensive picture of the students ability. They also use external assessments, which are standardized assessments which measures student performance and program effectiveness. The Lingua Folio and ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 learners are assessment tools that are used and the results are compared with students nationally and internationally.

 

Reference

(2013). Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education

Favorite Quote About Children

“Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.”
Robert A. Heinlein

Something I Always Say:

The one thing that can't be taken away from you is your education!!