My Supports

My daily supports are : God, My Husband, my child, my finances, my car, my students....just to name a few.

God is my support in every aspect. With him, I know that everything in my day can be accomplished. I make sure that every morning before I leave my house I acknowledge the God and the support that He provides to me.
My husband, is my support, he is my best friend, I can talk to him about any and everything, when I go shopping or anything of that sort, most girls want to take a girl, well I like to take my husband. Who better than him to know what I should buy to wear. :-)
My daughter is my support. Just having her around me is enough for me. She is my motivation to succeed daily.
My Job supports me financially. It helps me to pay bills of course and make a living. I love to shop and without my finances that would not be possible.
My car serves as a support to allow me to get around to where I need to go.
My students, are support. They remind me daily whether they are good or not so good each day, they remind me of why I am a teacher. They remind me of why I work with children.

All of these things are very very important to my day to day life. Without ANY one of these things, I believe my day to day life would be rather difficult. My Husband provides emotional support, God provides all support, my daughter provides emotional support and motivation. Life would be difficult without any of the people or things mentioned.

The challenge that I thought about was not having my car because I did not even want to imagine not having any of the other things at all. Without my car, I would need support from family and friends in order to get around to places. That would definitely play on my emotions because I am so used to getting around on my own, and I hate having to even consider utilizing other peoples vehicles or asking for a ride. That would probably cause some stress until I am able to get a new vehicle.

My Connections to Play

                              
Both photos retrieved from google images


Two essential items I would need for play would be rather simple but mean absolutely everything:
 Hands and Feet

Back in my childhood, play was not with different items or different games, it was simply our imagination, running wild in the woods, and exploring new things. We would find new things, go places our parents told us not to go but yet we still did it because we were interested in the unknown, we were curious. Our parents would always tell us to go outside and play and we had so many things to do that we stayed outside all day doing what a grown up would maybe see as much of nothing but to us we were learning so much. I can recall going to a small river stream and seeing tadpoles for the first time. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dad told us not to go but we went anyways. Just exploring and finding anything that looked halfway interesting.
    Play now, compared to play back then is completely different. There is so many technological advances that causes kids to do all that exploring in doors now. It is a lot more scripted and you're practically held within a box because outside of the resources that the games that children play bring about the child is not able to explore things outside of that. My hope for younger kids is that even their parents will promote and encourage more exploratory type play inside as well as outside the home.
    I do believe that play had an impact on my life through childhood as well as adulthood. I feel as though play contributed to my ability to have hands on experience with some of the things that I learned about at school, I feel as though play is a contributing factor to me analyzing situation far beyond the surface.

Relationship Reflection

     When it comes to relationships/partnerships they are very important to me because in life you need a support system. Whether it is different people or one person, relationships are important to foster a successful life. There have even been studies that have shown that someone in a healthy marriage for instance is a lot more focused and successful in the work place as a result of that relationship.
     First and foremost the most important relationship I have is one with God. I believe that all of my other relationships are a direct result of my relationship with God first.If this relationship is not right, I believe ultimately no relationship will be right. After the relationship with God I believe the next relationship in MY life is the relationship I have with myself. Yes , I said myself. There is no way that I can establish a relationship with others if I do not first admire myself as the person that I am. Once I am at a place that I can be successful for myself, the third most important relationship surfaces and that is with my husband. My husband is my best friend and we talk about everything with each other. If I have a concern at work, at home, or anywhere else, I may talk to others, but most importantly (aside from God that is) I talk to my husband.
      The next relationship that I have is with my family, which in addition to my husband includes my daughter who aside from my husband is the most important person in my life and then the rest of my family which includes but not limited to: My sisters, my nieces and nephews, my mom and dad, grandparents, and every one else respectably. Lastly, my friends. Which this area, I tend to keep a bit limited due to the fact that I feel that it is always best that way to keep "Friends" limited to avoid too many conflicts.
      When it comes to maintaining these relationships, all of these relationships are maintained by one key word: Communication. Communicating with all these people some on a daily basis and some on a week to week basis are the way that these relationships are maintained. When my sister and I talk, we share laughs and "opinions" about different situations our family may be encountering. When it comes to my husband, as I stated, we are best friends so we go out to movies, bowling, out to eat, vacationing, or what have you. Those are the thing that keeps up positive.
     Just seeing how important these relationships in my life are and how if one of these relationships do not go so well in a day then it has a major impact on my cognitive ability to stay focused while at work. Seeing this, gives me an idea of how important the idea of relationships the children have could be.

 My Husband

Me

My Sister & I 

Great Friends

My Daughter

My Parents

We take away the child's ability to be original, their ability to be different, their ability to be creative when we tell them HOW to think. Once we are able to teach a child HOW to think, that will open the door to that child to create ideas that we may have never thought of before.

Testing For Intelligence

When considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically starts with first creating a scale that can allow them to be measured equally.  Some of the different elements that it takes to create that scale are so vast in numbers that it will never be completely accurate measurements for assessing.  Working in a public school, every time the standardized testing period comes around, this is a very big topic that we discuss. Some teachers have EIP students with learning disabilities, some teachers have gifted kids, some children are raised in single parent homes, and some kids have several different resources available to them to assist them with their day to day learning. Socioeconomic status, academic ability, resource availability, as well as ethnicity, are all different factors that are needed to be taken into consideration when attempting to measure the child on a holistic scale.  The child should be measured on their language development, their cognitive development, on how quickly or how accurately they can retrieve information, and also they should be measured on their physical abilities at that particular age.  Even though children may be of the same age. They still have different levels of development and abilities. We have seen this over and over again even at the infancy stages. So measuring their development primarily may create a better scale of accurate assessment scores.

“In China, China’s skill assessment system is more characterized with the planned economy, and

remains little reformed during past over two decades. The ministry of education is the main body responsible for assessment of formal educational outcomes and literacy. (Chinese and mathematics

are test subjects, others are checking subjects)”.

Most of China’s assessments as well as the curriculum focuses on the Chinese economy. The students are taught skills that will enhance their economic abilities in the later future.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1126210664195/1636971-1126210694253/China_Skills_Assessment.pdf

COPING WITH NATURAL DISASTER

About three years ago a tornado rushed through my hometown. My nephew with the rest of his family were at home that night and immediately when they knew that the tornado was spotted, they went into the middle hallway away from any windows or other possible moving objects. Needless to say, the tornado did some major damage ripping off the rood and destroying their home. My nephew (according to my sister) did not say a word the entire time. It was as though he was either terrified or just was in shock and did not know what to think. After the storm passed and they spoke to the insurance company, they began rebuilding their home. As a result of that natural disaster every time a bad thunderstorm comes along my nephew runs into his parents room because it reminds him of that experience.
Africa is one of those countries that may experience things like droughts. They really do not have many tactics for fixing this issue. They usually just sit around and play the waiting game until the drought passes. Resources can become very limited in Africa as well. Other thing that Africans deal with are things such as disease, hunger, and poverty. As I previously stated, Africa is very limited to its resources, and due to this concern, many children as well as adults go untreated, go hungry, and have little to no money.

http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/files/wpf33africasdiscontent.pdf

Week 2 Blog: BREASTFEEDING IN INDIA

I chose Breastfeeding because I have always been taught that the healthiest baby is a baby who is breastfed. I was breastfed, and my daughter was also breastfed. I wanted to see if there were any countries that had slightly a different outlook on breastfeeding and weigh their reasons why they did not think it was a beneficial thing to see if my idea that Breastfeeding is healthy would remain. As I researched different countries, I ran across India. Now, some women do breastfeed, however it is not pushed as it is in America. As I was reading it stated that "A lot of it is due to myths that breastfeeding affects their beauty." Before the idea of Breastfeeding was enforced largely, some mothers, and even now some mothers still feed their infants goat milk which was a tradition there. Colostrum which is the "first milk" was considered "dirty milk" which also was an influence on mothers to not breastfeed their infants. As a result of this almost two million babies died by the age of five from preventable diseases. Breastfeeding can increase immunity and this is something that other doctors and health advisors are trying to teach the women of India now.
    Reading about the different views of breastfeeding, makes me think about how many people are so accustomed to "their ways of doing things" that they sometimes are not open to receiving help on better ways to do those things. That, really hit me in a general context because that could go for not just breastfeeding. I know that if we as a world could be open to seeing what things or ideas work best in other countries and adopting those same techniques in our own then we would be a lot more successful in things that we do from day to day. Breastfeeding is a very important and natural way of providing nutrition for our children, and if it is proven to be so, then why not do it? This definitely impacts my views on just being open to other peoples ways of doing and seeings things in the future before just counting it out and saying "my way is the best way"
 





http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_54058.html

Week 1 : W.Mathis -Birthing Experience Comparing American to Chinese

After viewing some information about Chinese Birthing Experienced, I was able to see a lot of differences in the birthing as well as the months leading up to the birth. Chinese birthing experiences focus a lot on traditions. During the pregnancy process where American women are encouraged to do different things even exercise Chinese woman are restricted in so many areas. One thing that I read is that they do not believe in sex during pregnancy. Wow, I do not believe an American man would go for that. :-) During the birthing process, American women seem to be a lot more conscientious than the Chinese woman who has her birthing experience mostly in a more "mid wifery" setting. The one insight that I gained was that different countries see different things as important or less important. But studies continue to show which views work the best in the development of the child. I do believe that Americans have adopted one of the safest birthing experiences that there is to ensure the proper development of the child.

Week 1- W. Mathis , Personal Birthing Experience

      It was June 25th 2008 and I was going to the Doctors office for my regular visit when I was told that my blood pressure was high and that I needed to go straight to the hospital and that I was going to deliver my baby then. I was already up to my due date and they were going to schedule an induction however because of the results I had to go then. I rushed over to the Hospital where I was told that I had Preeclampsia A condition in pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure, sometimes with fluid retention and proteinuria.

I was in labor for hours waiting to dialate to 10 cm but I never got past four when they realized my uterus was swollen, so they decided to rush me in to have a C-Section to avoid any issues with the baby. I went in and by this time it was June 26,2008 I delivered a beautiful baby girl. They kept her in the NICU for a few days to assure there were no issues but afterwards they determined she was fine. Now today, as a almost five year old she is still a very beautiful and healthy baby girl!

I chose this example because this is the only birthing experienced that I have physically been apart of apart from my own as a baby which other than what my mom has told me I really do not remember much.

When it comes to birth in relation to child development, I believe that it is very vital that the process is carried out in the safest most sanitary way as possible to avoid any issues with the childs health. It can be very possible that although through the whole pregnancy period that you carry a completely healthy baby but then by not taking the necessary precautions during the birthing process, end up with developmental, as well as health issues that directly affect the child.

Examining Codes of Ethics

The Code of Ethics of the DEC was very informative. There were so many of these ethics that seemed significant as well as relative to me, however I chose three to share with others. The first one is:

     #5 We shall use individually appropriate assessment strategies including multiple sources of information such as observations, interviews with significant caregivers, formal and informal assessments to determine children's learning styles, strengths, and challenges. 

    This particular item was very significant for me because we focus a lot on differentiated instruction in the classroom, and in order to apply differentiation successfully, you have to be able to identify with the different learning styles of all students. We have to conduct some type of survey or what have you to be able to acknowledge each students' individual preferences. 

Another one of the items that seemed relevant to me was in the area of professional development and preparation where it states:

#4 We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services. 

     This is relevant because I feel so strongly about the idea of mentoring other teachers to be successful. I feel as though if you are aware of any information and there is someone new or not even new but someone who is just unaware of a certain thing then we should mentor each other in those areas to get them where they need to be. 

The third item is 

   We shall recognize and respect the dignity, diversity, and autonomy of the families and children we serve. 

The school I teach at is a very diverse school, I feel like as a professional it is very important to meet the needs of every student there regardless of there differences and support the children and their families to be successful. 

In the NAEYC Code of Ethics the standards that I saw as being very relevant to my professional career was "To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training. .....This is soooo important and I really understand the importance of it now since I have been going through this course. It is our duty as professionals to do as much as we possibly can to stay current with the ECED field and to continue to look for new information that may be helpful to the children and the families.

Another item is " To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program."  I thought I could relate to this one because in everything I do, I always want people to feel welcome and want to be involved in positive things that may be helpful to them. If we do not welcome family members and encourage them to be involved then that alone can affect the success of a child. 

References: 

• Article: NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
  http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf
• Article: The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
  http://www.dec-sped.org/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/ect/resources.htm

http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/getting-parents-ready-for-kindergarten-the-role-of-early-childhood-education

http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm

"Experts tell us that 90% of all brain development occurs by the age of five. If we don't begin thinking about education in the early years, our children are at risk of falling behind by the time they start Kindergarten."
- Robert. L. Ehrlich

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
- Henry Adams

COURSE RESOURCES (ALL RESOURCES TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM WALDEN UNIVERSITY SITE)

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://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, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, 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.

Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• • World Forum Foundation
    http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. 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.

Note: Explore the resources in Parts 3 and 4 in preparation for this week's Application assignment.

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• 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/

Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to "How Do I...?", select "Tips for Specific Formats and Resources," and then "e-journals" to find this search interface.)

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education

Quotes from Education Scholars

“Poor children suffer from a lack of money, not a lack of intelligence."  Edward Zigler


"Of course children benefit from positive feedback. But praise and rewards are not the only methods of reinforcement. More emphasis should be place on appreciation--reinforcement related explicitly and directly to the content of the child's interest and efforts " Lilian Katz



"The passion to create a safer more just world for our kids" Louise Derman- Sparks,  Professor Emeritus, Pacific Oak College, CA

"We as professionals in the EarlyChildhood field have the opportunity to shape a child's life for the better." Sandy Escobido, Deputy Field Director

PERSONAL CHILDHOOD WEB

My Best Friend and Me
My Best Friend and me have been friends since elementary school. We have been through soooo many things together. I honestly believe that she knows more about me and I more about her than my mom does! She has always been there as a supporter, a friend, an adviser, you name it, and she was and still is it. It is a lasting impact that we share even today. She is a loving person and she taught me the definition of TRUE FRIENDS!! 

My Aunt
Man oh man, I believe my aunt has had the most long lasting impact on my life when it comes to  being there when she was needed the most. My Aunt always amplified my successes to seem as if they were the most valuable things that I could have ever imagined! Her children who were all under me were told to always come to me when they needed advice because she thought that highly of me. When I had my daughter and I was still in college she made it her business to alter her schedule to make sure I could finish school. For that alone, I am just forever grateful!

My Sister and Me
My sister has always been a friend to me. Someone I can model after and learn the basic do's and dont's from as a child growing up. It has impacted my life even now because I can still talk to her about things when necessary only difference is, we learn from each other even more now than then,

My Mom and Me
My Mom has always been a great supporter! In everything that I have ever done she has always been right there rooting me on. As a child I enjoyed playing sports, and she was right there at almost every game rooting me on saying "That's my baby" and embarrassing me because she was the loudest person in the stands. That has helped me as an adult because it has also taught me to support others the same way especially my husband and my daughter. 

My Dad & Me
My Dad had a great impact on my life mostly by showing me how much he loves me. He would always tell me how much he loved me all the time and always ask me if I knew how much he loved me. I would respond and say "a lot" and he would say "not just a lot but a whole lot". That plays an impact on my life even today because I make sure that now that I have my own child, I make sure  I tell her that just as much! It also helps me as an individual because it helped me as a child and even as an adult recognize those people who really cared about me because they made sure they expressed it even as my dad did and still does.

A picture Drawn By my Four Year Old daughter!

This photo was drawn by my daughter; she told me that this represents her family. The thing that touched me the most  about it is that, she is my first and only child, and I everyday I see something new that she does, she is only four, but I am seeing a lot of "First Time" moments. This is the first time I have seen her create a completely recognizable photo of something that she has said she can draw, and the fact that she drew it of family makes it even more special.