"My Connections to Play."

"My Connections to Play."
1. Quotes:
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."

~ Plato (Greek Philosopher)

"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold."

~ Joseph Chilton Pearce


2. Pictures of toys for myself:





      When I was younger, my play was supported simply by my parents telling me and my siblings to go outside and play. I lived in a small town surrounded by fields, forests, and lakes. It was there, where I grew up, that before the age of nine I had been a princess, a doctor, a teacher, a police officer, a professional ball player, an architect etc. Of course, my professions were not earned, but rather acquired through my imagination and "interests of the day." The role of play in my life supported my interests and creativity and allowed me to be engaged in my activities. 
      Play today seems less meaningful to children than it was when I was a child. As a child, my play did not involve too many devices with screens. My play involved using my imagination and creativity along with learning to collaborate well with my peers in order to meet many of my goals in playing. Therefore, my hope for children today is to have more opportunities to be engaged in activities that are child-directed and provided materials that encourage activities that are meaningful and promote learning. 
    I think the role of play should positively impact children so that it is evident in their years as adults. Play supports children's learning about their environment. And, within an environment, children learn how to make sense of their world and how to solve problems more effectively. Additionally, children also are more likely to learn how to be effective communicators with others and gain better perceptions of others as well. Overall, play fosters the type of learning and skills children will need to support their success as adults.

　




　

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me for many reasons. One reason relationships are important are becuase positive relationships are edifying, support my self-esteem, and teach me how to treat others in a way they want to be treated.

Diana (Mother):

My mother and I have a positive relationship because she supports my ideas and encourages me to take risks. She also gives me honest advice when I ask her for it and she gives me suggestions on ways I might want to consider when making big decisions.


"Nanny" (Grandma):

My grandma and I have a positive relationship because she also supports my decisions and offers support by reflecting on what it was like "back in her day." Factors that contribute to my relationship with my grandma are commonalities between us. I enjoy learning about "her day" and believe that older individuals have a lot of wisdom to offer.


Kalpana (Friend):

My friend and I have a positive relationship because I feel we are both honest and open with each other. We give advice to each other, even when the advice is not something we want to hear. We also come from very different cultures, as she is from India and I am from the United States, and seem to value each other's cultures and beliefs, even when we think parts of our cultures are strange. Factors contributing to our relationship is our honesty and open-mindedness.


Patients (Dental Patients):

I felt I should mention my patients because I feel I have earned their trust and have formed a positive relationship with them over the years. Factors that have contributed to my relationship with my patients are having good listening skills, valuing opinions, and being compliant.



     Although my relationships are mostly positive ones, there are some challenges to developing and maintaining relationships that I have learned to experience over time. One challenge is learning what is important to them and how I can find ways to value their beliefs. Another challenge is to have effective conversations when I disagree with them. In addition, it is also challenging keep relationships current. I think one characteristic to my relationships being partnerships is having a common interest in something and cultivating that interest and a will in wanting to invest in forming a relationship with someone. I feel my relationships with others in my personal and professional life contribute to my work as an effective early childhood professional because I have effective relationships with individuals who have differing cultures, views, and beliefs other than my own. I also feel my ability to be a good listener and value differences will be supportive in my impact on being an effective early childhood educator.

Childhood Quotes

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.

- Hodding Carter

 

I have enjoyed getting to know everyone throughout this course and wish everyone the best of luck throughout our program.  It is an honor to learn more about infants and young children and to be a part of supporting children's learning and development by learning what they have to teach us.  Thanks for all of your posts!

Testing for Intelligence?

I believe according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (2003):

• Assessments should be made appropriate, valid, and reliable as central part of all early childhood programs. To best  assess young children’s strengths, progress, and needs,  use assessment methods that are developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, tied to children’s daily activities, supported by professional development, inclusive of families, and connected to specific, beneficial purposes. The purposes of doing assessment are: (1) making sound decisions about teaching and learning, (2) identifying significant concerns that  may require focused intervention for individual children, and (3) helping programs improve their educational and developmental interventions.

 

• Indicators of effective assessment practices • Ethical principles guide assessment practices. • Assessment instruments are used for their intended  purposes. • Assessments are appropriate for ages and other char- acteristics of children being assessed. • Assessment instruments are in compliance with professional criteria for quality. • What is assessed is developmentally and educationally  significant. • Assessment evidence is used to understand and im- prove learning. • Assessment evidence is gathered from realistic settings  and situations that reflect children’s actual performance. • Assessments use multiple sources of evidence gathered over time. • Screening is always linked to follow-up.  • Use of individually administered, norm-referenced tests  is limited. • Staff and families are knowledgeable about assessment.

However, some assessments, according to Asia Society (2013),such as China's language programs should focus on classroom assessment and external assessment. Although traditional testing is still widely used and serves its prescribed purpose, classroom assessment is also used to align with what students have learned and how they have learned. Because the goal of curriculum is for language use, it is important to require students to apply the newly gained communicative competence to similar but different contexts (Asia Society, 2013).

Among the assessment tools that teacher will use for classroom assessment include:

• Performance-based assessment tasks
  
• Self assessments
  
• Peer assessments
  
• Teacher observations
  
• Portfolios
  
• Quizzes and tests
  

Multiple measurements taken across time provide a more comprehensive picure of students' ability to use Chinese for meaningful purpose than would an assessment scheme that focuses on students' ability as measured by tests and quizzes alone (Asia Society, 2013).

 In addition, NAEYC (2003) believes:

• Indicators of effective curriculum • Children are active and engaged. • Goals are clear and shared by all. • Curriculum is evidence-based. • Valued content is learned through investigation and  focused, intentional teaching. • Curriculum builds on prior learning and experiences. • Curriculum is comprehensive. • Professional standards validate the curriculum’s  subject-matter content. • The curriculum is likely to benefit children.
  
  

Overall, I also believe according to the NAEYC 2003):

Assessing children should be integrated through support for programs implementing recommendations for curriculum and program evaluation requiring a solid foundation. More positive results and greater accountability from programs for children should have essential supports for teacher recruitment and compensation, professional preparation and ongoing professional development, and other appropriate practices of quality early education.   Moreover, to create an integrated, well-financed system of early care and education that has the capacity to support learning and development in all children, including children living in poverty, children whose home language is not English, and children with disabilities. Unlike many other countries, the United  States continues to have a fragmented system for edu- cating children from birth through age 8, under multiple auspices, with greatly varying levels of support, and with inadequate communication and collaboration. Many challenges face efforts to provide all young children with high-quality curriculum, assessment, and evaluation of their programs. Public commitment, along with investments in a well-financed system of early child- hood education and in other components of services for young children and their families, will make it possible to implement these recommendations fully and effectively.

References

Asia Society. (2013). Assessments. Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/assessment

National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Association of Early Childhood. (2003). Where We Stand. Retrieved from www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/StandCurrAss.pdf

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Stressors I experienced as a child were through natural disasters of tornados and flooding. As a child, I lived in a small rural town. I remember one Spring our town and the surrounding smaller towns experienced flooding. I remember our family letting other people affected the most by the flooding stay at our house. My family also helped fill bags full of sand and deliver them to places close to the rising rivers. I do not remember feeling scared about the flooding, but feeling a sense of excitement and urgency.

Another natural disaster I experienced as a child was a tornado going through our small town. I remember feeling scared during the time the tornado went through as we waited with a flashlight in our basement for the tornado to pass. We were fortuneate that the only damage our house receieved was one of our trees falling into a side of the house and busting an upstairs window. I believe I coped with these stressors well because I had the support of my family and the community of people who reached out to help and work together.

I would like to learn more about stressors affecting European countries, such as noise. I learned the European Commission, which governs the European Union (E.U.), considers living near an airport to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke, as increased blood pressure from noise pollution can trigger these more serious maladies. The E.U. estimates that about 80 million people are exposed to airport noise levels and considers this to be unhealthy and unacceptable. In addition, airport noise can also have negative effects on children’s health and development. A study examining the impact of airport noise on children’s health found higher blood pressure in kids living near Los Angeles’ LAX airport than in those living farther away. Moreover, a 1995 German study found a link between chronic noise exposure at Munich’s International Airport and elevated nervous system activity and cardiovascular levels in children living nearby. And a 2005 study published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, found that kids living near airports in Britain, Holland and Spain lagged behind their classmates in reading by two months for every five decibel increase above average noise levels in their surroundings. The study also associated aircraft noise with lowered reading comprehension, even after socio-economic differences were considered. The best efforts made to reduce this pollution is to limit airport expansions and campaigns are done to educate the public on this issue.
                                                                                                             (What are the Health..., 2013)

Reference

What are the Health Effects of Airport Noise and Airport Pollution? Airport noise and pollution linked to increased health problems. (2013). Retrieved from http://environment.about.com/od/pollution/a/airport_noise.htm

Child Development and Public Health (SIDS)

I chose the topic of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).  I chose this topic because the United States' SIDS rate is still too high and so I wanted to learn about a country with a very low SIDS rate.  I learned that Japan, another industrialized country like the United States, not only has one of the lowest infant mortality rates (less than 3 infants per 1000 live births compared with around 7 for the United States), but is a country of the lowest SIDS rates in the world (between .2 and .3 babies per 1000 live births compared with approximately .5 per 1000 infants for the US) (McKenna, 2013).  The Japan SIDS Family Organization reported that SIDS rates continue to decline in Japan as maternal smoking is almost non-existent and exclusive breastfeeding reaches up to 75 % (McKenna, 2013).  Additionally, one report shows that as bedsharing and breastfeeding increased and as maternal smoking decreased, SIDS rates decreased. This suggests yet again that it is not necessarily bedsharing, but how it is practiced, that can be dangerous (McKenna, 2013).  In all, there are many factors associated with SIDS. Other potential risk factors include: smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy poor prenatal care prematurity or low birth weight mothers younger than 20 tobacco smoke exposure following birth overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding stomach sleeping                                                                               (Kids Health, 2013) This is one topic I definitely want to know more about as it could greatly impact my work with children.  I will have a center that accepts young children as young as 6 weeks of age.  Knowing more about SIDS will help me minimize risks associated with SIDS and maximize children's safety from 6 weeks of age to 12 months of age.  I will continue to learn more about this topic and share what I know with families as well.  References Kids Health (2013).  SIDS.  Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/sids.html McKenna, James J. (2013).  Cosleeping Around the World.  Natural Child Organization.  Retrieved from http://www.naturalchild.org/james_mckenna/cosleeping_world.html

Childbirth Around the World

Middle Eastern Patients:  Pregnancy and Childbirth  

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Pre-natal care depends on financial stability.  The expectant mother is encouraged to eat a well balanced meal and rest adequately.

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A midwife or physician is acceptable at birth.  It is preferred that it be a female.

•

In some cultures the man is not present at birth, while in others he is encouraged to be present.  Female members of the family are present during the birth for support to the mother.

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If there is a problem with the baby, the best person to speak with would be the father, because he usually has final say in medical outcome.

•

The male is always circumcised, usually before departure from hospital, or if Muslim, seven days after birth.  In some families it is recognized as a period of festivity.

•

Women are encouraged to breast feed, breast feeding usually takes place for one year.

Source: Middle Eastern Patients (2013). Retrieved from http://members.tripod.com/mattmiller_16/id5.htm

     According to the above Website, Middle Eastern women are also encouraged to live healthy lifestyles and get plenty of rest such like my sister and other women where I live.  Women also seek medical professionals during pregnancy and delivery and are also encouraged to breastfeed their babies.  One main difference between the Middle East culture and my own birthing experience story, is that men, usually the father of the baby, are encouraged to be present during the birth of their baby and both parents usually have a say in their baby's final medical outcome.