Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

The first step that I took to locate and contact 2 professionals, was to click on the link http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance and then scrolled down to the center of the page to see other links and contacts to different professional’s worldwide. The contacts that I selected were in Egypt Dr. Laila KARAM EL DIN. I clicked on this link and then went to communications and information. The second link was in Asia Georgia center for Educational initiatives Eteri Gvineria at email address eteri@osgf.ge. I have not had any response from either connection, but I did email my interest and to introduce myself. The process I took in selecting the early childhood organization was to carefully look at what I would really want to learn more about from the list of blog resources and made my selection. The website that I decided to study was National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators at  http://www.naecte.org/. The reason that I chose this website to study is because I believe if I want to be a successful educator, I need to have all of the knowledge, connections and resources to achieve my goal from different sectors around the world.  

"My Supports"

Support to me means to be there for someone emotional, physically and mentally. Support can also be encouragement or inspirational. The type of support that I need on a daily basis is encouragement, physical and mental support to keep pushing myself to get to where I need to be. The reason that I need this type of support because daily life events such as work, traffic, family life can be stressful. I also need physical support such as team work around the house because after a long day at work, attending to dinner, homework and household chores, it can be exhausting and can take a toll on you mentally.

The challenge that I can see that I currently do not have is being alone to support my household. I will need financial, mental and emotional support to keep me from falling apart. My family keeps me going, because they are always there to lift me up and give me the words of encouragement to keep me from giving up. I am mentally strong, but we all can be put in situations in which we feel that we can no longer do what we do. Life can be challenging all by itself, but with the support of family, friends and the community can make a big difference in your life.

My Connections to Play

Play represents me as a younger child through this quote by Almon, 2002 "creative play is a central activity in the lives of healthy children". The second quote by Almon, 2002 "Their learning is a

combination of their own deep inner drive to grow and learn coupled with their imitation of

the adults in their environment". Both quotes represent me as a younger child because I was always imitating my mother or something that I had experienced. The people that supported play for me when I was younger was my parents. They were very positive about the type of play that I demonstrated. My mother told me that the way I demonstrated play showed her that I was caring and affectionate towards other people. She was right because because I am a mother to so many children outside of my own and I am always willing to help anyone feel better.

Play is different from when I was a younger child. There were physical exercise in our curriculum at school and we had better controlled after school programs to help keep us in shape. We also played outside after school to stay active, until dinner was ready. All of these things have been taken away due to lifestyle changes, technology and environmental influences. Children are not free to explore their minds or the world around them. Everything that a child does in the classroom today is based on academics, not on who they are developing into. Many children do not get a chance to be themselves and enjoy childhood. Since technology is so advanced now, even the younger minds are using computers for everything. Technology has weakened the minds of children by doing everything for them. It seems to me that a child cannot even think for themselves anymore due to everything being done for them. I used to create games, drawings or paintings on my own just to use my imagination, but now children do not have an option.

The role of play have so many benefits because we as a child can use our imagination and explore the options of who we want to become as an adult. Play can help a child like me get to know their feelings and what they are good at. The role of play as an adult gives me the opportunity to observe what children are feeling inside.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships/partnerships are important to me because all individuals involved can collaborate together to doe what is in the best of the child. The relationship between an educator, parent, sister, brother, mother, father or coworker are very important because it helps the development of a healthier person in life. The reason that I say this is because with these relationships the individual will not feel alone and they are able to share and trust in these individuals to be there for them. The individuals that are important to me is my daughter, son, brothers, sister, grandson and my best friend from childhood. The relationship with my daughter is positive because we are always there for each other, we confide in each other, share our feelings and thought and mainly because we love each other. The relationship with my son is positive because we always communicate, share our feelings and thoughts and we are honest with each other. The relationship with my sister is positive because we always encourage each other and focus on how important family relationships are. The relationship with all of my 6 brothers is positive because we are always there for each other, motive each other and we keep each other going in life. The relationship with my grandson that I am building is positive because I provide that secure attachment as a mother and always there to nuture, talk and interact with him. The relationship with my best friend is positive because we share our thoughts, feelings and emotions like sisters. We are always there to lift each other up, and encourage each other to never give up on our dreams in life no matter how old we are. The factors that contribute to all of the positive relationship listed is the respect for each other, close family ties as a child. The challenges of maintaining these positive relationships with my family were the absent distance between us after our mother died and the support that most of us did not give. The special characteristices of these relationships that make the relationship was the open heart and kindness that we all share. The experiences with relationships impact my work as an effective early childhood professional by helping me contribute what I shared with my younger siblings and family toward other individuals, children and family.

When I Think of Child Development...

Developmental Overview: Ages 0-2

Developmental Overview: Ages 6-9

                                                                     

                                                                            Developmental Overview: Ages 3-5

When I think of childrenand their development, I will take with me the learning experience of early stages in childhood development, the major body changes, brain development, birth complications, physical development, environmental influences on a child, language development, cognitve skills and emotional development. The search instistute has advice for every develoment stage " The way parents choose to deal with these issues has an important impact on how healthy and competent their children grow up to be. That’s why we’ve organized our information into the ages & stages of child development" (Search Instistute, 2010). All of the images and stages in age represent my view on child as a demonstration of how a healthy environment, early childhood education and social awareness can make a difference with a smile on each child's face regardless of age, background, gender or culture.

Developmental Overview: Ages 10-14

Reference

Search Instistute (2010). Ages & Stages. Retrieved from http://www.parentfurther.com/ages-stages

Testing for Intelligence

When viewing a committment for young childre, i believe that the brain should be measured first because that is the primary development for a child's behavior and learning capabilities. I also believe that each child's aptitude should be assessed to see what they are good at in a specific skill. This will hep educator to better assist in other ares in which the child need the most help (Berger, 2006).

The school-aged children of China are based on a skill assessment system that consist of literacy. The skill that the children are tested on are math, reading and writing. China skill assessment is focused on the economy and the demand of labor market.The secondary education age of enrollment is age 6 and sometimes age 7. ( Zhang, 2004).

The additional concerns that I have with testing for intelligence is that school age children should not be under so much pressure to prove their intelligence. I believe that each child has a talent and it should not take a specific test that is outdated and used for so many years to test the skills of each child. The word test and the attention span for a young school age child is not focused enough to handle the stress. I fear test, quizzes and exams because I always have anxiety attacks and sometimes forget what I learned because I am trying to hard to focus and do well.

Reference
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Zhang, J (2004). China's skill assessment system. Retrieved from China_Skills_Assessment.pdf

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

The stressor that I personally experienced was violence as a child. I coped and survived many of the violent acts by keeping my distance, staying focused and motivated to do what was right. Many of the violent acts that I witnessed as a child came from drug, gang activity and domestic violence. I always stated to myself and never indulged in any violence. When I did witness domestic violence, I would cry and pray that it never happens to me. I grew up in the projects and many of my neighbors and school mates were trying to do whatever they could to make a fast buck to get out. Unfortunately it did not turn out that way. many of my neighbors turned on each other, which resulted in gangs, shoot outs and other types of violence. may of them also started to abuse the drugs themselves which resulted in a overdose at times. In my opinion, children all around the country are experiencing some type of stressor.

Violence can target any region or country. The effects of violence on a child's biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development can be detrimental for life. The child that have to experience or see this type of stressor can develop mental issues, depression, post traumatic stress syndrome, and behavioral issues such as being violent as well. The child can grow up not knowing how to interact in a appropriate manner when in a different environment or around other children. This type of stressor can affect their learning ability in school in which in they will not be attentive in school, focused or happy (Berger, 2009).

The region that I focused was Philadelphia, because I am from part of this area. There is not much that is being done, only that people are moving out due to the violence escalating over the years. The majority of the violence in Philadelphia are in the schools. There is not much security in the schools of Philadelphia and the administrators are pointing the finger at each and the parents. Some of the authorities are holding all that take part in the child's responsible, because they all have a role in the child's education and development (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2011).

Reference

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

The Philadelphia Inquirer (2011). Violence. Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/inquirer/violence/