Thanks to all my Wonderful Colleages

Self-esteem is the real magic wand that can form a child’s future. A child’s self-esteem affects every area of her existence, from friends she chooses, to how well she does academically in school, to what kind of job she gets, to even the person she chooses to marry.

STEPHANIE MARTSON, The Magic of Encouragement

I'd like to thank all of my wonderful collegues for sharing stories and resources this semester. I have learned so much from reading your blogs and discussions posts. Please continue making a positive impact in all the lives of the children you work with!

Happy Holidays!

Educating the Whole Student

More and more we are hearing about the "Whole Child" and what it means to address and understand all the needs a child has: intellectual, spiritual, social, physical and emotional.  In researching this topic I came across an article in which the New York State education department is outlining exactly how a school can educate the whole child.
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/sedl/DRAFTguidelinesforNYSlatestversion.pdf
These guidelines walk you through the domains that should be addresses and how a school should go about doing this.  The basics are support, involvementt, outreach and intervention. It is the belief of this education department that when the "Whole Child" is considered teacher can teach more effectively, learning will happen more consistently and parents and the community will become more involved.

Other countries are already prioritizing social and emotional learning. Singapore for example, had integrated SEL (Social Emotional Learning) into their schools and consistently scores at the top of Iinternational Math and Science competitions (Barth,M. 2010).

American children deserve every opportunity for success and if social emotional learning is missing for the schools, it's worth a try.


Barth, M. (2010) Educating the Whole Child Engaging the Whole School. NYS Eduaction Department, Albany, NY.

Consequences of Stress on Child Development

Stress comes in many forms, from hunger and poverty to noise and chaos.  My husband has shared with me forms of stress that polluted his childhood. As a child of divorces he remembers plenty of noisy fighting and getting packed up in the middle of the night to stay at Grandma's - chaos. He withdrew as a child and started doing poorly in school because he said, "he just didn't care".  As a result of his childhood he struggled through life resenting his parents.  When he finally was able to leave the house for college the freedom was too much to handle and he failed out.  He keeps his emotions and feelings guarded and has a difficult time trusting. Somehow he allowed me to love him and has been a wonderful husband and father. All it took was patients,understanding and showing him that I would love him unconditionally.
Children in Africa face very different stressors. Hunger, poverty, disease, violence, and isolation.  Riddled with AIDS many children are left on their own when their parents are taken by the disease. Relief workers and missionaries volunteer their time and efforts to help these children left behind but the numbers are overwhelming. We are so blessed in this country to have the resources to help those less fortunate, yet children go hungry here everyday. Hunger is a problem that can be found in every country the world wide.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding was a lot more difficult for me that I was expecting.  I read about all the wonderful benefits and had decided during my pregnancy that I would breastfeed for the recommended year.  This all changed while I was in the hospital after having my baby.  My daughter Madison had a difficult time latching on.  I was constantly worried that she wasn't getting enough to eat, it was hard for me to not have an exact measurement. As Madison grew breastfeeding became more and more painful and frustrating.  I decided to pump exclusively, which led to decrease in production.  I finally gave up around month 4 a good 6 months shy of my goal....I felt both relief and failure.
I recently learned that the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe. UNICEF believes that this statistic is due to lack of information and promotion of "Baby Milk" or formula (UNICEF, 2010).  This is starkly different from the US.  Here it is driven into mothers to feel, as I did, like a failure for not being able to breastfeed.

Child Birth Expereience

The birth experience I had with My daughter Madison was generally a good one. I was admitted to the hospital at 41 weeks. Being a week past due my Doctor strongly recommended we induce labor. There was no other cause for concern in my opinion other than being past due. Blood Pressure was good, glucose was good, babies vitals were strong and the baby wasn't even exceptionally big. Still I was admitted and we proceeded with the induction. My doctor broke my water early on which made the next 14 hours of labor hard. I got an epidural which meant I was no longer able to walk around. Eventually it was time for a C-Section to avoid rick of infection because my water was broken early on. Within minutes we had our beautiful baby girl. Recovery after a C-section is horrible. I was barley able to move which made getting up to nurse unbearable.
If I had it to do again I would have waited as long as I could for the chance to go into labor naturally. The potossin brought the contractions on so hard and fast I wasn't able to walk around and help the baby get into position. This may be why I didn't dilate completely. Recovery after the C-Section made nursing even more stressful which may be why we had such a hard time latching on and why I could only bear to breastfeed for 4 months.
I did some field research of my own and asked relatives that have gone through labor in Mexico. Induction in Mexico is not as common of a practice. Since health insurance in so costly pre-natal care is rear. This means that women may not know exactly how far along they are and may not feel the pressure and stress of being past due. Many women in Mexico, including my relatives, simply wait till their body tells them it time and have their children at home with the help of a midwife. Barring medical complications, this sounds rather ideal compared to my birthing experience.

NAEYC & DEC Code of Ethics that are Meaningful to Me

All of the NAEYC Code of Ethics help to guide me within my field.  Two, in particuluar, really speak to my responsibilty as a leader in the field. I will keep these Ethics in mind as I address the needs of the families at my center.  I will also lend a hand to nonprofits in the community so that I might help support a wider range of families.

P-2.5

effectively with all families in a language that they

understand. We shall use community resources for

translation and interpretation when we do not have

sufficient resources in our own programs.

P-2.15

refer families to community resources and professional

support services. After a referral has been

made, we shall follow up to ensure that services have

been appropriately provided.

(NAEYC 2005, April).

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) also has a Code of Ethics. As a Director of an Early Chilhood Education Center I have the opportunity to help train and develop new Child Care Professionals within the field.  The Ethic below will serve as a reminder of the great responsibility I have.

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

ethically based services (The Division for Early Childhood 2000, August).

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
The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from
       http://www.dec-sped.org/
—We shall be familiar with and appropriately—We shall make every effort to communicate

Resources

There are endless amounts of resources available to us on every subject imaginable. Here are a few that I have found helpful in the Early Childhood field

http://www.zerotothree.org/

Engaging Children's Minds by Lilian G. Katz and Sylvia C. Chard

Ages and Stages: AParents's Guide to Normal Childhood Development by Charles E. Schaefer and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo

 

http://www.easterseals.com/

 

 

Words of Motivation and Inspiration

Through this course, I have been introduced to a variety of child care professionals who are very passionate the field.  Listening to their words of passion has really fed my own motivation.  As I learned more about Lilian Katz I was impressed by how much of an impact she had on Early Childhood Education. She is a wonderful resource for teachers of young children as well as researchers in the field. Katz has often described her role as, "that of translator and interpreter between researchers and educators" (Rothenberg, 2000).  I also admire Marian Wright Edelman who has been a crusader for children's rights. She believes that education and health care is the key to keeping youth out of the juvenile system. She states, "The most important thing is to have students be able to read and compute and stay at grade level" (American School Board Journal. 2007).  These two women are major contributors in my field and it is clear that they serve as motivation to us all. 
In one of our course multimedia resources we were introduced to working professionals who shared their passion.  Sandy Escobido a child care deputy said something that I really agree with, "As professionals int he early childhood field we have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better" (Walden, 2010).  I say this time and time again to my teachers.  It's so important to remember what an influence we are and what an impact we can make in a child's life. Raymond Hernandez, another interviewee, stated that he was "not here to save the world, (he's) here to make a difference in the community (he's) working in" (Walden, 2010).  I say what we do to make change in our community will change the world!

References
Rothenberg, D. (2000). Proceedings of the Lilian Katz Symposium. Clearinghouse on Early Education and Parenting.

American School Board Journal, (2007, June). Five Questions for Marian Wright Edelman.

Walden University (2010). The Passion for Early Childhood. A Multimedia production.

Personal Childhood Web

My childhood web consists of the following 5 people....

My Mother - As an only child I feel my mother and I have an exceptionally close relationship. We share almost everything, I always felt like my feelings were heard. She was a teacher which is where my love of teaching children came from. I always admired how the students loved her and all the Thank you cards she got at the end of the year from parents.

My Grandfather - I had a very close relationship with my Grandpa. I was the first grandchild for a long time and we spent a lot of time together. I can remember spending the night at their house as a girl and my grandfather reading Aesop's Fables to me. I can also remember dancing with him on his lunch breaks. 

Ms. Garcia- My third grade teacher was very special to me. What I remember most about her was the wonderful things she would tell me mother about me. She was so encouraging and always had praise to give out. I also remember how she included music and movement as part of the day. It was so interesting to me how we could be doing something so fun at school in our classroom everyday!

Mr. Kennison- My Elementary school Principal also left a lasting impression. What I remember about him was not very positive. I had a hard time adjusting to school because I knew My mother taught in the classroom next door. I cried a lot my first few months in Kindergarten. Mr. Kennison would take me for walks to calm down and let me know that my mother had given permission for spanking and if I continued to cry he would have to do it. This was back when Spankings were OK with Parent permission, isn't that crazy?! He did not nurture or comfort me. I learned from him how to more appropriately handle behavior issues with children.

Maritza - My best friend as a child was one of 4 sisters. I loved spending time with her family and the sisters. It was always fun and exciting at her house. Any longing I had for siblings was met by her family. Even though her parents had their hands full they always invited me to stay for dinner or travel with them. I even went to church with them which has had a lasting impression on my life and faith.

Taking time too think about my Web has been a good experience for me. I can trace my love of teaching, reading and dancing back to my mother and grandfather. I can also see how my compassionate and nurturing personality was formed by a negative experience and how my faith was affected by my best friend.

Powers of Reading

One of my favorite books to read to my daughter is Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. It was my favorite while I was a toddler teacher years ago. I had a personal copy that I couldn't wait to share with my future children. I'm so glad Madison loves it too. In the evenings she will being it too me and sign "More". I like the book because it's simply written and illustrated with a nice beat. I appreciate children books that keep it simple and silly.

Watching children enjoy being read to really fuels my passion. I hope to enlighten many parents to the joys of reading to your child. It is so beneficial for all involved. It's never to early to start!!

Work In Progress

Hello- this is my first Blog entry. The idea is that my growth in the field will be tracked through this blog - Here we go!