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/