My Connections to Play

My Connections with Play

Quotes about Play-
 

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” ~ Plato (Greek philosopher)

“Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.” ~ James L. Hymes Jr. (child development specialist, author)

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning…They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.” ~ Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood)

Here are a few pictures demonstrating young children in play

Throughout my life, I can't remember a time where any of my teachers or parents did not support play when I was younger. As far as I can remember my teachers always set aside time for us to grow and just be kids. These are the times I remember the most from preschool and elementary school. I was at a really fun preschool, where they taught us the basics as well as alot of life activities such as swimming, playing sports, and hide and seek.  It was the YMCA program, in NY. My parents also supported me in every sport that I played in. I have played softball, volleyball and basketball. But I can remember when I was just a young kid where I played softball with my father pitch and catch. He has made life playful in a sense because I can remember always having fun, learning and striving to do my best at an early age.

Play is very different today from what what it was when I was a child. Yes, we had nintendo and other electronics, but we always were playing together with toys and going outside to make snowman or snowangels or even just sitting playing with blocks with one another. Now children at a very young age are engaged in this electronic world of IPADS, IPODS, and XBOX. Children even at the age of 4 and 5 are playing inside on these things rather than playing outside in the sandbox. For example, I own a diner and while they were waiting for their food, they were playing a racing game on their IPAD, they never ask for the stack of coloring books that I have under the counter. Just strange how some families occupy their young children. I really hope as an advocate and professional that I can encourage children to get out there more and more and learn and experience with other children their age. Even as an adult I still am playing in a softball and volleyball league. This was my type of play when I was a young child and it is to this day. It has made me who I am as an individual, athlete, coach, and young professional.

 

 

Relationship Reflection

"Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development" (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p. 4).
This week we researched and took a look at why relationships are so important in life. Throughout my life I have had many relationships with people who come and go. I’m sure everyone has. Whether it’s growing apart, having difference or just having a busy life; people tend to lose some relationships. It’s those who stay and continue to build on these relationships that make the major impact on our lives. When I think of my current relationships, there are many I can choose from. I am very grateful for these relationships; they mean the world to me.



My brother Brandon, Dad, Mom, Me, Mark, my brother Kevin and Benjamin

First the most important two people in my life are my Mom and Dad. They have made the most impact on my life. They are the reason I am who I am. They have made me into a hardworking, trustworthy individual because of the people they are and what they provide is a positive healthy relationship. The factor that they contribute to our relationship is support, love, encouragement, and discipline. They have taught me what is right and wrong and without them I would not be as strong and confident like I am. Some challenges that may be hard to maintain with my parents is at times we would not agree and it would make it hard to communicate with one another. This happens with every relationship though. We aren’t always going to agree, it’s how we overcome the situation and this makes our relationship even stronger. What makes my relationship special with my parents is we know what’s expected out of both ends. We stay true to one another and always have each other’s back. No one has made a difference like these two and I am very grateful to have them as parents.



This is my husband Mark. Mark and I have been married for almost three years and together for over 6 years. Mark has a major role in my life and is very supportive. To maintain a healthy relationship we have good communication and trust one another. We have learned when we need some space and when we need comfort. We learn everyday something new about each other and that’s what makes our relationship grow each day. Also, our experiences with one another makes our love grow and it becomes stronger every day. Without him, I don’t know what I would do. I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. Mark supports everything I do. Whether it’s doing 4 hours of homework a night or having a four hour softball practice, he understands what I want and need to do to be happy and successful in life. There are always challenges in marriage and being with someone. Without these, we wouldn’t be as strong as we are. If we didn’t communicate our feelings, it would be hard to maintain a strong positive relationship. We both contribute to the relationship equally. Mark is so special to me and without him my life would be very different. I am grateful to have such a great husband.







My three brothers-
The relationships I have with my three brothers are very different but equally significant. They play major roles in my life and without them I could not imagine my life the way it is. Brandon is the oldest of us all. Brandon and I have the same mother and father. We have been through it all together. Our parents split when we were young, but are good friends today. Brandon and I have each other’s back. We can communicate to each other about anything. He is the first person I go to if I can’t go to my mom or dad. We both have been taught the same rules about life and out of all three of my brothers he is the most supportive. He would be there in a drop of a hat if I needed anything and the same goes to him. We equally contribute to our relationship with one another. I look up to him and I believe he looks up to me even if he doesn’t admit it. He was and is the most protective person over me. Our relationship stays positive because we shake off whatever bad happens. We don’t hold grudges. We know by the next day if we fight that we will act like nothing happened. He is my brother, there will always be arguments. Kevin and Benjamin are the youngest. Benny is 13 and Kevin is 20. We all have the same father but different mothers. These two boys also mean the world to me. We are very close family and we all put work into our relay ships to maintain and keep them strong. The differences in ages I believe have made a major impact our relationship and our development. We are all very protective of one another. With Benjamin, when he was born. I was 14 years old. I played a mother figure to him and always took care of him whether it was feeding, changing or even waking up in the middle of the night on the weekends to take care of him. He still is the baby. Our relationships are very strong, but if it wasn’t for our father they wouldn’t have been so strong. He has taught us that family is the most important thing in life ad we always need to have each other’s back. To this day, I don’t think any of us never once didn’t have each other’s back and support from one another. And if we didn’t support it, we would be open and state it. My brothers are all unique, but always will hold a special place in my life and heart.
Lastly I want to talk about my kids/athletes that I coach. It’s not just a certain kid, but it’s every kid that I get to coach. I have been a coach for over four years now and it’s one of the most important things in my life. These relationships that I develop with these kids are so significant not only for myself, but for them. They learn to trust me and see I am there to make them a better athlete and person. I always say to each group I come across that I am their coach first, their friend second. They see what is expected and begin to contribute and put in the work the same way I do. I believe it’s so important for these girls to feel comfortable and tryst me as a coach. There are challenges that come during the season that may play a factor in the relationship I have with them. Such as not showing up to practice or not putting in 100 percent at practice. These relationships are partnerships and if we all put in the same effort and trust one another we will be successful with our relationship and winning games. X
My experiences with these relationships that I have in my life impact my work as an effective early childhood professional. I have become hardworking, trustworthy, supportive and outgoing. These factors play a key role in the success into being a professional. I believe all my relationships are unique and in some way have made me the advocate and educator I am. Without these relay shows I would not have the drive and education I need to be an effective professional. And for them I am grateful.

Favorite quotes about and for children

Here are some of my favorite quotes about and for children. I hope you all enjoy them like I do!

Testing in Ability and Intelligience

This weeks blog focused on the testing children and the assessments that are being used to show a child's intelligence. Teachers today in the United States have more focus today on assessing children's intelligence more than ever. The assessments that children need to get tested on, I believe is too much and takes up too much wasted time. Personally, I have never been a great test taker, but I know that my abilities and intelligence for most subject areas are just as good as someone who would ace a test. I believe schools focus more on assessment of testing than letting the children interact and learn what they really need to learn for life. How are children supposed to be creative and work together when all they do is sit in a chair and a desk and do multiple choice questions and essays the whole time? I do think testing should be done, especially to show their growth on a topic, but to focus all their attention to test they have to take is not right. Also, I believe repetition of information is useful for children especially if its information that they need to use in the future. There is so much for a teacher to teach and a child to learn, that it is hard for the information to sink in because before they know it they are being assessed in another subject. 


The country I chose to focus on with the educational system is Asia. The thought of assessment is new to Asia. Course requirements in Asia is based on their ability and what and how they have learned. In Asia, teachers use assessments of performance based assessments, self and peer assessments, teacher observations, portfolios, quizzes, and tests. Asia out of most countries is similar to the United States. Asia has many standardized assessments that they use to measure a students ability and intelligence. Some include SAT II, Early Language Learning Oral Performance Assessment and Lingua Folio. The resource at the end of the blog describes in detail what all the assessments test. 

When I think of intelligence, I don't think of it as a whole. I believe everyone has their own abilities of what they are good at and what they are bad at. I am particularly intelligent in sports and cooking. If you asked me how to build a shed, or house or anything, I would have no clue. If you asked me how to hit a softball or how to cook an omelet, I would know the answer right on the spot. Or if a child for example is really good at painting and drawing, but fail every math test he or she takes, this shows by assessment of what they know and what they are good at. Even thought testing shows these things, I don't believe they should measure their whole ability and intelligence on the subject. Children need to know and learn more information about real life situations and focus less on the things they will never use. For example, I took French in middle school and high school. I have to say I did good and got good grades. But I've been out of school for 8 years now and I haven't used French not once. Why do we have to take things and learn things that are never going to be used in our life in the future? 

Resources: 
Asia Society. "Assessment. http://asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/assessment  2013.

Stressors in life

This weeks blog asked to describe a stressor that affected either myself or someone I knew. I chose the stressor of poverty. Out of all the stressors I am grateful to say that none of these apply to me personally growing up. I did have one friend that grew up in poverty. She never had the nicest clothes    or material things but she was always a great friend to me. She was always moving to different houses whether it was to a housing apartment or to a family members home. She never had money to do certain things for school functions and my friend could often not participate and have the things that most of our class had. As a child, I never recognized that she was living with basically the clothes on her back and the shoes on her feet. I never treated her differently. I believe and still do believe that she was the same as me or anyone of her classmates. Her and I are still friends and now she is a manager at her work for five years now. She has had many hardships in her life because of poverty. She has worked very hard as an adult to make sure her kids don't have to live in the same issues as she did. 


Africa is the worlds poorest continent and every third African does not have enough food. ( Church, 2011) A main reason Africa is living in poverty is due to harsh environment conditions. A statistic shows that one in six African children die before the age of five. A main thing is hydration for these children. 43 percent of children in Africa do not have safe accessible drinking water. (Mm Brico, 2006) The difference between my friend and these African children is the fact that money was an issue for my friend to be provided her basic needs. While in Africa the main reason is due to the environment and the lack of resources. 

Malnutrition and the importances in every child's life

The topic I chose for this week’s blog is malnutrition. Malnutrition is the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function. This is one of the most important public health measures that impact children’s development all over the world. In any community or service, if healthy nutrition is learned we would have better health for every child and their families. Malnutrition is common in the United States, but is not as bad as in countries likes Africa and South Asia. Malnutrition may lead to severe illnesses, weight loss, or even death. Just having knowledge and distributing these public health practices may save millions of lives each year. 
Some symptoms that may be meaning ful to families, teachers and staff, this information may help and impact an infant, child or adult to better health...
Symptoms of malnutrition in children can include:
• Failure to grow at the expected rate, both in terms of weight and height
• changes in behaviour such as appearing unusually irritable, sluggish or anxious
• changes in hair and skin colour
• hair loss
• swelling of the stomach and legs (this last symptom usually only occurs if a child is severely malnourished)
• Vitamin and mineral deficiency
Physical signs that you may have a vitamin or mineral deficiency include:
• skin problems or rashes
• swelling of your tongue
• poor vision at night or in dim light
• you feel out of breath and tired all the time (due to anaemia)
• you experience a constant ringing or buzzing in your ears (tinnitus)
• paleness inside the mouth or eyelids (due to anaemia)
• pain in the bones or joints

In Africa, malnutrition is very common. Their condition in many instances is called wasting. This is where a child is severely underweight as a result to having bad nutrition. 15 percent of the children’s population in Africa lives in households of children hunger. The main reason is not only plundering resources but the knowledge that is not given to these households. Also in Africa, one in ten children suffer from severe malnutrition. 50 percent of these children being in preschool. This not only causes things like illness and diseases, but stunted growth.

This information is going to impact my work now and in the future with my own family and the families I work with. Prevention is better than treatment. With some knowledge we are more likely to protect the ones in our lives and our own. 
Resources-
http://www.feedthebabiesfund.org.za/News/FactsInfo/ChildPovertyandMalnutrition/tabid/108/Default.aspx
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Malnutrition/Pages/Symptoms.aspx 
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6thed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Chapter 5. 

My birthing experience

      The birthing experience that I have chosen was my best friends birth to her daughter Sophia, four months ago. I waited in the waiting for 6 hours waiting until she was born. The only people that were in the delivery room was her husband, the nurse and the doctor. They do not allow anyone else unless  the family gives permission. I have never experienced a birth before and still haven't. What I remember is the excitement of her arrival. Her father was so ecstatic and emotional that it made the experience one never to forget.
     It took about two hours after her birth that we could see her and her mom. The nurse came out to let us know that they wanted the mother to relax a bit and get the baby all cleaned up and ready for her visitors. I chose this example because its fresh in my mind and its the first experience I had when I was waiting at the hospital for her arrival. I believe in the United States, hospitals for the most part women and their babies are treated the same and taking care of to the best of their ability. This impacts their child development because the pregnancy and the birth are the beginning process of their development for the rest of their lives.




Japan-
Most births take place in a hospital or doctors clinic in Japan. This is similar to the United States. What is not similar is that most labors in Japan are handled by midwives. The United States less than 8 percent of births are attended by midwives. Japan strives for natural birth and non pain reliefs during birth. Japan also doesn't have a good support from others during births. There is a lack of family and close friends. There is also a difference in language and culture that makes the approach to the biting experience different for every family.  www.tokyoweekender.com/2009/birthing-in-Japan-2/