Collaborative Learning Community

I have really enjoyed this course and learning more about my communication style. I have learned a lot about myself and how I communicate with others that will be beneficial for all the children, families and staff that I have contact with every day. I truly appreciate all my colleagues and the information that they have shared that contributed to my understanding and learning as well. I wish everyone luck in their future endeavors and if I can ever offer any support or guidance please contact me at hopeemanuel@gmail.com

Adjourning

I think that the groups that I have found it hardest to leave are the ones that I got to know really well. I have found my most successful groups to be people that I met with often and became somewhat of a support group as well. We learned a lot about each other and in return we figured out how to effectively communicate with one another as well. In most of my group situations I have had a final project to present with them and then we celebrate with by going to lunch. As far as the group of colleagues I have formed in my masters program, I think that it is difficult to adjourn from them, but not as hard because we haven’t met personally and then each new class brings a few more new people to the group. Knowing that we have built relationships with people who are passionate for the same things and able to be a resource when needed helps the adjourning process and is essential to teamwork.

Conflict Resolution

 

My recent conflict that I have been dealing with involves my son’s preschool director. She continues to place a note on my sign in/out page stating that I owe money. I disagree and don’t understand why she thinks I owe money. I pay on time regularly and I couldn’t understand why she thinks I owe money. I first decided to avoid the situation and wait to see if the director approached me. However nothing changed. I then decided to try and speak with her, but every time I dropped my son off, the director walked the other way and never addressed the situation with me. This happened multiple times so I was pretty upset and finally ready to discuss the issue with her. I remember that I needed to remain calm and respectful and listen to her side as well. I listened to her side of the story and I explained mine and she didn’t seem to care what I was saying. Finally, I asked her to provide me with a statement so we can compare her records with mine. We finally determined that she credited the wrong account with one of my payments.  I was frustrated because I felt it was her job to communicate with me better and discuss the situation with me in person instead of writing a note every day. I am curious how my colleagues would have handled the situation if they were the director and how they would handle it if they were me.

Communication and Culture

When I think about the cultural diversity that I see in my neighborhood, in my workplace, and also at my child’s school, I do find that I communicate differently with different groups and cultures. I think that I have gotten to know many of the people I see each day in work, in my neighborhood and at my sons school and I have become aware of how to communicate and interact with them based on what I know about them. At work I interact and communicate differently with my staff who have been working for me longer. We are able to joke with each other a bit more because we know each other well. When I communicate with my supervisor however, I am more reserved and professional. At my sons school I often speak with one staff member about baseball because he really enjoys the sport and so do I, however, another male teacher hates sports and we often talk about current events. I also communicate differently with people based on my feelings and happenings throughout the day. In the morning I may be real friendly and say hi to many of my neighbors and at the end of the day I tend to be more reserved because I have been around people most of the day and often want to be alone with my son when I get home. This is sometimes difficult though because I have to walk by a play structure to get to my apartment and many times the children that are there want to play with my son and then the parents want to talk with me. I have noticed that I often walk by real quickly and make sure to be on the phone or try to be occupied with something. I know I may come off rude and I don’t intend to, but I prefer to have some time alone.

Communication skills

 I watched a show called Baby Daddy. It starts by showing 2 younger boys and a lady who looks annoyed on the couch, rolling her eyes. The boys face each other body language shows that they are not interested in the lady or what she is saying instead it looked as though they were checking each others breath. They leave and return and another guy is now there. The new guy jumps up and puts his finger in front of his mouth looking like he is telling them to be quiet. Then it shows the lady asleep on the couch with writing all over her face. Then the 2 boys are sitting at table and hold up their phones with both of them having a pic of the same girl. I immediately assume that they are dating or interested in the same girl. I watch as one boy speaks showing lots of expression in his eyes, smiling and throwing a lot of hand movements and gestures. The other boy looks at him and rolls his eyes and then starts talking in a heated manner as well. Soon the other guy jumps in and starts talking, it seems like the boys were fighting over the girl and he is trying to smooth things over. He is calmer and his mouth isn’t opening as wide when he talks so I assume he is talking quieter than the others were. The next scene appears to be the next day and one of the boys is sitting in front of a laptop smiling and laughing with another girl and the lady is in a robe, with a very unhappy looking face and is  pointing a spatula at them and the kids stop laughing and look as though they are in trouble. The show goes on to show each boy setting up a date with the girl in the pic.

When I watched the show with sound I realized the lady was one of the boys mother and she actually said at one point, "Kids have the way of sucking the life out of you." That was the point that I observed that the boys were not interested in her and she looked annoyed. The boys were actually heading out to go to a club and they did a check involving making sure their breath did not smell. The other guy that was there when the boys returned seemed to be one of the boys older brother. He listened as the boys talked about their night and realized they both met the same girl. The brother tried to convince the boys not to fight over the girl. The next day the boy asked his mom if she was on his computer and she said yes. They found her online dating profile and she had fibbed on her age and were laughing at her profile when she yelled at them and told them they will be old someday too.

I found it really difficult to watch the show without sound, and it wasn't much better with sound ether which is probably why I have never seen the show before.When watching the show without sound,  was able to guess pretty accurately about what was occurring by observing their actions, eyes and expressions. I also observed their age and the props they had. However, I still didn't understand it exactly and missed on some of the specifics that were important. I couldn't tell that some of them were related or one of them was a young father and so on. Watching this show without sound and then with sound makes me think about the assumptions I am guilty of making from time to time. Sometimes I assume things based on observing others interactions and behaviors and I realize that I may be right sometimes, but sometimes I could also be wrong.

Competent Communicator

When I think of someone who is a competent communicator I think of my father. My father is very intelligent and shares his knowledge with me. We are able to discuss various topics and he holds my attention because he knows so much and teaches me new things. I can also trust my dad, which to me is very important when communicating. I know the information that my father is telling me is honest and truthful and that if he is ever unsure of something he lets me know and seeks to find the answer. My father is not afraid to admit when he is wrong and to let me know when I am wrong as well. He does a great job listening to me and others. I would love to model these behaviors because I think they are examples of what great communicator’s exhibit and should strive to always model.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds.

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope that will continue to remember and apply all that I have learned throughout this course. I hope that I will continue to make children and families feel welcomed. I hope I provide an environment that incorporates culture from all backgrounds and I provide a program environment where everyone feels as though they belong.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.

My goal that I have set for myself is to take what I have learned and share it to my staff and childcare directors that work for me. This course has made a strong impact on me and taking what I have learned and bringing it back to my staff and my programs will have a huge impact on my community as a whole.

 A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I have learned a lot from this course from the readings and resource videos, but especially from the discussion posts and interactions with my colleagues. I truly appreciate everyone’s opinion, ideas, questions, thoughts and advice. Without my colleagues, this course would not have been such a success, so thank you all for everything!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, I was not too familiar with other cultures and I never knew any immigrants. Then I moved to southern California and was amazed how little I was exposed to when growing up in my small town. I met so many new people from various countries and cultures. Many of the people I have met are immigrants from Mexico. We have a lot of Mexican children in our child care programs. In order to be culturally responsive to these families I had to be able to relate to them and understand their culture.

Iprepared to make all participants in my programs feel welcomed by first speaking to one if my really good friends who is also from Mexico. She told me about the different cities in Mexico and how different each city is. She told me about different beliefs and family traditions as well. Secondly, I took the time to research the areas in Mexico, the different traditions, beliefs and cultures. Third, I hired staff who spoke Spanish and English so that they could relate to the children. I also hired a couple people who were from Mexico as well. Next, I had my staff make sure to set the classroom up so that all children would feel welcome. The staff posted signs that were written in both Spanish and English. They created newsletters and snack calendars in both languages. They incorporated aspects of their culture into their curriculum and snack options. My staff spoke with the children often asking them for suggestions on what they would like to incorporate into the programs as well. After all that I had a big family event. We had a potluck where each family brought a food item that represented their culture and traditions. The parents and children loved it. We now have monthly family potlucks.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

It was a bit difficult for me to think of an experience at first and then I realized that I have actually witnessed people treat me a bit differently because I am a single “young” mother.  I wrote “young” because I look young so people assume that I am a lot younger than I actually am and when my son was a couple years old, I got braces on my teeth so I looked even younger. I have had people make comments to me regarding being a young mom and ask me if the dad is still in the picture or if my parents help out. When this first happened I was extremely embarrassed and I started wearing a “wedding ring” so that people would stop asking me questions and staring at me when I went anywhere with my son. I am actually in my thirties and have seen parents who are older than me be awful parents to their children so I think age of a mother or father shouldn’t be anyone else’s concern especially when they are judging them on the age rather than their parenting ability.  The way have been treated made me feel like a lot of people have issues with young, single mothers which upset me because these strangers don’t know how old I am, if my sons father passed away, if I am divorced, or whatever. In order to change this incident into opportunity for great equality I do what I know best, be a great, hard working mother. I prove to those people that they can judge a book by the cover.

Valuing Culture: Beyond Surface Labels

I have witnessed moments of microaggression occurring to others and I have also experienced it as well. I have had people most recently say things to me about being a single mother and I know they aren’t trying to offend me when they say it, but it does bother me even when I try not to let it. I typically try to brush it off, but find myself replaying their words in my head often. I also have witnessed my friend,  who is Mexican, go through it when she was worried about her accent. She was worried that people couldn’t understand her and another person commented that her accent was pretty and it didn’t sound like she was from Mexico. I was amazed at what was said, but it wasn’t the first time I have seen this occur. Often times I am unsure if I should say something because I don’t want to upset or offend my friend any more, but sometimes I feel it is necessary to call the microaggressors out on it. After discussing this topic this week I found myself thinking a lot more about what I was saying to people before I actually said it. I also found myself paying attention more to what others were saying and actually witnessing microaggression more than I’ve noticed in the past

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I began a lengthy conversation with my friend regarding culture and diversity. I chose to speak with her about it because she is culturally different from me. She defined culture and diversity as an individual’s differences in terms of background, family, religion and morals. I asked her if she felt the culture and diversity are the same thing and she said she thought they were very similar except she thought that culture comes from the family. I had a brief conversation with my brother-in-law about the same topic and of course, he wasn’t as intrigued by the conversation, but he told me culture is about a group of people interested in similar things and that diversity is about ones differences. My sister thought that culture is a group of ideas, traditions, beliefs, customs and morals. She said that families can all have their own culture as well as certain social classes. She defined diversity as the differences among each person. Overall, I was impressed that everyone I spoke with felt that diversity is about ones differences and culture is about similarities. I was also pleasantly surprised that they understood that culture can come from the family. This is something I didn’t put much thought into prior to this course. I explained to my sister that what she described is what we are discussing in my class, she explained that she discussed the same topic in her master’s program a few years back.

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture…

First of all, I would take my camera because it has pictures of special moment with all my loved ones on it and I can capture new memories at my new destination. The pictures on my camera would show a lot about my family culture as well.

Secondly, I would take my Kindle because I would be able to read all kinds of books, magazines and the bible to myself and my family, which is really something we enjoy and represents our family culture.  

Third, I would bring my son’s blanky because he has to sleep with it every night and because it’s the blanket he got when he was born. It has his name and birth date on it and it’s as special to me as it is to him.

I would explain the items to others just as I did above. I would also share the items with them. I would show them the pictures and tell them stories that go along with each one. I would also read to them as well.

If I had to choose just one of the 3 items mentioned above, I would be so devastated and torn. I would want to keep the blanky because it is special to my son, however the camera with all my pictures on it would be hard to give up.

When I first began to think about the personal items I would bring, I first thought of things like my laptop, my cell phone, my Ipod. These items I immediately thought of because they can offer so much more and be so very useful when we arrived to our new location. I think what I realized most from this assignment is that the culture of society is very dependent on technology. I was focusing on taking items to keep us busy because those are the items that we use each and every day. However, I recall life before so much technology, when things were a bit simpler and its sad to think my son will never know what that type of life is like.

When I think of research...

My insights about research have become more refined. I have gained valuable new knowledge which has allowed for me to have new insights and direction in research, but also provided me with more questions as well. I have learned about the various approaches which have helped me to not feel as overwhelmed and to choose the best approach for me and my particular study. The resource book and the assignments were written and provided in great sequence which helped with my understanding the research process better. I found myself questioning processes and steps and then I found them answered in the following weeks course work. The layout  helped me to better plan, prepare and design my study. I think the biggest challenge is just determining the best approach because they al lhave similar  techniques and benefits and mixed method seems to emcompass

Research Around the World

I explored the Early childhood Australia website located at: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ Early Childhood Australia-A voice for young children.  The mission of Early Childhood Australia is to advocate for children birth to eight years in equity and quality in education and care.  I truly enjoyed this website, there was so much to explore and learn. I particularly liked the Research in Practice Series which provides resources and information on major topics and trends for those involved in the early childhood field. The series focuses on a wide range of topics essentially on the ‘hands-on’ aspects of early childhood. Some of the current research topics that they have addressed include: Learning and teaching through play, children as communicators, Early Years Learning Framework, confidence in children and Bullying.

As I explored the site further I found the early childhood archives and was really interested in the recent media release on May 9^th that discussed the continual support for quality early education for children. It discussed the Federal Budget’s commitment to provide additional funding to assist in attracting early childhood teachers in remote areas. The funding will provide $225 million dollars over 4 years which will provide an extra 130,000 families with high quality care.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

When I think of a positive example of effects of research on children and families I think about an incident that came about in one of my afterschool childcare centers almost two years ago. A young girl in my program would continually talk about her facebook profile and all the people she would meet on the Internet. I was dumbfounded that her parents would allow her to access the worldwide web without supervision, especially since she was only ten years old. I tried to discuss the dangers of the Internet with my children in my program, but didn’t have much to go on so we researched the topic and found lots of information. We found ways to address the topic to the children and activities to present to the group. We also found resources to present to parents and ways to help them protect their children. My staff and I decided not only to lead a discussion on this topic in out afterschool program, but to open it up to the parents. We had a family night where we had dinner and got to know each other more and also presented the research information that we learned to the parents and sent home articles and resources to parents as well. After addressing this in my program, the young girl mentioned that she was no longer able to freely search the Internet. We like to think that our research and addressing the issue head on helped to limit her access and possible save her childhood a bit.

My Personal Research Journey

I chose to research the effects of single-parent homes on children I am interested personally because I am a single mother raising my son. I was raised in a very traditional household and my parents have been married for forty-two years. Raising a child on my own was not something I ever imagined doing and I worry every day about the effects it will have on my son.

Unfortunately, I have noticed a certain stigmatism associated with single parents. It is my hope that by researching the effects on the children I will be able to help not only my son, but other families as well, to overcome the stigmata and prove that children from single-parent families can grow up to be strong, intelligent and healthy.

Issues and Trends: Change, Contexts, Consequences, and Constraints Revisited

I understand more in depth about the field of early childhood education after learning more about it internationally. I learned information that was deeper than I imagined and I realized the importance of being aware of what’s going on in the field all around the world not just locally. I believe that because I learned more about the international early childhood field I will be able realign my goals and further my career professionally and realign my thinking and goals personally as well. I learned to not take so much for granted, I learned what I can do to advocate for early childhood education around the world and I learned about some valuable resources that will help me to continue develop and grow. It is my goal that I continue to use what I have learned to help others to grow and develop as well.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3

Since I still haven’t received word from my contacts, I decided to so the alternative assignment of reviewing the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” website.
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/).  After taking some time to thoroughly explore this site, I have gained some new insights.

First of all I learned that UNESCO is dedicated to the child as a whole and the holistic approach to early childhood development.

Secondly, I learned that global action week is coming up on April 22. Global action week provides awareness about the need of early childhood education

I also learned that UNESCO had a group of experts conduct reviews of indicators related to early childhood development such as health and nutrition, social protection, and policy and planning. Then reviews are now published and provide recommendation for the content of the Holistic Early Childhood Development Index.

I read lot s of interesting information on this website. I read about empowering girls in Ethiopia and the push for literacy in Nigeria. I also read about the Nokia challenge for mobile communication ideas that help expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education.

Overall, I learned a lot about this organization and they are doing around the world to advocate for children and early childhood care and education. I believe in advocating for our children and support all the efforts that are being made by organizations like this one.

Sharing Web Resources

I began searching for some of the outside links that I have not yet explored on the sites that I began looking at the beginning of the course and I was unable to find very many links to other websites. There was one link to a childcare center in Northern California which I look into before and posted about. And then there were links to ICRI in other countries so I decided to look at the link to Kenya. http://www.icriafrica.org/ . Their mission in Kenya is to fight poverty and assure health and safety for children and families. As I read more about their mission in Africa I was impressed to read that they are training early childhood providers on appropriate care and education. I think that is definitely an important step in the right direction and something we need to focus on more over here as well. I also noticed a lot of emphasis on proper hygiene and empowering women and children. I think that the biggest insight or trend that really stands out to me in many of these countries is that it seems as though many organizations group early childhood care and hygiene and empowering women and children all together and they work to help each area as a whole. I understand that it is important to teach proper hygiene at an early age so it doesn’t become a continual problem as they get older and I also understand the importance of building self-esteem and empowering others at a young age as well so I suppose it only makes sense that they would group those areas in with early childhood education, however it isn’t something I would have thought about originally.

Getting to Know International Contacts-Part 2

I visited Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/), and had fun exploring the site. I learned about the collaborative project in Chile, “A Good Start.”. This project is focusing on professional development of the teachers in order to provide higher quality programs in language and socioemotional development for children 4 to 6 years of age.  Another focus is on improving the attendance as well. In order to achieve this, the project is focusing on deepening family involvement.

I also read about Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, collaboration between Global Children’s Initiative and local experts in Brazil who are all working to use the science of health and development to gain stronger policies and larger investments to benefit children and families.

Overall I learned that locally and globally we all have the same goal, to work together to provide more effective programs that foster a more successful society.

Sharing Web Resources II

The organization that I have been learning more about is called the International Child Resource Institute - http://www.icrichild.org/ . ICRI operates and/or oversees six child care centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The centers provide study and learning exchange opportunities for educators from around the world. As I explored one of the centers websites more, I found that the organization believes in learning through play and provides an environment where play is encouraged. I found this interesting because it is something we were discussing in this week’s posts. As I looked into the organization further I read about Hearts Leap Childcare Program. At Hearts Leap they utilize discovery-based emergent curriculum.  Emergent curriculum is about children constructing or directing their own learning process. In order to provide an environment that supports this type of learning, childcare teachers need to be dedicated to observing the children, learning with them and researching. Teachers in this environment need to be well educated and trained, qualities that most early childhood programs can’t afford to pay for when hiring staff.

As I explored the website a bit more I looked at the board of directors to see who is supporting this organization and I found a diverse group of people from former Ambassadors, engineers, lawyers and educators. After reading this week’s learning resources and reading about the board of directors and the staff I realized that it is beneficial for children and families to have the support of not only educators but economists, neuroscientist and politicians as well. A long as the team as a whole is dedicated to the wellbeing of the children and focus on each individual child’s needs rather than monetary gains, everyone can benefit.

International Childhood Poverty

INDIA

400 million of India’s populations are between 0-18 years old. Life for most children in India is very hard. About 62 million children are under the age of five and are malnourished. This is about half of the children in India.  34 percent of newborns in India are significantly underweight. India accounts for 20 percent of the world’s children out of school; it has the largest numbers of working children in the world, third of children below 16 years of age are working. There is a lot of gender discrimination in India and girls' chances of survival are worst than compared with boys. Boys are viewed as more permanent members of the family and  ongoing gender discrimination has lead to lower rates of school attendance among girls and less exposure to the outside world, with more emphasis on domestic work.

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I was interested in learning more about is call the International Child Resource Institute - http://www.icrichild.org/

This organization believes that all children deserve access to high quality care and a safe environment free of abuse and violence. They believe in the empowerment of girls and women and that women and children have access to health interventions. Overall, they believe in a community that has access to all the necessary resources to overcome poverty.

ICRI has developed or operated over 300 projects in over 50 countries since 1981. One of the projects I read about involved a partnership with the Brazilian National Movement of Street Children, where ICRI help develop support centers for homeless youth in Brazil. ICRI also developed an international awareness campaign about the violence and brutality against street children. I was really interested in this particular project because my children at my afterschool program have recently been studying Brazil and have created a blog where they are able to communicate with the children in a program in Brazil. The children discuss what life is like here compared to what the children experience in Brazil.  Besides Brazil, ICRI has done a lot of work with Nepal, Kenya, India, Norway, Malaysia and many more international countries. They also do work in the U.S. – providing expert consulting and assistance in improving child and family programs.

Expanding Resources

This week I tried to make contact with various early childhood professionals. I was excited to hopefully make contact with at least one international professional in order to get a better insight on the early childhood profession in another area. Unfortunately, I emailed 8 different contacts and received at least 5 undeliverable email notifications and then no response from the others. I was a bit disappointed and it looks like I will need to choose the alternate assignment. I have decided to look into the NAEYC website and International child resource institute site. 

My Supports

I am a very independent person and I would like to say that I don’t have much support because I don’t like to rely on others, however that wouldn’t be true. As I thought about my supports I thought about my emotional supports- my father, my sister, my husband, my son. They give me the motivation to keep going when things are challenging and stressful. They support me by listening to me and by making me smile. Without them I wouldn’t have someone to turn to discuss what is going on in my life and get advice. I wouldn’t have someone to laugh with and to make me smile. I wouldn’t have much to look forward to.  At work I receive support from some of my directors. They offer to help me when possible and are always positive and that makes my job a bit easier. Without the support of those directors I would have to spend a lot more time at work and away from my family. Without their positive and encouraging words I would feel overwhelmed and I would not enjoy my job. I also have certain physical supports such as money. food, water, shelter and my car. All of these make my life a bit more simple and less stressful (well, when I have them J).

One challenge that I thought about is being blind. I think that I would need a lot of support if I was to be challenged in this way. I would need the support of my family to help me emotionally and physically as well. I would not be able to drive and I wouldn’t be able to continue working at my current job which would cause a lot more stress. .I wouldn’t be able to watch my son play soccer or see his pictures that he draws each day for me. I would need help with picking out clothes and getting dressed. I would need help typing and writing papers. I think that I wouldn’t take the little things for granted, I would realize and appreciate all the support and have an even deeper relationship with them on a different level. It would be difficult to feel comfortable and supported by people that I don’t really know, so without my family to support me, I don’t think I would be able to exist.

My Connections to Play

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.”

~Stuart Brown, MD

“Play, while it cannot change the external realities of children’s lives, can be a vehicle for children to explore and enjoy their differences and similarities and to create, even for a brief time, a more just world where everyone is an equal and valued participant.”

~Patricia G. Ramsey

“As astronauts and space travelers children puzzle over the future; as dinosaurs and princesses they unearth the past. As weather reporters and restaurant workers they make sense of reality; as monsters and gremlins they make sense of the unreal.”

~Gretchen Owocki

I am a big believer in the importance of play and a child’s development. When I was reading the article, The vital role of play in early childhood education, a rush of excitement and disappointment ran through me. One sentence in particle stood out, “School children no longer have the freedom to explore woods and fields and find their own special places. Physical education and recess are being eliminated; new schools are built without playgrounds. Informal neighborhood ball games are a thing of the past, as children are herded into athletic leagues from age five on” (Almon, 2002). As a young child I remember spending hours exploring the woods around my house and at my school. My friends and I would pretend to be deer, bunnies, lost settlers and more. We would build forts and hike around. We spent hours outside during the summer and even in the winters in the frozen snow. It’s sad that children are no longer able to enjoy the same fun things we did growing up. All though safety is partly to blame, it’s just not as safe for children to run around freely as they once did, I also think that busy schedules play a role. Many children come from single family homes and from homes where both parents work. Parents are too tired to engage or too busy going from place to place. Parents use to encourage their children to go play and now they rely heavily on the use of technology, which has also become an issue. Don’t get me wrong, technology can be a good thing when used appropriately, but too often these days it’s not. Children sit in front of the TV, video games and the computer for hours. Children are not as active and not as imaginative as kids use to be. There is a constant struggle to get PE in the schools; children are becoming lazy and inactive. I remember having PE every day in school, now children are lucky to have it once a week. Without play children lack an imagination. They find learning tedious and difficult rather something fun and exciting and something that is only done when adults or technology teach them rather than through play. Growing up I didn’t need much to play. Of course my siblings were a big role in helping learn through play, but I was also able to play independently as well. Sometimes we would pretend to work at a post office and all we needed was a piece of paper and a pen. We spend all day outside sending letters back and forth. Sometimes we pretended to we lived in the wilderness and we would build forts out of sticks in the woods. We would go exploring, hiking through the fields and trees, stopping to watch deer and bunnies as they ate. Other times we would play catch or pickle with a ball and glove. When we grew hot or cold we would rush inside for a drink and head to the basement to continue playing school, house with our Cabbage Patch Dolls or build elaborate houses for our Barbies and G.I Joe Dolls.

Almon, K. (2002). The vital role of play in early childhood education. Gateways, 43. Retrieved from http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/GW43almon.pdf

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because I am able to learn from them, I am able to talk with them and understand myself more. I gain knowledge and support from my relationships and provide that to others as well.  I feel loved and needed.

When I think of important relationships I think of my relationship with my father, my sister, my husband, my son and my staff. Each relationship is different and offers me something unique. My father is very knowledgeable and I call him to discuss current events and to ask for advice. He offers me support and guidance. I call my sister to talk about our kids, clothes, trends, to cry and laugh and to have support and guidance. My husband is someone I can go to and vent about my job, my day and just talk with. He is someone I can be myself with.  Again, he offers me support. My relationship with my son is the most important relationship and the one I learn the most from. I guess we are both teaching each other daily. I would definitely say this is my most rewarding relationship. My relationship with my staff is definitely different than the relationships with my family. However, my relationship with my staff is important because as I teach them they teach me a lot about who I am as a leader.

I think what is challenging in all relationships is being honest. I think that in relationships we look to eachother for advice, support and guidance and we know that those closest to us will be able to provide that to us even if they do it by telling us the truth that we dont always want to hear. Of course its just as difficult to give that honest feedback as it is to receive it, but if you have a good, strong relationship with one another you are able to accept it for what its worth.