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.

When I think of child development today...

I picked these comics to post becuase it reminded me of our discussion in week 7 and how technology plays a big role in a child's development these days.

Testing for intelligence

I think that it is important for educators to get to know each one of their children individually, identify their needs and design and implement curriculum accordingly.  In order to do this, educators need to assess each child individually and over a period of time. I feel assessment should be done through observation and by talking to and working with each child individually. Since every child learns differently, using a paper test isn’t necessarily the best tool for assessing ones understanding.

China has been known to have a long history of providing  tests and examinations for assessment. The scores of various tests are used as the sole determinant factors for promoting students into higher grade levels of education. In China they have term examinations and final exams to assess ones learning. This is true for all grade levels.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1126210664195/1636971-1126210694253/China_Skills_Assessment.pdf