These two quotes completely define my childhood. My sisters and I were constantly running around together on our country farm, hiding in the woods, riding our bikes on the back dirt roads, exploring in the creek, and jumping in our pool. Because we lived in the country and most of our friends lived farther way in town, we had to depend on each other, and our imaginations, for fun. Being the sister who came up with the best idea of what to do that day (especially during the summer) was a BIG thing between us, although we usually didn’t mind who it was who decided what we did. One day we were mad scientists “creating life” in our old horse barn, or another day we were Nuns washing our clothes and singing in the creek (I blame the movie Sister Act for this… lol, it had just come out on VHS and been a current favorite of ours) or evil villains mixing up “potions” with the spices we secretly pilfered from our mom’s cabinet and flowers/seeds we found in the backyard or across the street, but every day was a new adventure for us and we NEVER had a problem coming up with something, which is a sad change from most of today’s children and youth who spend most of their times indoors on computer or video screens.

Essential Play Items

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As I mentioned earlier, one of my favorite play pastimes was playing in the creek with my sisters. We would look and find special rocks, make and throw mud pies at each other, SPLASH through “Crayfish County” to make sure our toes didn’t get bitten, and just create our own type of fun down there for hours on end. If we weren’t down there, we were riding our bikes as far and as fast as we could up and down hills! When we couldn’t be outside, I loved painting and anything art-related as for the longest time all I wanted to be was an artist. I’d name my projects like “a real” artists and display them around the house for literally ANYONE who wanted to see them 😛

Reading together any becoming the characters was another favorite play pastime for my sisters and myself, and the best way to do this was by dressing up! One thing that’s different from kids today is that we never had any pre-bought costumes to play in; everything came from our imagination, and usually “hand me downs” from my aunts or uncles who donated to our dress up antics. We had old bridesmaid dresses, hats, gloves, clip on ties, shirts and suit coats, ect, and occasionally some Halloween costume accessories. My mom and aunt loved making our own costumes every year so we didn’t even have pre-made Halloween dress up costumes, but I think that’s what made our play acting so much more authentic and fun.

Play Changes

Two of the biggest changes in play that differ from my childhood is one, the change of today’s environment (everyone is bad and kids can’t play alone anymore) and two, everything is pre-made or laid out for children. Most kids are more attracted to playing “screen” games on computers, TVs, or video screens and don’t choose the physical types of play as much anymore, unless it is an actual planned sports team. Children don’t seem to have any imagination anymore, or know where to begin on how to come up with an idea or game by themselves because they are so used to having a plan or directions mapped out for them already, which I think is so sad. Part of the fun of games with my sisters was the inventing part; how to play, the rules to follow, what to wear sometimes or how long to play it, ect. We didn’t care if it was win or lose…. everything now a days is “everyone must win” or get a prize and kids get SO upset when they don’t win anymore and part of that is the emphasis of parents or adults pushing that “you have to be the best” attitude on the kids, where when I was younger, everything was played for FUN and NOT to win. If I liked it, I played it. Was I the best? Usually not, but when everyone had the same mindset, no one minded.

Another thing that has sadly changed is the environment. You can’t leave your children out to play without being there with fear of someone taking them or something else awful. Unfortunately, that can be a big part of why more and more kids stay inside and aren’t outside because of that fear. Everyone was everyone’s friend and everyone knew everyone, even way out in the country where I grew up, but now, most people can’t even name their neighbors.

I am super glad I grew up in the late 80s and early 90s when we didn’t have to worry about that and I wasn’t in front of a screen. Although there can be some positives to screen times and games (educational purposes or games are useful for learning purposes) I’d still rather always be outside with my niece and nephews instead of inside watching TV or playing internet or video games where there is less interaction and physical play. I try to push for that fun, creative play in my classroom when I can and imaginative interaction between the kids and I hope they remember that about me when they look back at their prek years.

“Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development” (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p. 4).

This quote is extremely important and incredibly correct. When people have good relationships with peers, family, school, workplace, ect, it builds healthy development because trust becomes key. Some of these relationships help build other ones in my life and are crucial in my own mental and physical development.

My first key relationship is with my family members. In a previous post we discussed family members and I mention how close I am with each of my individual family members, but also my extended family. My parents are the two most important people I get advice from when I’m in need. What they have experienced helps me guide me in my choices and lifestyle and helps me to grow in my own experiences. My two sisters and I are absolute best friends. We count on each other for sisterly advice, family/husbands advice, and just need to talk to each other in general every day, even if it’s just a simple, “hey what’s up” or greeting each other with a movie quote for the other to guess. This close relationship is something I hope for my own children to see and want one day a well. My middle sister who has two children ages 4 & 2 often discusses with them about the importance of family and loving each other and being each other’s built-in best friend and is working hard to create a similar childhood experience with them as we had growing up. It’s easy to maintain this type of relationship since we are family, but talking to each other every day or sending pictures to each other (even though we are in different states) helps keep us close.

My work relationships are important are important in my life as well. These have development not out of convenience, but of need. If I want my classroom to be run smoothly and effectively, I need to have and show that same type of relationship with my coteacher. I had the same coteacher for the past 4 years who I loved and relied on heavily, and this year she unexpectedly was offered her own classroom (which was awesome for her, but a change for me I didn’t realize I wasn’t ready for). Therefore I had to rely on a new coteacher and make sure I start off well getting to know each other and understanding each other’s personal wants/needs/expectations in the classroom. Fortunately, we are both similar and respectful of each other and so far our relationship is growing and doing well in our classroom, but if we didn’t get along well, then our working relationship would be ruined. It would cause an unhealthy working environment in the classroom and set a back example for our students. We maintain a good relationship by constantly discussing our wants/needs for the classroom and having a “open door” policy where we can be open and honest with each other.

My personal friendships are different from my working and family relationships because although also built on trust and love, these are more built upon having similar personalities and lifestyles. We enjoy the same activities and text and call each other in group texts to stay up to date with each other. One of my closest relationships is between three of my college friends we call each other “The Fab Four” Once a month we plan a night out together at one of our houses to just sit back, relax, catch up, and enjoy our time with each other. We don’t worry about life’s problems, we just enjoy the time. It’s relaxing and important for each one of us to just “get away” from our own work problems or home events. We’ve been close friends since 2010 and have no desire to stop getting together even when each of our own lives are hectic.

Children’s Quote:

This quote means a lot because, as we have learned throughout this course, when children are developing, they don’t always know the right things to say, ways to react, or understand how to express their emotions. It is our job as teachers to listen to more than just their words, but also their actions. Those who frustrate us the most are often the ones who need the most love and affection that they may not be receiving at home.

Professional Thanks

To Martha & Abby, I have enjoyed reading and responding to the two of your blogs the most often. I believe we have similar views on education and our classrooms and appreciate that you were willing to share your own personal thoughts and experiences through our blog posts.

To Natalie and Channae, thank you for always willing to respond to my blogs. I know I can get long winded and talk alot 😛 so I appreciate your reactions and agreements. Happy teaching to us all as we continue our Masters journey!

Final Thought

I hate standardized testing, whether I am on the giving or receiving end, I always feel frustrated. One thing that drives me nuts about it is that while I understand it is supposed to help measure the knowledge learned, in real life, any time you want to know sometime, you can just immediately google it or check it from a textbook or whatever. You don’t have to rely on just your memory…. when you want to know something or forget what something is you check it! Another big con of standardized testing is the effect it has on the children. For some children it doesn’t matter how much they know or how much they study, they are just no good at standardized testing. The pressure and buildup of HAVING to do well and expected to be able to show what their teacher has taught them can be too much. Sometimes what they were taught isn’t on the test and then they don’t know it and it looks bath both on the teacher and the children. It can be a real self-esteem killer and ruin their confidence. It’s easy to interpret a student’s score as the sole judgement of that student’s ability and there can be many cases where students demonstrate clear understanding within a subject or concept through various assessments, but aren’t as skilled at taking multiple choice tests. It can be hard on a student if they feel that they didn’t perform as well as they’d like.

I wish that instead of physical timed testing that there could be a portfolio setup where states could pull from schools to see work or progress over time or possibly just randomly pull test scores from schools and gather information from there. I know that with having a specific timeline and idea of what information could/should be on the tests the teachers are supposed to be helped in this way but “knowing” what to teach their students, however, I think that impacts them negatively even more because the teachers are struggling to put as much information in their children’s heads that less time is being spent on other important values and developmental skills, such as children’s language, personal-social, and what I call the “common sense” skills. Too much emphasis is going into these testing skills, but children aren’t being taught life skills anymore such as learning how to balance a checkbook or do laundry or counting change out for people. While I know that when I was growing up this was because these were skills that were taught by your parents, but with most parents working full time jobs and even longer hours than what they used to, these skills have gone to the wayside and more and more technology has been created that just does things for you that you aren’t LEARNING anymore.

They do this in Finland. There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded (Handcock, 2011). Teachers in Finland also spend fewer hours at school each day and spend less time in classrooms than American teachers. They use the extra time to build their curriculum and assess their students. Homework is minimal and compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7. One teacher summed it up best by saying, “We have no hurry. Children learn better when they are ready. Why stress them out?”

The transformation of the Finns’ education system began some 40 years ago as the key propellent of the country’s economic recovery plan. Educators had little idea it was so successful until 2000, when the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40 global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best young readers in the world. Three years later, they led in math. By 2006, Finland was first out of 57 countries (and a few cities) in science. In the 2009 PISA scores released last year, the nation came in second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide (Handcock, 2011). 

References

Hancock, LynNell (2011, September). “Why are Finlands schools successful?” Retrieved June 15th from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/

When I was 12 years old, my uncle had a mental breakdown so bad that he was taken to an mental hospital for a two-week stay for the first time. Here he received shock treatments and several other medicines and “treatments” that gave him the negative stigma of “crazy”. Over the next several years he changed medicines several different times to “suit his needs”, still had issues and “episodes” brought on from stress from his work, marriage, and the challenge of raising three young children and continued to have hospital stays. It wasn’t until over a two decades later until he was finally diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. While I can remember some of this, he was just my uncle and I mostly heard the stories of it from listening to my parents mention it to each other. As a child who wasn’t living with him, the words didn’t mean anything to me.

However, to my cousin C, who was only 6 at the time, living through these panic attacks, mental breakdowns, full-blown anger issues and tantrums/fights, were very detrimental to her early childhood. She was afraid to be around her dad by herself for any period of time and had to learn how to call for help if anything happened to herself, siblings, or her dad. She didn’t understand what was going on or why her daddy didn’t want to give her hugs and talk to her anymore or could change personalities in a second around her. She never brought any friends over to her house and insisted on always going to their houses, if she really went anywhere. As she grew older, she learned how to hid the fact from school peers that her dad was “crazy” and suffered from severe depression and breakdowns. If was difficult to talk to adults or mentors about the issue because he was never diagnosed, so she didn’t ever have an explanation for his irrational behaviors. She grew up being very shy and told me that it was difficult to keep friends close because she didn’t want them to “find out” about her dad’s issues (in the 90s and even now, it’s not something that is openly talked about– it’s become such a scary stigma, no one wants to admit they suffer from it) It was even worse to try to talk to her dad about it, or her mom, who had just as hard of a time admitting her troubles with my uncle’s mental illness. She told me that growing up she “just dealt with it”. She hid the fact and didn’t talk about it and hoped for the best when she was home. Although her dad never hurt her physically, emotionally she was scarred growing up.

As she grew up she learned more about psychology and grew interested in the concept and how she could help people, since she grew up with that unstable childhood. She went to college for it, and now works as a teaching assistant with students with special needs. She said that she wants to help others become aware of the mental issues and how to open up about it, whether it is you who suffers from it, or someone close to you. She never had anyone to talk to growing up and wants to offer that support to others. She is a promoter of mental health awareness and breaking that stigma of it being “so bad you can’t talk about it” If more people DID open up and talk about it, it could help so many more people, kids especially, learn how to deal with their emotions and ask questions to seek help from others who are going through the same thing. It’s been a long road, and not one she looks back on fondly, but uses to help others with, coming from a place of understanding and commitment to help.

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Bipolar disorder can occur at any time in any person’s life. It is a severe, yet relatively common, mental disorder. The main symptom is emotional instability, manifested in periods of depression, and in manic and hypomanic episodes The range of mood changes can be extreme. In manic episodes, someone might feel very happy, irritable, or “up,” and in depressive episodes, someone might feel sad, indifferent, or hopeless, in combination with a very low activity level. Most of the time, bipolar disorder develops or starts during late adolescence or early adulthood and can occasionally appear in children. Although the symptoms come and go, bipolar disorder usually requires lifetime treatment and does not go away on its own (“Bipolar Disorder” 2019). 

A national survey conducted five years ago revealed that less than 0.5 percent of the Chinese population – roughly six million people – are known to be suffering from bipolar disorder. However, an unwillingness to seek treatment indicate that in reality, the figure may be much higher. Global averages range between one percent and four percent, so the true number of sufferers in China could be nearly 30 million (Schmitt, 2018). I was shocked by the six million people, and then to find out that it could actually be up to 30 million people who live with bipolar disorder—- WOW. One problem with bipolar that makes it difficult to diagnose, or misdiagnose, is that people experience different symptoms; some more severe than others, so for those who don’t have as hard core episodes or not a frequent, can sometimes hide or “control” it easier than others.

In China, being diagnosed as bipolar can result in a loss of one’s friends, even one’s career because their society is generally unable and often unwilling to help sufferers (although this is also a similar occurrence in America as well). As Dr. Zhang Ling, director of the Center for Mood Disorders at Beijing Anding Hospital, explained: “In the prevailing cultural and social climate, people with mental illness face discrimination in China. Many patients refuse to accept being diagnosed with a mental illness, as they’re likely to be described as psychopath or mad, and face huge stress. So, many of them choose not to see a doctor (Schmitt, 2018).”

I think the negativity surrounding bipolar is similar in any country. Like Dr. Ling mentioned, no one wants to admit that they have an issue because it there is such a negative output surrounding it and response to it from others. Unfortunately, that seems to be the best way to handle it— talking to doctors, getting the correct medication, and figuring out how you can change your lifestyle for the better or know when to do to help yourself when issues occur.

References

Schmitt, Laura. (2018, October 18). Mental Health in China: Living with Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514f7855544f7a457a6333566d54/share_p.html

(2019, June 1) Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml

The public health issue that I chose this week is nutrition and malnutrition. This topic hits home to me because I work in a Head Start program in a school that includes 23 pre-k classrooms and we are federally funded. Therefore, we consist of very low-income families who are below a certain income level who struggle to make ends meet. Because of this, we often have children to come in feeling hungry because there are limited food options at home. With the Head Start program, we provide the students with a hot or cold breakfast every morning, lunch, and afternoon snack before returning home as well as the 2-year program of free education. The food we provide also needs to be nutritious; whole grain sides and snacks, 100% juices, water & milk, fresh fruits & vegetables and healthy, low-sodium meats.

My very first year teaching at this school I had a family that was very close to the poverty level and my student would often come in on a Monday so eager to sit down and eat that he often would overeat and actually get a stomachache from stuffing his face so quickly. We also noticed that he would hoard food and place bread or items in packaging in his pockets or his locker to “save for later”. It absolutely broke my heart to see him act this way, and then feel ashamed to speak to us when he was “caught”. He lived closer to the school (about 6 blocks away) so his mom and his 2 older brothers and 1 sister would all walk with him to school before walking to their school since they only had one “working” car that their dad used to work at his job. His mom was always apologetic when they came in the mornings for appearances and his hunger and also seemed ashamed, but we would always assure her that it was alright, and we would take care of him. Our Home and School group would often do fundraisers around holidays and ask for 2 families most in need where we donated food to, and each time we chose this family to help out. They were always so grateful and didn’t know how to respond when we provided them with necessities.

While this was my “worst” case with nutrition in just my classroom, there are still many other cases of malnutrition in America as well as other parts of the world. Most people often associate malnutrition with the third world countries where it definitely is worse, but it is everywhere. UNICEF (2019) states on their website that “nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 are attributable to undernutrition; undernutrition puts children at greater risk of dying from common infections, increases the frequency and severity of such infections, and delays recovery”. So not only does malnutrition mean children are not getting enough food to eat, but also nutrients that provide for good health. They also state that “poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can also lead to stunted growth, which is associated with impaired cognitive ability and reduced school and work performance” (UNICEF, 2019).

Malnutrition is a critical and continual problem in Africa. Many Africans today experience hunger and malnutrition due to poverty, drought, conflict, and environmental degradation due to overgrazing, deforestation, and other types of environmental damages (World Vision, 2019). They also experience severe food crises when you have recurring failed rainy seasons that make it impossible for many East African farmers and herders to keep up their livelihoods.  When food crises happen, some children are malnourished for long periods. This leads to stunting (being underweight for their age). Children who were already have issues growing when a food crisis began can now risk becoming permanently stunted (being short for their age). Those who are most at risk experience severe acute malnutrition, known as severe wasting. This means their bodies are beginning to lose the ability to absorb vital nutrients. So they’re literally starving to death. And they’re nine times more likely to die than a well-nourished child (World Vision, 2019).

Reading about these issues always makes me feel guilty, as I never struggle with buying food, having the money for it, finding healthy choices and an abundance of resources right at my fingertips. I can’t imagine what it must be like not knowing where your next meal will come from or if you will even be able to find clean water to drink. Already living in poverty and then having droughts or severe flooding that ruins your crops and your only source of livelihood must be devastating, and obviously difficult to live through.

I’d like to look into more ways of providing help to these areas in the world. Maybe I could do something with my classroom as a fundraiser to help out and send things overseas or contribute money. Even when I feel like I am at my worst or “have nothing” I will always have way more than someone else, and its a sad and humbling feeling.

References

UNICEF (April 2019) Malnutrition in children. Retrieved May 18th from https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/

World Vision Staff (January 2019). East Africa hunger, famine: Facts, FAQs, and how to help. Retrieved May 18th from https://www.worldvision.org/hunger-news-stories/east-africa-hunger-famine-facts

So I would absolutely LOVE to be a mom one day and cannot wait until it happens, but unfortunately, I have not hit that time in my life yes, so aside from the 18 school kiddos I get every year I do not have my own birthing experience.

I do, however, have an older sister who gave birth twice to my niece and nephew. Because we both lived in Philadelphia at the time, and Jen had a planned c-section, I stayed at their home with my just-turned-2 y/o niece while my sister and brother-in-law went to the hospital for her second birth. Will (my BIL) called me a few minutes after Jen gave birth to let me know that everything went well and I was allowed to bring my niece to see her new brother. I was elated because I so excited that aside from them, I was going to get to be the first in my family to see my nephew, which was especially exciting since when my niece H was born we didn’t get to meet her until 3 weeks after she had been born due to not living near them at the time. H was the first baby to be born on my dad’s side of the family so to not have really gotten to experience the birth or after-experiences was really sad for me.

During her 2nd pregnancy my nephew, Jen found out that she had placenta previa, which is when the placenta grows down instead of up and back, so it covers the cervix (which is the birth canal). So if she tried to give birth naturally and the placenta was covering the cervix, it would rip away and could cause hemorrhaging and possible death. Because of this, doctors told her that she had to have a cesarean section birth instead of a natural one and made her sign a waiver before giving birth that in case of severe bleeding, she would need an emergency hysterectomy. They also needed to know her blood type in case they needed to give her a blood transfusion in case of emergency. Thankfully, she ended up having a standard, easy c-section and the birth only took about 30 minutes, but because we were warned about all of the bad things that *could* happen, it was a worrisome experience until we heard everything went well.

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The reason that my sister found out that she had placenta previa was because of her ability to be at the hospital for an ultrasound where at her 20 week checkup, the ultrasound technician noticed that she had partial placenta previa (meaning that it didn’t completely cover the cervix at this point) so they were going to keep an eye of her. Throughout her pregnancy she experienced no symptoms, pain, or anything else that would have otherwise indicated that she could have had this condition. That means, if she had tried to given birth without this prior knowledge, there would be a good chance that I would not have my sister or nephew as they could have both, or at least her, died.

The World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the planet does not have access to basic radiology services: simple x-rays, which can show a cracked bone or lung infection, and ultrasounds, which use sound waves to picture a growing fetus, track blood flow, or guide a biopsy. In a country of 43 million people, Kenya only has 200 radiologists total who practice, whereas Massachusetts General (in Boston) has 126. That’s 126 people in just one facility not an entire country! Elsewhere, the deprivation is even more severe. Liberia currently has two radiologists. There are more radiologists working in the four teaching hospitals on Longwood Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, than there are in West Africa (Silverstone, 2016) Our country is totally dependent on these machines that help save lives, but third world countries, such as Kenya, barely have the people, much less the resources to utilize them.

In 2015, approximately 1,600,000 babies were born in Kenya, which is about 4,300 every day. Of those born, approximately 92 of those babies will die each day before reaching their first month. Kenya also had approximately 96 stillbirths occur every day in 2015 as well (UNICEF, n.d.). Some mothers cannot afford to take themselves to the hospital and if there are no x-rays or technicians to help them, they could ultimately die from not even knowing they have a condition. Only 31 percent of deliveries in the poorest households had a skilled attendant at birth, compared to 93 percent of deliveries among the richest households. Kenya’s neonatal mortality rate is 22 deaths per 1,000 live births and the main causes of neonatal death in 2015 were birth asphyxia and birth trauma (UNICEF, n.d.) Kenya is a very rural area, so to get to a hospital, if they are even wealthy enough to, is extremely rare. Most births take place at home with a traditional birth attendant. A lot of mothers face challenges during or immediately after birth because in when living in mostly remote areas, access to health services is not available or is very limited. Many women who suffer from problems after birth and are never treated because even if they are able to get somewhere to be treated, there is a lack of surgeons who can even take a look at them.

What’s most sad to me that I learned, is that even if third-world countries like Kenya can receive technology to help with the birthing process, there still can be other problems they face, such as having an electrical system strong enough to keep the machines running or qualified staff to even WORK the machines. We really take for granted the opportunities and amenities we have in the United States, and honestly, I’m guilty of not even thinking about this! In the United States almost 100% of births take place in a controlled and/clinical setting that has the machines and staff available to provide a comfortable birth, whereas in Kenya, most births do not occur in a hospital, but with a midwife or attendant at home. I for one and definitely glad that we have several birthing options from hospitals, to home births, or from using midwives and doulas. We have so many options to explore, all of which come with there own set of positives and negatives, but for the most part, we don’t need to live in worry that our child won’t make it past their first month of life.

Resources

Silverstone, Jason. (2016, September 27). Most of the World Doesn’t have access to x-rays. Retrived from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/radiology-gap/501803/

UNICEF. (n.d.) Maternal and newborn health disparities in Kenya. Retrieved May 9th, 2019 from https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/country_profiles/Kenya/country%20profile_KEN.pdf

This course has taught me a lot and I loved hearing and learning from everyone. It’s hard to choose only a few colleagues to thank on here, but I will try. Everyone contributed a lot of time and discussion throughout this course and I appreciated all feedback, ideas, and influences. The views and experiences of my colleagues have really allowed me to develop as not only a teacher but as an individual.

To Betsy– You and I corresponded the most within our group during the discussion boards and blogs. I appreciate your wisdom and encouragment and wish you the best of luck as you continue with your educational journey as department head!

To Abigail– Thank you for all of your great blog posts! I enjoyed reading your discussions and responding to them. Your insight is greatly appreciated and I hope we may have more classes together in the future so we can continue to learn from each other professionally!

To Martha- I really enjoyed learning from you and hearing about your teaching experiences in your Japanese school. I admire your abilities and strength teaching somewhere where most people may feel uncomfortable in because of the cultural differences and yet, you are always so positive about your experiences. I share that enthusiasm with working in my bilingual school and it was great to exchange stories and ideas throughout this course!

To the rest of my colleagues, thank you again for everything! We have all learned so much from each other, and I’d love it if we would meet again in other courses. Good luck to everyone in their future endeavors; on your masters journey and in your professional lives. 🙂

The three NAEYC ideals that I find I can personally relate to are:

I-1.3 – To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child

I chose this goal because this is so important to the early childhood field. Every child is unique and different and no one will ever be the same, and its important to remember that when teaching or making lessons or just sititng and talking with a child. A good teacher can take those unique qualities of a child and turn them into something amazing

I-1.8- To support the right of each child to play and learn in an inclusive enviroment that meets teh needs of children with and without disabilities

We talked about this in our discussion board a little bit ago how having an inclusive classroom can be difficult, but it can also be the most rewarding thing when you help a child in need. I also loved how it says that we support the right of children to play and learn. Children grow and learn WHILE PLAYING and I believe that we need to allow children to play in order to gain important communicative and personal-social skills.

I-2.2 – To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve

This is an important ideal because the relationship between teacher and parent needs to be strong. Both the parents and teachers must work together to have the childs best interest at heart. Collaberation and communication is key between both members. Parents need to know what is happening in the classroom and teachers need to make the time to communicate with them with newsletters, notes, or phone calls and show that they care. It’s also great when you can get the parents involved in the classroom.

DEC Code of Ethics

• We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families and those with whome we work

• We shall strive for the highest level of personal and professional competence by seeking and using new evidence based information to improve our practices while also responding openly to the suggestions of others

• We shall demonstrate our respect and concern for children, families, collegues and others with whom we work, honoring their beliefs, values, customs, languages, and culture.

• We shall recognize and respect the dignity, diversity, and autonomy of the familes and children we serve

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While I agree with all of the DEC code of ethics, these were just a few that I felt strongly about and that coincide with the way I teach in my classroom. The last two deal with diversity in the classroom, which I have grown much more passionate about since working in a bilingual and multicultural school/classroom. It is important to learn about and respect the cultures and beliefs of not only your parents and students, but also your coworkers as well, which I love was put into that statement.

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitement. Retrieved May 26, 2010 from
https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201940_04/MS_MECS/EDUC_6005_WC/artifacts/USW1_EDUC_6005_naeyc_codeofethicspdf.pdf

Walden University’s Week 5 Website Resources:

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Part 2: Global Support for Children’s Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• • World Forum Foundation
    http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
    http://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP’s mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education International
    http://acei.org/
    Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.

Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children’s Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org/
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
• Voices for America’s Children
  http://www.voices.org/
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education