My Connections to Play

In my childhood, play represented...

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/4081455887105980/

 



Three essential play items for my younger self...

I figured out the hard way that you're not suppose to feed her applesauce!

I can remember trying to make REAL cornbread with my oven!

I absolutely LOVED my Teddy Ruxpin! His eyes and mouth would move as he told stories from the tape you would place in the cassette holder in his back.

In my childhood, play was supported by allowing me to be free to be creative. Around eight years old, I remember getting my parent’s video recorder, setting it up in front of my bed and pretending to be a news reporter! I was always encouraged and provided the supplies need to be as imaginative as I could by my parents. I can remember being surround with toys during Christmas! There were bicycles, roller blades, easy bake ovens, blocks, bubbles, baby dolls, barbie dolls, dramatic play kitchen, etc! Christmas day definitely showed how play was supported in my childhood!

The best way to describe how I feel about play is with the proverb, “The body heals with play, the mind heals with laughter and the spirit heals with joy!” This is a perfect description for how play does so much for children and adults.  Play, nowadays, is different from the play I experienced as a child because it is limited or non-existent in certain aspects. Those who create the policies and the requirements for certain educational programs do not understand the importance of this simple act of indulgence-filled learning! 

http://peekaboobeansblogspot.blogspot.com/p/play-quotes.html

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul” by Friedrich Frobel. I feel this quote can be for adulthood as well. Play is needed to create a balance between structure and freedom.

http://blog.playdrhutch.com/2014/01/06/play/

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are so vital to me because of the closeness, security, and support that such bonds bring to my life. We live in a social world; so it is impossible to live life without others and form life-long bonds with others. I can remember viewing a multimedia presentation about early childhood and infancy. In this presentation, it spoke of how important touch and "parent-infant bond" is to a premature infants. Feeling the touch and warmth of another human being does wonders to their development and overall survival.

One of the most important relationships I have is with my husband and our 3 daughters. My husband is my foundation! I KNOW I am limitless with him in my corner! Our relationship was destined from the beginning. When we met, I didn't know he was my other half but 3 years later I am proud to say he is definitely the other part of who I am, my growth, and my achievements!

My daughters are my passion and motivation! They are the reason why I HAVE TO BE THE BEST I CAN BE! When I see their smiling faces and feel their arms around me, I know I must keep moving forward to give them the best life and opportunities possible.

My relationship with my sister is part of who I am today. She knows who I am and where I have been. Although, we are 3 years and 1 day apart, she is definitely my twin!

All of these personal connections developed positively through building trust, communication and being genuine. The most essential aspect to any relationship is open, positive communication and being genuine. With all three of these bonds, I can truly be myself (the good, the bad, and the ugly). My sister and my husband have seen me in my most vulnerable moments in my life. It is my personal opinion, in order to have an authentic relationship, one must not be afraid to expose who they truly are (to a certain extent) and allow others to see their vulnerability.

In my experience in developing and maintaining relationships, over time, I understand that people are who they are and you cannot change them. We all have something we are dealing with (either from our past or present) that has an affect on our personalities and no matter how I want the best for another, it cannot happen until they want the best for themselves. One thing I have learned is you have to allow people the freedom to be authentic in order to maintain a positive relationship. When you try to control a person instead of accepting him/her in their true nature, then finding and having that life-long connection is inaccessible. Although, I am close with the people mentioned in this post, doesn't mean I agree with all of their decisions or ways of thinking. But, I accept them for who they are and love them in spite of.

Building trust, open communication, and being genuine in how you approach the other person(s) in your partnerships are some special characteristics that help to develop and maintain such relationships.

It is my experiences with such relationships, that impact my work as an effective early childhood professional because I have enhanced my ability to meet the child as well as their family on THEIR level. Through the close, personal connections that I have with those around me, I have learned to accept people for who they are and I am humble enough to communicate with others; no matter their background, educational level, or ethnicity. We are all human and have the ability to teach and learn from each other (especially children).

Quotes about Children

The most profound comment I read was on a fellow classmates blog: candicechatman.wordpress.com. On her blog, she had a short video of quotes about children from famous people. The quote that resonated with me TO MY CORE was "The soul is healed by being with children" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. As an early childhood professional, I can truly say from experience that this quote is accurate! I can remember working as an Early Head Start teacher and sneaking across the hall to the infant room so I could get my "fix" for the day! I didn't know how to explain it until I read this quote. But, every time I held one of  those babies in my arms, the troubles of the day melted away instantly! I would leave feeling so refreshed and ready to face the rest of the day! The energy I felt, the calmness, the genuineness of the moment stayed with me. And because those moments became a part of me, I always say if I ever went back to the classroom full-time, I would want to work in the infant room!

I would like to extend a professional thanks and support to candicechatman.wordpress.com and kathypierre.blogspot.com whose blogs I have followed and learned from throughout this course. THANK YOU for giving me a sneak peek into who you are and how you see child development!I have learned so much!

Testing for Intelligence?

When viewing children holistically, one has to take into consideration "the whole child". This includes all developmental areas but also, the parents, the home environment, cultural background, and the community in which the child lives. To fully educate a child to reach his/her greatest potential, one has to recognize all these factors. As we all know, children develop a different stages. With this understanding, is it right to compare one child with another? When you measure or assess, you are using information to dictate where a child is developmentally based on the "average". But who decided "average" or "normal" should look like this or that?  During this week's lesson, I read an article by Kathie Snow and she talks about "redefining disability". In her article she states, "“If we do not allow other diagnoses to define human beings, we can no longer allow a disability diagnosis to define a person, his ability, potential or character.” I relate this to assessing children because it is my personal opinion that one cannot fully measure "the whole child" equally. You cannot compare the home environment, the parents, the community of one child with another and say one child will do better developmentally than the other. So the question is, what guidelines should be used to assess or measure "the whole child"?

 In doing my research for how school-aged children are assessed around the world, I chose Africa and found "in developing countries, an estimated 99 million children of primary-school age are not enrolled, and of those enrolled, only 78% complete primary school.44 Most children who fail to complete are from sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Only around half of the children enroll in secondary schools. Furthermore, children in some developing countries have much lower achievement levels than children in developed countries in the same grade.45 In 12 African countries, surveys of grade 6 (end of primary school) children showed that on average 57% had not achieved minimum reading levels."(2008) This correlates to how can one fully assess "the whole child" when there are so many factors to take into consideration.   "Many children younger than 5 years in developing countries are exposed to multiple risks, including poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and unstimulating home environments, which detrimentally affect their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development. There are few national statistics on the development of young children in developing countries." (2008) If there are few statistics on the development of young children in these countries, what guidelines would they use to design an assessment for the whole child?

I do not agree with assessing children's academic achievement through standardized testing. How can you truly measure the cognitive ability, mental health, emotional stability, home environment, the parents, and the student's community through a multiple choice test that lasts an hour and 30 minutes? To truly measure the whole child, one cannot achieve this by putting questions in a booklet and giving him/her an answer sheet. One has to be engaged, observe, and be fully committed to the child.

References

Grantham-McGregor,, S. (2008, March 20). Child development in developing countries:     

         Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. <i>     

         </i>. Retrieved June 15, 2014,           

         http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/mid/UKMS459/

Snow, K. REDEFINING DISABILITY. <i>Revolutionary Common Sense</i>, 1-2. 

Retrieved June 11, 2014, from  

 https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201460_02/MS_MECS/EDUC

_6160/Week% 206/Resources/Resources/embedded/snow_educ6160.pdf

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

The stressor that I have FULLY experienced as a child would be disease. When I was 14 months old, I was diagnosed with having severe asthma. From 14 months old through my 17th birthday, I had been hospitalized 49 times and on life-support 4 times due to asthma and asthma attacks. I have what is considered emotional and allergy triggered asthma. My triggers are laughing too much, sneezing too much, coughing too much; if I get too hot; if I am stressed; if the temperature changes drastically; if I am around too much smoke, perfume, or any other exaggerated smell. So one can only imagine during those teenage and early adolescent years, with hormones, my asthma was triggered a lot. But in that moment, when your experiencing a life threatening condition such as an asthma attack, its hard to think about anything but trying to breath.

I look at those instances in my life as just a part of my life. I don't feel bad about, I don't wish my life were different; I actually feel that going through this disease as child made me stronger as a mother. Certain things I have dealt with as an adult, a woman, and a single mother, I feel I have been able to quickly bounce back from due to what I went through as a child with my asthma. I believe my sister was more affected by this disease than I was. Of course, I wasn't able to do certain things, go certain places because my asthma is so easily triggered but my sister was more emotionally affected. 

Whenever I had an asthma attack, I would spend a week or two in the hospital and my mother never left my side. So, my sister would be left home with my dad and she missed out on having her mother during those moments. I don't think she ever had that void of missing her mother filled during her adolescent and adult years.

In India,  scientists conducted a study of life stress in children with psychiatric disorders. The conclusion to this study found that "...Children with hyperkinetic syndrom/conduct disorder encountered maximum stress0r the  last one year as compared to all other diagnoses. Within each diagnostic group further analyses of age and stress revealed that among the neurotic and emotionally disturbed children there was maximum stress in 4-7 years olds. Among special symptoms group it was older children (12-14 yrs) who encountered maximum stress, and the children with hyperkinesis/conduct disorder experienced uniformly high stress in the last one year across all ages. This data through small for statistical analyses and reliable conclusions, throws light on the possibility of relationship between stress and diagnosis." http://easap.asia/journal_file/9301_P28-38.pdf 

With the cultural background in India, "disability is still viewed in terms of a “tragedy” with a “better dead than disabled” approach, the idea being that it is not possible for disabled people to be happy or enjoy a good quality of life. Cultural beliefs about disability play an important role in determining the way in which the family perceives disability and the kind of measures it takes for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation (12). Studies report that parental expectations from their disabled child were mostly negative and unrealistic". For this country, "There is evidence in the recent research that has shown that stress need not be an inevitable consequence in a family with a child with a disability...it has been proposed that positive perceptions may assist us to cope better with the traumatic and stressful events (24). Cognitive adaptation model of responses to threatening events posits that we attempt to adapt to threatening events by searching for meaning, trying to gain mastery, and enhancing the self. A key mechanism by which this adaptation is achieved is termed as cognitive illusions (24, 25). When these illusions are challenged, different perceptions will be generated in order to maintain meaning, mastery, and/or the self-system. Setting achievable goals and engaging in problem-focused coping in order to achieve them, leads to feeling of control and mastery." http://www.autism-india.org/NS_positive_perceptions.pdf

This "positive perception" should be a universal approach to coping with stress or at least part of the foundation created to cope with stressful life events. 

References

Malhotra, S. J.H.K.C Pysch. Study of Life Stress in Children with Psychiatric Disorders in India, 3, 28-38. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://easap.asia/journal_file/9301_P28-38.pdf

Gupta, A. POSITIVE PERCEPTIONS IN PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal, 15, 22-35. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.autism-india.org/NS_positive_perceptions.pdf

Child Development and Public Health

Access to healthy water

Out of all the public health topics to choose from (nutrition/malnutrition, immunization, access to healthy water, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), breastfeeding, and mental health of mothers, fathers, and families in general), I chose the topic of access to healthy water because of the significance of water to the body. Water, among breath, is the life force for the body. As we all know, one cannot function without air, food and WATER. Clean water is, also, vital for sanitation and hygiene.  A few months ago, I did a cleanse where I fasted for 4 days only drinking water and taking organic supplements. Through this fast, I began my research on water and alkaline foods, and on this journey, learned that all water is not the same. My husband purchased a water tester and we began testing various water sources: bottled water, tap water, and filter water from Earthfare. With a water tester, the device calculates how many contaminants in parts per million that are found in the water. When holding the device inside the water, if the meter read "000" the water is considered "pure" water with no added "elements". Some may think that drinking water is the best thing for the body but if you are not conscious of the "purity" of the water, you may be introducing harmful elements such as chlorine, lead, fluoride, dirt, etc. into the body. 

Water Tester

                                                                 

        "Water and sanitation concerns are of great magnitude: 1.1 billion individuals, approximately 17 percent of the world’s population, are without improved water and more do not have access to safe drinking water, and 2.6 billion, approximately 41 percent, are without improved sanitation. Even worse, many of the world’s school children attend a school without water or toilets. Not surprisingly, 40 percent of the world’s school-age children have worm infections, predisposing them to cognitive and developmental problems. It is further estimated that 5,000 children die every day from diseases because of lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene (WSSCC, 2004)." 


Here is an excerpt from the water.org's website for India about their water supply and why clean water and maintaining a efficient water supply is so vital for the country...

   "India’s huge and growing population is putting a severe strain on all of the country’s natural resources. Most water sources are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. India has made progress in the supply of safe water to its people, but gross disparity in coverage exists across the country. Although access to drinking water has improved, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. In India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily—the same as if eight 200-person jumbo-jets crashed to the ground each day. Hygiene practices also continue to be a problem in India. Latrine usage is extremely poor in rural areas of the country; only 14% of the rural population has access to a latrine. Hand washing is also very low, increasing the spread of disease. In order to decrease the amount of disease spread through drinking-water, latrine usage and hygiene must be improved simultaneously."

                              

The information that I have learned will impact my future work by simply being conscious to the type of water I serve the children at my center. As state above, not all water is beneficial to the body. I want to promote the expansion of the mind, body, and spirit and it is my personal opinion that the foundation of this goal, is the water and food that enters their body. 

Reference

Water.org (n.d.). Water.org's program in India. Retrieved from        

          http://water.org/country/india/n.d.)

Gangarosa, E. and Moe, C. (2009). Global Environmental Health: Research Gaps and     

           barriers for Providing Sustainable Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services: Workshop 

          Summary. Improving Water and Sanitation Access in Developing Countries: 

          Progress and Challenges. Retrieved

          from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50770/

Child Birth In My Life and Around the World

 As I think about the birth of my three daughters (ages: 12, 4, 2), the most memorable one would be of my oldest where I was in labor (assisted by pitocin) for 21 hours. I was 19 years old when I had my first child and I can still feel the pain of every contraction! I had never felt anything like that before and although the contractions only lasted a minute, that minute felt like an hour! My water broke around 7:30 AM on March 28, 2002 but it was a slow leak. I eventually made it to the hospital, after being advised by my OB/GYN "to take my time getting to the hospital", around 11:19 AM and that's were the fun began! Some hours passed and the nurse said I wasn't making any change in my cervix so she told me she was going to start giving me a medicine called Pitocin which was "suppose to make my contractions stronger"...what an understatement that was! I labored well into the evening hours, using Stadol and another drug for pain relief until I couldn't take it anymore. I labored for about 2 more hours before I received my epidural. Thank God for Epidurals!!!! But, then I kept feeling this pressure as if I had to use the bathroom! I remember telling my mother and the nurse I had to use the bathroom and when they checked me, it was time to push. I pushed for about 10 minutes to get her head out and about 3 more pushes for her body. On March 29, 2002 @ 4:24 AM, I was the proud mother of a 7 lbs. 3 oz baby girl! My first born! 

I chose this birthing experience because at that moment, my life changed for the better. This is when I discovered who I really was. My strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, my mindset before and after her birth, what really mattered in life, etc.  I got pregnant with my first born 2 months after graduating high school and it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. My first born MADE me grow up and realize that every decision I made from this moment forward affected her and I had no choice but to get it together. I became serious about school and ended up transferring from my local community college to one of the universities in town with a 3.09 GPA and received 2 scholarships and 3 grants towards my education and..."the rest is history"!

Pregnancy and birth are beautiful experiences and one I wish all women could experience at least once in their lives. Child development begins at birth with the developing embryo. Working in the early childhood field, I am very familiar with the understanding that certain circumstances pertaining to pregnancy and birth can affect child development such as premature birth, the child being born with various physical ailments, the child experiencing trauma in the womb or during birth, etc.

 I actually googled "birthing practices around the world" to see what the Internet had to offer and found an intriguing article (10 Strange Customs Surrounding Birth and Babies) at http://listverse.com/2013/12/25/10-strange-customs-surrounding-birth-and-babies/ which included different customs surrounding birth. One birthing custom I thought was interesting was from Great Britain and is known as "Groaning cheese and Groaning cake". In this custom, new fathers had to offer a wheel of cheese and cake for the family. The "groaning" in Groaning cheese and cake came from the complaints and pains associated with the delivery of the child. The cake and cheese were part of the celebration of the new child and were eaten as part of a meal. The doctor would cut the cheese and cake after the birth of the child and it would be eaten by everyone who came to see the new parents and extend happy wishes. The similarities with this custom and my experience is the celebration that comes with the successful birth of a child. However, the differences are obvious! It is not very common (to my knowledge) that American fathers practice such a custom!