My Connections to Play

Two Quotes about Play

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning." --Fred Rogers

"When children pretend, they're using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero." --Fred Rogers

Both quotes from Fred Rogers represented what play was for me growing up. I remember playing with my kitchen set and making/baking things the way I saw my mom do it. It showed what I learning. The 2nd quote from Fred Rogers shows that children can think beyond reality, and have the ability to imagine the impossible. I believe I did this several times during play with friends and my brothers. We could be anything we wanted to be!

Play Items

Some of the most common play items that were apparent of my childhood were Barbies and K'nex!

 

People Supporting my Play

I feel my parents and my brothers were key people in supporting my play during my childhood. My parents didn't let us watch a lot of TV so we were forced to play. Growing up with 3 brothers, I was constantly roped in to play sports, such as hockey, baseball, and basketball. In return for playing sports with them, they had to play house or dress-up with me. 

Similarity/Differences of Play Over Time

I think play today has a lot of similarities compared to when I was kid. Kids still imagine they can be whatever they wanted to be, imagine cooking in their kitchens, and playing sports. However, the biggest difference I noticed over time is the amount of play that actually happens. I feel children today watch a lot more TV then when I was a child, and thus they are experiencing less time to play, thus not developing imagination or creativity skills that are some important during early childhood. When children do play, they will act out what they have seen on TV, not really using their imaginations. 

Final Thoughts 

I feel play has been an important part of my childhood. Because of the amount of time I spent playing sports as a young child, lead to playing sports in high school, and continuing playing from time to time as an adult. I remembered playing school a lot as a child, which is part of the reason I am a teacher now. Play also taught me have fun with life. As adults we sometimes forget to have fun, or just sit down and play with each other. I remember a few years ago, I found all the Barbies I used to play with, and started going through them and playing with them (changing their clothes, doing their hair etc.). I realized that even though I was past the Barbie playing stage, I still enjoyed the time to play with time. Without play in my life, I don't think I would be where I am at currently in life without it. 

Relationship Reflection

 

I believe that relationships and partnerships are important for many reasons. They give us a sense of belonging, security, and loving. Without relationships, I feel a person will just feel lonely all the time, and wouldn't have anybody to turn to when they need help. Relationships also teach us communication skills. To me, the relationships I have with people are the ones I can turn to in the time of need, they are people I can truly trust my life with, and give me the sense of belonging. 

My Parents 

One of the relationships that I value the most, is the relationship with my parents. This relationship is important be me because I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. They have taught me so many things in life, and are continuing teaching me things. They are also always there when I need them, with often times making sacrifices to help me. In order to maintain my relationship with my parents, I have to remember that it's a two way road, something I sometimes forget. Meaning, just because my parents do something certain ways, doesn't me I have to do it their way, but I can take their suggestions, and let them know I value their suggestions and help. 

My Best Friend

Amanda and I have been friends for many years. She is practically a sister, and someone I am quickly to turn to for help and advice in situations. In order to maintain our friendship, we have learned that we need communicate with each other and also listen to each other. We have learned to talk about our problems, especially when we become upset with each other, and often times come out of the situation with a stronger relationship. She is someone I can truly count on in a moment of need and vice versa. 

Reflection

This relationships are important in forming relationships and partnerships in the early childhood profession because they show me that I need to be respectful, taking the time to get to know the families and the children, and realize that we all have different opinions. As professionals, we have to realize that we may not always be right, and that in order to form effective partnerships we have to be willing to work with the parents. I feel the more we can communicate and form relationships and partnerships with parents, the more involved parents will be. 

 

 

Leaving You WIth a Thought

I found this quote/picture and it really hit home to me, because it is so true! Children are so precious and such a gift that as adults, parents, caregivers, and future early childhood professionals we need to advocates for them and help them develop to the best of their ability. Life is so precious, and what happens early on in a child's life and affect the rest of their lives! So we have to make sure we are doing things right!

I want to thank all my colleagues for the past 8 weeks! With being back in the classroom teaching this fall and trying to take this class, it has kept me pretty busy, but you guys have made it a wonderful experience and I enjoyed learning from each and everyone of you. I wish you nothing but the best as we continue through this journey together, and maybe our paths will cross again in future classes! Good luck!

Abby

Testing for Intelligence

As educators, I think it is important we measure and assess young children in different ways in order to really find out their intelligence. I do believe standardized testing does help measure what a child knows and doesn’t know, but that shouldn’t be the sole factor. I do believe that we have to make sure our students know how to read, write properly, and know basic math. That’s what we use in the real world. I still don’t understand (and I’m already a teacher) why we to do standardized tests on sciences and social studies because in reality, how much of that do we use in our everyday lives? Unless you do it every day for your job, those are the things kids tend to forget. I think the focus should be on reading, writing, and math, because those are skills you use every day!

I chose to look at how students in China are assessed because it’s a country that the U.S. is competing with when it comes to scores in math and science. In a classroom setting, students are assessed based off of performance based assessments, self-assessments, peer assessment, teacher observations, portfolios, quizzes, and tests.  Some standardized tests Chinese students take are Early Language Learning Oral Performance Assessment which is a face-to-face listening and speaking assessment for primary grades children. From the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the Chinese Proficiency Test, which is China’s national standardized test to evaluate students (Asia Society, 2014).

I think it is important we assess our students, but I feel there needs to be a better way besides standardized testing, because there are people out there that know the content and material but are just not good test takers, or you be like me, I’m a slow test taker. So, I often rush through tests that are times, and then end up scoring badly because I didn’t have the time to really read it. We need to be able to assess our children in many different ways, and not solely relying on standardize tests.

References

No Author. (2014). Assessment. Asia Society. Retrieved from
      http://asiasociety.org/education/chinese-language-initiatives/assessment

Stress on Children

I guess I was pretty lucky growing up, because I didn't have too many stressors impact my childhood. Of the stressors I did have (my grandma dying and have seizures) I was too young to really remember them, or how they impacted my life.

So, for this assignment, I turned to by best friend, Amanda. Amanda and I have known each other since kindergarten, and are practically sisters. Amanda went through a very stressful period when she was growing up. Her dad was diagnosed with leukemia when we were still grade school. I know the stress that it put on Amanda and her family as they were going through this very difficult times. Amanda has always been very good at hiding her emotions around people, but not around me. She was constantly worrying about her dad, who was 3 hours way from home getting treatment. I had asked her later on how she was able to cope with it all, and she said it was the family support that helped the most. She said her grandparents, aunts, and uncles were all there to help during this stressful time. It all ended good though, Amanda's dad has been cancer-free for about 18 years now! I think through this stressful time, I think it made Amanda realize how sometimes we take things for granted and we really have to treasure our time with our love ones because you never know what's going to happen!

I chose to look at West Africa because of the recent Ebola outbreak there. Not only are children dealing with losing loves ones to this disease, but there is now a food shortage because people are being restricted from delivery food to the hard hit areas. Whole towns have been shut down because of the outbreak, and people are being force to stay inside, which is making it difficult for families to go out and farm, sell their goods, make money, and buy food. Not only that, but food is so scare that if they did find it, they probably weren't going to be able to afford it (Sheahen, 2014). We all know how important it is that children are getting the proper nutrients in order to develop proper, and the consequences for not getting the proper nutrients. Church organizations, groups, and volunteers have been working tremendously hard to help those areas hit hard by the disease outbreak by bringing food and raising funds to fight the disease.

References:
Sheahen, L., (24 Sept, 2014). Ebola-hit West Africa faces food shortage. Caritas Internationalis.
     Retrived from http://www.caritas.org/2014/09/ebola-hit-west-africa-faces-food-shortages/

Breastfeeding

The topic I chose is breastfeeding. This topic is meaningful to me because I feel that an important bond is created between the mother and child when breastfeeding. It gives infants that sense of security and love. Also, research has shown that by breastfeeding increases the infant's immune system and reduces the risks of allegories and respiratory diseases (Johnson, Sternberg, 2014). It has also shown to reduce the risk of the mother develop heart disease in the future (2014). So in the end, it's a win-win for both the mother and the infant.

In Afghanistan, women don't understand the important of breastfeeding in the first few days of life because of the lack of trained midwives to help (Dehn, 2009). Instead, they are often feeding newborns tea instead of the colostrum. and are waiting until their milk comes to start breastfeeding (2009). The tea can cause the infant diarrhea, and can hinder breast stimulation in the woman, resulting in the infant not getting enough calories. (2009). Due this concept, the mortality rate is very high in the first 2 weeks of an infant's life (2009).

I feel this information will impact my future work because if I am working with infants, I need to understand the importance of using breast milk. I know that when the woman goes back to work, it's often hard to keep up with giving the infant breast milk and pumping so they can have it while the mother is at work. I could support these mothers to continuing pumping in order to provide milk for their infants and explain to  the benefits of the wonderful thing they are doing for their child and themselves.

References
Dehn, B. (03 Sept 2009). Breastfeeding around the world. The Huffington Post. Retrieved
     from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-dehn/breastfeeding-around-
     the_b_249887.html

Johnson, M., & Sternberger, S. (12 Sept, 2014). Why breast-feeding is important mom's
     heart-health. U.S. News.  Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-
     wellness/articles/2014/09/12/why-breast-feeding-is-important-for-moms-heart-health

Birthing Experiences

I haven't really participated in any birthing experiences besides my own. It was actually kind of nice talking to my mom about how I was born, because I really never knew the whole story, just vague details. Mom was originally due on December 10, 1987 with me. However, she woke up the morning of December 3rd in labor. She said she remembered dropping my older brother off at the sitter's house, and told my dad that she wasn't going to work, and that they were going to the hospital. So her and dad headed to Joint Township Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, OH. (A little background information, mom was in labor for over 24 hours with my older brother (her 1st child), and ended up having a C-section because she wasn't dilating.) After a few hours at the hospital, and trying the drug synthetic prostaglandin to help her dilate, they decided to go ahead with a C-section. When I asked mom why so early, because at this point she has been in labor for about 6 hours, she was like this wasn't my first rodeo, so why lay around and be in labor when it wasn't going to go anywhere. So, she had a C-section, and I was born, a healthy beautiful girl, at 10:39 AM on December 3, 1987.

This led to Mom and I having a discussion about due dates. You see, my older brother was born on December 1st, I was on December 3rd, my younger brother, Craig, was born on October 15th, and my youngest brother, Mark, was born on December 3rd. Mom said we all came about a week early, expect my older brother. I have always asked mom if it was intentional that Mark was born on my birthday, and if she had planned that. She said that she actually had a C-section schedule for December 4th for Mark, and she said she remembered asking the nurse why the doctor was waiting that long since she was a week early with the last two (Mark's due date was also December 10th) and she didn't want to go into labor. The nurse informed my mom that the reason the doctor scheduled it for the 4th was because he was going to be out of town until then. You probably can figured out by now what happened. Mom went into labor on the 3rd, had a C-section, and I was blessed with a baby brother, who I now share my birthday with.

I chose this example, well because, it has been the only birthing experience I have ever been a part of. Obviously, I don't remember my own birth, or those of my brothers. However, I have had a bunch of cousins who have recently had babies and all had different experiences. But they all said the same thing, they will all do it over again, because nothing beats the feeling of meeting your child for the 1st time, and you are just overwhelmed with joy and love in that minute. I think child birth is a trying and can be a difficult time, but in the end, it's so awarding, and you can say you have brought this beautiful baby into the world and you can give it all the love you can and help it start developing in the instant.

The country I chose to look at about how births happen is China. During labor, women would often drink a strong herbal potion that helps ease the pains of labor, and that the women should not fear the birthing process, because they see this as their career. Women will also give birth in an armchair our a futon, and not a hospital bed like most people in the U.S. does. Fathers are normally not involved in the first birth, but may be involved in later births of other children. This is a big difference from the U.S. where most fathers participate in the birthing experience and helping when they can. Researching the Chinese birthing experience made me realize that there are many different theories and assumptions about the birthing experience. Some based the experience off of science, while others believe God is in charge. However, the one thing we all have similar, is that we are all striving for the same ending. A healthy baby to love and see grow.

References:

Brown, L. (NA). Childbirth Traditions Around the World: China. Retrieved from
     http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor-and-delivery/childbirth-traditions-china_70703?
     page=2