MY SUPPORTS

My Supports

Family: My family is a huge part of my support system. My father still provides  some financial support. My mother provides more emotional support, she gives me advice and pushes me to complete my goals or things that I want to do in life.  If I did not have my family as a support system my life would be very different, financially  and I may not be in my current place in life.

Sorority Sisters: The support I receive from these ladies comes in many different forms. They are there whenever I may need them rather it be emotionally, financially, and spiritually. I can call any one of them at any time for any reason and they are there. They motivate me daily to create a better life for myself.  They have helped me grow over the past two years and without them I would not even be pursuing graduate school at this point in my life.

God: Over the years my spiritual relationship has grown. I have learned to lean on his strength through any situation I am facing. I know that my support comes from believing in my relationship with God and the plan he has for me. 

My Connections to Play

Life must be lived as play.

Plato
Greek philosopher
427–347 BC

In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.

Ovid
Roman poet
43 BC–17 or 18 AD

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.

Abraham Maslow
American psychologist
1908–1970

These three quotes embody what I believe play was for me during early childhood. I lived by playing and exploring the world around me.  I can remember playing with friends at home and at school. Below are the pictures of the toys that I remembered playing with the most; I played house being a mother to the dolls 

playing on the jungle gym at Andy's(childcare center), 

and playing teacher with friends.

I spent many days at Andy's and I can remember how she did activities with us and how I had friends at school that I would play with.  I remember my mom would always let my friend Sharonda come and play at the house and even spend the night most of the time. Play was how I interacted with those of importance to me in my younger years.  I can always remembering playing house as a child,only to become a early childhood professional.

Play was was an essential part of what I did as a child.  As I watch children play and interact in the classroom I see them taking on roles through pretend play, interacting with one another, and settling differences. Play is nit just play, it is how children learn, how they express their feelings and even express themselves.  Everything we learn as a child through play we assimilate into our lives and last with us even into adulthood.  Those same interactions we learned from as a child can impact how we socialize with other adults. Play provides life lessons.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships with people of importance in my life are my family, friends, and sorority sisters.  My family lives about 3 hours from me. I talk to my mother almost every day, and though I do not talk with my father as much he is always there for me when I need him.  From childhood to now my relationship with them has changed I have become closer to them and can talk with them in  a way that I never could before. I have few friends in my life. I believe people come and go for a reason, but I have one friend who has been in my life since middle school.  Though we do not see each other often or talk to each other everyday when we do its like we never missed a day in each other lives.  My sorority sisters have become my family. We lean and depend on each other just like my birth family.  Being away from home and having them around is great. From each of these relationships I learn a lot from each of my relationships and have a lot of guidance from the older woman in my life which is very helpful. As I go through life lessons with the people in my lives it helps me understand how important that being a part of a child's life is.

EDUC 6160 Conclusion

No matter what experiences a child is going through they still explore and learn from things that find intriguing or the "wonders" of life.  Education in early childhood is all about expanding a child's knowledge and helping them positively explore the world.

As I come to the conclusion of this course, I hope that you have enjoyed reading my blog and the conversations that have occurred.  I wish everyone well in their educational journey, and thank you for allowing me to learn from all of you.

Intelligence Testing

According to Berger (2009) "Many developmentalists criticize IQ tests. They argue that no test can measure potential without also measuring achievement and that every test score reflects the culture of the people who wrote, administer, and take it." I believe that a child is a product of the culture that they live in.  Holistic care is not just about intelligence but the development of every aspect.  Currently standardized tests are used at the end of every grade level to measure a child's knowledge and IQ,  I don't completely agree with these test because I believe some teachers are only teaching the material needed for children to pass these test, instead of focusing on helping children learned the necessary and much more.Children should be assessed in all areas  not just focused on intelligence to get an accurate account of what level the child is on.   Take for instance in Africa intelligence is focused on four different areas, and what area is most important is dependent on their culture.
"Over the past several years, Sternberg and Grigorenko also have investigated concepts of intelligence in Africa. Among the Luo people in rural Kenya, Grigorenko and her collaborators have found that ideas about intelligence consist of four broad concepts:rieko, which largely corresponds to the Western idea of academic intelligence, but also includes specific skills; luoro, which includes social qualities like respect, responsibility and consideration; paro, or practical thinking; and winjo, or comprehension. Only one of the four--rieko--is correlated with traditional Western measures of intelligence.

In another study in the same community, Sternberg and his collaborators found that children who score highly on a test of knowledge about medicinal herbs--a measure of practical intelligence--tend to score poorly on tests of academic intelligence.

The results, published in the journal Intelligence (Vol. 29, No. 5), suggest that practical and academic intelligence can develop independently or even in conflict with each other, and that the values of a culture may shape the direction in which a child develops."

References

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligence.aspx

Stressors during Childhood

When I was was younger around middle school age my family went through a huge adjustment period that was quite chaotic. My older sister was  prison in Virginia and we lived in NC; my mother was informed that her 5 children we being placed in the foster care system.  The four older children where placed in the same home, but my nephew who was only two month old was placed in a separate home. I remember my mother and father having conversations about getting  a lawyer if needed to get custody of the children and eventually my mother and father made the trip to get all of my nieces and nephews.  At that point four of them came to live with us and then one with my aunt.  It was difficult having my little sister who was in elementary school and three other children around her age and an infant in a three bedroom home.  Everyone's routine had to change, all attention was focused on helping my niece and nephews adjust to school, new rules, and dealing with the overall experience.  My role changed too I was the oldest so I really had to step up and care for everyone.  My parents where stressed not only trying to care for everyone but handle what was happening to my sister.  Eventually my sister came on and my niece and nephews moved in with my grandfather, except for my youngest nephew because he was an infant he stayed with us.  To this day he lives with us and considers my parents his mother and father even though they have not legally adopted him yet.  My family dynamic was forever changed but eventually the chaos ended and we settled in.  

Health and Child Development

Nutrition/Malnutrition


Nutrition is affects how a child develops, learns and grows.  When a child is suffering from malnutrition death could be the ultimate result.  I choose this topic because as I work daily in my classroom I see children who seem to eat normally and one that may eat several plates of food.  I never like to see a child hungry.

As I researched the topic I found that:

Malnutrition is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. One in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India.


In India, around 46 per cent of all children below the age of three are too small for their age, 47 per cent are underweight and at least 16 per cent are wasted. Many of these children are severely malnourished.


I know that here in America majority of children do not suffer from malnutrition to the extent of India but there are malnourished children in our country; it may not be from starving but from not receiving proper medical care.  As a early childhood professional it is my duty to see that all children under my care are receiving proper nutrition and to tack action if not.


http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2356.htm