Thoughts on Web Resources

Thoughts on Sharing Web Resources

As I explored the Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/  website I found links and resources relevant to my professional development like the Global Campaign for Education. This website encourages professionals to stay updated with education in the news and provides an opportunity to quickly sign up for e-newsletters. The most current news that I also found disappointing is “President Obama’s decision to “cut international education funding” (Global Campaign for Education 2012) the nature of the idea saddens me because I asked myself “Why would anyone make a decision to cut funding in education?” I believe education is the foundation for success. Doesn’t education encourage us to become professionals? Learning starts immediately its human nature. I understand that people can develop hands on skills but without the foundation of learning how are individuals successful? I must be unaware of the details of funding for education however cutting funding seems like a wide and constant http://acei.org/  controversial issue. I don’t believe this information adds to my understanding of how politicians support not just early childhood education but education in general. Since reading this current news takes my interest in politicians a bit lower. This issue bothers me personally because I just don’t see the benefit for our children’s future by cutting any type of funding for children. It seems any type of education program that involve children struggle for funds. Clearly the importance of investing in children’s futures with funding education is not on the top of everyone’s priority list.

Reference and links http://acei.org/http://acei.org/

http://www.campaignforeducationusa.org/news-and-resources/press-room/president-obamas-budget-gets-a-failing-grade-on-international-educatio

Children, Families and Poverty: My Personal Insights

Since I was unable to establish contact with early childhood professionals that expand outside the United States I decided to work with this week’s alternative assignment and share some of my personal thoughts and insights gained from reading information on children families and poverty. The website Childhoodpoverty.org (2012) or CHIP focuses on a few different countries like China,  Kyrgystan and Mongolia. My insights focused on the country of China.

As I explored the website I came across the “CHIP Rationale” to discover some of the general assumptions on children and poverty. I found information that helped me change my vision from a fantasy of children and poverty to the reality of children and poverty living in these countries. The first rational information that became new to me mentioned that some policies set forth to "reduce poverty” (Childhoodpoverty.org 2012) may not positively affect poverty rates and can make matters worse. I was surprised by this rational information because in the fantasy world I would think a policy meant for children and families put into play always makes matters and circumstances better. However the reality of a policy put into place for children and their families living in situations of poverty turns out better for some family matters and worse situations for others. I became slightly unhappy to realize that policies meant to help families, does not necessarily support them all.

I also read case studies on two children and their family living situations in different areas of china. These case studies concerned children younger than 15 years old. These children shared their stories of their parents struggling and working hard to provide better lives for their children’s futures and mainly education matters. The fantasy of these stories shows that all children have the opportunity to go to school and be successful. The reality of these stories and web site information shows that some children have little opportunities to reach or even complete the beginning education level like primary school. The child Xiao Bo mentions his father’s highest level of education as completing middle school. I began to understand that these cases are just a few of many around the world.

 The last insight I gained is just by looking at the photos under the photo gallery. The fantasy of this link is reading the stories (or case studies) knowing and visualizing their circumstances on how the children and family are living and learning, and the reality of the photos of family and children living and learning speaks for itself.

Overall I believe the insights that I gained challenged my vision on children, families and poverty.  I think the difference of my insights before exploring this website gained is not only reading and understanding the information I come across but also coming to a realization that these events are still happening. I provided a link list below to a few of my findings.

Reference Links

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=casestudies

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=publicationdetails&id=46

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=photos#Chi

Discovering Web Resources

I chose the Association for Childhood Education International
website. I searched for a variety of information under the website and found several resources that include membership online registration, a link to a featured program which is the Institute for International Education Diplomacy which looks like a great program for educators that are willing to communicate with other educators across the world and share great ideas on children and their education. I also found a link to the Association for Childhood Education internet radio (ACEI Radio) and listened to a professional discuss his thoughts on  childhood education curriculum around the world and mentioned a second volume from the first book he published. This radio cast gave me food for thought on information regarding curriculum across the globe.

 From what I understand this association is a global community that supports children, their education, and examines current issues that seem to be familiar across the globe. For example within the link to Global News follows several headlines of common topics that I believe educators in America have conversations about such as supporting quality education, family involvement, children’s rights, and training teachers just to name a few.  It seems a majority of issues educator’s face with child education is Universal. I believe the organizations focus is to provide peaceful global communities. A community that comes together as a whole from different parts of the world with the main focus set on child education. A global community that communicates with each other with not only sharing issues and current events but also positive ideas and practices composed from a variety of studies with children that everyone can understand.

Studying and exploring a variety of links throughout this website encouraged my thoughts on child education. I found myself nodding my head and saying to myself “hmm that’s interesting and I wonder what it would be like to be not only an educator but a member of this Association, or a delegate traveling the world discussing information on children and their education that is so neat!” This may sound funny but I got excited about an educator participating in home visits here in the small town I live in. I found traveling to different states and observe other childhood programs even better. When I learned educators are able to travel out of the country to observe children I found this amazing! I started to wonder is it really possible for an educator is able to be employed and travel as part of the job? It was almost as if I forgot about just reaching the goal of certification in just one state and thought about reaching the goal of becoming a traveling educator. I began contemplating on saving up money to become a member or looking into the diplomacy program and how this would also be beneficial to me. I believe this website gave me insight to new information and to consider different career opportunities not just in the United States but across the World within the field of child education. Below are a list of links within the website

 

Link

Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/

Links within

http://www.acei.org/conferences/annual-conferences.html

http://www.acei.org/programs-initiatives/institute-for-international-education-diplomacy.html

https://www.acei.org/news-publications/acei-radio.html

https://www.acei.org/global-news/page-3.html

Establishing Contact: Unique Early Childhood Professionals

This week I had the opportunity to establish contact with Early Childhood professionals outside of the United States. At first I was excited to contact professionals that share the same concept of caring for children as I thought about where and how to begin. I took a look at the blog resources and narrowed down my interest to three countries South Africa, China, and the Philippines. I thought “Well, what’s the easiest way to contact a professional then by email”. I sent out two emails one for the country of China and the other from the Philippines on Monday. I figured I would wait and check my email every day until I got a response. Every day that I checked “no response” Next I said well maybe I will get on Skype (an internet calling website) and see if I can call one of the numbers listed from the blog resources link.

 I found to contact someone with a Skype account is free (because I have an account) but without a Skype account I would have to add credit to call internationally as the country I was trying to contact charges about $0.03 cents a minute. I thought to myself sarcastically “Great I’m going to have to invest in a calling card or look for people internationally on Skype with an account it seems it would take forever” Logically I thought to myself that maybe I should just be patient. I then sent out two more emails and they came back as an “error delivery” I became frustrated and waited some more. Finally I got an email saying one professional was “out of the office and would not return until around March 3” I thought yes!, I should have contact with at least one professional by Monday for course 2.

It seems for this week’s blog Assignment I was unable to establish contact with 2 professionals and might have to result in completing the Alternative part one and two assignments. If I don’t receive an email in the next few days the early childhood organization website I would use (link) as an alternative would be the Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/ because my countries of interest reside within the website. As a whole I believe education for every child no matter where they live is important. I will also attempt to establish contact with these professionals this week.

            Interacting with the website The National Association for childhood Education International believes in “promoting the inherent rights, education, and well-being of all children in their home, school and community.” They help support the childhood community by providing global resources for the countries that they represent including Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. They provide links to other childhood organizations as well.

Reference:

http://acei.org/

My Supports by Ms. Jay

When I think about support what immediately comes to mind is my family and those that are close to me. These are the people that know me personally and have an experience of working with me when I’m at my lowest meaning (failure) or at my highest peak of success. These people know what to say and how to say it when it comes to encouraging me to make the right choices. I say on a daily basis I need the emotional support to make sound and safe decisions. Besides my parents and my siblings I believe at the present time the person that I receive emotional support from is my husband. He is there for me when I struggle or have a need. I know this may sound cheesy but till this day I always call my husband my “rock.” I know we have only been married for 5 years but it seems like forever. We have struggled through rough and tough times and yet he is one solid person I know that will not judge me and supports every attempt at a goal that makes me happy.  This is a great benefit of having a supporting husband.

 When I was a military spouse (now retired spouse) one of the tough times that I needed emotional support and he showed it tremendously was when I was pregnant with my daughter. I was an emotional wreck and I struggled to finish college.  Going to college online seemed to be just rumors around the internet. I immediately went from a full time student to a part-time student and (no joke) went to school until the week I gave birth. Finals week happened to be the week before I gave birth. It was because of him that he supported my goal of finishing school. He was the only one pushing me and saying to me “honey I believe you can do it, never quit!” While some of the members of my family just figured I would be a college dropout and turn into a stay at home mom. A stay at home mom was really not on my top priority list but if it was my last and final option I would have stayed home. I was angry during the struggle but I persevered. Without my husband I think I would have just quit school and would not be furthering my education as I write this blog assignment.  Graduating college was one of my greatest accomplishments and a major impact in my life. I can’t imagine what my educational path would look like without the support of my husband.  

As far as the other supports practical and monetary sometimes it seems as If I am on my own, I need to have a goal in order to accomplish a task not to mention that our household grew in size within the past year. Yes my husband provides and works hard to pay all the necessary bills and sometimes we try not to rely on the jobs we have because it seems the economy is unstable.

 I now imagine myself homeless and without a job or any of the support systems.  The challenge for me of not have a home is meeting the other important daily needs such as food and water to survive. Without the basics means of supports: social interaction which is emotional support, education which seems like monetary support and obtaining adequate food, water, and shelter I would not be alive.

My Connections to play by Ms. Jay

When I was 5 years old I remember living in Germany and just beginning kindergarten. Kindergarten seemed like a comfortable place to play and paint. I remember playing and painting because those were the activities I enjoyed most. My parents often provided opportunities to let my older sister and me play together. My younger brother was not born yet and I was the baby. Other people thought my sister and I were twins because we are so close in age. Most of my time playing with my sister was not as enjoyable as playing with toys by myself. I say this because my sister often played “the boss” and as the younger sister I did everything she told me to do and I played with her always in a passive way. The times I was able to go into my own room and play with toys alone was great. So for this assignment I’m going to reminisce of playing alone in my room and with my three toys. I’m so happy to share pictures of some of the toys I played with when I was five.

As I’m in my room I feel I’m in my own territory in my own world. I become “The boss” and I can play with anything I wanted without having to share with anyone.  I go to my toy shelf and pull out

this fisher price camera. This is the closest one I could find, the one I had the actual camera was white and all the strap colors were the same on mine. I received this as a gift from my dad for Christmas. I took this toy everywhere I could take it and pretended to take pictures of everything! I was greatly influenced by my dad because he had a real camera with the same upright features and a big lens. As we lived in Germany I found that he liked taking pictures of where we lived and all the places to visit while traveling throughout Germany. I thought I would be just like my dad and walk around taking pretend pictures of everything. I think if this camera was real, I would have taken thousands of photos. This was a toy I carried around my neck all the time. I remember looking out my bedroom‘s giant window and taking pretend pictures of the weather outside looking at people below. My room had an awesome view of green grass, a nearby park with trees, and hills. Our family household was like living in an apartment building and our apartment was located towards the very top floor of the building.

As the camera got heavy I decide to take it from around my neck set it down and pull out my

 karaoke radio I absolutely loved this toy; I was always singing, dancing, listening to music around the house. With this toy I was able to sing with songs on the radio as well as trying hard not to be so loud when my mother was sleeping. Believe it or not I still have this toy; it is sitting on top of my desk cabinets with some pictures. I don’t have the heart to let anyone touch it or let my daughter play with it. I liked to pretend I was a famous singer like Whitney Houston or Chaka Khan; I was heavily influenced by watching female groups harmonize and sing and dance like En Vogue. Often times my mom would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I told her “a famous singer”

            As my sister got annoyed with my singing I would put this toy away and pull out my

play Mobil toys. I also kept these toys and these pictures represent the exact toys I had when I was 5. I enjoyed these toys because they were not quite like Legos but some of the pieces still had to be put together. These toys brought me into a miniature world. Almost everywhere I went when I was in Germany the houses looked the same as well as the parks and play grounds. Germany was a different culture than my own that I was exposed to and found other children my age also played with these similar toys. By the time I was 8 I had a collection of them.

I believe play today is not as enjoyable as when I was a child because of all the technology. Toys today seem like computers, although I don’t have too much of a problem with computer toys, maybe I think some toys could be losing sight of letting the child explore and use their imagination with them. Today’s generation’s toys seem easy to push a button and something happens and they seem a little high tech. At some point I’m a little jealous of some toys because they were not available like a touch screen or an electronic notebook or babies that cry, wet, eat, and tell you when they are “all better” but I would hope that as a parent I provide my child some tools that encourage her to learn about her world a little independently. I also see these children will be living on earth long after our generation is gone and despite all our parental efforts of raising children to learning academically what ultimately describes the definition of fun is play.  As I grew into adulthood I found that after school, work, and responsibility is finished I sit back and reminisce about my own childhood and not having any adult responsibilities and want to do nothing but play or have free time

The two quotes I would like to share that I feel summarizes play within my childhood and also early childhood education are those by Jean Marc Itard “Begin with the nature of the child and his interests.”(Lieberman, L (1982) I think by my parents giving me opportunities to play based upon my interest encouraged me to explore the toys I had and learn about my world through these toys. With the camera I began to see pictures of my environment and somehow without really realizing it Germany is different from the United States. With my microphone and radio I explored dance, music, singing and playing with spoken words. With my miniature toys my world and imagination with these toys and nature of these toys was endless I played with them for hours. I literally went to sleep and couldn’t wait to wake up in the morning to play with them again or go to the store and add to my collection, I saw that play and toys opens doors to new culture and discovery. Jean Marc Itard also mentions “Education must be in harmony with the dynamic nature of life.” Lieberman, L. (1982) I couldn’t describe how the world naturally influences a growing, playing child better. Whether or not adults see children learning through play, play is essential to enjoying and creating meaningful experience for life.

 

Reference

 Lieberman, L. M. (1982). Itard: The Great Problem Solver. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15(9), Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Relationship Reflection by Ms. Jay

                The top two pictures represent the top 3 relationships on my list that are important to me. Family and Marriage. The very first relationship that is important to me and I have been slacking quite a bit is building my personal relationship with my spiritual beliefs (God) because ultimately I believe I have absolutely no control over the events that will happen in the future and my future plans. I can personally make plans and goals but my plans don’t always follow through and may change. I know situations occur based on my relationship with the "one above" and he teaches me that my life is in his hands.

                The second relationship that is important to me is family. If there is one thing I have learned is that: when all the material possessions are gone, situations in life become difficult to handle, and I feel like I have nothing I remembered that having a personal relationship with those who care about me highly matters.  Some readers may not know that I have the pleasure of having several family members from two different cultures. My mom is from the Philippines and my dad is African American born and raised mostly in Tennessee.  I have an older sister and a younger brother. The positive twist within this family is that I also grew up with my father serving in the United States Air Force. Growing up as a military family has several challenges and puts a strain on family bonding.  The family relationship was shown through different ways. Like simple home movie nights, sitting together during family meals, and now that I live far from home occasional phone calls. Even though my parent’s cultures were different my parents did their best to work together raising three children.

                I would describe my relationship with my parents as “tough love.” By tough love I mean my parents did not just give me the things that I wanted just because I asked for it, or just to show their love, or just that they cared. They not only did those things considering the majority of the time I had to earn and work for the things I wanted. I had to show them that I deserved to have those things.  I know they love me and they care. I didn’t realize the situation then, but I know now that this was the only way my parents were teaching me to be independent. Occasionally I would receive certain things and advice that I didn’t ask for. Personally they knew what I desperately needed like guidance and discipline. (A must with three kids!)  I also learned that if I really needed something they would always provide and take care of us (kids). I came to a decision that my relationship with my parents and family members is important because family relationships between members is needed. Although I am the middle child my parents instill in me that I am the glue that holds my siblings relationship together.Hence I get along great with my sister and brother independently, but my brother and sister always argue and still do growing up. My relationship with my syblings as well as my parents has to stay constant. Without constant positive contact with them the relationship will fall and the group called my family is broken.

As I continue to grow and look at situations that happened in the past I know my family and the relationships that still continue to change has provided me a foundation of what it means to become a positive family within the one that I’m trying to raise. My parents and siblings have set examples for me. And I'm going to apply those experience tools to build a positive relationship within my marriage and raising my own children.

This picture was taken years ago!

The next relationship I would like to mention is marriage.

A promise made and not meant to be broken.

Marriage is special to me because it is definitely a partnership between two people especially when it comes to raising a child. Not to mention my husband was also serving within the United States Air Force. The special characteristics within this relationship are love, communication and support, despite confrontation. My husband is my "rock" and I recieve his love and support as well as I support and love him. We have gone through several difficult milestones within our marriage and continue to work together. I saw how my parents worked together,though part of my dad's duty was to travel they bonded in ways to guide my brother, sister and I.  I often look at my parents long, ongoing love and partnership as encouragement to want to build a strong relationship with my husband. I want to set positive examples just as they did for me for my children. Marriage is a partnership that can be challenging to maintain but it takes both people to keep the marriage relationship strong, healthy and continuous throughout the years.

The last relationship is the relationship between me and my daughter

My daughter is definitely a blessing. Remember my statement on making plans and that plans change? When she came into my life she definitely changed my plans for the best! Her birth symbolized a change in my attitude towards life and she made an impact in defining my personal goals. Instead of quiting school and everything to stay home to raise her (which was a difficult decision)I continued to work hard to obtain my Bachelors degree to become an early childhood educator. I use the practices of early childhood and caring for children along with raising my child. I think learning about children helps me view her thoughts and current development differently. And because I have some knowledge of child development I relate almost everything I see and do around her. She impacts my world and contributes to my work as an effective early childhood professional. She sets my tone as an early childhood professional by watching my interactions with other children within my role as a caregiver for school age children. She is developing a distinction between “mommy role” and “caregiver role” , while I’m constantly developing within my different roles from: wife, parent, student, to professional. I watch the way that she continues to grow and hope our relationship as mother and daughter builds to a healthy relationship even when it comes time to let her go out into the world.

As a person I play different roles within the world of relationships: daughter, sister, wife, mother, student and caregiver just to name a few. Each relationship is special and contributes to different sections in my life. All these relationships are essential for me to function. They represent a piece of my life puzzle. If I lost any of these relationship pieces I would not be complete.