Poverty as a Stressor

Poverty is considered when low-socioeconomic-status families are under a lot of stress to include when  you are poor, when it rains it pours. as an adult I have had housing problems, conflict in the family. There's a lot more pressure in paying the bills. I have ended up moving more often. I have learned that there are  a lot more demands on low-income families, that produces stress in families, including on the children. As a child, I did not know what poverty was, because my mother never told me that we lived in poverty or that we did not have. There are many diverse and complex factors that may contribute to family poverty, such as unemployment/underemployment, lack of education and family structure, to name a few. Each one of the mentioned factors can bring about economic pressure, which can increase emotional distress and therefore cause family stressors. As an adult I have learned that the individual most harshly affected by poverty are those who are the most powerless to do anything about it--children. Research indicates that extreme poverty in the first five years of life alters a child's chances in life compared to lesser degrees of poverty in later life. This is the result of several key factors. The first problem associated with poverty is poor nutrition. It has been proven that poor nutrition leads to lower intelligence, poor physical development, and diminished immunity to disease. Children deprived of proper nutrition during the brain's most formative years score much lower on tests of vocabulary, reading comprehension, math, and general knowledge. Poverty is an issue that is rising and there seems to be no end in sight.
I have a friend who is from India and I asked about the poverty issue and she responded by saying poverty is all around everyone. She told me that some Indians work under terrible conditions. Risky factory jobs, low income and long hours. To maximize the chance of getting food on the table, many of them will send their young children to work.

Mental Health Issues

Mental illness can cause mild to severe disturbances in thought and behaviors and can result in an inability to cope with life's ordinary demands and routines. Mothers and fathers with mental illness experience all of the challenges of other adults attempting to balance their roles as workers, spouses and parents. The symptoms of mental illness, however, may inhibit these parents' ability to maintain a good balance at home and may impair their parenting capacity. When parents are depressed, for example, they may become less emotionally involved and invested in their children's daily lives. The wellbeing of children with parents who possess a server mental illness and the resources not just for the parent, but the child or children affected. Children require numerous amounts of needs from their caregivers and an issue with parents who carry a severe mental health disorder is that the parents are unable to provide necessary needs due to their disorder and symptoms associated. Parents who possess a mental health disorder may unconsciously put their child at risk if proper attention isn’t given to the child’s development. Although these risks can be indirectly and unconsciously such as the social stigma attached to mental health disorders, mental effects on the child, genetic predisposition to mental illnesses themselves and the academic effects on the child’s achievement later in life. All these factors affect the overall family dynamics and functioning. For children to develop appropriately their home environment needs to be nourished with comfort, understanding, encouragement and curiosity and having a mental illness as a parent sometimes prohibits them from being able to understand their child’s development or how to challenge their child appropriately. P

Parenting is never an easy job and can be even more difficult for parents with mental health disorders, which brings about the importance of providing necessary programs for children affected.
Children who are brought up in a home with parents who possess mental health disorders are automatically affected in a social aspect. This issue is important to me because I see a lot of mental health issues in my community that has been overlooked and has traumatic effects on children and their learning in school. The impact of parental mental illness on family life and children's well-being can be significant. Children whose parents have a mental illness are at risk of developing social, emotional and/or behavioral problems. The environment in which children grow affects their development and emotional well-being as much as their genetic makeup doesAfrica is a large continent, prone to strife, especially south of the Sahara. Most of its countries are characterized by low incomes, high prevalence of communicable diseases and malnutrition, low life expectancy and poorly staffed services. Mental health issues often come last on the list of priorities for policy makers. Where mortality is still mostly the result of infectious diseases and malnutrition, the morbidity and disablement due to mental illness receive very little attention from the government. Health in general is still a poorly funded area of social services in most African countries  and, compared to other areas of health, mental health services are poorly developed. Indeed, most African countries have no mental health policies, programs or action plans.

Reference:

Uznanski A. Roos JL. The situation of mental health services of the World Health Organization, African Region, in the early 1990s. South African Med J. 1997;87:1743–1749.

 

My Birth Experience

About two years age I got to experience something that I thought I would never see in these time. One of my daughter closest friend did not deliver her baby at the hospital she delivered at home in the bath tub. The girl decided that she wanted a mid wife to deliver her baby. She had not being having any complication and had being going to the gyno regularly. She invited me and my daughter over to see the birth take place the room was so calm with music and everything was sanitized and cleaned right before the birth took place. The baby came and the mid wife cut the cord and the baby and mom went the hospital for observation and the baby and mom was very healthy after this ordeal. I enjoyed the serenity of having the baby at home with people around with the calming sound of music and soft lift. As I thought about  that experience I thought about how moms in Kenya have mid wives to deliver their babies it is someone who feel close too and trust. The mid wife in my daughter life was a lady was had to come to the house the get to know the family and check on the pregnant mom weekly, they had formed such as close bond over the nine month. The birthing experience should be a calm, happy and soothing time not a rush experience. I enjoyed seeing the baby and mother in such a loving environment.

Farewell

Farewell

This program has taught me so much. I have learned so much  from the discussion and posts that I will be able to share with my fellow co-workers. I feel that I will be able to share the knowledge learned to be an efficient leader.  My capstone project taught me that I can make a different in my community.  I have always had a dream to be an advocate for children and families because of how I was raised. My Community of Practice allowed me to learn and share with others. This degree will allow me to share my wealth of knowledge with other educators and professionals in the field. I have learned what type of leader I am and what type of leadership skills that I have. Based on what I have learned I feel that I am a leader and I think that the skills, trends and insights learned will help me to be the best leader I can be.

 

One of my long term goals is to become the Education Specialist in the local head start center where I currently volunteer and have been volunteering my time for the past five years. I have the drive, passion and perseverance to be the best in what I do.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for the feedback, insights  and the great learning experiences that has been bestowed upon me. I wish nothing but the best for everyone on their  future journey.

 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Association for Childhood Education International
 

ACEI delivers its mission based on a forum of four core beliefs.

Uniqueness

Universality

Quality

Equality

The website is http://www.acei.org/

International Early Childhood Education

ICF International partners with its clients to conceive and implement solutions and services that protect and improve the quality of life. We pride ourselves in providing lasting solutions to society's most challenging management, technology, and policy issues.

The website is www.icfi.com

UNICEF

UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.

www.unicef.org
 

Job Positions Available

 

Early Childhood Development Specialist, Nairobi, Kenya (UNICEF) Supporting the planning, development and implementation of Early Childhood Development Programs in ESARO. In order to meet the demands of this job, I believe that I will have enough experience, skills and trends working as an advocate for children.

The organizations that I chose will benefit my mission as an early childhood educator.

National organizations and Job Opportunity.

I feel that as an educator you must be connected to national organization as well as local organization. The following organizations are dear to my heart and the volunteer work I do with children and their families.

NAEYC

The National Association for the education of Young Children is a pprofessional organization which promotes excellence in early childhood education. The organization provides Information for educators and parents.

www.naeyc.org

UNICEF

UNICEF is a strong believer in partnership and collaborative action.  It is only through successful partnerships that young children can be reached with services and support. UNICWF is global organization that focuses on the work and services to help all children.

http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/

NHSA

www.nhsa.org

The National Head Start Association offer training for both parents and staff. I have attended several training and conferences for parents and volunteers.

Job Opportunities offered

Online Early Childhood Education Recruiter- I feel that the skills that I have learned from this program will allow me opportunity to be a great recruiter. I have good communication, leadership and I am passionate about the field. 

Exploring local and State Agencies

I have worked in head start and volunteered over 20 years of services to children and families in my community from a varied cultures and diversities. I have been an advocate for families in helping close the achievement gap for all children.  But over the past year or so I have been delighted to be a part of organizations such as the following.

Mississippi Head Start Association (MSHA)
Mississippi Advocate for Public Education (MAE).
Educational Leadership Team

All of these organizations play a role in providing a quality education for all children in my community by helping close the achievement gap that our community has. As a parent and educator parents is considered the most important catalyst in their child’s education. I feel that each organization has a goal of finding new trends, strategies and goals for all learners and their and their parents.

The recent job opportunity that is of interest me at this time County and City School Readiness Coordinator. This leader is a person who responsibilities include alignment of standards for all the areas school to include both county and city. I think that this degree program and the knowledge that I have acquired from prior courses has taught me the necessary strategies, insight and knowledge that is need to be the leader that I need to be.