When I think about Child Development

This course was a great insight to me and I have gained some new friends that I have learned a lot from. I want to thank everyone that has shared their knowledge and trends with me which has helped me be a better educator. To the instructor, your weekly feedback made me a stronger writer, that for the feedback. As a look back at my early childhood career in Child Development, one of my favorite quotes is
"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."- Chinese proverb

"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.- Dr. Hiam Gin

One of my favorite pieces of media when  it comes to children is

Best of Luck to everyone and much success

Assessments

Commitment to the whole child means to be able to each child must be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged in the classroom. As educators engage parents in conversations about supporting the whole child, we may need to do less talking and more listening to make sure that we’re speaking the same language. Teachers and parents should seek ways to strengthen our partnership to ensure each child's success, parents and educators appear to have broad agreement on what we want. Instead of basing student success only on academic achievement or test scores, a whole child education provides additional skills to help students succeed in life and the workforce. Schools are solely responsible for student achievement, to one in which schools, communities, and families work in partnership. Assessment for learning is an essential part of a child’s education as it defines whether or not the objectives of teaching are being met, assessments affects decisions about grades, educational needs of children and in some cases funding.
Assessment for learning is a significant way to raise a pupil’s academic achievement and is centered on the belief that in order for children to progress in school then they must understand the purpose of their learning, where they are in relation to this purpose and how they can achieve their goals. Assessments will help a pupil reflect on their own development which in turn will help them recognize and appreciate their own strengths as well as developing an insight into themselves as students. If a child is given the opportunity to discuss their learning either with a teacher or one of their peers then they will develop a deeper understanding of their learning which can build confidence and motivate them as students. Effective assessment will identify individual educational needs of all children as well as informing them about their specific performances and achievements, this will then allow teachers to utilize approaches that are personalized to the needs of a child. Assessment can be used not only to measure learning but also to promote learning by teaching children how to ask questions as well as answering them.

I wanted to learn about Syria assessment system and learned that parents feel that their children are not being assessed and the teachers are not committed to whole child learning system. Syria is full violence and disarray that children are dropping out of school. Children are assessment in different grade but the wholistic approach is not apparent.

 

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_68077.html

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.

 

"See You Later"

I would like to say Thank You to all of my colleagues for supporting me through their discussions and feedback on my discussion. I enjoyed reading all blogs. This course has taught me a great deal in communication with others, I will take back the information and use it on my job and in my personal life. I think all teachers need a refresher course in communication in the early childhood field. Thank you again and I look forward to working with everyone, but if I do not take the next course with you, I wish you the best of luck on this journey and I wish everyone the best in life.

Closing Rituals

Are high-performing groups hardest to leave?

 

I have worked in groups that are high performing groups in my  church ministry group. I have worked close in which we acted as close as family. When you work together in a good way, it hard to depart from a group where you have formed a bond. The hardest group for me to leave was the job of president of the activities committee of my church ministry group.

What sorts of closing rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced?

Closing Ritual consists of sometimes parties or goodbye ceremonies, ,programs and dinner.

 

How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master's degree in this program?

 

I have learned that working in an online degree group, you form a closeness with the people in your group, because I can’t wait to get to see what my group has responded to me and others. Sometime you share several classes with the same colleagues. At the end of a course, I always tell the entire group goodbye and hope to work with them in other courses. I always say thanks you for providing me with professional and personal insight that I can share with others.

Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork?

My dad always told me never leave someone or something without say your goodbyes.. I would not want to start of project and did not finish it, therefore the same is for talks in group or meeting, they must be closed or adjourned. Adjourning help the team or group the opportunity to say goodbye, good job, and even see you later. I have learned that adjourning means the start of something new and better.

 

Conflict Resolution

I was glad that I have learned some important tools that have helped me to communicate with others. This Thanksgiving, I had to use some of the resources this week to help me with communication issues with family member. I had to tell my family that they have to listen to each other and not interrupt the other while they are talking. There are a few communication/listening skills that I consider essential in our communications with our families . The first on is to be quick to listen and slow to speck. Sometimes we are so set in our ways; we don’t want to listen to what anyone else’s says around us.

One of the greatest communication/listening skills that I consider essential in work that fosters the well-being of young children and working your  family is understanding. Understanding is a listening skill that allows us to interpret and make sense of the messages that we receive (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I think that all people want to be not just heard but they want to feel like someone is truly listening and understands how they feel or what they might be going through. When we are truly being active listeners we will try and understand another person’s point of view, perspectives, and ideas (Nadig, 2010).  The resources has taught me so much about communciation with others.

References

Nadig, L. A. (2010). Tips on effective listening. Retrieved from http://www.drnadig.com/listening.htm

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

My Communication

This week I had the opportunity to see how others would evaluate my communication skills both professionally and personally. I did the assessment on myself and then I ask my sister and niece to assess me as well. Both my sister and my niece had similar assessment of me as I did myself. Both said that I enjoy speaking in public and that I love to hear other opinions. I enjoy build other self-concept by making sure that I treat people the way I want to be treated. I like to meet new people and get to know them.  I enjoyed hearing that I give good non-verbal communication as well. My sister and niece also told me that I am a good listener and that I am also someone that cares about other feelings and their opinions.  This week was really a learning process for me about other perceive me and my communication skills.

Communication with others

I believe that I do communicate differently with certain groups of people. I communicate with family and friends differently from my co-workers and supervisors. I think that each group requires a particular communication style. I have more a laid back, and humorous attitude with my family from my work group. I am more professional with people that I work with.. I also think that we communicate differently from people who have a different language than we have.  We communicate with using eye contact, smiles, close proximity, hugs, and kisses with difference cultures and diversity. I try to apply the rule of treating others as I would like to treated with everyone. I think that when communicating with anyone it is best to communicate intellectually, and positively. Good communication is the key to any relationship not matter who or where you are.

Television Communication

I chose to watch a sitcom that I normally do not watch and would not watch, but for this assignment I  chose to watch Family Guy. The following will describe the communication with the television off and on:

The communication skills with the television off:

When I looked at the sitcom with the television off, at first glance you would think that it was a normal family that would sit down and talk and have dinner together. There was smiles, laughter, eye contact and close proximity. It seemed as if everyone was listening to one another.  It seemed as if the eyes was moving really fast the the lips were moving like they were talking and conversing with each other.

The communication skills with the television on:

When I looked at the sitcom with the television on, I got a better opportunity to hear the verbal communications better. There is miscommunication issues of the worse kind I had ever heard. People screamed at each other, cursed , yelled, and did not listen. This family really need better communication and there should be more of leadership role from the parents. The father blatantly disrespected the mother so that caused the baby to disrespect the mother as the well. Listening skills is not evident at all. I will not watch this show again and would advise others not to watch as well. This show lack verbal and nonverbal skills, listening skills and overall lack of respect for each other. All of the things that I saw with the sound off did no seem the same with the sound on.

Competent Communicator

I feel that my father was a very competent communicatore, we he talked people stopped and listen. He would look you in your eyes and ask you questions. He was happy, concerned, fair, truthful and honest. I was the kind of people was always cared about what you thought about a subject. I think that is where I get my talkative ways from. He had good nonverbal and verbal skills. He cares about your feelings and opinions, he was a good of his home. I would like to learn more about those skills so that I can learn to use them in my everyday life. Sometime I do not communicate well with others. I look forward to learning how to listening and talk with others in a bery professional and personal matter.

Professional Hopes and Goals

This course was an eye opener for me. I have hopes that everyone would learn about their culture and diversity and help others to learn to accept each person differences and similarities. One goal I have to use what I have learned from this course to help the parents and children. I would like to thank all of my group colleagues for their insight and wisdom shown in their posts and blogs. We live in a very diverse world and we can learn alot from each other. I look forward to seeing you in other classess, and I wish everyone the best of luck.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

A new child join us from Senegal

 

 

 

 

 

A child from Senegal has arrived at our local head start. But first I must learn some things.
In order to help the child there are several things I must do to learn about the child and his culture.

 

1. A thorough search about the country  of Senegal such as the location, and language.
2. Learn about the traditions, food beliefs and culture of the child, I want to learn about the child's surface culture as well as the deep culture.
3. Prepare my home and school with pictures and artifacts from the countries if possible.
4. Learn words such as hello, goodbye, yes and no in the child language 
5. Make sure that I am  aware of any micro aggressions or biases that I have that could keep me from communication correctly with the child.

Diversity incorporates acceptance and respect. I think it is important to recognize people as individuals; Respect individuals for what makes them different as well as their similarities to others. We want the child to feel comfortable and when children are in a dominate culture that does not empower their family culture, the children can feel lost in two different worlds. Nadiyah Tayler explained that children can start to feel separate from the family and even view the family culture as wrong or not as important as the dominate culture.

 

 



The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression?

Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like. As I look back, for this particular assignment I have to think of the movie Rosewood. This particular movie was so touching and a clear description of prejudice, bias and oppression in Rosewood, Florida. The movie is about a Caucasian woman who claimed that a Black man raped her and it just started a wave rage.

 In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

 It caused people to lose their lives, loved ones and family members. This situation has caused me to think about my life and how it would be different if something like that happen today. Learning about micro aggressions has definitely given me more to think about, especially when it comes to what I think and how I act. I can think back on times that I've said something to someone and they may have been offended by it.

 What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

  I felt anger, hurt, belittle, and humiliated. But I realize that people must remember that everyone has feelings and our differences make us special.

 What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

 I think that people thinking of other differences must change. Everyone has to remember that micro aggressions happen every day and we must be careful how we treat others. Dr. Sue talked about the teacher’s influence and contribution to microagression and how bad their unknown biases create the worse influence on the target’s life (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). This is something each of us needs to really look at. We have to look at our own cultural framework, biases and our expression of our views to others. It is important that we understand exactly what in our background experiences has created these views so we can work through them. Learning about micro aggressions has definitely given me more to think about, especially when it comes to what I think and how I act. I can think back on times that I've said something to someone and they may have been offended by it.

Practicing Awareness of Microagressions

Micro aggressions in my opinions are a person’s way of using little stereotypical statements or emotions to others. Most micro aggression is negative and unintentional but some are intentional, people know what they are doing. After reading the resources and listening to Dr. Sue I understand that people really don't know they are doing these things so harmful to other. The week has taught me that I have said things that I didn't mean that were not nice but now that I know better I am not going to say or act that way again. I have a friend who is gay and he came over my house this week and an old friend of mine was there and asked me did he know how to do hair because she thought that was his career. My gay friend is an accountant, not a hair stylist. 

I have been at fault for using micro aggression toward a people some point in my life. I have learned a lot about myself this week, and about others that I come into contact with. Learning and educating yourself about other culture and diversities will help you understand better about others and what you say and do harms other people's feelings.

When we work with parents their children, and our co-workers we must know how to effectively communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Parents will be key in this change in communicate effects to change the way we see others.