Sharing Web Resources

I have signed up for a newsletter from National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), however I have not received it yet, so this week I chose to review the organization's policies and focused on NAEYC's A Call for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. This policy outlined the importance of high quality education and described the goals for all early education programs. NAEYC makes it clear that the responsibility for improving early childhood programs does not rest with one group or level of government. In order to provide our children with the education they deserve we must work together to achieve the high quality education and environment to have the best short- and long-term results. 

NAEYC states the principals needed in order to achieve the goals and included was the need for equality for all children regardless of family status, income, disability, gender, national origin, ethnicity, or race (http://www.naeyc.org/policy/excellence). Diversity is also needed to ensure programs respect each family's culture differences and are flexible to the needs of the child and family (http://www.naeyc.org/policy/excellence). 

This supports the importance of educating teachers and administrators on the importance of being respectful to every family's culture and traditions. With the changing demographics in our country, classrooms are going to be diverse. To be able to provide the best for our children, teachers must be prepared. It is the responsibility for every level of government and early childhood professionals to ensure our children have the best chance for success later in life which can be achieved through increasing the quality of our early childhood programs.

NAEYC. (n.d). A call for excellence in early childhood education. Retrieved 
         from http://www.naeyc.org/policy/excellence. 
. 

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I emailed a representative for UNICEF in Brazil, Sarah Klaus with the International Step by Step Association in the Netherlands and Mrs. Eva Hammes-DiBernado with the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education. The email address for Sarah Klaus does not work and I have not heard back from any yet, so I may have to move to the alternate assignment.  I will still try to connect with others because I was very excited about discussing issues and trends in other countries.

I chose to to study the NAEYC because this is an organization that I would like to join. I want to learn more about their mission and involvement in the early childhood field. I did sign up for their newsletter.

I would love to get any tips from those that have been able to connect with professionals in other countries.

My Supports

My support comes from my family especially my husband. He listens when I need to vent and he recognizes the fact that I sometimes need a break from the kids. My siblings are also a major source of support. I am lucky to have a close relationship with my siblings so I frequently call my brothers and sisters for advice and even sometimes just to vent. My daughter is also supportive by helping me remember to slow down and appreciate the little moments. I sometimes get so caught up in daily chores and can get frustrated easily. My daughter teaches me to slow down and enjoy the little moments of reading together and letting her "help" (which really means double the work) with laundry and dishes. I only have these days where she wants to be helpful and always play with mom for so long so I need to appreciate each day. My church family is also a major source of support especially as I prepare for my husband to be gone with training and then deployment. I have so many offers to help if things break and mowing the yard. If I did not have this support system in place I would be more stressed and be struggling to maintain all the responsibilities in my life. 

This summer I will be facing a unique challenge. My husband will be deployed when i give birth to our second child. My daughter will be almost 2 so I will need a lot of help. I will need physical help with baby-sitting and support during labor. My sisters will be in the delivery room with me while my dad watches my daughter. I will need a lot of help around the house because I will not be able to do landscaping outside. Luckily I have several people who have agreed to take care of the mowing the whole time my husband is deployed. I will also need emotional support while caring for a newborn and toddler and also dealing with separation from my husband. During this time my family, friends and church family will be very supportive for help with the children and the house. Without these people I would not be able to keep my household running. Acknowledging the fact that I can not take care of everything and everyone all by myself is important for me to reach out and accept help. Without these supports I do not know if I will be able to get through this deployment with my sanity and house intact.    

My connections to play

"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."
- Maria Montessori

"Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn."

O. Fred Donaldson
Contemporary American martial arts master

I love these quotes especially the first one because I see so many times parents and teachers help children rather than letting them try first and having them work through the steps themselves. There are also many times I struggle with not letting my perfectionism affect letting the children make crafts and do projects. 

I grew up with two older sisters and two older brothers on a farm. We spent most of our time playing outside. My parents did not want us spending all our time watching television so there were several times I can remember growing up that our TV "broke", but would magically start working when the news came on. 

This is so different than children today because many children spend their time watching television or playing with their phones or iPods. I think this robs children of their creativity and problem solving skills. When my husband's niece came to live with us she had not idea what to do if we told her no TV or iPod. She also struggles to think through problems because the only games she plays are with technology. Technology is a wonderful invention, but it is relied upon too heavily and our children are suffering. Play is when children learn to cooperate with others and use their imagination. It also teaches them persistence and helps promote thinking. Playing with toys is so important to future success in school.     

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important because people help support you, encourage you, and help you grow. This summer my mom passed away and without the support of my husband, my siblings, and my friends I would not have gotten through. I am lucky to be very close to all my siblings and they are the ones I call when I need help. My sisters have really helped me since having my daughter because they were able to share their experience with me when I was having problems. However, since my husband is military we live 14 hours away from my family so I have had to work to maintain the bonds with my family through phone calls and Skype. This is also true for my friends that live far away. Without communication the relationship fades away so there are some friends that I am no longer close to because due to different work and family schedules we have not been able to communicate enough to stay close.

I have also learned there are many challenges to building a relationship. Since I am a military spouse I have had to move to a different area twice and each time it was hard meeting people. I am a naturally shy person and have trouble starting conversations with people. This has made it hard making friends because I have had to step outside of my comfort zones several times in order to make friends.

My husband and I have a special relationship in that we are equals working towards a common goal that we have for our family. This requires constant communication and compromise because we are different people who have very different perspectives sometime. Because we have common bonds with our daughter there is not the option of letting the relationship fade. Even in times of disagreement we must work together to find a solution and remember our love for each other.

Reflecting on my relationships with family and friends reminds that we have relationships with our coworkers and families we serve and we much work as partners to meet our common goal of helping children. There will be times we disagree with coworkers and families, however because we are partners we need to use effective communication and work through the problem. If we are not able to do this then we will lose the support and experience from our coworkers and lose the respect from our families. Without all these we will not be effective in our positions.

When I think of child development

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

This quote drives home the point that parents and caregivers are such an influence on children. I hear many parents complain about how their children yell and scream and then yell turn around and yell at their child. Children learn tone, phrases, and behaviors from what they see and hear. 


I want to thank Jo Hester and Jolene Hernandez. It has been nice to be in these past two classes with both of you. I have enjoyed learning more about both of you, personally and professionally. Thank you both.

Testing for Intelligence

I do not believe in standardized testing. Many teachers are forced to teach to the test and miss out on educating students on so many other topics. It also detracts from letting student interest guide learning. While certain topics and certain standards must be taught, I think students should also be allowed to guide some of the learning. However, teachers are on deadlines so it prevents them from getting off topic even a little. Also because they keep raising what children should know at each grade I think we are putting too much pressure on kids and expecting so much more when children get to kindergarten. My sister teaches high school and they are now seeing some negative results from teaching to the standardized test because the way the kids were taught to answer questions on that test is not what is expected when they take the ACT or SAT so the kids are failing those tests and are having to learn a whole new way to write to pass the tests for college. It is very stressful for the kids and the teachers.

I read about testing in Russia and found that in recent years they have started using standardized testing similar to U.S.'s SATs to determine graduation and entering college. According to an article in the New York Times, many people were upset about the transition and did not feel it was the best choice to replace their old system (Kishkovsky, 2011). Officials stated that the new test is all done on computer and graded by the computer so it would eliminate the bribery that was taking place by students so teachers would give them good grades (Kishkovsky, 2011).

Unfortunately while I don't believe standardized testing is the best option, I am unsure what a better option really is. Every child learns differently and understands information differently so how do you judge children fairly? I'm not sure what or if there is a correct answer to this.

Reference:
Kishkovsky, S. (2011, February 6). U.S.-style college exams take hold in Russia. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/education/07iht-educSide07.html?_r=0