My Supports

            My biggest support comes from my family. When I decided to return to school, I told my kids that I would need help getting things done around the house in order to have time to do everything that is required for my job and school. To be honest, they have spoiled me. I help with grocery shopping and some cleaning or laundry, but they do the majority of the meal planning, cooking, and cleaning. This frees my time to do lesson planning and preparation for work as well as time for my school work. They are also good about not letting me get so wrapped up in these activities that I forget to have a good time. They occasionally “kidnap” me to go to the movies, etc. Without their help, I would find it extremely difficult to accomplish all that needs to be done in a day.

            I have support at work as well. One support that I have truly come to appreciate is that which is offered through interventionists in the community. I am lucky that my community has organizations that provide services for children with special needs. I have typically worked with the same two women over the past several years and have become friends with them through these interactions. They provide me with information, ideas, and equipment necessary for helping some of my students. Sometimes they serve as a sounding board and a source of encouragement when I am struggling in my dealings with certain students. Although I am sure that I could find pertinent information on the internet that may help me deal with my special needs students, I don’t think that I would have access to some of the equipment that has come in handy. I also think that without the support of these professionals I would probably find myself overwhelmed in my classroom.

            Recently, I was offered a job in a different city, which would have required me to move. On top of considering whether or not I thought I would be a good fit in regards to the school’s philosophy, etc., I also had to imagine what life would be like without the support of my family. Would I be able to adjust to a new classroom environment, life as a single person, and continue with my education? I decided not to take the job, primarily because of philosophical differences, but I have to admit that part of the reason was my fear that I would not be able to continue my education.

My Connections to Play

As a child, I was not a huge fan of the Mr. Rogers Show; I preferred Sesame Street, Captain Kangaroo, and Electric Company. But, as an adult, I have come to admire Fred Rogers and his commitment to children. He had an innate understanding of children and how they are wired.

Albert Einstein has been recognized as one of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. Perhaps those of us of more average intelligence should take heed of this statement. I am sure that Dr. Einstein had much more time to play than the majority of children in America today; it obviously did not keep him from reaching his fullest potential. Why then is most of America convinced that allowing children time to play freely will somehow hinder their intellectual development?

This picture depicts my favorite kind of play that I participated in as a child. Whether I was playing by myself with my brothers, or with other children in the neighborhood, the majority of our time was spent in imaginative play. Some imaginative play included the use of actual toys, like cap guns and a bouncy horse when we played cowboy; while at other times we used items in place of toys, like a towel as a cape or my mom’s silver gravy boat as a magic lamp. Still other types of play only needed the great outdoors – hills, trees, rocks and streams.                  

 

This particular photo displays an adapted piece of playground equipment. Society has deemed these to be too hazardous to be included on playgrounds anymore; but, when I was growing up, this was my favorite piece of equipment on the school playground. There was nothing better than pushing the merry-go-round as fast as I could and then jumping on to enjoy the ride – preferably by hanging on to one of the bars, leaning out and facing the sky as it spun around.

                As I think back about my play history, it seems that the majority of my memories come from the summers. I believe that this is due not to the fact that I didn’t play during the rest of the year, but to the amount of time dedicated to playing during the summer. We played pretty much all day, from the time we woke up until the time our parents would make us come in at night. My mom was a school teacher, she was at home with us, but she never told us what to play. If we told her what we were playing and asked for help with something, she would help us. She helped us build sheet tents, tied on “capes”, etc., but most of all she allowed us the freedom to explore our environment.

                I remember one time when we had found a bunch of little, hard, green balls in the woods. She told us that they were walnuts but the nuts were inside the little balls. When we noticed that our hands were turning colors from handling them, she explained that was stain like carpenters used on wood. We spent days fooling around with those things, trying to figure out how we could dry them out so we could get to the nuts inside. Mom provided different things that we asked for and reminded us not to wear any of our favorite clothes when we were playing with the walnuts so we didn’t have to worry about staining them; but she didn’t share any thoughts about how to accomplish our goal. To be honest, I can’t remember if we ever got them dried out or not; but I do remember playing “factory” on and off for days as we tried to figure it out.

                I believe the biggest difference in the play that my brothers and I participated in and that of children today is freedom. When I was a child we were permitted to play in the woods behind our house by ourselves, or walk to the park or a friend’s house by ourselves, as long as we told Mom where were headed. I don’t know of very many children who have that kind of freedom today to explore their environment. In fact, society has become so safety conscious that a mother was recently arrested for allowing her 7 year old son to walk to the park, which was ¼ of a mile away, by himself; she was charged with child endangering. Apparently, even providing a means of communication for your child does not prevent the community from raising a stink. Another mother was arrested when she allowed her child to play in the park, which was across the street from her job, while she worked even though the child had a cell phone and pre-arranged times to physically check in with her mom. This child, by the way, was a pre-teen. While I understand the underlying fears that cause us to be so watchful, it still saddens me to know that my kids didn’t have as much freedom as I did, and my grandkids may have even less.

                I have continued to enjoy playing throughout my life. This fact may be part of the reason I have chosen this profession since it is one of the few jobs in which having a playful spirit is a job requirement…or, at least it should be.

Relationship Reflection

            The relationships in my life which are the most important to me are those with my family, particularly my daughters. I am close with both of them; we enjoy hanging out with each other. My oldest daughter not only lives with me, along with her husband, but she works with me as well. For a while we even worked in the same classroom. People made comments about the two of us being “freakishly close” and said that, although they loved their mothers, there is no way they could spend that much time together without being at each other’s throats. Our relationship is such that this close proximity is not an issue. We have similar dispositions and agree on many subjects, and we know when to give the other their space without making a big deal about it.

            My youngest daughter’s temperament is more a reflection of her father than of mine but, like her father, we have learned to appreciate each other’s opinions. She frequently makes me laugh. We like spending time together, whether we’re out and about or just sitting around watching television. Our relationship has evolved as she has gotten older. Her father passed away when she was a sophomore in high school, and there were times when our relationship was strained a little as we both were learning to adapt to our new situation. (For a while it was just the two of us because my oldest had gone away to college.) Although I know she still respects me as a parent, I feel like now we are friends as well.

            Another relationship that I enjoy is one with a former pastor, and boss, and his wife. When we worked together, we quickly developed such a good working relationship that people thought we had known each other before I had started working there. My husband and I would spend time hanging out with him and his wife and our children became friends. (My daughters occasionally refer to them as their other set of parents.) They have been present for many milestones in my life, from making a four hour trip to preach at my husband’s funeral, to making a nine hour trip to attend my daughter’s wedding. Although we are no longer in close proximity geographically, we remain close friends and make an effort to see each other at least once a year.

            For reasons I will not go into here, I tend to be a rather guarded person. It is not easy for me to open up with people in my private life, which can make it difficult to start new relationships. However, for some reason, I don’t usually have this issue when it comes to work. I have been able to maintain positive relationships with more than one former employer, former employees, colleagues, and both former and current parents of children in my class.

            Any relationship that lasts for any length of time will have periods of disagreement about one thing or another. I think the key to riding out these disagreements, and maintaining the relationship, is to recognize that they do not define the relationship; the love and respect that you have for that individual is not changed just because you have differing opinions about something. This is true whether that relationship is with a family member, a co-worker, or a family member of a student. It is especially important for me to remember that fact as I seek to partner with those families.

Every child is gifted, they just unwrap their packages at different times.

                                                             Author Unknown     

I imagine that special education teachers especially identify with this quote; but I feel that it speaks to everyone in education. Although all children develop in a systematic way, they do not all progress through their development at the same speed. If we keep that in mind, and take this quote to heart, we can help the children in our classes reach their full potential.                        

            Is it necessary to assess children? Is it necessary to assess their learning?

            I believe that the assessment of children is necessary. Assessment of children provides information as to a child’s strengths and weaknesses. These assessments indicate whether or not there are medical issues that need to be addressed, such as hearing loss. They can also indicate problems with cognitive or social domains. Once that information has been gathered, it can be used to guide teachers and healthcare providers to insure that the child receives the proper care and education.

            Because these assessments involve the whole child, they require the participation of several different professionals. Medical professionals are needed to determine if a child’s physical development is on track; while educators determine if a child’s cognitive and social skills are on a par with his peers. If a child is determined to have delays in either of these areas, it may be necessary to involve other specialists.

            Whether or not it Is necessary to assess a child’s learning is a hotly debated issue. The problem that I see with standardized testing is that it is used to determine the success of the school system; this reduces the student to the status of a product. Since we are talking about individuals, this is a distasteful situation. While I understand that people are looking for a way to hold their schools accountable, I’m not convinced that standardized testing is the appropriate avenue.

            While I was researching what other countries do when it comes to assessing their students, I found it interesting that many of the arguments raised in Germany sounded like those that have been voiced here. Germany is relatively new to standardized testing. They didn’t begin using them until around 2004 and they did so in response to poor showings on an international standardized test. From the beginning, concerns were raised about teachers potentially “teaching to the test” and ignoring instruction in subjects that were not included in these tests. There were also concerns that the tests had a narrow focus on cognitive objectives without any consideration of factors that affect a child’s learning.

            On a positive note, it seems that some countries are realizing that there are other aspects of a student that should be looked at beyond their cognitive achievements. Several countries, including Germany, have begun testing a child’s creative ability. I think that this is a good thing because things change so quickly in the world now, being a creative problem-solver is an important skill.

Waddington, D. J., Nentwig, P., & Schanze, S. (n.d.). Making it Comparable. New York, NY: Waxmann. Retrieved October 11, 2014

Environmental Effects on Childhood Development

                When my son-in-law was a youngster he was discovered rummaging through trash cans for food for himself and his younger brother. His mother was a drug addict and neglected to care for the boys. Fortunately, both of the boys were placed in a foster home and were eventually adopted by that family. This family provided stability and love and food – all of the things that their mother did not. Through the county, the family took advantage of necessary medical care.

 Although all of this took place when the boys were quite young, he was three years old, it did not totally compensate for those early years of deprivation. Both of the boys also needed some therapy as a result of those early years. They both had trouble with impulse control and aggressiveness that needed to dealt with. Luckily, for them the county helped the family find the help the boys needed.

The region that I have chosen to look at is the Detroit area and the effects that poverty is having on the children there. A group called Kids Count has stated that approximately 71% of children in the Detroit area live in families that are 200% of poverty level or lower. Even when families are as much as 200% above poverty level, they have difficulties paying rent and utilities as well as being able to provide adequate food, medical care, and stable child care. This same group has offered statistics that indicate that children ages 0 – 5 are the most affected group, with percentages as high as 58% (detnews).

“Research shows that children who grow up in high-poverty neighborhoods are at much greater risk for health and developmental challenges in almost every aspect of their lives, from education to their chances for economic success as adults. These challenges exist regardless of their own family's income” (Speer, 2013). I find this statement to be very interesting. Apparently, even when children are living in a family that does not suffer from the effects of low income, the prevalence of other families in the community who are suffering can still affect them. Michigan has placed an emphasis on Head Start and Early Start programs to try and offset some of the effects that poverty has on these youngsters. Recently, some have also suggested that changing to a year-round school would also be beneficial. This move would not only prevent what is called “the summer slide” when it comes to their learning, but it would insure that these children continue to be provided healthy breakfasts and lunches through the school lunch program.

Another problem these families have to deal with is that many of them live in what the USDA describes as a food desert. A food desert has a lack of accessible grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and other healthful food outlets (Nutrition Digest). This does not mean that there is no food in the area; however, it tends to be junk food that is readily available. Recent movements have been trying to counteract this problem by establishing urban farms and/or fresh food trucks for these areas.

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=131#ixzz22209nQpf

Higgins, L. (2013, June 29). High poverty areas need a community strategy. In Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 27, 2014

Speer, L. (2013, May 16). Kids in High-Poverty Communities: 5 Ways It Affects Us All. In The Whole Child Blog. Retrieved September 27, 2014

The USDA Defines Food Deserts (n.d.). In American Nutirtion Association: Nutrition Digest. Retrieved September 27, 2014

Many of you are probably aware that there was a problem with the water supply in Toledo, Ohio earlier this year.  Due to an algae build up in Lake Erie, the water was deemed undrinkable. Residents were told that even boiling it would not make it safe to drink. But the news got even worse when the residents were told that they shouldn’t even bathe in it. Although this was a temporary problem for the area, it got me thinking about the many ways that water is a necessity in our lives and about the areas of the world that deal with water problems similar to this on a regular basis.

One common water contaminant is arsenic. It is estimated that over 200 million people in the world are drinking water that contains levels exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended levels. Many of these people live in Southern Asian Countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, India, and Vietnam. However, several Latin American countries are also experiencing high levels of arsenic in their water. One such country is Peru.

Arsenic can occur naturally in water sources due to exposure to certain metals and volcanic  rocks. However, it can also reach the water supply through human activity such as mining and smelting. Peru is a major supplier of gold, silver and copper to the world market, as well as one of the main producers of arsenic that is used to make pesticides and insecticides around the world. A recent study has shown that this activity may very well have contaminated a large portion of Peru’s water supply. Although poor, rural areas seem to be the most affected, it is disturbing to note that samples taken from the river that runs through Lima, the nation’s capital, also tests high in arsenic content. The most disturbing aspect of the results concerning Lima is that, in some parts of the river, tests showed levels to be 5 times those that are recommended.

Prolonged exposure to arsenic has many detrimental effects to one’s health, ranging from cancer to cardiovascular, neurological, and respiratory diseases. Arsenic has also been proven to have adverse effects on a child’s cognitive and motor development. Because of these facts it is important that countries, like Peru, take advantage of technology that aids not only in testing for arsenic, but also in treating the water to mitigate the amount of arsenic that is in it.

People have long recognized the need for human beings to have access to clean drinking water. In fact, in 2010 the United Nations recognized the need for clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right. As such, all nations must take steps to ensure that their citizens are not denied this basic human right. As a citizen, I must be vigilant in my efforts to keep contaminants from reaching my water supply. As a teacher, I need to make sure that my children are not only afforded adequate amounts of water throughout the day, but also ensure that water is safe for them to drink.

References:

Rush, E., (2013). Water: neglected, unappreciated, and under researched. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,67(5), 492-495.doi:101038/ejcn.2013.11

George, C., Sima,L., Jahuira,Arias,M., Mahalic, J., Cabrera, L.Z., Danz, D. & Gilman, R.H. (2014). Arsenic exposure in drinking water: an unrecognized health threat in Peru. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92(8), 565-572. doi:10.2471/BLT.13.128496 

Because of the fact that I had had a previous miscarriage, my pregnancy of my oldest child was an anxious one. This was especially true during the early part of the pregnancy when you can’t feel the baby moving. I couldn’t wait to feel the baby move; I was convinced that I would feel more secure about the pregnancy once we reached that milestone. As it turned out, that was only partially true. Although I relaxed somewhat after the baby was large enough for me to feel it moving, I would still occasionally find myself worrying about how long it had been since I last felt her move; then I would try to make her move.

            When it finally came time for the birth, things progressed the way the majority of pregnancies in the United States go. We went to the hospital and prepared to deliver the baby naturally, with my parents present, but with medical supervision in case things went awry. In this particular case, it turned out to be a good thing that we were in a hospital. After a few hours of labor, as the nurse was doing an internal exam, it was discovered that the baby was fully engaged in the birth canal – butt first. She could not be turned into a head down position because of her location, and giving birth to a baby who is folded in half can be dangerous for both the mother and the baby. So the decision was made to perform a c-section.

            The doctor took the time to inform me and my husband about the details of the procedure and what we could expect before, during and after. After I was given a spinal block, they wheeled me into the operating room, set up a curtain between my breasts and belly, and got to work. As they pulled her from the birth canal, my husband looked over the curtain but could only see her butt; so he asked the doctor, “Is that a boy butt or a girl butt?” The doctor informed us we had a baby girl and brought around the curtain to me. After briefly getting to see her at that point, the nurse came and took her and left the room; my husband left too and followed our baby where ever she went.

            It was a few hours before I got to really spend time with our new baby girl. They did not bring her to me until I left the recovery room and was taken to my own room. I remember feeling a little out of it at that time. When the nurse was getting ready to leave me in my room, she said “She’ll be in here in a few minutes.” I was confused and asked “She who?”

            Most people know the importance of prenatal care when it comes to child development, but few stop and think about how the birthing experience itself can affect it. If we believe the studies that show how a mother under stress has a negative impact on the development of her child, one must also believe that undue stress to the mother during birth will negatively impact the child's development. However, relieving of undue stress is not totally reliant on the amount of medical attention a mother receives. A mother's stress can be reduced by having support from family and/or friends during labor and delivery, by being in a relaxing atmosphere brought about by soft lights and music, or anything else that the individual mother may find comforting. Although the majority of American women have their babies in hospitals, I believe that hospitals have embraced this idea of reducing stress for the mothers by allowing mothers to choose to have people in the room with her and providing rooms that have a more homey atmosphere.

            I was asked to investigate the birthing experience of another culture and compare it to that of the typical birth in the United States. The country I chose to investigate was Japan because my mother-in-law is Japanese and I wanted to see what how her experience may have been different if she had had my husband in that country. At first sight there may not seem to be much difference in experiences between the two countries. In Japan, approximately 50% of women give birth in a hospital, with the majority of the remainder seeking the services of a clinic. Japan also has places called birthing centers. Birthing centers and clinics both use midwives instead of doctors, but birthing centers are much smaller and more personal; if there are complications, the women are transported to a hospital.

            When you add up the percentages of women using hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers, the total is very similar to the percentage of women in the United States who give birth in hospitals. Another aspect of childbirth Japan that is similar is the fact that the number of c-sections is on the rise.

            One part of the birthing experience that is very different in Japan is what happens immediately after birth. Hospitals in Japan package the umbilical cord in a box and present it to the mothers as they are leaving the hospital. Sometimes the box also contains a small doll in a kimono with the umbilical cord inside the kimono. This custom is believed to help the mother and child bond.

References:

Umansky, N. (2014, February 1). 12 Fascinating Traditions for Welcoming Newborns. In odde.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from http://www.oddee.com/item_98850.aspx

Horiuchi, I. M. (2012, August). • The relationship between women-centred care and women's birth experiences: A comparison between birth centres, clinics, and hospitals in Japan. Midwifery, 458-465. Retrieved September 5, 2014, from Science Citation Index.

Dear Professor and Classmates,

   I would like to thank you all for making my first collaborative class here at Walden University a positive experience. Discussion posts and blogs have been both informative and polite. I enjoyed learning about all of you and your future plans and how this degree will play into those plans. I also like finding out more about what goes on in the field of early childhood education outside my little corner of the world.

  I am sure we will meet again in future classes. Good luck as you pursue your goals. Enjoy your break.

Early Education Codes of Ethics

   This week’s assignment from class is to pick three items described in the code of ethics of two professional organizations, the NAEYC and DEC. It is difficult to pick only three since each of the ideals and principle outlined are thoughts that any reputable participant in early childhood education would heartily agree with. One of the principles of the NAEYC code of ethics reads “Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children. This principle has precedence over all others in this Code.” This particular principle reminded me of the Hypocratic oath that doctors take. As I have educated children over the past 30+ years, I believe that I have followed this principle in my classroom. Although I have never been one to jump on a new bandwagon right away, I have also chosen not to participate in practices that I believe would be detrimental to the children in my class.

   The second principle that I chose also came from NAEYC, but is in reference to families rather than children. This principle states “We shall inform families about the nature and purpose of the program’s child assessments and how data about their child will be used.” This is an important principle for two reasons; first of all, this communication is necessary in order to alleviate fears that parents may have regarding assessments. Parents are frequently worried about how their child is developing – are they normal, are they behind, etc. When they discover that assessments are being done, it can exascerbate these anxieties. By communicating with the parents, we can make sure they understand the scope of the assessments as well as their purpose.

   The third principle I chose comes from DEC; it states “We shall empower families with information and resources so that they are informed consumers of services for their children.” This principle goes hand in hand with the previous principle from NAEYC. It is important not only for us to communicate with the parents about their child’s assessments and how they will be used, but we also need to be able to connect them with necessary resources. These resources could be needed for financial assistance, housing, health care issues, or intervention services. If we do not have the answers they are seeking, we need to know where to direct them to find those answers.

Early Ed. Resources from Class, and a Few of My Own

                                             Early Education Resources


NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller

Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

World Organization for Early Childhood Education
http://www.omep-usnc.org/

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

·         National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/

·         The Division for Early Childhood
http://www.dec-sped.org/

·         Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
http://www.zerotothree.org/

      Harvard Education Letter
http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85

·         Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

·         Center for Child Care Workforce
http://www.ccw.org/

·         Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org/

·         National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/

·         National Child Care Association
http://www.nccanet.org/

·         National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/

·         Pre[K]Now
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067

      The Erikson Institute
http://www.erikson.edu/

      Eco-Healthy Childcare

      http://ecohealthychildcare.org/index.php?page=provider

      Childrens Environmental Health Network www.cehn.org/
(     (thank you Kindra McBride for these last 2 links)

·         YC Young Children

·         Childhood

·         Journal of Child & Family Studies

·         Child Study Journal

·         Multicultural Education

·         Early Childhood Education Journal

·         Journal of Early Childhood Research

·         International Journal of Early Childhood

·         Early Childhood Research Quarterly

·         Developmental Psychology

·         International Journal of Early Years Education

      Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution! TED TALKS: documentary,lecture,talk retrieved from youtube.com

      Looking to Montessori to Guide Education Reform: Anna Lee at TEDxMidAtlantic retrieved from youtube.com

      How Creativity, Education, and the Arts Shape a Modern Economy, Sir Ken Robinson, retrieved from http://benefits.nn.k12.va.us/arts/art/ArtsandMinds.pdf

      Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association  www.occrra.org

      The Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association (OCCRRA) is a non–profit member association serving Ohio's eight local child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&Rs). These CCR&Rs are regional hubs providing professional development, technical assistance, and parent services to Ohio's 12 service delivery areas (SDAs). OCCRRA's centralized staff provides statewide coordination of professional development services for early care learning and afterschool programs and professionals. 

      CCR&R agencies are a:

·         Program's source for technical assistance on curriculum and assessment;

·         Professional's source for training and technical assistance;

·         Parent's source for information on child care, preschool and afterschool programs;

·         Community leader and policymaker's source for information on the supply of and demand for programs to meet families' and their children's needs.

      www.starting-point.org

ABOUT STARTING POINT

Starting Point links families to programs and services that meet their children’s early care/education and related needs, and strengthens the community’s capacity to respond to those needs.

Starting Point for child care, early education and out-of-school time care is:

Northeast Ohio's child care, early education and out-of-school time resource and referral agency--serving families, early childhood professionals and organizations and the community. A 501 (c)3 nonprofit agency.

Formed in 1990 on the recommendation of the landmark Cuyahoga County public-private initiative—the Child Day Care Planning Project—Starting Point works to:

• Link families with child care, early education and out-of-school time services
• Increase the supply of and improve access to child care, early education, literacy and out-of-school time programs
• Improve the quality of child care, early education and out-of-school time services
• Stimulate early education and out-of-school time alternatives
• Plan child care, early education and out-of-school initiatives
• Address child care, early education and out-of-school issues

Quotes about education, families, and the passion for both

Families need families. Parents need to be parented. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles are back in fashion because they are necessar y. Stresses on many families are out of proportion to anything two parents can handle. - T. Berry Brazelton

Families_need_families_Parents_need_to_be_parented. (n.d.). Columbia World of Quotations. Retrieved July 23, 2014, from Dictionary.com website:http://quotes.dictionary.com/Families_need_families_Parents_need_to_be_parented

“The story of Head Start is one of impact,” he said. “Twenty-five million poor children and their families have now been through this program. I am the only member of the planning committee that stayed with Head Start through its entire 45-year life. But perhaps the bigger impact over the long haul was the change in our thinking about preschool education.”

Alumnus Edward Zigler has become psychology pioneer Kathleen Mabley
Published: May 18, 2010 The University of Texas at Austin KNOW Magazine

I had a passion to make a real contribution to the world, to fix all the injustices in the world, and I wanted to do that through teaching.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). The passion for early childhood. Baltimore: Author.

Personal Childhood Web

            I have been tasked with identifying five people who nurtured and cared about me as a child. As is the case with most people, I would have to start with my parents.

            Patricia Brown is my mother. Even though she became my mother at the young age of 20, while a college student, she was (and still is) a nurturing figure in my life. She had me and my two brothers within the span of three years and had to deal with the loss of her own mother shortly after the birth of my youngest brother. As the wife of a pastor, she was frequently in unfamiliar territory with no supporting family nearby. Still she did her best to provide a loving and nurturing home. She instilled a love of reading and learning in us all by taking us to the library and museums. She read books to us on tape that we could listen to when she was at work. Before we were old enough to attend school, she arranged our schedules so that we were sleeping the majority of the time that she was working as a teacher. She was also a role model when it came to my education. Because my father took a church away from the city where she was going to college, she was not able to finish her degree there. (No online classes you know. :)) She wasn’t able to return to school until eight years later to get her Bachelor’s Degree and then went back and got her Master’s Degree seven or eight years after that. This has given me the fortitude to return to school myself.

            My father is James Brown. He was a bi-vocational pastor when I was growing up; this means that he not only had the responsibility for leading a church, but he held a secular job as well. Eventually the stress became too much for his health, so he took a position as an associate pastor instead of the lead pastor. While he was the lead pastor of churches we moved every two to four years, but once he became the associate pastor we stopped moving. Even though he worked a lot and had a lot of different responsibilities, I never felt as though I was missing out on time spent with him. He was always there for me. I remember one time when he went with me to my scouts award banquet. All the other girls brought their moms, but I had my dad with me. As a pastor, he was also our spiritual leader. I cannot describe the significance of being baptized, and eventually married, by your father. I was/am truly blessed.

            I have to break my siblings into two groups. The first group consists of my brothers. They were playmates growing up. Since we moved every couple of years, they were my only consistent playmates. I remember feeling a little lost at times when we settled down and they began to make new friends, boys, and didn’t want to play with me as much. (My middle brother is much more gregarious than I or my younger brother and found it much easier to make new friends.) But through the relationship with my brothers I learned the art of negotiation and role play. The second “group” would be my little sister. I was eight years old when she was born, so our relationship was fundamentally different than that of my brothers’. I tended to take more of a caregiver role with her; watching her while my parents were busy with their various duties at church, walking her home after church, etc. Even when I played with her, I would find myself doing things with her that Mom did as well.

            There were numerous other people who were significant in my upbringing, from extended family to school teachers to church leaders to friends. All of them impacted my life in one or another.

Children must be taught HOW to think not WHAT to think. Margaret Mead

Teachers who love teaching teach children to love learning. Unknown

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood." - Fred Rogers

  Play is the highest form of research. Albert Einstein

"The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another."  Marva Collins

There are many children’s books and authors that I enjoy reading to my class, but one of my favorites is called “Piggie Pie” by Mem Fox. The illustrations are bright and detailed and capture the attention of the class; and the text tickles their funny bones. I have found that not only do my preschoolers enjoy having it read to them, but the school-agers enjoy it as well. (The older kids pick up on nuances in the story that the younger children miss.) You really should check out the adventures of Gritch the Witch as she attempts to find piggies for her piggie pie.