My Supports

When I take a moment to think about where my supports come from each day, I immediately think of my husband for multiple reasons. He supports me emotionally, by listening to me everyday and helping me work my way through any issues that may have arisen. He is the financial support of our family. His job is very challenging and mentally exhausting at times, yet he still has time for his family at the end of the day. I have a terribly painful back and at times I cannot even bend to put dishes in the dishwasher or laundry in the washing machine. He steps in and helps out when I need help. When he is home he helps with dinner and almost always helps clean-up after dinner. He also helps with the children and their night time routine.

My step-mother, Kathy, supports me emotionally and definitely "has my back" at the center. She watches everything and is not afraid to step in and make it known when something is not being handled correctly. She is also a support with my children at times. During the school year my children attend a private school that does not have a cafeteria, so we must pack lunches everyday. I am not a fan of sandwiches daily, so on the days the center is serving food my children love, she will make them plates and drive to their school to deliver. If I am running late and cannot get my children picked up or delivered to one of their extra-curricular activities, she's the one that becomes the taxi driver. She is one of my main emotional supports when it comes to my children. When I made the decision to pull my daughter from her private school this year, it was because of the support and encouragement I received from Kathy that gave me the courage to uproot my daughter and move her to a new school.

My director Josh is my main support at work. I know I can lean on him to handle tasks and I know I can confide in him. We have come along ways in the past four years with a lot of ups and a lot of downs. But, through it all he has been the one person (in the field) that I can completely depend on and know I have his support with no strings attached.

My friends, what can I say, they keep me grounded and make me realize I cannot do it all. Without their love and support, advice and kick in the rear from time-to-time I'd probably have myself completely overbooked with volunteer activities more so than I am now. They make me realize that my grown children are pretty much like every other grown child and that I did not totally mess up raising the

And of course, I have my lists. I rarely get my lists checked off every day.....but lists are an absolute MUST for me or I would never accomplish anything....I'd be spinning off in too many different directions to gain enough focus to get anything done.

My Connections To Play

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."

-Diane Ackerman

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

-Fred Rogers

“Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.” 

― Brom, The Child Thief

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.” 

― Charles Schaefer

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play” 

― John Cleese

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.” 

― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

“Play hard. Play, play, play like your life depends on it. Because it does.” 

― Dean Koontz

Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.

-Plato

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

-O. Fred Donaldson

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.

-Abraham Maslow

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

-Kay Redfield Jamison

Play allows us to develop alternatives to violence and despair; it helps us learn perseverance and gain optimism.

-Stuart Brown MD

(I could not choose just three)

As a child play was everything to me!! 

Though I do not remember my childhood much before my 5th grade year, I do have little snippets here and there.

 For many years after my parents divorced we lived with my mother at my grandmother's house in Pennsylvania. My grandmother lived on a very steep hill; and we would spend hours rolling down the hill, climbing trees and wandering up through the woods to an open meadow. 

We would play Little House on the Prairie (yes I am that old!). 

We loved playing kickball, baseball and freeze tag; and back then I would even pick up frogs,

 and played for hours with them! My cousins would come over and we would have even more fun playing all our games with them. We imagined Indians used to roam my grandmother's property and we would dig into the bank of her driveway looking for lost items left by the Indians. 

We played all day, everyday, barely coming inside the house for lunch and dinner. We stayed outside until the very last second before going in to get ready for bed.

We didn't have video games and were not allowed to sit in the house watching television, there was not chance of obesity in my family. We had chores which had to be done before we could go play, so you can bet we hopped out of bed in the morning, ate breakfast and got busy with our chores, because we wanted to be outside playing with our siblings and friends.

We played unsupervised for hours on end and nobody thought our mother was a bad mother, she was very much the norm. We rode our bikes all over town and nobody worried about us. We fell and got hurt and it was just part of life, it was okay.

We would dance with my mother and my grandmother and laugh! We spent time cooking with them both and loved every minute of it. 

The joys of childhood is most definitely PLAY!!!

Today, children do not play the same. Many parents are afraid to let their children play outside for fear of their child being hurt or abducted. Parents also tend to place their children in multiple extra-curricular activities robbing them of their precious time to simply play. Children are very engrossed in television, video games and computers which usually require just that one child playing or watching alone.
I think play should last a life time. The play may not look the same or feel completely the same as it did when we were children, but we should never stop playing. What's the saying,  "you don't stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing".....I don't know who said that, but I tend to agree.




 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMwqMuRtGDs

Relationship Reflections

I have had many relationships in my life time, many of come and gone and are just a distant memory. In highschool you make friends and think you'll be best friends forever. Then life happens and you lose those relationships. I made the choice to travel from PA to TX to "visit" my sister and be in her wedding. I ended up never going home. All the friends who I thought would be my friends forever quickly forgot I existed. I ended up marrying young and having three children. My husband was not the man I thought he was and our marriage quickly desolved due to violence. Then, I was completely manipulated by my inlaws. I found myself completely alone with three small children wondering if I would ever be happy.

Relationships are so important and yet are so fragile. They take a lot of work, but nourishing those important relationships definitely pays off in the long run. I have 4 sisters and 4 half brothers. I have great relationships with a few of my siblings others are not as close, however, we definiely love one another and would do anything for one another. But, I feel I have "emotional" support from only one of my siblings. I am not close to my mother, as she has really shut herself off. No matter how hard I try she just doesn't seem interested in having a relationship with me or my children.
But, on a positive note I have some really wonderful relationships:

The first relationship that pops into my head is my husband.

Scott and I have been together 21-years and have grown with one another. We support each other and cheer for one another. We raised my three children (from a previous marriage) together and are now raising our three children together. He is everything to me and without him I don't think I would be where I am today (in any capacity).

I also have strong relationships with my three grown sons (Michael, Daniel and Jordan) as well as two daughter-in-laws (Melissa & Elizabeth). Raising three headstrong sons had it's ups and downs and at times things became very tense. But, now they have all grown into responsible young men and each make me proud. I have a close relationship with them and am truly blessed. My daughter-in-laws are truly wonderful young ladies who take amazing care of their children and stand behind and support their husbands. My relationship with Melissa has always been wonderful we became friends very quickly and there have been times when she has felt closer to me than to her mother. Elizabeth and I really didn't care for one another for MANY years. But, over the past couple of years Elizabeth has grown up and has become quite the impressive young lady. We now have a mutual respect for one another and I am very proud to call her my daughter-in-law.

MelissaOldest and youngest sons.

This photo is of my daughter-in-law Melissa, she is married to my oldest son Michael and in the picture she is holding my youngest grand-daughter Danika. The daughter of my middle son Daniel. I will post pictures of my older sons and my other daughter-in-law later. I do not have pictures on this computer

My three young chidlren (Alexia, Emma and Ethan) are the joy of my life. I am very close to each of them and couldn't imagine my life without them. They are three amazing children. Alexia is only 10, but you would think she was at least 25 if you couldn't see her. She is so mature and smart for her age it is simply amazing (No, I am not one of those parents who thinks their child is so smart). She isn't bookwork smart, she's "life smart". She is so tuned into her environment. We do butt heads from time-to-time. She went from basically being an only child (brothers were 17, 15 and 13 when she was born) and being doted over by everybody She was surrounded her entire life by adults. Then along came the twins and stole her thunder. Though she loves her siblings there are times when she feels slighted. But overall we have a very strong, secure relationship.

This is the twins on their 7th birthday in December

These photos are of my three younger children. Lexi is in the sound booth recording a song for school. She had a great time! Emma is dressed for her dance recital and Ethan is photographed at the Fort Worth Water Gardens one of my children's favorite places to go!

My step-mother, Kathy, and I have a really great relationship. She stands behind me and supports my decisions. She has been a huge part of my children's life and for that I will always love her. She would die if she knew I posted a picture of her......(One of my sisters is in the background and yes, that is Lexi standing back to back, trying to see if she is taller yet...since this picture was taken Lexi has grown taller then her Nana)

My executive director, Josh, and I have an amazing relationship and lean on each other to keep the centers running and moving forward. If I did not have Josh I may have exited this field more than once. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and completely stressed he keeps me looking at the positive and when he's in a rut I do the same for him. We both hold a passion for early childhood education and have vowed to keep each other motivated. I feel as though Josh knows me almost as well as my husband. We can even read each others minds and finish sentences for one another.

I truly treasure the relationships in my life, they keep me grounded and moving in a positive direction.

Quotes on Child Development

"Education is a natural process carried out by the child, and it is not acquired by listening to words, but by expeience in the environment."

~Maria Motessori



"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them."

~Ladybird Johnson



"The path of development is a jorney of discovery that is clear only in retrosprct, and it's rarely a straight line."

~Eileen Kennedy-Moore, Smart Parenting for Smart Kids

 

 

Assessing Young Children at Home and Abroad

A Developmental Approach to Assessment of Young Children

There is so much pressure on students and teachers alike to make sure children are able to pass the standardized tests. However, all children do not learn the same way. Many children (and adults) do not test well.  They may very well know the material, but when it comes time to sit down and answer the questions with a pencil and paper they draw a blank, or the questions are asked in a manner the child may not understand. The student may develop test anxiety and not do well. Besides, there are different areas in which children develop and gain knowledge areas that cannot be tested with pencil and paper.

Purpose of Assessment:

·         to determine progress on significant developmental achievements

·         to make placement or  promotion decisions

·         to diagnose learning and teaching problems

·         to help in instruction and curriculum decisions

·         to serve as a basis for reporting to parents

·         to assist a child with assessing his or her own progress (Katz, 1997)

The assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of older children and adults in several ways. The greatest difference is in the way young children learn. They construct knowledge in experiential, interactive, concrete, and hands-on ways rather than through abstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone. To learn, young children must touch and manipulate objects, build and create in many media, listen and act out stories and everyday roles, talk and sing, and move and play in various ways (Guddemi & Case, 2004).

Stakeholders should keep in mind that 1) plans, strategies, and assessment instruments are differentially suited for each of the potential purposes of assessment; 2) an overall assessment should include the four categories of educational goals: knowledge, skills, dispositions, and feelings; and 3) assessments made during children’s informal work and play are most likely to minimize the many potential errors of various assessment strategies (Katz, 1997).

Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a child’s development is rapid, uneven, episodic, and highly influenced by the environment. A developing child exhibits periods of both rapid growth and frequent rest. Children develop in four domains––physical, cognitive, social, and emotional––and not at the same pace through each. No two children are the same; each child has a unique rate of development. In addition, no two children have the same family, cultural, and experiential backgrounds. Clearly, these variables mean that a “one-size-fits-all” assessment will not meet the needs of most young children. Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time to administer assessments properly. Assessments primarily should be administered in a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher. In addition, a child’s attention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore be administered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks. While early childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments for children, they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and the resulting loss of instructional time in the classroom. However, when quality tests mirror quality instruction, assessment and teaching become almost seamless, complementing and informing one another (Guddemi & Case, 2004).

There is a risk of assigning false labels to children. The longer children live with a label (true or false label), the more difficult it may become to discard it (Katz, 1997). The expression of what young children know and can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencil assessments.

References:

Guddemi, M & Case, B. J. (2004). Assessing Young Children. Pearson Education. Assessment

Report. Pearson Inc., San Antonio, TX. Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from:

http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/FD21F054-A5AD-42AE-9A00-

43878827FD76/0/AssessingYoungChildren.pdf

Katz, Lilian G. (1997). A Developmental Approach to Assessment of Young Children. ERIC Digest.

April 1997. Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from:  

http://ecap.crc.illinois.edu/eecearchive/digests/1997/katz97.pdf

Assessing Young Children in Australia

The assessment tasks are not learning and teaching units, but they do suggest, in broad terms, what learning needs to have taken place before students undertake the provided assessment tasks. Teachers make professional decisions about whether or not a particular task is suitable for their students.

For each assessment task, the following details are provided:

·         its relevance to state or territory curriculum statements

·         necessary prior learning

·         a series of scaffolding activities for establishing the context within which the task can be undertaken

·         resources for students and teachers to assist in the completion of the task

·         assessment rubrics for both teachers and students

·         annotated work samples

·         suggested follow-up teaching and learning activities.

Strategic questioning

This Professional Learning module focuses on strategic questioning, which is one way the teacher can seek evidence to establish where students are in their learning, and is therefore the result of careful planning.

    Specifically, strategic questioning provides teachers with the opportunity to identify and correct misunderstandings and gaps in knowledge, as well as identify the need for extension work for those students whose knowledge and skills base demand it.

    This kind of questioning provides information about student knowledge, understanding and skills that informs the teacher's planning and selection of teaching strategies to move students from where they are to where they need to go.

Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. Assessment for Learning is also known as formative assessment.

Activities associated with summative assessment (Assessment of Learning) result in an evaluation of student achievement - for example, allocation to a level or standard or allocation of a letter or numerical grade, which might later appear in a report.

Activities associated with formative assessment (Assessment for Learning) do not result in an evaluation. Information about what a student knows, understands and is able to do is used by both the teacher and the learner to determine where learners are in their learning and how to achieve learning goals.

Research has identified a number of classroom strategies that are particularly effective in promoting formative assessment practice.

Assessment for Learning strategies are:

·         The strategic use of questioning:

    Questioning is used not only as a pedagogical tool but also as a deliberate way for the teacher to find out what students know, understand and are able to do.

·         Effective teacher feedback

    Effective teacher feedback focuses on established success criteria and tells the students what they have achieved and where they need to improve. Importantly, the feedback provides specific suggestions about how that improvement might be achieved.

·         Peer feedback

    Peer feedback occurs when a student uses established success criteria to tell another student what they have achieved and where improvement is necessary. Again, the feedback provides specific suggestions to help achieve improvement.

·         Student self-assessment

    Student self-assessment encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning. It incorporates self-monitoring, self-assessment and self-evaluation.

·         The formative use of summative assessment

    Summative assessment is a necessary aspect of education. Formative use can be made of summative assessment, both before and after the assessment event.

Reference:

Education Services of Australia. Assessment for Learning. [online].  Retrieved on December 8, 2012 from:

http://www.assessmentforlearning.edu.au/professional_learning/professional_learning_landing

.htm

Poverty and Violence in the United States

                                                                      Violence 

As a child I grew up with violence. For the first five years of my life I watched as my father would get drunk and beat my mother to a bloody pulp. What's worse is he told me it was my fault. How did I cope? I never had a "child hood". I took on adult responsibilties at 5 when my parents separated and divorced. I took care of younger siblings, helped cook meals, washed dishes etc. I never attended Kindergarten like the rest of my siblings. I was too much of a help around the house. Being told (at 5) that something that horrific was your fault sticks with you. I wanted to make sure nothing bad had ever happened to my mom again, and I certainly wasn't going to cause her any strife, so I went through my childhood doing everything in my power to make sure I  was a "perfect" child. I cooked, cleaned, did my school work and when old enough held down a job so that I could help pay for clothes, food etc. My mom remarried when I was about 16 and by 17 I had moved out of the house. I married at 18 and had a child nine months later. To answer the question as to how I coped; I didn't. There were no resources available and apparently as I learned later, nobody realized I had been affected by the violence. I suffered from nightmares (stemming from a particular violent night) all my life to the point where at 25 I finally seeked out counseling. The counselor advised me to confront my parents about what had happened. I wrote letters to both informing them as to how I had suffered as a child and was still sufferng. My mother called and told me she had no idea I had even remembered any of that let alone suffered from the memories. My dad never achknowledged receiving the letter.

Writing the letters, surprisingly enough, helped more than I could imagine. I have developed a relationship with my father, he quit drinking and shows remorse for who he was back then. I rarely think about those days anymore and even less frequent that I have nightmares. So, I finally did cope by seeing a counselor even if it did take me 20-years.

                                                                       Poverty

I decided I wanted to research poverty in America. I wanted to see what state was considered the poorest in the country; and found that to be Mississippi.

According to Ecanned, the state of Mississippi when compared to other States across the United States, can be considered to have a very high poverty rate amongst the population.
In Mississippi, there are 386,261 families, with 734,836 children.

Psychological research has demonstrated that living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of our nation’s children. Poverty impacts children within their various contexts at home, in school, and in their neighborhoods and communities.

• Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard housing, homelessness, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe neighborhoods, and underresourced schools which adversely impact our nation’s children.
• Poorer children and teens are also at greater risk for several negative outcomes such as poor academic achievement, school dropout, abuse and neglect, behavioral and socioemotional problems, physical health problems, and developmental delays.
• These effects are compounded by the barriers children and their families encounter when trying to access physical and mental health care.
• Economists estimate that child poverty costs an estimated $500 billion a year to the U.S. economy; reduces productivity and economic output by 1.3 percent of GDP; raises crime and increases health expenditure (Holzer et al., 2008).
• Poverty has a particularly adverse effect on the academic outcomes of children, especially during early childhood.
• Chronic stress associated with living in poverty has been shown to adversely affect children’s concentration and memory which may impact their ability to learn.
• The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in 2008, the dropout rate of students living in low-income families was about four and one-half times greater than the rate of children from higher-income families (8.7 percent versus 2.0 percent).
• The academic achievement gap for poorer youth is particularly pronounced for low-income African American and Hispanic children compared with their more affluent White peers.
• Underresourced schools in poorer communities struggle to meet the learning needs of their students and aid them in fulfilling their potential.
• Inadequate education contributes to the cycle of poverty by making it more difficult for low-income children to lift themselves and future generations out of poverty.
• Children living in poverty are at greater risk of behavioral and emotional problems.
• Some behavioral problems may include impulsiveness, difficulty getting along with peers, aggression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder.
• Some emotional problems may include feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
• Poverty and economic hardship is particularly difficult for parents who may experience chronic stress, depression, marital distress and exhibit harsher parenting behaviors. These are all linked to poor social and emotional outcomes for children.
• Unsafe neighborhoods may expose low-income children to violence which can cause a number of psychosocial difficulties. Violence exposure can also predict future violent behavior in youth which places them at greater risk of injury and mortality and entry into the juvenile justice system.
• Children and teens living in poorer communities are at increased risk for a wide range of physical health problems:
  
• Low birth weight
• Poor nutrition which is manifested in the following ways:
  
  1. Inadequate food which can lead to food insecurity/hunger
  2. Lack of access to healthy foods and areas for play or sports which can lead to childhood overweight or obesity
• Chronic conditions such as asthma, anemia, and pneumonia
• Risky behaviors such as smoking or engaging in early sexual activity
• Exposure to environmental contaminants, e.g., lead paint and toxic waste dumps
• Exposure to violence in their communities which can lead to trauma, injury, disability, and mortality.
•  

Families and children are defined as poor if family income is below the federal poverty threshold. The federal poverty level for a family of four with two children was $22,350 in 2011, $22,050 in 2010, and $22,050 in 2009.

http://www.nccp.org/profiles/MS_profile_7.html
http://www.usm.edu/poverty/temp_parts/Mahlet/poverty_in_mississippi.html
http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx?item=2

 

CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH

CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH

I chose SIDS as my topic because I have a friend who lost her daughter to SIDS at five months. It was a devastating loss twelve years ago and continues to haunt her today.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is defined as the sudden death of an infant less than 1 year of age that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation is conducted, including a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.

SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants aged 1–12 months, and is the third leading cause overall of infant mortality in the United States. The overall rate of SIDS in the United States has declined by more than 50% since 1990. Several reasons for the decrease is advances in newborn care, better nutrition, access to clean water, and widespread immunization. However, there are still some young infants who appear healthy, already gaining weight, learning to shake a rattle and starting to roll over that die un-expectantly in their sleep.

In the United States, about 5,000 babies died of SIDS, the rate in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and South America experience a rate of 1 infant in every 800. Careful data collection revealed surprising ethnic differences.

 Bangladeshi infants in England are almost always breast-fed, and they sleep surrounded by family members, hearing noises and feeling the comforting touch of their caregivers. They do not sleep deeply for long. But by contrast, their traditional British age-mates slept in their own private spaces, never co-sleeping. Those long periods of lone sleep may contribute to the higher rates of SIDS in white infants. Babies of Asian descent were far less likely than babies of European or African decent to succumb to SIDS.

 In 1994 the Back-to-Sleep campaign was launched to encourage parents to put their children to sleep on their backs to help prevent SIDS.  SIDS rates began to degrease in every nation, especially those where stomach or side sleeping had been the norm.

Following are three websites I have found with information regarding SIDS.

http://www.kidshealth.org/

http://www.cdc.gov/sids/

http://www.sidscenter.org