My Connections to Play

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Play provides the ultimate curriculum for social, physical, and cognitive advancement

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(Wardle, F. n.d.).

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Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers

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(.Ginsberg, K. 2007). When we engage in play, we are letting loose, and using our deepest imagination to manipulate our world. Here are a few images that I used to utilize on a family outing to the Beach:

These images represent the items I had many opportunities to utilize when we traveled to the Beach. I could spend hours and hours with just these three items. However, the water, sand, sand creatures, people, and bird life created even more endless opportunities to take advantage of. All I needed to enjoy my time at the Beach was my imagination and the natural environment around me. The cool breeze offered new and unique smells, while the water created beautiful waves, and an abundance of water to use to make sand castles, and swim in. The Beach was my playground as a child, and today as an adult. I now have the opportunity to take my children there and watch them do what I did when I played at the beach. My grandfather opened up many opportunities for me and my brother to engage in play. We took many trips to the park, beach, we traveled to Mexico, Texas, and Lakes, and Rivers. We had opportunities to play outside in the front and back yard as well. We had so much freedom as children. I remember taking my bicycle and riding around the neighborhood with my brother. We even used to travel for miles and explore different tree species, plants, and meet neighborhood children. We had no rules when we played, except basic life skills such as no fighting, stealing, staying out late, and especially not talking to strangers. These were not play based rules; they were just instilled upon us since birth. My grandfather gave us insights as to different names of plants, we planted our own garden, and we ate fruit and vegetables out of trees and gardens. He taught us how to enjoy ourselves outdoors by allowing us the time to explore and use our imagination. As I reminisce my past, I notice that I do not see play like I used to when I was a child. I barely even see children outside. Once in a while, I see children chasing each other in a neighbor’s yard, or a neighbor child playing a hand held gaming system. I feel that parents don’t have time to allow them to go outdoors, and the issue of safety due to a corrupt society. In my city, there have been ten shootings in one month. I understand the fear for children to be allowed outside. In my childhood, I had many life lessons as I had the opportunity to play outdoors. I had my share of bumps and bruises, which gave me the experience of trying to be careful not to fall, or how to take care of scrapes and cuts, I learned how to ride a bike, I can climb trees, I can grow a garden, I can cook, I know my weather patterns, I know smells of dirt, mud, sand, asphalt, rocks, worms, bugs, and various other animals and insects. Our young may not get the opportunity to enjoy the same freedom as we did, but I do hope that there are ways for them to learn and experience nature, science, discovery, and the ability to use their imagination as I did. The role of play is essential to learning life skills, the use of a creative mind, and opportunities to engage in a peace of mind and wonder. The role of play has created fulfillment in my life because of the many experiences that have taught me the things that I know today. Without it, I often wonder if I would have learned the skills that I know now. I know my Grandfather has contributed to these skills as well. But it was his allowance that let us venture out and explore that gave me the many benefits of motor development, physical, emotional, cognitive, and social experiences.

References Ginsberg, K. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191. Retrieved from (http://www.aap.org/pressroom/playfinal.pdf). Wardle, F. (n.d.). Play as curriculum. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from (http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=12 7).

Relationship Reflection

Relationship Reflection: Relationships are the whole reason why children become socialized and develop healthy interactions with people and peers. Good relationships are essential to supporting a child’s social development. A child who has developed a good relationship with his or her family, and others in society such as, teacher’s, doctors, and peers, can learn how to maintain friendships and gain a tremendous amount of information the world has to offer. Educators have long known that family involvement is vital to children’s success in school” (Souto-Manning, M. 2010). Children who have healthy support groups usually do better and school, or drop-out less. My personal web of relationships/ partnerships include: my boyfriend William, my 2 daughters (Christy and Sophia), my brother Richard, my Doctor and his Assistants, my Teachers, my Colleagues, my Church Pastor, my Friends, and my children’s Grandparents. Although the list can go on and on, I have developed a large network of trusted and dedicated professionals that I have learned from, gained knowledge from, and most of all…these professionals have made me what I am today. They have helped me in time of need, and offered their knowledge as a tool for me to utilize in my own life. It is from the wide range of important relationships that I have encountered and developed in my life that teaches me to be a good influence to everyone I meet. Here is a few of the supports in my life:

The first picture is one of my boyfriend of ten years, and our two daughters. These relationships are important to me because they are of my immediate family. Between the love me and my boyfriend share, we created two little girls whom I have developed a strong bond with. The bond I have with my girls is one of love, trust, devotion, dedication, and many other positive aspects of humanity. The love and partnership that I share with my boyfriend is similar, except that we are a relationship that we developed from friends. We did not create each other. But we certainly created a love for each other and our daughters. From that, it is our responsibility as parents to make sure that we teach our children right from wrong, important things that we know, give them love, and lead them into the right direction by helping them when they need it and offering our advice. In doing so, I can rest assured that my daughters can develop a sense of empathy towards others, and be confident in their decisions to make the right one’s without inflicting harm on others. The second picture is one of me and my baby girl. She is my youngest child. The relationship I have offered her is love, protection, care, guidance, and communication. I respond to her needs and teach her about her world around her. She is the whole reason I have a drive to make her world a better place. Moreover, my baby’s smiles, and her responses to my interactions shows me that she has love to offer me in return of my contribution of being a mother to her. Some insights that I have gained regarding challenges to developing and maintaining relationships are one’s in which we lose the loss of a loved one, or we find a dedicated teacher who touches our life, and then we move on to another grade in school and lose contact with that special teacher. Another challenge that parents face is the workforce has got them gone for long periods of time, and the relationships that they want to build with their children are torn between work and responsibilities of running the home. “In today’s fast-paced society, teachers and families face competing demands for their time, energy, and resources (Anderson & Sabatelli 2007). The workforce can sometimes make it difficult for parents to be involved in their child’s class, or to spend time reading to them, which can be discouraging for parents to try to spend quality time with their child. “For adults who work fulltime, it may be impossible to volunteer in their children’s classrooms” (Souto-Manning,M. 2010). Special characteristics that make these relationships partnerships are the ability to communicate, offer time, and offer healthy interactions. Also, by responding to a child’s needs, shows that we have formed a relationship of care and empathy. By working in collaboration with families, we can learn about their culture, their childrearing techniques, and their diverse contributions to society. Moreover, this strategy of forming healthy relationships with parents can better serve the children because they can form a trust for the teacher and feel comfortable with them. Lastly, by developing positive partnerships/relationships, we can better serve our duties as professionals in the early childhood field because children can come to a safe, guiding, nurturing, and fun environment to learn and play. Also, parents can feel comfortable in bringing their children to a safe environment and offer their wisdom and expertise. Lastly, the partnership of teacher and parent forms, which makes the duty of a teacher a whole lot easier. If everyone is happy, the children benefit. Because the teacher can focus on creating an environment that supports child development. References Anderson, S., & R. Sabatelli. (2007). Family interaction: A multigenerational perspective. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Souto-Manning, M. (2010). Family involvement: Challenges to consider, strengths to build on. Young Children, 65(2), 82-88 Retreived from. (http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqcentral/docview/197637257/fulltextPDF?accountid=14872).

When I think of Child Development

More Quotes about children: "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." — Emilie Buchwald "Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today." — Gabriela Mistral "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!" Retrieved from. (http://www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/quotable/). These quotes about reading and children are inspirational to me because they are true about the benefit of books and reading. I value books in my house, I love to read, and I love to offer new and exciting books to my children. Books offer new information, as well as a journey, or escape to a world of imagination, which makes us unique. Lastly, books are a way to offer children a new way to obtain information other than their relatives, or through the internet. I would also love to give a shout of thanks to all of the important people in my life at the moment. My colleagues and Instructors are important for helping me through my journey to advance in my field of study. I value all of your remarks, criticisms, and words of wisdom. You indeed help me go another day with true passion to teach and love young children. I hope that you continue your positive path towards making an impact in our world, and to value the job that you do because it does help others. You helped me. Thanks again and take care. References Reading Rockets: Teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle. Retrieved from . (http://www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/quotable/).

Testing for Intelligence?

• Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to "the whole child"), what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed? Explain your reasoning. I do believe that children should have testing to measure if they are developing or progressing as expected via their age. Also, I believe that some tests can let teachers and parents have ideas as to where a child needs improvements or is advancing. I also, believe that as teachers and parents learn about how children learn, they are also developing strong bonds and relationships with the children. • In what ways are school-age children assessed in other parts of the world? (Choose a country or region of the world for which you have a personal affinity.) School-aged children are tested in West Germany, the Netherlands, and England just as it is in the US. Standardized Tests are used for special needs assessment and educational guidance and there is some trend toward increased use of graded objective tests. Germany uses testing to measure intelligence, while standardized tests are rarely used because “it was generally found that teachers do not use standardized tests of their own accord, mostly because tests are not tailor-made for what the teachers have been teaching” (Neville, P. T. November, 1986). • What additional ideas, comments, suggestions, examples, and/or concerns related to assessing young children would you like to share with your colleagues? I feel that testing children to see if they are progressing in school is a great way to see if they are ready to move on to higher learning. Also, by watching them in their natural environment, with their peers, and during play, we can really see how a child is developing and grows. The issue of testing can be a way to measure competency, and to measure skills of the whole child, but testing can also discourage children, especially the kind of test that measures intelligence. I feel that observation is the best way to learn from a child. References Neville, T. Postlethwaite. (November 1986). “The use of Standardized Tests in Secondary Schools in four European Coutries. National Center of Educational research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. (38 pp.). retrieved from.( http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED304455.pdf ).

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Poverty affects children on a global level, not just children of the United States. As a young child, I was raised by my single grandpa. He by no means could afford to pay for me and my three siblings. He had to rely on his Social Security Income, and his retirement just to pay the rent. I remember him also having to spend all day in the local Welfare office to apply for food stamps for us. Although, we were at the low-income level, we still had food in the fridge and clean clothes. There are many things that I remember when I was a young child- like not having the cool or hip clothes that my friends had, or more than three pairs of shoes, but I had family, happiness, and parental guidance. One of the ways that I dealt with our hardship was to make friends at school and not to let my financial hardships embarrass me. I remember my friends telling me that they loved to come to my house because my grandpa made the best beans and rice ever. They never judged me for my clothes or shoes, my friends came over and we played, and some even spend the night. Japan is one of the biggest financial powerhouses in the world, but they still suffer from poverty. Not only parents suffer from economic burden, but children are the ones who suffer the most. According to Masanori Matsumura, “a primary school teacher for 30 years, a growing number of children in Japan today cannot even afford classroom supplies "such as paints or craft materials." He adds, "The expanding poverty is hitting the most vulnerable victims – children." (Murakami, M. 2010). Parents are having to work more than one job just to make ends meet, which leads to parents not having time to spend with their children. “Children grow frustrated – even turn violent in some cases – when their parents are not around to take care of them because of the resulting neglect by parents” (Murakami, M. 2010). There are other consequences to being poverty level as well. Parents cannot provide for school lunches or pay for health insurance, which leads to poor health. “The local media, for instance, reported that 33,000 children across the nation did not have health insurance” (Murakami, M. 2010). To overcome the issues of poverty, Japan is relying on tourists to spend money at their shops, food, and vacation resorts. “Another policy guarantees free senior high school education for everyone, with the government pledging to pay 120,000 to 240,000 yen (1,287 to 2,574 dollars) for each student, depending on the schools’ and parents’ incomes” (Murakami, M. 2010). Although poverty strikes everyone, there are certain measures that can be done to help allocate for spending, but if children are important enough, society will do everything in their power to ensure a safe and healthy future for the children. References Mutsuko, Murakami. (January 8, 2010). Japan’s rude awakening: Poverty hurts. Retrieved from. (http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49915).

child Development and Public Health

Today I am going to talk about Breastfeeding and why I feel that it is an important topic relating to public health and healthy child development. Breastfeeding is the best form of nutrition for a child’s first year of life. Breast milk contains all of the important nutrients and antibodies that an infant’s body needs for proper growth and brain development. Breast milk is also convenient because there are no bottles to carry around and it is always warm and ready to eat. Breast milk offers a mother and her baby a time to bond because of the closeness and interacting involved in breastfeeding. “Babies who are exclusively breast-fed are less likely to get sick, because breast milk provides them with antibodies against any disease to which the mother is immune” (Berger, 2009, p. 154). As a currently breastfeeding mother, I feel that I am offering my baby Sophia with the most nutritious meals that I can offer her. I have always wanted to breastfeed. I have had difficulty with breastfeeding my first daughter due to hospitalization and her death in 1996, my second daughter was an emergency cesarean and she wanted nothing to do with the breast. As I have successfully been breastfeeding for 8 months now, I have learned a great deal about the benefits as well as, the dedication to my child. Breastfeeding requires a lot of time and patience because there is no given time to complete a task when you have a hungry baby. But the closeness and bond that comes out of breastfeeding is the greatest gift one can be blessed with. I would never trade it for the world. In other countries, where majority of the population is at risk for HIV, breastfeeding may not be the best for the baby. “Other researchers find that bottle-feeding may sometimes be better, such as when the mother is HIV-positive or uses toxic or addictive drugs” (Berger, 2009). In Africa, where mothers may have HIV it is sometimes encouraged because the risk of contracting the disease is “less than their risk of dying from infections, diarrhea, or malnutrition as a result of occasional bottle feeding (Cohen, 2007). Information such as breastfeeding can impact my future work because breastfed babies tend to be sick less often and their immune systems are stronger. Also, it is important to learn about the benefits of breastfeeding to help parents to create better bonds with their infants and to offer their babies all of the nutrition that they need. I feel that having information about breastfeeding is important to share with others so they can raise their children via breastfeeding to reduce infant mortality, obesity, heart disease, and various other killers in children. References Cohen, Jon. (2007, March 9). Hope on new AIDS drugs, but breast-feeding strategy back-fires. Science, 317, 1315-1317. Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Childbirth here and elsewhere

My first birthing experience was a rather traumatic one. I was 17 years old and was having contractions at 35 weeks pregnant. The doctors told me that it was false labor because I was 5 weeks early. They sent me home after telling me that I was one cm dilated and once the shot they gave me to stop the contractions started to work. Later that evening I was sitting down to eat dinner that I prepared for me and my husband at the time and a sudden pain started again. This time it lasted for a day and a half. I timed my contractions and went to the hospital once they were 5 minutes apart. The doctors hooked me up to the monitors and measured my contractions. After one hour of monitoring I went from 2 cm dilated to 8 cm. it was now time to have my very first baby. I was in a hospital in California, which included a private birthing room. I was placed on a birthing bed, and my feet were strapped to stirrups. The nurses gave me an episiotomy and I did not have any medications or pain relief due to the fact that I was already in the later stages of labor. It was 11 pm and they called the Doctor on call to come and deliver my baby. The doctor performed the incision so I wouldn’t tear while performing natural childbirth. After about thirty minutes of pushing Anna Marie came out. At first the doctors were not sure if her feet or he head was coming out first. That alarmed me. Anna was born with her skin peeled off from head to toe. She was bald and had no fingernails and eyelashes. She was rushed to the ICU and treated as a burn victim. She only weighed 5lbs. 8 oz. and she was determined to have a rare skin disorder. She was then transported the next day to Children’s Hospital LA, where they placed her in Neonatal ICU solitary unit. She then passed away three and a half weeks later due to an infection that lead to her heart. Anna Marie’s skin biopsies were stored for future testing in case any other children would be born with the rare skin disorder. Anna’s case was a rare and unique one because further findings were that there was no disease known to man that was exactly like my Anna. I laid her to rest in the family cemetery and have had two more children since. My two little girls now are my blessing from Anna, for I have always wanted to have a daughter of my own to love and hold. The reason I chose to discuss my story about Anna is because I experienced a healthy pregnancy, I ate the right and nutritious foods, I exercised lightly, and I had prenatal care. Anna gave medicine a sample to study and learn from. Anna gave us a little bit of her life to see the world outside the womb, and to greet her mommy and daddy. I feel that her little bit of life gave me strength and knowledge about Child Development in regards to skin diseases and incidents that we have little knowledge of. Feel the world can learn from her and in hopes that no other child will have the same outcome. I performed some research about birthing in Korea. It seems that they have most of the same technology that the US has in birthing. They perform cesareans like the US does. Korea has one unique method of birthing such as a birthing pool. It is only used for non placental deliveries. I feel this is a comfortable way to relieve contractions while getting ready to birth. Korea also performs episiotomies and they have private rooms for the baby to room in but only through private consultations with the Doctor prior to the birth. (http://www.korea4expats.com). I have noticed a few differences with Korean tradition of birthing than with Western procedures. In Korea the husband or father is not present in the birthing room, “Korean births are not always in a private room” (http://www.korea4expats.com). I feel that the birthing experiences in Korea are similar to the US, but the father not being present leads me to believe that the father to child bond is not as strong as in the US or in hospitals that allow fathers to be present. References Korea 4 Expats. com “Having a baby in Korea-Giving Birth” (2011). Retrieved from (http://www.korea4expats.com/article-giving-birth-in-korea.html).