Sharing Web Resources

I decided to explore The National Black Child Development Institute and this organization has been steadfast in their mission of improving and protecting the quality of life of children, youth and families in the Greater Greensboro community. I read a poem on this site that really spoke to the mission of helping impoverished children of all races. This poem made me think of how important it is to improve the system of early childhood. When I read this poem I see the black child as the system of early childhood and all that it will offer.

I am the Black Child
All the world waits my coming
All the world watches with interest
to see what I shall become

Civilization hangs in the balance
What I am, the world of tomorrow will be

I am the Black Child
You have brought me into this world
about which I know nothing
You hold in my hand your destiny
You determine whether I shall succeed or fail

Give me a world where I can walk tall and proud
Train me to love myself and my people
to build and maintain a great nation.

            This site made me think of the economist theory of the “early payback” in terms of giving more through the events such as “Back 2 School, College Zone and Freedom School. They offer in a way that says the more you give or put into our efforts early on will have positive effects in the future of what we can offer to this society as long as you feed the seed now.

            This website also made me think about issues and trends of  the challenges that some children face every day in their community and one of the issues that they addressed was gun control and many children spoke of the changes they would make in their community if they could. This was very insightful speaking from the minds of the children.

Getting to Know your International Contacts- Part 1

I have been unsuccessful in establishing any contact with my international communication but I decided to research the poverty level for children in Mexico, about 25% of Mexican children live in conditions with food poverty, this means they live in homes were the income is not enough to buy the basic food necessities. Almost 24% of children live in unsanitary housing conditions with 5 or more to a room with dirt floors. Over 5% have no access to any sanitation and over 14 % of Mexico’s children under the age of 5 years old are stunted in their growth and their development caused by malnutrition. These rates are increased in many of the rural areas and can reach almost to 35% and this is among indigenous children. Children suffer from means of inequality in child rights and labor laws.

I understand poverty and how it can have a detrimental effect on the mental and physical well being of children. I understand that it is wide spread across the world and affects our children the hardest. We must find ways to minimize the effects that poverty can hold on our children if we let this continue in increasing numbers around the world. We need to put more into the early education systems to improve the results of education early and attempt to prevent the increasing number of individuals that drop out of school and continue the cycle of poverty rather than working hard to prevent it.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I choose to reflect on was “The Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children” this organization shares its commitment to all children and their education. They share information worldwide and provide materials on different programs and services of childhood resources. This organization supports high quality care and offers trainings to ensure this goal is obtained internationally. They offer a five day intense training that support the goal “ of linking research, policy and practice in early care and education.

I also chose to reflect on “Association for Childhood Education International” this organization is an advocate in support of higher standards being implemented and to promote the well being of all children in their environment. There motto is “bright futures for every child in every nation” One thing that stood out to me was they offer an International Mother Language Day and this observes linguistic and cultural diversity. I can really appreciate this because I am learning a lot about how to add diversity into the classroom and how important it is to do so.

Establishing Professional Contacts

In my attempt to establish professional contact worldwide with early childhood organizations I decided to reach out to The Global Alliance of NAEYC, I have sent an e-mail message explaining my purpose and am waiting to hear back from someone, I think I should hear back from someone soon. I will also explore the alternate assignment and listen and try to communicate with the World Forum Radio because I am fascinated in Radio and have a communication background. I am expanding my resources by following www.NAEYC.org along with Association for Childhood Education International and see how they are related and how they can help deepen my understanding for the field.

"My Supports"

            I receive support on many different levels and I think the most important support factor that I receive is spiritual support from God, my personal Lord and Savior. My Lord is always there for me and has never forsaken me. Whenever I am going through God is always there to listen and pull me through my circumstance and allow me to come out stronger and more confident than ever before. The Lord is my rock and has shown that he will never leave my side no matter what.

My next supporter would be my mother and father. They are extremely important to me and they provide me with various forms of support such as emotional, monetary (if needed) and physical. If I were to ask my parents for anything and they are able to provide it they will give it to me with no questions asked. My father is always there to lend an ear and a shoulder to cry on whenever that is needed. My mother is there to give help in many more ways. She will take care of my son when needed, she will help to run my business and keeps it running smoothly when I am not able. She will come to cook and clean at my house whenever needed. She is fantastic form of support and I am so grateful to have her.

My husband is another great form of support, he is there for me through thick and thin and I am grateful for that. I went out of work two weeks ago to go into the hospital to have our second child and he took time off from work from his job to go to my job and run my business so I did not have to close and lose my customers while I was out of work. He will cook, clean, wash clothes, take care of the kids and work constantly to care for our family and I am forever grateful for this. I know this is a true blessing and substantial benefit to have these support systems in place and having them makes my life so much easier. I know it would be extremely difficult if I did not have these people in my life as supporters because they go above and beyond to make my life easier in whatever way possible.

                I have a really BIG challenge right now and that is dealing with my father being very ill. He has diabetes and he is suffering with the side effects of the disease in a way that is not very promising. He has had this disease for over 20 years. I think about my father passing away and not being around and it makes me so sad because he is one of my biggest supporters. I lost my brother about 10 years ago to the same disease and my brother was only 36 years old when he passed. Seeing my father sick like that takes me back to the dark place of losing my brother.  I know my God, my mother and husband would be there for me to help me overcome this situation. They are so positive and always help me to see the positive in everything and I am forever grateful for them. I don’t think I would be able to make it in my life with my sanity if it were not for the tremendous supporters I have around me on the daily. My life would be very hard and I would have lost my mind a long time ago with everything that I have going on in a day. I love having such a dedicated group of people in my corner every day of my life.

"My Connections to Play"

 

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.
Michael Jordan

In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.
Friedrich Nietzsche

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
Albert Einstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a child play was my favorite thing to do. I was a dreamer therefore I loved Barbie dolls and I had quite a collection. My entire family knew I loved Barbie dolls the most and they would buy them every chance they had and I would be so happy. I was 10 years younger than my brother so it was almost as if I were an only child and I played alone most of the time. I would have company quite often because my mother felt bad that I was always alone and left to play by myself but I did not mind much and really grew to love playing alone.

I believe that play is a lot different today than it was when I was a child because we played with simple things like board games and made many games ourselves like drawing a hopscotch board on the sidewalk or getting a jump rope, but now a day’s children even as young as 5 years of age are requesting cell phones, tablets, computers and all these expensive technical gadgets that are two advanced for young children anyway. I think that the new technology exposure is good only in limitations and if the children are over exposed it will create problems for sure. I hope the young children today will understand this and not become overindulged with all this new technology. Moderation is key!

I think that my role of play as a child had a tremendous connection to my decision of becoming an early educator. I loved to play as a child and had a vivid imagination and I love to share that experience with children and really enjoy creating an environment that allows them the same exposure that I had as a child. I think if we have a positive experience with play as a child it can carry over into adulthood and make you a better person and have you wanting someone to share the same sort of positive experience as you.

 

Relationship Reflection

Week 2, Blog Assignment

Relationships are important to me because they help you to draw a bond to something or someone which helps you to feel valued and worthwhile. Healthy relationships help you to connect to your inner self because you can let yourself go when your around someone that makes you feel valued and it helps you to have a better understanding of who and what you are.

I value my relationship that I have with the LORD very much , but there are many people that I have positive relationships with as well and the most important ones are my family. My mother is very important to me because she has always taught me the value of self. My father, he has taught me the value of self confidence and being sure of yourself and never letting anyone take anything that you have accomplished and diminishing its worth. My husband who always is supportive and encouraging to me and keeps me grounded, and last but least my son because he gives me the courage to take on the world to protect him. I will always value each of these relationships because they truly make me who I am today.

It is very difficult dealing with people in general and I always say you are very lucky if you have a supportive family because you can pick your friends but you can never pick your family. In many cases people do not get the family that they can bond with. If you have a friend that is not supportive or makes you feel fulfilled you can always make new friends but with family it is not that easy. If you do have a supportive family that encourages you then you should value and treasure that experience because you are lucky to have that.

My family keeps me grounded along with the LORD, and I can trust in them and we have built a partnership in the value of our trust. I feel that I would not have succeeded in the capacity that I have if it were not for them building and sustaining the partnership that we have connected with.

I have learned the value of building healthy partnerships and healthy relationships and with this characteristic embedded in me that allows me to understand the significance this influence can have on someone’s life and with that being said that allows me to take this gift into my classrooms and pass it along to the children and adults that I encounter. If they are not exposed to healthy relationships then they will not know how to treasure them when one is laid upon them and that is why it is my responsibility as an early educator to influence them as much as possible with a healthy bond that they may never forget