Sharing Web Resources

I have chosen to share more about http://www.zerotothree.org/  This organization focuses on children from Pre-natal to age 3.  The website gives a lot of information.  For example it includes behavior and development, maltreatment, care and education, and public policy.  I looked this week at care and education.  They had a lot of valuable information but I chose to focus on school readiness which is interactive.  I focused on self-control and watched a video.  I found it interesting that they do not advocate for time-outs for children aged two or three.  They said it is ineffective.


There also is download of the week.  This week is the Magic of Everyday Moments - 24 to 36 months.

I was sent an article to my email.  It was a free article from their newsletter where Matthew E. Memed writes A Call to Action for Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care.  He argues for policy agenda making vulnerable infants and toddlers a priority and creating a developmental approach to their care.

As far as cultural diversity, I would have liked to see more things related to being bilingual, or resources in Spanish.  Maybe I will see it later on, but didn't see it now.  I have to explore deeply.


Found it:


http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_par_1224_selfcontvid1

Spanish Video :))












  

Establishing Foreign Contacts

As part of our first blog assignment, we have to connect with an early childhood educator in another country.  How exciting!  I decided that I would like to connect with someone in Latin America but was confused with the NAEYC site.  There were no contact information or emails for anyone in this region.  So I refocused and thought about what I would find interesting such as places that have child brides such as Ethiopia or child labor like India.  I searched for these places and found also no contact information.  Through the UNICEF website I was able to find a contact for Ethiopia.  I emailed them what I was interested in and am still awaiting a reply.  We shall see what happens.  I am really interested in finding out how these countries who are known to not have education for young poor girls work towards equity in education.


Expanding Resources

I chose to look at http://www.zerotothree.org/baby-brain-map.html I actually chose this site for selfish reasons.  Both my children fall into this age group.  The site is specificially for prenatal development until age three.  I especially like the part of the site called Baby Brain Map.  You can put what age group to focus on and it tells you how their brain is developing.  I registered with this website and hope to get some interesting information.  When I do I will send it all your way.

My Supports

Everyone needs supports.  I have many supports. 

One support I have is my husband.  My husband diligently works to provide for me, and my children.  He sometimes works 80+ hours at the hospital to provide for us.  He undergoes stress so I don't have to.  His everlasting faith strengthens our family.  His humorous spirit makes us laugh and makes stressful situations seem minute.  My husband provides financial support and emotional support.  He also happens to be my "GUY" best friend.  I can tell him anything.   He loves me unconditionally and makes sure I know it. 

Another support I have is my best friend Rosa.  I have known Rosa since I was a child.  We grew up in the  same church and are best friends to this day.  She is my confidante when I need a female ear.  She is my spiritual sister.  God didn't give me a biological sister but gave me  a spiritual one.  I wouldn't know what I would do without her telling me to relax everything will be ok.  She has seen me go through many changes and is my child's Godmother.  She is a strong woman and I respect her opinion.

Another support I have is family, friends, and church.  Church serves as an outlet for frustration.  I can go to God when I feel I can't go to anyone.  God has been my cornerstone all my life and I wouldn't have anything without his grace and favor in my life.  My family has been amazing.  They have been a saving grace when I had my children and underwent an emergency C-section and needed someone to help me.  They cooked for me, babysat, cleaned, ironed and did everything I couldn't do for myself or my family.  They did it with a joyous heart and much love. 

Another support I have is a lot of the practical things such as my computer where I can communicate with others frequently and where I can complete my classwork.  Another practical support is my car.  I go everywhere in my car.  I don't know how I would do all that I do without it.  I can't picture myself riding a NYC bus or train with an infant and a toddler.


Wow, I didn't really want to think of any challenges.  But I figure one challenge I can write about is getting sick.  Rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family and if that was to happen to me it would limit all that I would be able to do.  How can I complete a computer course if I am in excruciating pain when I type?   How can I cook for my family, iron for my husband, drive my car, scrapbook with Rosa, bake cookies, and braid my daughter's hair?  I guess I would need my support on a daily basis.  I think I would probably have to hire a cleaning lady and get some more assistance on a daily basis for everyday house duties.  I would have to have my husband do more of the daily chores such as laundry and food shopping.  I would be more dependent on others which is something I wouldn't be happy about. I would probably need the support of a physician to manage my RA.  I would probably have to be on meds or even an exercise program.  My life would change because I would need more and different support.

My Connections to Play

Coloring

playing under their tent

Mark Twain
Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.

Plato
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Health Issue - Clean Drinking Water

I chose clean drinking water because clean water is a necessity for health.  When I lived in Dominica, West Indies, getting clean water was sometimes a problem especially during the rainy season.  I thank God that on campus we had water fountains that contained clean filtered water.  My husband and I would fill 3 gallon jugs from the campus water and carry them home.  I know the poorer locals didn't have access to clean water and at times my neighbor with young children would ask us to get water for her.  Some households had regular plumbing while others had to pump water from a well.  Some small towns would use the river to clean, bathe, and drink.  Their government was working on ways to obtain clean water for their people.

I chose to focus on the health issue of clean drinking water in Afghanistan.  This part of the world is of particular interest to me.  My heart goes out to the women and children who suffer at the hands of corrupt leaders - both political and religous.

 I can say that these issues will affect my future work because knowing and understanding these important issues will help me be sensitive to the needs of my students and their families.  

Clean, safe drinking water is a basic right. A right which over 1.2 billion people

around the world are denied. A lack of clean water affects sanitation, health, food supplies and preparation and economic development.

Afghanistan has a population of 22 million people, 70% of which is undernourished and one in four children die before the age of five.  Only 13% of people have access to improved water sources and the situation has worsened due to inadequate rainfall over the last two years causing the government to declare 12 districts drought-affected.

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/_content/documents/AFGHANISTAN.pdf 

Child Quotes

Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. First Lady  "Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. Barack Obama

Assessing Children

As teachers we know that it is important to assess our students.  We need to know what they entered the grade knowing and we need to know if progress is being made.  The problem therein lies with are we testing too much or too little?  Are we testing the right way? Should testing be individualized? I know through personal experience that students could understand a concept and the minute they hear the word exam, or assessment, they freeze and cannot function.  I remember I had a student who was so stressed out about city exams (he was already struggling) that he developed Alopecia (losing his hair). We need to assess our students but I think we rely too much on standardized exams.  I remember students who were at the top of the class and would do mediocre and kids who couldn't even read were passing exams because they guessed correctly.  I think we need to take everything with a grain of salt.  There needs to be a balance of state assessment, classroom assessment, and critical teacher evaluation of progress.


In Afghanistan, the Afghan war has destroyed the educational infrastructure, demolished school buildings, and has killed teachers.  There is a huge disparity between boys who go to schools and the number of girls.  Because of the Taliban, girls were not allowed to receive an education and currently the number of girls attending schools is lower than the number of boys who attend school.  Because of war, no records were available to assess students.  
http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/afghanistan/rapport_1.html