Time Well Spent...

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. ~Frederick Douglass

One of the most important lessons I have learned throughout this degree program is that we must look past our own biases in order to listen and learn with an open mind.

We must set goals for our work with children, and make sure we are staying focused on these goals. Only then will be able to assess our effectiveness and make changes, if necessary, to better meet the needs of our students and their families.

We must strive to stay abreast of new developments, research, and theories relating to early education and care. By keeping informed of relevant information, we can offer our students the best possible environments for exploring and learning safely and effectively.

 I belong to a local organization that is devoted to providing resources to the needy in our city. As a member of the Partnership for Parents and Families, my child care center is connected with mental health professionals, doctors, fuel and rent assistance organizations, hunger relief organizations, and other resources.  Eventually, my goal is to team up with the Partnership and use my M.S in Early Childhood Studies to offer workshops and trainings to other providers in the community. The courses at Walden have been extremely helpful in helping me focus on where I want to help, what qualities I will need to provide that help, and how to put it all together.

 I would like to give a big thanks to all of you who have shared this journey with me. I wish you all the best of luck as you continue your work in the early education field.

               

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

World Vision is a worldwide organization that relies primarily on private/public sponsorship to help meet their goal of assisting children all over the world. This organization serves over 100 million children in nearly 100 countries.  The World Vision organization strives to help meet the basic needs of children, in addition to providing them with a good education. This organization does not have any job opportunities that I am qualified for because they only seem to have corporate positions. Available. For more information, you can visit their website at http://www.worldvision.org

Save the Children is a very large organization that serves over 120 nations by helping poverty-stricken children and their families. The organization strives to assist these children by protecting them from exploitation. They provide needy families with housing, medical, and education benefits. Some of the populations they help have been greatly affected by natural disasters, wars, and ethnic cleansings. In order to be a successful member of this organization, it would be imperative to be a real ‘hands on’ worker and have excellent communication skills. There are some openings for volunteers in the Washington, DC area. http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm:

The World Forum Foundation is an organization which brings early childhood educators from all over the globe together to brainstorm ideas and launch projects that affect children worldwide.  At World Forum gatherings people come together to launch global projects on specific issues and topics. Current projects focus on AIDS and young children, peace education, teacher education, and immigration and young children. In order to be a member of this group, one would have to possess a real desire to improve early childhood education on a global basis. There are no job openings with the World Forum Foundation at this time.

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

My first federal organization is the Early Intervention Program. This program is geared towards early (birth-3) detection and assistance with potential special needs. The earlier children are given treatment or therapy, the more successful  they are likely to  be with that treatment. I would like to work as a speech therapist with the Early Intervention Program. I would need a BS in ECE with a Special Needs specialization, and a sincere desire to help children get the best possible results with their treatments. http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/early.intervention.html

Next is the National School Lunch Program. The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in over 101,000 public and non‐profit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low‐cost or free lunches to more than 31 million children each school day. If I were to work for this program, I would need to travel a lot, as they do site visits all across the country. http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/aboutlunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf

Last is the Federal Weatherization Program. The Federal Weatherization Program is designed to help low-income families reduce their fuel bills by making their homes more energy-efficient. If I worked for this program, I would need good ‘people’ skills, as much of the job would require home visits. I would need to travel quite a bit, as well. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/wap.html

None of these programs is hiring right now, but one can submit an application online for each of them.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

                                                                                        

My first organization is Pathways For Children. They are located in my city -  Gloucester, Ma.. The goal of Pathways is to offer a quality early childhood experience to children whose families would otherwise not be able to afford it. They really make a difference in the lives of many children. Pathways For Children gets a lot of grants. They get the rest of their money through fund-raising. LOTS of fund-raising.. I would be interested in employment with Pathways For Children as a program director. If I were to work for Pathways, I would need to be very well versed in grant-writing, and willing to fund raise pretty much year-round. http://www.pathwaysforchildren.org/

My second is a state organization – the Dept. of Early Education and Care. This organization is responsible for setting and enforcing the rules and regulations for child care in MA. In order to open a child care center, preschool, after school program, or summer camp, a licensor from the EEC must make a visit to determine if you meet state standards for space, staff, and policies. I feel they do a good job of ensuring a safe environment for the children in Massachusetts. I would like to be hired as a Licensor. In order to gain employment with the EEC, I would need a BA in early childhood education (or elementary education) be willing to drive a LOT, and would need to be a good reader of people. There is a 3 month intensive training period, as well. I would have to have a good memory - there are lots of regs to learn!
http://www.mass.gov/edu/government/departments-and-boards/department-of-early-education-and-care/

 My third is a a state (and national) organization – Head Start. The goals of this organization are to provide a healthy start for children whose families meet the income guidelines. In addition to child care and preschool, Head Start helps families receive health, dental, food, and shelter services. This organization is probably the most well-known in the early education field. I would like to be a director for Head Start. If I were to seek employment with Head Start, I would need a sincere desire to teach others to help themselves. Head Start tends to hire parents from their programs, giving them training and a potential career in the ECE field.  http://www.massheadstart.org/

Unfortunately, there are no openings in any of the positions I mentioned :  (

Week 8!

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional is to become a more effective advocate for children and families in my community.

It has been wonderful working with all of you in this class!

I have learned so much from you through your discussion posts and blogs. We all bring our own perspective to the early childhood field and it has helped me very much to tap into that while learning about anti-bias education. Best wishes to you all as you complete the last course in the program. I really can not believe we will be all done with our Master's degree program in 8 short weeks! Wow!

                                                                               

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose to focus my blog assigment on the country of Nepal because my friend volunteered in an orphanage there last year - something I would love to do if I was ever able to free my life up enough to do it!

From what I gathered in reading the UNICEF website on Nepal, gender discrimination is alive and well in that country...and it is apparent in all aspects of life.

In fact, there is a wide gap between women and men when it comes to adequate access to health care, nutrition, education - or even basic participation in decision-making for themselves or their children. Sadly, infant mortality is much higher for girls, and illiteracy is far more common among women than men. Many rural women live in severe poverty, without any means of improving conditions for themselves and their families. Within households women often have less to eat than men. Insufficient calorie intake for the women leads directly to chronic malnutrition in the infants they nurse.

Lack of economic opportunity has resulted in many of the most productive members of households to migrate and leave the villages. As a result more and more women have been heading households alone and taking on the burden of sustaining the rural economy. In fact, women constitute more than 60 per cent of the agricultural labor force but have little access to land, production technology and training.

Nepal’s Millennium Development Goals progress report (2005) estimates that the country is likely to reach by 2015 the targets for reducing poverty, child mortality, tuberculosis, and increasing access to improved drinking water, but is unlikely to do so for universal primary education or halting HIV and AIDS. The goals for hunger, gender equality, and maternal health would require additional and very substantial efforts.  (UNICEF, 2011)

Given the extraordinary effort involved in simply surviving in Nepal, it is no wonder there is so little push for girls to acquire education.

If I were a young girl in Nepal, I might feel that I wasn't as important as the boys are. I would feel that it was unfair, but that I had no power to change it. Even if I did have the chance to get an education, I might feel that it had little value and that my efforts wouldn't be supported by my family or community.

As an early childhood professional, I find the circumstances endured by Nepalize females to be disturbing and depressing. I wish I could help. Reading about their struggles strengthens my resolve to ensure that I am providing the best possible early childhood experience for children of both genders at my preschool.

Resource

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

Boys in uniform waiting for the school bus

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

           

This is a really alarming and depressing subject. The media constantly bombards children with the message that girls have to be sexy to gain acceptance. According to Levin and Kilbourne, children are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sexiness from the media (2009).  In my opinion, this is because the media is still controlled primarily by men. As more women attain positions of power in the media world, I really hope this skewed and extremely damaging value system will change.

On the other hand, some parents really buy into the sexualization of their young daughters. The television show Toddlers and Tiaras delves into the world of child ‘beauty’ pageants. These young children are dressed provocatively, and made up to look like tiny little tramps. I just can not imagine those impressionable little girls emerging from this lifestyle with healthy self esteem and high moral standards.

As Early Childhood professionals, we always focus on giving children a healthy start to life. We want them to be proud of who they are and accepting of others - regardless of what they look like. This is in direct contrast to many of the messages they get from the media. Hopefully, we can give the children in our care such positive self identity that they’ll be much less vulnerable to those messages.

Levin, D. E.& Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1–8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

                                                                                                                                                                                                              

One ‘–ism’ that I see a little of at my preschool is classism. This is because my area has a lot of displaced fishermen who are trying to raise families in the face of more and more over regulation of their trade. On the other hand, we also have a lot of wealthy families who are here because of the beautiful coastline. Sometimes these factions don’t blend well and there is a bit of classism.

 For this assignment, I will use the example of a mother who works full time as a preschool teacher and struggles to keep up with the rest of life, too. She doesn’t make enough money to cover anything but the basics, and is constantly performing a balancing act to stay afloat. She worries about raising her children in a rougher part of town. She has to shop for her children at the thrift shop, and she worries they will be embarrassed and ashamed if or when they realize they are in the free lunch / free sports program at school.

As a preschool teacher, her students would probably feel some negative effects of her poverty, depression, and constant stress. Struggling to get basic needs met for herself and her family would make it very difficult to devote the time and attention necessary to meet her student’s needs. In addition, it would be hard to support parents who seemed to have a much better life than her. For instance, she would feel some real anger and resentment towards mothers who didn’t have to work - but still couldn’t manage to pick up their children on time. This would interfere with her ability to develop a good working relationship with the families. Also, the resentment might carry over into her relationship with the children. She might feel they are spoiled or being raised to feel entitled – or even that they look down on her because she's not as wealthy as their parents are. In some cases, higher-income families may reflect social attitudes about income and professionalism and may not treat staff with respect or recognize their educational background or their high level of skills (Derman – Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 110).

I think it would be next to impossible for this preschool teacher to overcome these negative feelings and stay focused on providing the best educational experience possible for the children in her care.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). “Anti-bias education for young children and
ourselves.” Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC).

Observing Communication

                                                          

The interaction I observed was between a Pre-kindergarten teacher and her student. The little girl was about to start a kindergarten readiness assessment, part of which was a test involving letter and number recognition.

The teacher positioned herself in a low chair at the table so that she was at eye level with the student. She carefully explained the test instructions, making sure the student understood what the test would consist of. She referred to the child by name, and touched her on the arm when she wanted her to pay specific instruction to something on the test. She maintained eye contact, and spoke in a calm, quiet voice. I feel that her communication style helped the student feel as if the teacher had confidence in her ability to do well on the test. This would be a good self-esteem booster for the child, and would allow her to concentrate on the test itself.

In my opinion, the teacher did a good job of communicating with the student. The resources for this week were about affirming and effective communication between teachers and students. I really couldn’t think of anything else the teacher might have done to meet that goal.

Whenever possible, I position myself at eye level with my students so that we can each focus on what the other is saying. I try not to rush them when they are explaining something or telling a story. That part is hard for me, and I have noticed it is hard for many teachers to let children take their time when they have something to say. We are all working on that at my preschool. If we rush children, finish their sentences, or talk over them, we aren’t allowing them a fair chance to really express themselves.

Creating Affirming Environments

                                                           

I believe that clear communication between me and the families in my program is extremely important. Just as large child centers do, I would provide each parent with a handbook that describes the program philosophy and policies, parent expectations,  calendar, and hours of operation. During the family’s initial visit, I would ask them about home routines, culture, and invite them to describe how they teach their child about their identity (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). This would be followed up with ongoing discussions at drop off and pick up times, email communication, etc. I want families to trust that we care about the child and family and that they belong (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

My child care program would be located in a spacious, colorful room divided into interest areas. The walls would be hung with many assorted examples of the children’s artwork, graphs, and charts. It would be filled with bright, primary colors and a variety of materials for the children to manipulate, explore, and play with. In all areas of the room, different cultures, family styles, and people with disabilities would be represented through pictures on the wall, books, dolls, puzzles, and/or costumes. We would have a collage of family photos, with parents asked to bring in additional photos throughout the year.

I really liked Adriana' Castillo’s description of an emotional/sensory area that included dolls, sensory/emotion games, and an area to play house (Laureate, 2011).  I also liked Adriana’s method of greeting parent(s) and child each morning. Moving into the nap room and relaxing with the child in a rocking chair during a stressful drop would comfort the child and give him/her one on one attention (Laureate, 2011). The parents would leave knowing their child was going to be well cared for.

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education Inc., (2011). “Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community.”