My Connections to Play

Quotes that represent my childhood:

Life is a game, play it. –Mother Teresa

My sister and I played school, store, restaurant, bank… we were literally playing life and we loved it!

Every child is an artist. –Pablo Picasso

I always loved coloring, painting and drawing as a child.  I even earned my Bachelor’s degree in Art and taught art classes to children. 

My essential play items:

Crayons- I loved coloring.  I found some of my old books in the garage and noticed that I used to sign my masterpieces.

Little dishes from Mexico-  I still have them. Some were my mothers that she passed on and some were gifts from relatives.  My sister and I would use these in our restaurant. 

My parents always supported play in my childhood.  They let my sister and I use the living room as our restaurant and were even our best customers.  At my grandma’s house they always made sure to sweep under the dining room table since my sister and I made it into our own little home.  I played with the neighborhood kids once and a while but my favorite thing to do would be to play with my cousins.  We would build forts, play hide and seek even at night, play like we were traveling in the van and play baseball with no bat but an empty plastic juice bottle.  We definitely used our imaginations. 

I feel today is very different.  Technology has made such an impact on child’s play.  Instead of building with blocks they can build with their finger on a screen.  Instead of playing dress up they can tap clothes onto a doll on the screen.  Instead of playing with a Spiderman action figure they can make a digital Spiderman shoot webs and swing through the city.  While it is still hands on in some sense the play space range has really been reduced to sitting or lying down.  The opportunity to use the imagination and real physical objects has been taken away as well.  I hope this can change both in the home and at school.  Children need that freedom to learn by exploring and having fun.

Play has been a big part of my life.  I had a happy childhood where some of my best memories are of play.   I played with everyone even my older cousins, aunts and uncles would amuse me.  They taught me how to play marbles, bingo and different card games.  I still enjoy playing those games and others.  I recently learned how to play a different game of dominoes and Yahtzee. 

I have kept in mind the theory of learning through play and use it to work with children who have learning disabilities at work.  I also help children who don’t know how to jump rope or skip at recess.  I feel like those are things every child should know how to do.

Relationship Reflection

Mom and Dad

My parents and I have always had a positive relationship.  Our relationship is based on communication, respect and support.  They have given me so much and made me into the person that I am today.  I still call them every day and go home to visit often.  

Sister

My sister is the best.  Whenever we are together we have so much fun, we understand each other so well.  My relationship with my sister is important because I know I can always count on her.  We communicate as often as we can and always take yearly trips together.

Friends

My friends and I have managed to stay in touch over the years. I met them both in middle school and we have remained friends through high school and college even though we all attended different ones.  It always seems like old times when we get together.  We might take a while to find a date everyone is available but we try to meet up whenever it’s been too long.

My experiences in my relationships with family and friends definitely help me to be an effective early childhood professional.  Working with families and children takes communication skills and understanding and I have experienced both of those from my personal relationships.

When I think of child development...

This video clip represents my view of child development in a few ways:

• It shows developmental intelligence.  How smart children are and that their capabilities go beyond the surface and sometimes into the playful and the imaginative.
• It represents developmental progression.  I am sure that as Mateo grows up he will start to see that his behavior was acceptable and appropriate, for his 3 year old self that is.
• It shows communicative development.  It seems that Mateo has learned enough language to make a “point”.  He also might have learned the word “honey” from his mother.  Oh, and don’t forget those facial gestures and movements.
• It represents the innocence of a child.  You can’t help but root for him even though his argument is flawed, how sweet.

Now I want a cupcake…

Thanks everyone!

Testing for Intelligence?

I believe that children should not be assessed for their academic abilities.  Standardized tests can be daunting for many reasons other than the content.   There is the preparation, anxiety, stress and pressure, all negative emotions that school-age children should not be experiencing, especially from an assessment.  Keeping in mind the idea of the whole child, there are many reasons for each child’s cognitive abilities based on each child’s cognitive development and these tests are not addressing that.  I think the only reason to assess children is to simply check for understanding in an applied way and then use that information to provide specific support.

I had heard a lot about the education system in Finland and wanted to learn in what ways school –age children were assessed there.  I learned some interesting facts that all contribute to a highly successful public education system in Finland.

-Retention is very uncommon and almost unheard of

-Teachers are selected from the tops of their required master’s in education programs and are trusted and respected

-Small schools lead to a more supportive and caring environment (Hancock, 2011)

-There is less homework

-There is lots of play

-No private schools or universities

-Teachers receive decent pay, have more responsibilities and are not accountable

-The Finnish attitude does not celebrate competition but cooperation

-All schools are equal and there is no public recognition of any superiority

-The belief is that educational equality breaks down social inequality

-They provide free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance

-No mandatory standardized tests before voluntary upper-secondary school, “high school”

-Teachers assess children, “using independent tests they create themselves. All children receive a report card at the end of each semester, but these reports are based on individualized grading by each teacher” (Partanen, 2011).

If we compare the Education System of the United States to that of Finland the differences are striking and make a lot of sense.  Helsinki, Finland Principal Timo Heikkinen sums it up, “If you only measure the statistics, you miss the human aspect” (Hancock, 2011).

References

Hancock, L. (2011). Why are Finland’s Schools Successful? [Web Article]. The Smithsonian, September. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?no-ist

Partanen, A. (2011). What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success. [Web Article]. The Atlantic, Dec., 29. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.co m/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Wanting to continue to learn more about my mother’s experiences growing up I decided to ask her if she had any stressors in her childhood.  I was glad to find out that like me, my mother did not experience any major stressors in her young life.  Although there was one thing I had heard her mention before that could count as a stressor, rattlesnakes. 

When my grandparents brought their 7 children from Mexico to the United States their first stop was Texas.  They remained there for about 3 years until they moved to California.  The dry Texan landscape and weather made life hard.  Temperatures were highest at noon and everyone was always looking for cool places to escape from the sun, including the rattlesnakes of the area.  My mother remembers being very afraid at first.  While walking to the bus stop she would walk behind her brother because she was afraid of running into one.  The snakes would hide under the beds and even come into the shower that was outside. 

As a result the children learned to always look under the bed before going to sleep and always check the shower first for rattlesnakes before going in.  They never killed them but always kept a broom or stick nearby so that they could shoo the snakes out the door.  They learned rattlesnake behavior and knew when to stay away.  My mother mentioned that her fear went away because she got so used to living with them and thankfully no one was ever bitten by one.  The family learned to cope with living with rattlesnakes by accepting that the snakes were just a part of the living environment. 

Although snakes in your home does sound pretty terrifying there are worse stressors in a child’s life.  I decided to research the stress of immigration on children.  My mother and her family were able to come over with little stress because my grandfather and uncles had all already been working in the US and were allowed to bring the rest of the family over because of it.  This has become harder to do because of strict immigration laws making the pursuit of the American dream difficult and dangerous. 

Poverty is at the stem of immigration.  So is violence with the drug wars in Mexico and other countries creating an increase in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children.  The poverty in South and Central America is so devastating that families risk their lives migrating thousands of miles through Mexico to make it to the USA.  Even more unsettling is the fact that a lot of these immigrants are unaccompanied children.  I recently saw a documentary titled Which Way Home which describes the journey that about 8,000 children a year make in hopes of reaching the US (USCRI, 2011).  They risk abandonment from their smugglers, dehydration, starvation and being crushed by “The Beast” the freight train that travels North through Mexico (HBO Documentary Films, 2009).  On top of all that there is always the stress of getting caught and being deported.  The way the children cope is by focusing on their dream of reaching America to work and be able to send money to their families back in the homeland. 

There are organizations that set up safe houses for immigrants where food, water, shelter and medical care are given.  But these houses also provide knowledge about what obstacles are to come on the journey.  The information is given in order to warn and discourage people but it seldomly works.  The hope is too great which makes the risks seem small.  Even after making it into America there is the stress of living undocumented, invisible, adapting to a new country, language and the fear of deportation.

References

HBO Documentary Films (Producer). (2009). Which Way Home. [Documentary Film].

USCRI United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. (2011). Emmy-Winning Film Documents the Journey of Child Migrants. [Web Article]. Retrieved from http://www.refugees.org/refugee-voices/migrant-children/which-way-home-documentary-on.html

Child Development and Public Health

For this weeks blog I chose the public health topic of access to healthy water.  It is meaningful to me because of its relevance even today.  I live in California and we are currently suffering from one of the worst droughts in history.  It is affecting our everyday lives, crops and economy.  But even this is nothing compared to what villages have to endure daily.  It is shocking to know that in some parts of the world clean water is still inaccessible.  Lack of water may cause infant brain damage, stunting, dehydration and in the worst cases death.  With water being one of the essential keys to life, development and the survival of any species, water is the difference between life and death. 

It truly makes you grateful for having a clean water system in your life and motivates you to want to help others who do not.  While researching the topic I found an organization that presents the facts, the approach and ways to assist.

Facts:

768 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world's population.
(WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report 2013 update)

Around 700,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation - that's almost 2,000 children a day. 
(WaterAid 2012/WHO 2008/The Lancet 2012)

Diarrhea is the third biggest killer of children under five years old in Sub-Saharan Africa.
(Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) 2012)

Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. 
(UNICEF, 2006 http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Progress_for_Children_No._5_-_English.pdf page 3)

Infants and young children are the most vulnerable to water-related diseases. Children under the age of five account for 90% of deaths due to diarrheal disesases. Repeated diarrhea and nematode infections - often caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation - are also associated with 50% of childhood malnutrition

(WaterAid, 2014 http://www.wateraid.org/us/the-water-story/the-crisis)

The website also shares the story of Tiangay Sesay:

-The brutal civil war forced her to flee, and when she returned to the village the river water was the only source of drinking water. One day, her baby daughter suddenly fell sick with terrible diarrhea and died three days later. "She was one year and two months old," Tiangay told us. "She was called Hawa. It was not easy to console me. Having run away for years and coming home with a healthy child as I saw her, I thought she would be my treasure in my old age." (WaterAid, 2014, para. 1,2. http://www.wateraid.org/us/the-water-story/our-impact/stories-from-our-work/tiangay-story).

Approach:

WaterAid delivers sevices, promotes policy and advocacy and produces publications on the crisis and progress.

Assist:

WaterAid provides assistance in writing to congress, donating, fundraising and sharing stories and information though social networking.

It is hopeful to hear that progress is being made and I would like to be a part of that.  Whether it’s making a donation, fundraising or even campaigning and informing others about how they can help I think everyone can do something to ensure water for all.  The progress serves as an inspiration for all in the hopes that one day access to clean water will be had by everyone in the world. 

World Water Day is March 22, 2014! Check it out and donate!

http://www.wateraid.org/us/get-involved/world-water-day#/one-time-donation/USD/

Reference

WaterAid America. (2014). [Organization Website]. Retrieved from http://www.wateraid.org/us

Childbirth

Childbirth in my Life and in Guatemala

I chose my own birth to write about because I don’t have children of my own and have never taken part in a birth.  So, I took the opportunity to learn a little more about my story from my mother. 

While pregnant she made sure to attend all of her check-up appointments and take her prenatal vitamins.

It was my father who drove my mother to the town hospital in Hollister, California the morning of April 12^th.  Around 5pm my mother was induced.  With no complications she gave birth naturally to a 5lb 9oz baby girl at 11:30am on April 13, 1985.  My father stood at the door looking into the delivery room while my grandmother, uncle and two aunts sat in the waiting room.  After the delivery more family members came including another aunt and uncle.  After my mother was released she stayed with my grandmother who helped look after us for a while until she returned home to raise me with my father together.

I think birth is an amazing wonder that women are lucky enough to experience.  I think its impact on child development starts with the fact that you created and carried life for nine months.  It helps create the parent-infant bond that has been proven to be beneficial for development.  In Mexican culture we have a saying that we use when we refer to our children as “mis ojos” or “my eyes”.  I think that is very telling of the emotional and biological connection between a parent and child.  When that connection or bond is one of love and support it makes the most influential positive impact on a child’s development.

I work with many Guatemalan children at my school so I decided to find out how births happen there.  Through the website for the organization, Midwives for Midwives, I learned that majority of births take place in the home with midwives being present more than half the time and a surprising 90% of the time in rural areas.  Health services are limited and infection is the cause of maternal mortality both in the hospital and in the home.  It explains that basic equipment, gloves and better sterilization methods are needed to help improve these incidents.

In comparison to my mother’s birth the differences are drastic.  She went to a hospital where there was no midwife. There was a group of nurses and a doctor all wearing gloves.  There was some medical technology used and sterilization was central.  At the time my father was not allowed into the delivery room and I assume, if it is accustomed in their culture, that a father could be present for his child’s birth especially if it takes place in the home.  My mother had access to health services before, during and after birth which as we know does have an impact on development.

Through this comparison I learned that childbirth can be a very different experience based on cultural, economical and medical circumstances. 

Source

Midwives for Midwives. (2014). [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.midwivesformidwives.org/guatemala