Sharing Web Resources

The Zero to Three website offers a variety of information regarding early childhood development that is beneficial to my professional career.  The Zero to Three website provides information by using various media tools such as newsletters, video, featured resources, brain information and downloads of the week.  This weeks "download of the week" is "Healthy Minds 24-36 months".  This article from the National Academy of Scientists shows that scientists are still studying early child development and brain development.  I found this article to be very informative about healthy development and ways to achieve this.  This article provides parents with information to support brain development and ways children grow and learn at this age.  As a parent educator, it is important to learn new ways to support parents in this area and help them better understand their child's development.  With the onset of ADD/ADHD and autism in young children, I found the section regarding challenging behaviors to be beneficial to early childhood professionals.  This section discusses different types of behaviors and how to cope with them.  It also provides handouts to parents and educators to manage and help with these behavior issues. 

International Contacts

I listened to the podcasts presented by Susan Lyon and TJ Skalski.  Susan Lyon Ed.D is founder and executive director of The Teacher Project in collaboration with the School of Education at Mills College.  Susan Lyon is an author of many articles and speaker on early childhood education topics.  Susan is one of the founders and a past co-chair of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA), which works to promote the quality of early childhood education.  Susan Lyon brought "The Hundred Languages of Children" exhibit from Reggio Emilia, Italy, to California's Bay Area. She has also implemented a pilot program using the Reggio approach at the Presidio Child Development Center.  After listening to the podcast with Susan Lyon she communicates her passion for young children and how children see and understand the world around them.  Throughout her professional career she found ways to advocate for young children through her projects and exhibits.  These projects opened the door for collaboration between public and private schools. discussion groups, round tables, and professional development. 

TJ Skalski is the principal of The Mother's Earth charter school in Canada.  This is the first indigenous charter school in Canada.  After listening to the podcast TJ Skalski discussed her calling to working with young children and the path she took to get there.  As difficult as the job is, she remains in that postition in order to make a difference in her students' lives.  She gives reasons for doing what she does and mentions that her strong family values and concern for the community as her reasons for her determination.  She believes that culture and language is priority and essential in the survival and progress of her students.  As many of her students come to her school damaged, she's committed to building dreams, hope, and inspiring students. 

TJ Skalski discusses that many of her students are damaged.  Part of that damage consists of students who are in poverty.  While neither of these podcasts discusses poverty directly, these two people represent the kind of people who are needed to help children who are in poverty.  Both of these individuals take an active role in providing education to young children.   

Sharing Web Resources

This week I chose to review the zero to three website.  This website is available at www.zerotothree.org.  Zero to three is a national non-profit organization that provides information to support the health and development of infants and toddlers.  The zero to three organization offers a variety of parenting resources and new information.  Other topics include behavior and development, maltreatment, care and education, and public policy. 

As the importance of literacy in young children is becoming more prominent, I found a video in the Zero to three website regarding language interesting.  A new resource available this week is a video “Promoting Early Language and Literacy Development”.  This video shows how a child’s success is directly related to early language and literacy.  As parent’s and caregivers play a major role in a child’s awareness and understanding of language, this video communicates the importance of providing parent’s with information and tools to encourage early language and literacy.  This video communicates the benefits of investing in early language and literacy beginning at birth and providing trainings for early childhood professionals to support language development.  By supporting language and literacy development from birth, children will need less intervention and support later in school.  I found this video to be very informative for all professionals, parents and policymakers

Expanding Resources

After reviewing early childhood organization websites, I came across two that I found interesting and provided helpful resources and supports.  I chose the Zero to Three organization as one of my resources.  This website offers a variety of information regarding current issues and research for children birth to age three.  This organization also provides an electronic newsletter that gives additional information.  I also chose the The Global Fund for Children organization as my resource.  This organization provides you with information with current issues regarding children around the world and ways to get involved. This organization provides an electronic newsletter that is published quarterly. 

Zero to Three:  http://www.zerotothree.org/

The Global Fund for Children:  http://www.globalfundforchildren.org

Establishing Professional Contacts

The steps I took to establish professional contacts was to review a variety of major early childhood organizations in different continents.  I also took into consideration the locations of these organizations.  Learning from these organizations from different parts of the world will benefit my understanding of early childhood trends and issues.  I sent emails to organizations from three different continents.  I found organizations in Ghana, Hong Kong and Mexico.  After reviewing information from these organizations, I found the contact information for the professional in that organization.  I have not received a response from any of the organizations at this time however, I am hoping to hear them soon.  If not, I will continue to contact other organizations as well reviewing the information from the World Forum.

My Supports

I am thankful to have many supports in my life.  First and foremost, my husband and children are the most important supports I have.  Without these supports, my life would be very different and difficult.  My family supports me emotionally, physically, and mentally.  I depend on them as they depend on me.  My husband is a major support because of the way he supports me.  Emotionally, he provides support by listening to my "ups" and "downs" of my day.  Physically, mentally, and emotionally I count on him to be a part of our children's lives.  He also provides support by being responsible for our finances and the upkeep of our house.  My children provide support to me everyday by believing in me and loving me.  My parents and in-laws support me by being a part of our lives.  I look to them when needing advice about my life or my children's lives.  I also count on them to watch the kids when we need someone.  My friends provide support by listening to me and giving advice.  I count on them to be there when I need them, no matter how big or small the need is.  My friends provide me with the social support that I enjoy.  In my job, I have many people that provide me with support.  My boss provides support by answering any questions I have and giving advice when needed.  My co-workers provide support by listening and giving advice when needed.  My support system is very important to me.  Without them, my life would be much harder, as I would have to depend on myself to support my needs.

If I were to ever lose my job, I would rely on the many supports I have, starting with my husband and children.  While I may need more financial support because of the loss of income, I would also need emotional support to help me get through this stage in my life.  I would look to my husband, friends, and family for encouragement to find more opportunities for employment.  I would also look to my support system as resources and connections to possible job opportunities.  I would need support from my parents and in-laws to help provide care for my children as I was looking for potential employment.  If these support systems were not in my life during this difficult time, it would be a struggle to have the emotional strength to get through this, but also the financial support to get through that time of unemployment.  Without these supports, it would be much more difficult and take much longer to get through situations like losing your job.

My Connections to Play

Children's Quotes

Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.

O. Fred Donaldson
Contemporary American martial arts master

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.

Abraham Maslow
American psychologist
1908–1970
 

As a child, my play was supported by my family, cousins, and friends. My family would create opportunities for me to play with other kids that were in my life. The type of play was not necessarily created for me, however, the opportunity to explore my environment was. Play for me, as a child, involved playing outdoors, helping my dad outside, playing house and kitchen, and helping my mom around the house. When playing with other kids, we built forts outside in the woods and in the barn. We spent a lot of time on the swing set and riding bikes. Looking back, I remember just loving to be around other kids and having fun.

I feel there are many similarities and differences in the way play is today, compared to when I was a child. One similarity I see, is how kids enjoy play. Children use their imaginations and are very creative when involved in play. Young children continue to be involved in dramatic play such as playing house, kitchen, or school. I also see how children enjoy playing with one another. One of the biggest differences in play that I notice is the amount of time children spend outdoors. Many children spend a lot of time indoors playing video games and watching TV. When I was younger, spending time in front of the TV was not an option. Because it was not part of my everyday routine, I never expected it or missed it. Another difference in play that I see is the amount of toys children have. Because of all the toys, children are less likely to use their imaginations and be creative. One example of this, is instead of building a fort with their parents or friends, they are bought for them. I hope children are given the opportunity to enjoy being a child. Looking back at my childhood, some of the happiest times I remember, is playing outdoors with my sister and cousins and being a kid.

We don't often think about the impact play has on individuals as adults. It is true, adults don't often engage in play like children do. However, play gives us the foundation that molds us to who we become. Many life long lessons are learned, as children, while we are involved in the many different kinds of play.