Sharing Web Resources

As you know, I have been exploring the web site of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE).  I originally selected this organization because I am currently working towards my MS in Early Childhood Studies with a concentration on Teaching Adults in the Early Childhood Field.  NAECTE is more geared toward those already working as an educator of adults, so I have really had to search their site and follow links in order to find information that is relevant to my current professional development as an early childhood educator.

While reading through NAECTE's E-Letter archives, I came across an article on "The Raising of America:  Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation (http://www.naecte.org/docs/NAECTE%20Fall%202013%20E-letter.pdf)."  The article describes a wonderful six-part documentary series and public engagement campaign that seeks to reframe the way we look at early child health and development. The series works to show how a strong start for children leads to better learning, earning, and physical and mental health which will lead all of us to a healthier, safer, better educated and more prosperous and equitable nation.

In wanting to further investigate this series, I went to their web site www.raisingofamerica.org.  I encourage all early childhood professionals to visit the site!  There are several previews of the series and full episode previews that are very informative and thought provoking.  I have included The Raising of America Series - TRAILER here:

Here is the series description from www,raisingofamerica.org:

Series Description

It’s often said a society can be measured by how well it attends to its children—their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved and valued by their families and communities.

So how is it that children in the U.S. have worse outcomes on most measures of health, education and well-being than other rich nations? How can we do better?

The Raising of America takes us inside the brain and brings to life recent scientific research that reveals how early experiences, beginning in the womb, can alter brain architecture and developmental trajectories. Through the stories of families from different walks of life, we discover how the lack of paid parental leave and high-quality affordable childcare, stagnant wages and overcrowded housing, depression and social exclusion, and perhaps most of all the time crunch, too often undermine the efforts of parents and caregivers struggling to provide the nurturing environments all children need to thrive.

The Raising of America widens its lens to reveal what Sir Michael Marmot calls, "the cause of the causes," the larger structures that contribute, in Harvard's Jack Shonkoff's words, "to a pile-up of advantage for some children, a cascade of risk for others." In response, some communities are organizing to strengthen social supports, policies and other protective factors which improve the odds not only for their youngest children, no matter how poor, but which can also compensate for and in some cases reverse the epigenetic effects in older children and teens who've suffered adverse experiences.

By exploring how things got this way—the history of U.S. child and family policy over the past century, the victories as well as the defeats—The Raising of America seeks to better understand what stands in the way of progress, and what we can do better. The film lifts up those struggling to make good on a vision where all our children matter, all are nurtured and all have opportunities to thrive.

Poverty and Children

I have reached out to several more international contacts and am still waiting for a reply.  Instead, I researched Ghana on UNICEF's web site (www.unicef.org).  Ghana is a subregion of West Africa.  With a population of about 27 million, Ghana is one of Africa's most developed countries.  Over 95% of children in Ghana attend school.  However, more than 20-25% of Ghana's population lives below the lower poverty line.

Ghanian Children. Photograph by Scott Sernau

In Ghana, 25%-27% of children under the age of five are underweight and stunted due to malnutrition. While under five mortality rates have decreased due to an increase in immunization, Ghana still has a long way to go.  Young children from poor families suffer from poor health, lack of proper nutrition, and poor education.  These same children are less likely to be able to break the poverty cycle. "The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) of 2002 identified children and children orphaned by AIDS as among the most vulnerable and excluded population groups in Ghana (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Ghana_reportdesign_July2010.pdf)."

Basic education is provided in Ghana, but for rural communities it is often difficult to get the children to a school location.  More female children attend school than male children.  Many children are street children with no family to take care of them.  These children work for child laborers or exchange sexual favors for food and basic necessities.  Ghana has been working to reduce poverty and increase the health and well-being of the children of Ghana.  Such efforts include the 1994 Exclusive Breastfeeding Initiative,  Child Labour and Human Trafficking Act of 2005, and the Gender Parity Policy of 2003-2015 (http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Ghana_reportdesign_July2010.pdf).

UPDATE:  I just received an email from an early childhood educator working in Ghana.  She teaches in a school that has primary grades K-8. The K class is huge and the grade 8 is very small. She says the difference in class sizes is due to a couple different factors.

The teachers don’t have supplies. They are given curriculum books to teach, but sometimes chalk is even hard to find or it has to be borrowed between classes. Children share pencils and erasers a lot of the times. Teaching materials, such as any manipulative or props, are not available at all. Some of the teachers  make props out of recycled materials anything they could find. She helped another teacher make a clock out of cardboard, construction paper, and a fastener in order to teach time.

Once students reach upper grades, usually starting at grade 4, they miss a lot of school because they have to go work because they’re families need money. They fall behind in school.  Some are able to catch up and others drop out and work full time. They usually go to surrounding villages to sell spices, meats, or other goods that their families sell. A lot of children are left with grandparents because parents leave to go find work in the surrounding countries of Togo and Benin and a lot of grandparents can’t travel that far, to other villages, so its left to the children to do.

A lot of girls get pregnant at young ages causing them to drop out and take care of their children. They don’t have access to effective birth control and some of their religions do not allow them to use it (the main religions are Christian or traditional Ghanian religion). A lot of the girls talked about being pressured in to it by peers and the boys they dated (Peila, J. Personal Communication, March 22, 2015).

Sharing Web Resources

The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (http://www.naecte.org/) is an organization that focuses on early childhood teacher education.  As listed on their web site, their purpose is as follows:

• To promote the professonal growth of our membership
• To discuss educational issues specific to our membership
• To advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education
• Provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators
• Provide a communication network for early childhood teacher educators
• Facilitate the interchange of information and ideas about research and practice
• Use, as vehicles, the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, conferences, resolutions, position papers, and other publications
• Cooperate with other national and international organizations concerned with the study and education of young children

They publish the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.  Their journals are available to members of NAECTE and through college libraries that subscribe.  I found several articles on the issue of culture and diversity.  A few of these articles were titled "Service Learning:  A Promising Strategy for Connecting Future Teachers to the Lives of Diverse Children and Their Families," "Fostering Culturally and Developmentally Responsive Teaching Through Improvisational Practice," and "Children Crossing Borders:  Immigrant Parent and Teacher Perspectives on Preschool."  The articles are very informative and are directed at early childhood educators and those that teach early childhood educators.

References
Elizabeth Graue, Kristin Whyte & Kate Kresin Delaney (2014) Fostering Culturally and Developmentally Responsive Teaching Through Improvisational Practice, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 35:4, 297-317, DOI: 10.1080/10901027.2014.968296

Harriet Able , Hatice Ghulamani , Ritsa Mallous & Jocelyn Glazier (2014) Service Learning: A Promising Strategy for Connecting Future Teachers to the Lives of Diverse Children and Their Families, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 35:1, 6-21, DOI: 10.1080/10901027.2013.874383

Mayra Almodóvar & Julia T. Atiles (2015) Children Crossing Borders: Immigrant Parent and Teacher Perspectives on Preschool, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 36:1, 84-86, DOI: 10.1080/10901027.2015.1001644

Connecting with Early Childhood Professionals and Expanding Resources

I took to searching the Internet when NAEYC's global alliance page refused to open and I was lucky enough to find e-mail addresses for two early childhood associationa.  I have reached out to early childhood professionals in Australia through the Australian Early Childhood Education Network and to early childhood professionals at the State Institute of Early Childhood Education and Research in Munich, Germany.  It would be great to share and communicate with early childhood professionals from other countries.  I am anxiously awaiting their replies.

In addition to reaching out to early childhood professionals, I have decided to study the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators organiuzation and web site.  Their home page states, "NAECTE members are people from all across the United States and from countries around the globe. We are joined together by our common interest in Early Childhood Teacher Education (http://www.naecte.org)."  In their puepose statements they state that they advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education and they provide a communication network for early childhood teacher educators (http://www.naecte.org).

My Supports

        I have always been very independent and I usually prefer to do things myself.  However, I certainly could not run a preschool classroom from 7:00am to 5:00pm five days per week all on my own.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful teaching team and a great support system.
        Within the program I work for, I have a lot of support.  My teaching team is my first line of support.  Together the four of us are the heart of our preschool classroom.  As the Head Teacher, I have many responsibilities.  My teaching team supports me in making sure I can complete those responsibilities.  I think the moments when our support for each other is demonstrated the most is when we are handling challenging behaviors in our classroom.  We communicate with each other and make sure that which ever one of us is working directly with the child that is exhibiting challenging behaviors feels supported and knows that any one of us will step in if needed.  the rest of the team keeps our day on schedule working with the other children, but remaining in contact with each other.
        My co-workers in other classrooms are also a great support.  We work together as a unit and help cover in each other's classrooms.  We share ideas and materials between our classrooms to enhance our developmentally appropriate curriculum.
        My site supervisor and my education manager are both a huge part of my support team.  They both help me with questions or concerns I may have regarding my classroom.  They are a great resource of information and contacts.  One thing they both do that is so important to me is that they allow me to vent to them or use them like a sounding board to talk things out.
        I have a family liaison and a Head Start collaborative family liaison who are a source of support especially in working with families.  Both liaisons help with providing resources and community events for me to share with my families.  They also work with me in making sure the families and children are getting nutritional services, dental and vision screenings, and any supports they may need such as housing and energy assistance.
        On the outer edge of my support system I include the other head teachers in the program, the disabilities manager, the assistant director, and the director.  Once a month, all of the head teachers in the program meet and we are a source of support for each other.  The disabilities manager is a source of support when we have a child in need of extra services.  And, our assistant director and director always have an open door if we feel we need additional support.
        I am very lucky to have such a strong support system just within the program that I work for.  However, I also feel my support system extends beyond just our program.  I consider my professors and classmates a part of my support system.  Especially through the discussion boards!  And, finally, my family and friends are a huge part of my personal support system.  I rely on their love and support to keep me focused and grounded.  I am still very independent and there are some things I prefer to do on my own, but I have learned over the years that having a good support system is so important.

My Connections to Play

"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play."

Henri Matisse

French painter

1869–1954

I have reached that stage in my life in which I use phrases such as, "When I was young..." and "I remember when...", but my childhood memories of play are some of the best!  My childhood and youth was spanned the 1970's and 1980's.  My play involved a lot of time outdoors.  Playing in the woods, climbing rocks, building forts out of blankets and cardboard boxes, running through sprinklers, splashing in blow-up pools, riding bikes, jumping rope, hopscotch, swinging, sledding, neighborhood snowball fights, digging in the dirt, making mud pies, and playing neighborhood games of hide and seek and kickball.  If it was a nice day, my mom sent me outside.  

Digging in the sand and making mud pies.

Swinging was a favorite part of play.

I always tried to get as  high as my legs could pump.

Summertime meant running through sprinklers, blow-up pools, or days at the lake.

I played in the woods all of the time.

Barbie dolls could always be brought outside on nice days.

Indoor play for me involved playing with Barbie dolls, cars and trucks, crafts, reading, Legos, board games, pretend play, and dress-up.  We did have a television, but back then there were only 13 channels and children's programming aired mostly on Saturday mornings.  I was raised an only child, so my mom would play with me quite often.  My dad was a Naval officer and spent most of my childhood out at sea.  Growing up in Navy housing meant there were always children to play with in our neighborhood though!

I played with dolls and cars.

My mom always let me have real dishes in my pretend play.

This day I was a veterinarian!

Reading was always a quiet play choice.

Crafts were a great rainy day activity.

Latch hooking.

The world has changed significantly since my childhood.  Neighborhoods aren't the safe havens they used to be and playing in the woods without adult supervision is a scary thought for many parents today.  Most homes have a television and a DVD player in every room of the house.  Video game systems, iPods, and cell phones are a must have for most children too.  Children are not encouraged to go outside mostly because our world is not as safe as it was years ago.  However, I hope that parents and families can make time for outdoor play and exploration and that they can "unplug" and allow for play indoors that does not involve electronics.

"It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self."

D.W. Winnicott

British pediatrician

1896–1971

Play is so important!  And, play is not just for children!  Adults need play in their daily lives as well.  Everyone needs "unplugged" time to explore, learn, discover, relax, and enjoy life!

Relationship Reflection

Many people have come in and out of my life.  I have some of the most wonderful memories of relationships that I had with friends in elementary school, friends in junior high school, friendships I had in high school and college, dance friends, work friends, and family.  I have enjoyed reconnecting with some of those friends through social media and reminiscing.

I am extremely blessed to have some relationships in which I have found love, trust, support, strength, and a whole lot more.  Each of these relationships is unique and such an inmportant part of who I am.  I'd like to share a little about each of my relationships.

Michael and I

I have known my husband since I was sixteen years old.  In fact, he first asked me out when I was sixteen...I said, "No."  He didn't give up on trying to ask me out over the following six years until I finally said, "Yes."  We have been married for almost twenty-two years now.  Our journey together has definitely had good times and bad, sickness and health, but we work together and support each other along the way.  We have seen each other at our worst and best.  We fight, we argue, we laugh, we love.

Thomas and I

I was blessed with my son, Thomas, nineteen years ago.  I love him so very much!  What a privilege it has been to be his mom.  He was born with Spina Bifida, but he hasn't let it define who he is.  Seeing the world through his eyes has been amazing.  To say that I have enjoyed his teenage years would not be totally true!  The emotional ups and downs during the teen years can stress any parent out.  Thomas made me a mother for the first time and with that came unconditional love.  In my relationship with Thomas, I have grown to be more patient and have learned how strong I can be.  I have learned to be an advocate.  I was with him every step of his journey in the boy scouts from the time he started as a tiger until he earned his eagle.  I have also learned way more about Pokemon than I have ever wanted to know!

Theresse and I

I was blessed with my daughter, Theresse, almost fifteen years ago.  I love her so very much!  She taught me that you can unconditionally love more than one child with all of your heart and soul.  I shared my love of dance with her and she embraced it with a passion.  Watching her dance brings me such joy.  Theresse is a fierce friend to others and shows compassion and kindness to others.  She has an amazing spirit.  I get to share "girl time" moments with her and other favorites like books and movies.

My parents, Charles and Carol

My relationship with my parents has been one of the biggest blessings in my life.  I have learned so much from each of them and along the way I have introduced them to new ideas and experiences as well.  One thing that they have always done is love and support me throughout my life.  Even when I made choices that they would not have made they were there to listen and help in any way they could.  Dance was my passion and not something either one of them really knew about.  They have grown to love and appreciate the art form now.

Heather and I

I feel the term "best friend" has become over-used in today's society.  Heather has been my best friend for over forty years.  We met when we were four years old and about to start Kindergarten.  Our fathers were in the Navy and we happened to live across the street from each other in Navy housing.  We grew up together.  Playing with Barbie dolls, making cardboard box forts, swimming in the lake, sleep overs, girl scouts...we did it all!  Our friendship survived long distances when our fathers were transferred to other states (back when we kept in touch by writing actual letters!).  Our relationship has taught me many things, but most of all trust and true friendship.

Ryanne, Jezzamyn, and I at a work function.

Ryanne started dancing at my studio when she was twelve and Jezzamyn started dancing at my studio when she was thirteen.  I taught them to dance, cheered them as the performed, and had the pleasure of watching them each grow into beautiful young women.  I trained them to teach dance to ages 3-18.  After graduating from high school, both girls decided to pursue their education in the early childhood field.  And, then both joined my preschool teaching team at my full-time day job.  I expereinced the "teen years" with these two before my own children became teenagers.  Seeing each of them blossom into young early childhood professionals and mentoring them along the way has been such an honor.  They have taught me to relax, have fun, and not sweat the small stuff.