Expanding Horizons and Expanding Resources

The Global Fund for Children

Going through the website I have found they are and organization that attempts to transform the lives of children. Through investors they supply money in the amounts of $5,000-$30,000 over a 3-7 year time period. Through funds from their partners, their goal is to improve the lives of children, and  their community as a whole.

I have gone through the website and broaden my understanding of what they do. I have also seen how they impact children's lives. I reviewed their blog and will track it weekly if not daily so continue my understanding of their organization.

The GFC offers ways to get involved. I am looking further in to that. As a professional in Early Childhood I have learned that I must also now be an advocate for children. I feel I can learn a lot from this website about being an advocate.

I have subscribe to receive newsletter, and am working on subscribing to their blog as well.

Website: The Global Fund for Children: An organization which provides capital to communities worldwide to improve the lives of children.
http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/


I do feel that it is important to try and contact an ECE professional in another country. I have not been successful yet, but will continue to try. I know of friends that now work in other countries. They are American but work abroad. I will be in contact with them shortly and will see what their perspective is in those countries.

My Supports

I am truly thankful and blessed. I have many types of supports in my everyday life. I try to not take anything for granted but really am not who I am without each of them. I know that at times I am spoiled but in the end I am thankful and grateful for all that I have.

My first support is my Husband and family. No matter what kind of mood I am in they are always there. I can call on my mom at any hour and if I am truly in need she will do all that she can to help. My sisters are pretty much the same way. My husband,....man, I am really blessed to have him in my life. I know that many times I am not easy to live with. I am needy but he does a great job of spoiling me. He is my rock. He balances my crazy too. I love him very much. He is always there for me. When I am mad, he allows me to vent and even yell at him for nothing he did. My girls are amazing too in their own ways. I know they love their mommy. It's kind of cute too. There are times they think I can do no wrong and I have all these magical powers, they are good for the ego at times, lol. But honestly they are the best, no matter how I get upset with them. If I am sad they are there to support me and pick me up. My family is amazing. I don't honestly know what I would do without them. I couldn't imagine replacing any of them. Each are unique and have a special job and place in my heart. I could honestly say they have kinda made me who I am today. Their impact on my life is immeasurable.

Another support I have is my job. My job offers a lot of support to me emotionally, physically, and monetarily. The people I work with are great. I have wonderful people who are there who want me to succeed and I love and need that. I have a job that will have a lasting impression on me and one that I will impact too in return. There I have a mentor who believes in me and supports me. She is awesome. Obviously, this job gives me money in return for my services. In today's world I need the money to aid in my survival so that one is obvious but I enjoy what I do and hope to continue my success.

Technology is something that I have become dependent on and need it. As funny as it sounds, I technology supports me. Through it I am connected to family, friends and the outside of my own house world. Looking back at how our relations has grown, it makes me laugh because growing up, I did not need and depend on it as much as I do now. Don't get wrong, I may be able to survive without it but am glad I don't have to. It would be difficult to be without it especially since everyone around you has it in their lives. I know without a shadow of a doubt, I am not one of those people who could live off the grid. Nope, not me.

I feel that friends is at the top of my list for supports. I am one of those people who do not like to be by themselves and there for need friends in my life. For some I view friends just like I do family. They are always there. For me, I have moved about every 3 years due to my families lifestyle so I make lots of friends however, to come across someone who is just like family is rare and is awesome when it happens. I don't think I would do well without them like I wouldn't do well without family. Friends make life more enjoyable. I can laugh more, relax at times, and just thoroughly enjoy myself with friends in it.

The last thing I am going to say is a support to me is my Church Family/God. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I need him in my life daily. I am so thankful for the sacrifices he has made for me. I truly value our relationship. There are no words to describe my praise and thankfulness of having God in my life. No matter what I do in life, I know that God has got my back. The benefits of have God and Church in my life is that they always love me no matter what I do or who I am. They know and understand me. Living a life without them would be difficult because they guide me when I ask or need it. They truly support me in many situations. They are not there to judge but to be a help to me. I live my life daily for God so his impact on me is the biggest and is huge.

While there are more to choose from; I feel these are the biggest support to me. My life would not be who and where it is without any of these. I have benefited many things with them in my life while at the same time I could not do much or anything without them. I am however, glad that I do not have to be without any of them in my life.

My Connections to Play

I love these quotes. How I felt about play as a kid may not necessarily agree with how I feel about play now, as an adult. As a kid, play was carefree. Just something you did to get out of life's responsibilities. In my house, if you did not play, you cleaned, did homework, or read a book. In many cases after my homework was done, I played. I chose the carefree enjoyment of playing. That also meant you did it outside. Because if you were in the house you, cleaned or read a book.

These items represent all that I needed as a kid. As a result of my childhood I became very athletic. Many of the sports I learned was not from an organized organization. It was from the streets. I played everything in the street; and in the middle of the street at that. We just moved to the side when a car came by. I first learned how to play, basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, and baseball in the middle of the street. Oh the fond memories I have of those time. A bicycle is what I lived on. We went everywhere on a bike. I can't exactly remember who taught me how to ride or even when I first learned  but between a bike, scooter, skates, and skateboard, I lived on those. I have great memories of just getting on one and riding somewhere like to school, after hours and on the weekend. Or even riding my bike down the big hill that led to my house or down a dike in the dessert. Man the good times. I have included a tree because I loved to just climb trees as a kid. I had a big tree in my yard growing up and loved to climb it. There are many times I could recall, my mom calling me home and I would be in that tree at the very top. I also remember being the tree at the top of course relaxing and just calming down after hearing some bad news. My greatest accomplishment and memory was in that tree. I was about 6 or 7 and climbed to the very top and was able to touch the power lines. Man I was so scared but so excited I did it when I did. I had tried all summer but the limbs were so thin and I was afraid; but one day I gathered enough courage to do it and did. Finally, my last childhood essential item was friends. On many Saturday mornings even before I woke up, I had friends ringing my doorbell to see if I could come out and play. It could also be the reason why I do not like doing anything now by myself, because I always had friends. I loved being around my friends. Things were always better when they were with friends.

I think as an adult my understanding of play has greatly changed from what it was when I was younger. As a child it was carefree and something I did. Too many rainy days I would go crazy. I did play inside, but when I was younger, you needed to go out and explore. I was a military brat so we just went all over the base. I went out with friends and explored. I didn't think I was learning anything from playing. Playing was fun and natural.
Today, I see play through adult eyes. As sadly as it may sound, I feel as though I justify play more. Kids don't justify things, they just do. Play is learning. As a kid your really not looking at play as a way to learn something but as a way to have fun, for pleasure, and enjoyment. As an adult you can relate to that because play is fun, a way to relax, but the justifiable answer is play teaches things. It develops characteristics for social, emotional, physical, cognitive and other foundational developmental skills. It is sad that we have to twist something so innocent and make it a reason to happen. Justify why is necessary or even why we do it.

I don't think play has changed from when I was younger. However, I may do it differently now. My interests may be different. But because I have kids, I get to awaken those same senses I used as a kid when I engage and play with my own children. I love teaching and engaging my kids in the same manner as I did when I was there age. The sparks of interest and facial features they give is pleasurable for me. Honestly it is everlasting memories they and we will have. Could even be traditions they do with their own kids too.

Play for me today, include some of the same things I liked as a kid. As much as I would love to, I don't have the same schedule as a kid so I kind of how to schedule playtime in. That is sad, but my reality as an adult. However, play happens all the time, in many forms. Play can be physical or imaginary. As I am typing this, my kids got all their electronics taken to include the tv, yet they are still playing. They are playing pretend and creating a scenario they got from television. They are using their imagination. It is fun to watch them play. It brings out memories and the kid in me.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships/partnerships are important to me because of the bonds created through them. Life is no fun to go through it alone. I love socializing the others. I find myself to be a people person. I am not going to lie, I do not enjoy doing many things by myself. I don’t even go to simple places like, Walmart by myself. Having relationships on any level means I have a bond with that person. We are connected. I enjoy people and the thoughts and differences they bring in me or to our relationship. If I happen to have a relationship where we share similarities, it too is just as important to me because of the bond we have.

Some of the people in my life currently who I share a positive bond is my husband, children, mother, sisters, God, my pastor, & coworkers, to just name a few off the long list I have.

Well to begin, the relationship I have with my husband has been in the making for over 20 years. It has been an adventure with ups and downs, but one, that works on open communication and trust. It wasn’t easy and by far, it is not over. Communication is key to maintaining what we have going. We have a friendship not just a romantic relationship. I genuinely want to be around him and love him unconditionally. I am so glad that we are in this thing called life together.

The relationship with my kids, is always changing. It grows based on where they and we are in our lives. I love them. They drive me crazy but am excited to see the people they will become. I am the mom and in charge, that is how we continue to develop and maintain our relationship. I don’t always get it or do it right, but I am still mom. I love you, Char’vet, A’niece, and Brie’ann.

The relationship I have with my mom has drastically changed over the years. She is still my mom and I love her. I don’t always agree with what she does and that is ok, but I love her and she knows that. She was not born in this country and so her thoughts and the things that she does are not exactly the way that I would do them; but we have an understanding. She is and will always be my mom. The relationship is in a way hard to explain. She is not my friend but we can talk about things. If I ever need her she will be there.

My sisters and I do not always agree with each other, but we love each other. We have each other’s back. We are family. They still drive me crazy at times like only they can but I will always be there for them; Elizabeth, and Kimberly.

I don’t know if I can explain my relationship with God to others. It is at the top of my list as relationships goes. He just understands me. I know he is always there and will never leave me nor forsake me. I fail him daily, but he NEVER fails me. I love God. There is no one like God to me in my life. The relationship I have with him is unique, one of a kind and very special to me.

My pastor is someone I am close with too. She is always there to answer my call and help guide me when I need her. She listens and prays with me/for me. She is a person with a big heart. She loves me and understands when I fail. She helps gives me directions for life, decisions, and just in other ways I need it. Thank you Pastor Dylisaly Johnson

My coworkers are important to my daily life. They help me with my job and the duties I need there. I can rely on them. They are fun to be around and talk to. I enjoy my job more with them around.

The people I call friends are important to me. I did not list them specifically, but I do have a few. Friends help me stay grounded and try to look out for me. In my world, we come across many people I have to say good-by to and nice to have met you, but there are times where the relationships I have created do stick and those people then become lifelong friends and perhaps even family.

Maintaining relationships in my world sometimes is hard, because we move so much. We pretty much just live in the moment and go with the flow. The friends I do have and friendships I make some, have kept in contact passed the time we were face to face but it definitely is hard.  Making yourself available to be there, being trustworthy and able to keep a secret is important to maintaining these relationships. I have learned that people will come into your life, some for a day, a season, and others for a lifetime. I have learned also to take nothing for granted because tomorrow is not promised to you. I have experienced that too many times in my short years here on earth. Appreciate everything!

Special characteristics I see that is needed in all my relationships is communication. We have to be able to tell each other things even when we don’t want to hear it. You can’t be afraid to say something. Don’t let me walk around with boogers in my nose and I won’t let you walk around with one in yours. Not to judge is very important. Just because it may not have been the way you would do things it is how I chose to get it done. A sense of humor is also important. We have to be able to have a good time and laugh at each other.

COMMUNICATON  is so important. Not communicating hurts all in the long run. Avoiding things and problems is not good. Open two-way communication is key. I feel that these have helped me in my career field.

 

When I think of Child Development

I would like to thank all my colleagues in EDUC 6160
Early Childhood Development @ Walden University
Especially, Cindy Durant and Anna Macias, you guys have stopped by my blog the most.
You guys made thoughtful comments. I really appreciate that. I thank you for your support. 

 
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Testing for Intelligence?

I feel that measured a child through holistic development allows a child to fully develop all areas. Below are areas in which a child should be assessed. I feel like today we are trying to fit our children into a bubble and have them develop into ways that are not them. We do not allow kids to be kids anymore, with technology and things we are pushing them in the opposite direction from when we grew up. We now have standards and goals to meet for kids that. A child is not one part of any development but the whole child should be assessed.

Holistic development is a process of self-actualization and learning that combines an individual's mental, physical, social, emotional and spiritual growth. The term can be used to describe forms of alternative education that are based on the more humanistic and democratic outlooks.

 

Holistic development in children focuses on addressing all of the needs of a child's life: emotional, physical, relational, intellectual, creative and spiritual. This perspective to development encourages caregivers and teachers to look at the child as a whole and not focus on the individual parts.

Brought into popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, the holistic approach to child development has steadily become more common and led to the development of alternative approaches to education, such as the Montessori method. In this approach, traditional fact memorization and passive learning is eschewed for a more open and explorative method of learning and development.

To nurture the child as a whole, the holistic approach encourages learning through engagement of the environment. Each child is looked at as an individual and will find different learning opportunities through different paths. According to ECE Educate, at any given moment, the child’s emotions, physical needs and creative openness will contribute to his development and learning, furthering the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A holistic caregiver will give children opportunities to engage in open-ended play while building warm relationships and recognizing the importance of the child’s spiritual and cultural development. Through this holistic approach, the caregiver can focus on the unique aspects of the child.

Methods for Implementing Holistic Approaches

While there is clearly no one method, Miller (2006) after review of a number of different holistic teaching methodologies, describes four key aspects of holistic approach based teaching:
1.       Learning is organic, emergent, experimental and based on cooperation.   Pre-planned teaching is facilitated only so far as to initiate open ended questioning and inquiry;
2.       There is a strong sense of community and engagement between children, parents and educators where those members feel strongly to care for one another
3.       There is a great respect for children’s interior life,  with methods ranging from environmental spaces that facilitate time out of competitive nosier environments, to time to ask deeper questions about the meaning of life and spirituality.
4.       There are strong connections to nature,  with the care and connection to the environment incorporated throughout the curriculum.
In another interesting article by Ron Miller he describes the aspirations of the holistic educator:

Holistic education aims to call forth from people an intrinsic reverence for life and a passionate love of learning. This is done, not through an academic "curriculum" that condenses the world into instructional packages, but through direct engagement with the environment. Holistic education nurtures a sense of wonder. Montessori, for example, spoke of "cosmic" education: Help the person feel part of the wholeness of the universe, and learning will naturally be enchanted and inviting. There is no one best way to accomplish this goal, there are many paths of learning and the holistic educator values them all; what is appropriate for some children and adults, in some situations, in some historical and social contexts, may not be best for others. The art of holistic education lies in its responsiveness to the diverse learning styles and needs of evolving human beings (Miller, n.d).

In the UK, some believe that if a child starts school to early then they could damage their learning for life. Children who start school around the age of 6 or 7 are believed to have developed theory-building and meaning-making capacities, giving them the confidence to explore their environment in a way that has real meaning and context for them.

Reference:
 https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/dec/10/school-starting-age-five-six-uk-eu

http://www.raiselearning.com.au/blogs/news/5818384-exploring-holistic-approaches-for-early-childhood-educators

Stressors in Children's Development

As a child, I was born in the late 70’s where racism and discrimination were still very heavily pointed out. My mother is Korean and my dad was black. As a child, I was told that I did not fit a particular group in the right way. I was not Korean or Asian enough or black enough to be accepted by my peers. Funny thing is that growing up I was not really ever close to my mother. I wanted to be around my dad all the time. I was looked at and treated like daddy’s little girl. So, this meant I needed to prove to others that I did belong with the black kids. I saw and felt a stronger connection to them. I got into a lot of fights growing up proving myself constantly. After a while I grew up with an attitude and a mouth. Because my father was an educated man he instilled an importance of intelligence in me. He had a degree in History which also kind of carried over to me. As a kid, when I was with my older cousins; we were all told to pick out what we wanted to be when we grew up. I chose to be a lawyer since I was the age of 6 or 7. The Huxtables were on TV and I loved watch Cliff and Claire. They were a good positive influence on me. Since I didn't want to go to college for 8+ years to be a doctor and look at blood regularly, so I chose to be a lawyer. I figured if I was going to continue to be treated like a second-class citizen in life that I needed to be smart to fight the injustices I felt in my life because of the color of my skin. We all deserve to fit in and not be told we can’t be friends just because I don’t look exactly like you. Don’t get me wrong this type of thinking was not in everyone’s mind, but I faced a lot of it growing up. Even today, I get this same type of attitude, from people who just should know better but open their mouths without any kind information. Let me also point out that I have friends of all colors. I love and adore all my friends and all that cross my path.

Even when I started dating my husband, the first question out of my mother-in-law’s mouth was “is she white?” The reason being not because she is racist but because during her life, she faced many times where she was discriminated against because of the color of her skin and in recent years prior to dating my husband an incident involving the law and the fact that a family member was black occured. They are just cautious people. However, their thinking has since progressed, and in fact we have a few family members on that side who are dating outside their race. It is widely accepted now without any of the questioning I faced.

The one time in my life that I did not have to prove myself and was accepted is when I went away to college. I grew up in Florida and decided to attend college my freshman year at a HBCU in Charlotte, NC; Johnson C. Smith University, I had to get away from my mom because at this point my father had passed away and I had a lot on my shoulders and needed some relief. At college, not once did I have to argue or get into any kind of altercation to prove I belonged there. I made friends immediately. Not because they wanted something from me other than friendship. I had an overall time of peace in my life. I enjoyed this period of time in my life and it still holds great memories for me. It is that kind of feeling I want to pass on to my children because they look like mommy and will and have been discriminated against because of their skin color.

This type of stressor helped shaped my character. It gave me thicker skin. It showed me that I was more than what you saw on the outside but what I have on the inside. I do still have an attitude and a mouth at times, but with age I have learned how to control it. I still see and face this type of treatment and it bothers me because even in today’s age with the United States being a huge melting pot that it is, we still treat others like second class citizens.

 

I currently have a friend deployed in Afghanistan. Currently with the things going on people forget there are children there. With conditions the way they are, they face stressors that may be foreign to us.  A great number of families are impoverished and lack the necessities such as food and shelter (Catani, C., 2009, p. 163)” As a result children suffer from “war experiences, malnutrition, and ill health (Catani, C., 2009, p. 163).” There is also a great deal of family violence reported by children but could be related to the fact there is poverty, exposure to war, and child labor prevalent in Afghanistan.

 

 

 References:

Catani, C., Schauer, E., Elbert, T., Missmahl, I., Bette, J., & Neuner, F. (2009). War trauma, child labor, and family violence: life adversities and PTSD in a sample of school children in Kabul. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(3), 163-171. Doi: 10.1002/jts.20415