Time Well Spent

"Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day."—Zen Proverb

 This program has taught me so much in which I feel like I have grown personally and professionally.  The different ism’s, persona dolls, and the different environmental situations that children and families come from are some of things that left profound feelings that I will take with me. These various topics are things that I have never heard of before and now knowing them will assist me in my career path.  Learning the new lessons has opened me up to many possibilities which will benefit me as well as the people that I serve.

One long term goal of mine is to provide a culturally diverse environment in my program where children and parents feel safe and can come and express themselves and learn from one another.  Then I want to open my own childcare center that will help change people’s ways of thinking and become accepting of different cultures.

I want to wish everyone best wishes and good luck and all of your future endeavors.  It was great working and learning with you all for the last 18 Months.  I hope that we can still communicate and network with one another to help us in our future journey. 

"It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning." —Claude Bernard

This program has taught me to be open and be more excepting of others.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community International

Three international organizations that appealed to me were:

1.      Association for Childhood Education International

      http://www.acei.org/

I choose this website because it is promotes that every child have access to quality education and it also influences professional growth for educators. 

There were no job opportunities on this website cause it consisted of different organizations put together to provide place for educators  to help children receive a quality education so they can build a better life in this changing world. 

2.      The Division for Early Childhood (DEC)

http://www.dec-sped.org/

           

This website is an international organization that works on behalf of children with disabilities and special needs.  Their mission statement is to promote policies and advance evidence-based practices to support the optimal development of young children with special needs.

I choose this website since there are many children with disabilities and special needs I wanted to see how people with these challenge internationally.  DEC is committed to promoting parent-professional collaboration in all facets of planning, designing, and implementing early childhood intervention services.

This site only had one job opportunity that was located in Kansas it is for a Post-Doctoral   Researcher at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project.  The REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:  1. PhD in a discipline related to children’s learning, education, and development such as language/communication disorders, early intervention or early childhood special Ed...

3.      NAEYC-The National Association for the Education of Young Children

http://www.naeyc.org/

Founded in 1926, The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.  NAEYC is the leading membership association for those working with and on behalf of children from birth through age 8. NAEYC convenes thought leaders, teachers and other practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders and sets standards of excellence for programs and teachers in early childhood education.

There were not job opportunities on this particular website. 

 

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

The first organization I choose was the National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP).  I choose this group because as a director I am always looking for ways to build up the skills of my employees who are devoted to early child care and education.  This organization's goal is to improve, enhance and strengthen the credibility of the people who lead the child care industry by providing membership services and benefits.  They also provide on-line training that you can have staff sign up for and continue the process of professional development.  I firmly believe the better trained the staff is the better environment for the children and families you serve. 

The second organization I choose was the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC).  I like this because you can come here and get connected with other providers in the family child care field. 

The last organization is the United Way it envisions a world where all individuals and families achieve their human potential through education, income stability and healthy lives.  The United way set up the following goals in 2008. 

United Way initiated a 10-year program designed to achieve the following goals by 2018:

• Improve education, and cut the number of high school dropouts — 1.2 million students, every year — in half.
• Help people achieve financial stability, and get 1.9 million working families — half the number of lower-income families who are financially unstable — on the road to economic independence.
• Promote healthy lives, and increase by one-third the number of youth and adults who are healthy and avoid risky behaviors.

They had a variety of employment opportunities worldwide that they were looking to fill. 

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and they learn how to do it better through interacting with one another (Wenger 1998).  Below are the three communities of practice that appealed to me and will be beneficial in my career path. 

New Jersey School Age-Care Coalition: http://www.njsacc.org/.

I choose this particular website because it was suitable for my occupation that I am currently doing.  This website was able to aid me with various activities, staff trainings, and the latest updates for the After School Programs. There were currently no job opportunities at this time but After School Programs do post-employment opportunities on this site. 

My second choice is the National Association for the Education of Young Children: http://www.naeyc.org/

This website is the leading association for those working with and on behalf of children from birth through age 8.  It offers various staff trainings, and resources which will benefit families and educators. 

It is currently looking for a Conference Program Coordinator NAEYC to assist with the Institute Conference a citywide Annual Conference.  Responsibilities include coordinating the proposal review process; updating/maintaining the proposal/presenter/scheduling databases; preparing presenter, session, and scheduling reports and correspondence; updating the Conference websites; and managing the Conference meeting room inventory. BA/BS required.

Lastly, I choose this website http://www.njcdb.org/  because I found it interesting because in our last class we talked about children with disabilities.  This website helps with ways to provide a high quality education with natural environments for children who are deaf or blind.   There were currently no jobs opportunities on this site. 

Wenger, E, 1998. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional and for the children and families with whom I work is that I will be able to show that accepting people’s differences is all right.  Showing families that being open minded and accepting differences will allow their children to have a better outlook on people and become better individuals. 

I have been tested in this class I had to look at myself and notice my stereotypes and deal with them.  I want to thank everyone for their feedback and post it has helped me to become a better person and change how I look at things.  Good Luck to everyone we made it only one more class it seemed like it went so fast.  WE DID IT!!!!

Impacts On Early Emotional Development

The area of the world I choose to explore was West and Central Africa because many of the children in the district where I work are from Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria.   There was one parent who I found to be very interesting, she had scares all over her face and one day I asked her why and she explained to me those mark represented what tribe she came from and they were there since she was young. 

Some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting are, Malnutrition due to inadequate dietary intake, infections, safe food, and maternal care (UNICEF, 2012).  HIV/AIDS may appear to be less than in East in Southern Africa but 1/3 of the 25 million people in the Sub Saharan Africa is living with AIDS (UNICEF, 2012).  Another issue which the children in this region are facing is Child protection, meaning sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, domestic violence, discrimination and rejection (UNICEF, 2012).  Education is another issue these children face, poverty and traditional belief keeps 40% of children out of the school.  Schools are also not child friendly places; they tend to face sexual and other forms of violence in school (UNICEF, 2012). 

These experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development because these are the important years where the brain and body need basic clean water and good health to survive.  The lack of these resources has a huge impact on the survival rate of these children. 

The insights I gained from this information will have a huge influence on how I change my thought process when dealing with the parents and children who come from Africa or any other country.  Now I see why the families stress the importance of education and always want extra help for the children.  I guess coming to the United States is viewed by them as a great opportunity to receive a proper education that was lacking in their country.  I have gained a different respect for them as a people and know that if they made it this far they have made it a long way. 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

The topic of Sexualization of early childhood is a very alarming matter.  Many of today’s shows, dolls, and conversations that children hear can send wrong messages.   The topics children see and hear in today’s society are completely different than how it used to be when I was growing up.  Children are exposed to so much so early in life and it seems no one takes the time out to completely explain the right and wrong of this behavior.

There is so much exposure to sexualized environments, one example I seen recently was on Facebook where a parent took a picture of herself in her bra and panties with her young daughter in the picture.  Another example a friend of mine was telling me how her friend’s three year old daughter was saying I’ll dance for a dollar while the adult’s stood around laughing.  This statement was so out of place and no one corrected her.  Lastly, the show on TLC Toddlers and Tiara’s having those little girls with fake hair and eyelashes and dressed in provocative clothing. The parents are so wrapped up into their own self-gratification they are not realizing how they are damaging their children. 

Sexualization and media can have a huge impact on the healthy development of a child.  Many mixed signals are given; girls and boys may start to believe they have to look and act a certain way to be viewed as beautiful or accepted.  I know that some of these things seen in the media where harmful but never took a deep look into it until now.  I believe as educators and parents we need to take more time out and sensor and prevent our children from watching and hearing things that are not appropriate. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

                 

Since it is really hard to separate your personal self from your professional identity it can be tough to leave some experiences out of the workplace.  This assignment says put yourself in the shoes of someone who has experienced a particular –isms and how this experience would affect your classroom setting.

I am African-American female who is educated who is very worldly and has been exposed to a variety of different people and situations.  I went to a four star restaurant where I was the only minority with a group of friends who happen to be Caucasian.  I got there first to wait for everyone to arrive when I walked in the establishment no one greeted me or asked me if I was waiting to be seated or waiting for a party, it was like I did not exist.  I decided to use the restroom to walk away from the situation for a minute, while walking back some friends were coming in the door and the hostess greeted asked to take their coats, are they ready to be seated, and would they like to go to the bar to have a drink while they wait for the rest of their party.  Needless to say I was uncomfortable and no longer wanted to stay, but decided to not run and enjoy the time with my friends that I have seen in a long time.

This experience would help me to show the children how it feels to be singled out and made to feel less of person because the color of your skin, cultures, or beliefs.  I would now have a personal story to tell the students about the effects of being treated differently.  I would you this experience as tool and not in a negative manner, because two wrongs do not make a right.  I believe if you to tell a story it makes a situation more memorable because you are telling the actions feelings felt when going through the circumstance.

Observing Communication

I choose to observe how one of my staff persons interacts with a first grade child during homework time in an afterschool program.  I choose these two because she was so excited about how he has been progressing with his school work.  This child is in a special needs program and requires extra help.  He seems to bond very well with the staff person.  While he is doing his spelling homework she sits beside him on the benches and points out each spelling word,  tells him the word, they spell the word together, then she has him say and spell the word by himself, last she covers the word and has him spell it aloud.   When she first began doing this with him he was not a strong speller he is excellent now. 

When he walks into the program after being dismissed from his classroom he walks right over to here and says Ms. So and So cold C-O-L-D she says to him it’s not time to do spelling yet and he replies I am good speller aren’t I. Once a month she rewards him with his favorite lollipop if he does well on three of the four spelling test.  That day he came in and said lollipop please because I got four green stars for spelling.  Watching this has showed me how we as adults have such a great influence on children.  While talking to the staff person the boy’s teacher came in and said he is doing so much better on his spelling now he is in class helping the other students who are struggling. 

Adult-child communication is very important.  Observing the two interact is how I always assist children while doing homework.  When communicating I always believe that you should come down to their level and not talk down on them it makes them feel like your empowering over them or like they did something wrong.  I also believe that it is important to talk to them with enthusiasm, and a you can do it spirit.  It is important to build their self-confidence. 

Creating Affecting Environments

I would want my center to be family and anti-bias friendly how I would start this process is by having a family orientation when families first come to the center.  I would sit down with the parents so they can tell me a little about themselves and what would they like to see their children doing here.  I believe starting this way will allow you to open up the lines of communication with the center staff and the parent.  Next, there would be a parent center where the parents will sign their children in and each child will have their own folder or envelope were parents and staff can leave correspondents for one another if they do not have the necessary time to talk.  In the parent center there will be pictures and items that represent each culture that we serve so when everyone comes in it feels like a piece of home. 

One particular idea that I like to incorporate from Adrina Castillo would be a cool down or transition room where the children can come in adjust to the setting after being drop off  by their parents or even having a not so good moment during the day.  While watching the video I notice many of the sayings were in Spanish, I would like to have someone who speaks another language on staff where the children will be able to learn a second language if that’s not their language of origin. Another thing from the video I would incorporate is the emotion corner where the children will be able to come and express their emotions and relax their minds and be able to focus on the lesson. 

Throughout the center will be all type of paraphernalia which represents diversity and cultures having this around will allow the children to ask questions and learn new things about others.  The look and sounds of the room reflect the family culture s and daily lives of the children (Derman-Sparks & Edwards p. 43).  That is why the center will be painted bright and will be a place that is family and child friendly where everyone who enters feels welcome. 

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.”