My Connections to Play

 

Select two quotes that you feel summarize what play represented for you in childhood.

*" A person's a person, no matter how small." - Dr.Seuss
  " Nothing you do for a child, is ever wasted." - Garrison Keillor

Include two to three pictures of essential play items for your younger self.

Describe how people supported play when you were younger and/or the role of play in your childhood.

* Play was supported in a few different areas throughout my childhood. The first and foremos was at school, I can vaguely remember after doing our circle time activities; such as abs, calendar, weather, and helpers chart, we were giving time to play in the classroom. I can also recall recess as the time of the day that all children looked forwad to, because we had 45minutes outside to run around with our friends from other classrooms.

Next, play was allowed at home at the early age. I can remember after beginning kindergarten and first grade, etc. nothing was even considered until the homework was done and checked. My mom never really had a problem with getting my brother and I to go outside and play; because it was something that all th neighborhood kids did once homework was done, and school clothes were changed. We would all meet up on the block; play kickball, tag, footbll (with the boys), racing up and down the block, or if it was a gorgeous day, we would bring our bikes out. Then came dinner time, the streets were; clear, calm, and quiet. We were always told don't rush and eat your food just to go back outside, we have alwayssat down and ate as a family and we will continue to eat s a family. Luckily when the last bite was taken from my parents plate, my brother and I zoomed to clean our spaces and run back outside; which at this point we only had about two hours left before the street lights came on. Those were a sign that if they came on and your still outside; you're in trouble, we had to be physically on our porch with our last foot dragging in the house by time it clicked on to be safe.

One more aspect of play during my childhood, was being involved in sports. From the early age of four or five, I started playing soccer, onto t-ball, which I stayed with for a few years moving up to minors. I left the baseball scene for a few years and joined cheerleading for our local basketball association. I then joined the band in middle school, and later the marching band in highschool; where we traveled to all the games and even participated in competitions on the weekends near and far. I then went back to the bat and ball game during highschool; although now I was in softball, and continued playing softball for our local recreation association as well.

Write a brief entry on how you feel play today is similar or different from the play in which you engaged as a child and what your hope for young is now with regard to play.

* Play today is so very much different now than when I was growing up. Years ago, we wanted to basically live outside; climb trees, play in the mud, get dirty, play with the boys, etc. Now adays, it's almost as if you have to force children to go outside and play, because they have so many other things preoccupying their minds; such as, tv, electronics (video games, ipods, ipads, computers etc.) , cell phones. Another difference from when I was growning up and now, is that the children are lazy and the parents allow the children to sit around. The United States has this problem of Childhood Obesity and one of the reasons is becaue the children are not given and or bing made to go outside, exercise and to do things that children their ages should be doing like running up and down the block, riding bikes, playin tag, throwiong a football, etc.

 

My hope is for the parents and children to see how important being active, and having the opportunity to play is. We are in the time where everything is about technology, which is fine; but we have to know that those things have a time and place, and should not be used as babysitters or to replace active outside time. I would really like to see a turn for the better with children going outside and getting that real-life experience.

Reflecting on Building Relationships

Building and maintaing a relationship is very special. Having people who; love you, are in your corner, there to push you a little farther, and never let you down, are characteristic traits that can not be found in every person in which you meet. It takes a special bond between two, sometimes more individuals in order for a relationship to become productive.

     




These are the two main people that are important in my life. To the left is my mother and the left is my father. I have others, but didn't have a picture. My mother and father have always been supportive of whatever I decided to do. They both would share their opinions and encourage me to press toward the mark of the high calling if that is truly what I would like to do. I believe you can never have enough support, but you have to be careful and make sure that each person in your circle is in it for the right reasons; and my parents, I can say will always have their hearts in the best interest for me. My parents have seen me through my ups and downs during my schooling and switching schools, struggle to complete assignments and the tiredless nights of falling asleep at the computer, to moving forward in my job career, completing my BS degree (with Walden) and making Cum Laude, to starting my own business. I can truly say, I wouldn't trade these two individuals in for the world.

One challenge that I can remember, is having to learn somethings the hard way by trial and error. I came remember times when I had assignments due but my friends called to go out, my parents would remind me that I had work to be done eand of course I chose to go out saying "oh, I only have to write a paper when I come back no big deal" and by time I came back a few hours later, and sat down to do my homework there was only 2hrs remaining. I opened my books and prepared to do my assignment to only realize, I had no clue what I was supposed to do. After trying and trying to make sense of it, I had to wait until the next day to ask the instructor exactly how to do it.

Some of the special characteristics that come from these relationships are: love, nurture, listener, guidance, leadership, and encouragement.

My experiences in dealing with relationships work hand in hand, while working with children and their families. From my relationships, I have learned how to become a better listener which is something that all individuals need who deal with children besides patience. Over the years of growing and maturing, I have developed a trait of guidance and leadership that I can pass on to my children with a modified tool so they can use it at their level. Forming relationships, make communication easiser and more personable if and when it's needed; and when working with children, you're also working with their parents and or caregivers.

Inspirtational Quote / Thanks

"A person's a person, no matter how small."- Dr. Seuss

I chose this quote because I work with the younger age group. Often times, there are special events, activities, and treats for the older children and nothing ever geared for my infants and toddlers (before I moved to preschool). So I began to include my children in each event that was happening and modifying it so that my children were able to enjoy it as well. I was always told "by my boss" that my babies were too young, until they saw my ending appearance and exactly HOW I was able to modify.

"Never underestimate what you are too lazy to try"- Sherrell Widgeon

I would like to personally thank everybody in our class whom I've had the pleasure of; blogging, discussion boards, and working with, during these past 8 weeks. I have truly learned a lot from each of you, and will be taking bits and pieces from each of your wonderful insights and implementing them within my classroom, and or storage for personal knowledge. I look forward to continuing on my Master's program, hopefully with some of you in my furture classes.

I hope and pray that everyone has an uplifting and spirt-filled Christmas, New Years, or whatever holiday that you may celebrate. Stay safe and always safe traveling for those who may be driving for the holidays.

-Sherrell

Testing for Intelligence?

When we observe, assess, and evaluate; we are looking into so many different areas of the child. For instance; the various stages of develpmet, social interaction amongst peers and also their teacher, perception, performance, comprehension, etc. The next process would be if the child is being referred as showing signs of a delay. I do believe all of these areas should be measured; however, not measured based on "general standards", but according to the performance and abilty of each individual child. I feel this way, because each child operates and thinks differently; therefore every chld will not do as well as the next child if one shows signs of being delayed in math but brilliant in writing.

When researching Haiti, I wasn't able tofind much information about the educational aspect in the classroom; however I did find a lot of statistics about 400,000 six to eleven years old are out of school, 38% preschoolers are overaged and 72% being basic age group, as well as the illiteracy rate of thirteen years old and older are 57%. From digging a little deeper, I learned that Haiti does not assess their chldren because "the country suffers from a lack of qualified teachers and inadequate curricula" (2010, Office of The Special Envoy for Haiti)

I really believe that all schools should revisit their guidelines for assessment, because a teacher can not accurately prepare students for testing if they are not allowed to put their 100% inventiveness in it. What I mean, is that the teachers should NOT be mandated to teach per the curriculum, but from experience, sparked interests of the students, and passion. When you release so many controlling chains you tend to have a better outward response, which in this situation would be from the children and their performance levels.

Resources:
2010, Office of The Special Envoy for Haiti

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

The stressor I'm going to discuss is "Natural Disater". I have experienced my first Natural Disater last month around Halloween time, when Hurricane Sandy; approached, hit, and destroyed many areas in my state of New Jersey. You always see of things as such happen on the news from places far off; however, you never can really "feel the pain" until it hits home and you've become a victim of it. Although other areas (closer to the shore- Atlantic City) received much worse damage and turnmoil than I did, I experienced it as well. I never witnessed an Hurricane before, so not knowing what to really expect going into it, except from what the news reporters were saying. I just kept hearing it's going to be a bad storm, prepare, stockup, relocate, and etc. As days got closer certain areas were being told to vacate their areas because their lifes were in extreme danger.

Well Sandy came and it destroyed. We were displaced for exactly 1 week, coming back to check the house each day to see if the power was back on, if the trees that fell on our house, yard, and middle of the streets had been removed, if there were any leaks and water damage. Each day was a negative to all of the previous questions. Being out of work for a week, not having access to the internet to do school work; it was all becoming my norm as the days moved forward. Luckily we had a bag packed and were prepared as warned, we had clothes to wear and take with us. On the 8th day, we found out the power came back on, to only notice that the heat now was an issue. Another 2days of being relocated until the heat was fixed, and then having to deal with the next stressor of losing all of our food, about a good 7-8hundred dollars worth, and a refridgerator that completely shut down and never came back on. Fema sets up a local station in my area to over assistance to those affected by the hurricane, to only find out we're unelgible because we didn't lose our house. So was this Natural Disater a stressor to my family and I; it definetly was/is.



On June 2, 2011; Springfield, Massachusetts also experienced a Natural Disater, by way of a tornado. Many many people were injured by this devastating event that took place. There were roofs, homes, and even a steepple to a church that were all apart of the damaged property. Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown joined Governor Deval Patrick on a helicopter tour to survey the entire area, and the three agreed that Springfield looked like a "blast zone" Those affected by this disaster had to endear the tragedy for days, weeks, and even some for months. Schools were closed, shelters and emergency personnel; such as red cross were made available, as well as federal disaster aid.

Down below is a picture from that particular event in Massachusetts.



Resource:
Singer, S. (2011) Massachusettes Tornadoes Leave People Dead and Towns Damaged.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/massachusetts-tornadoes-aftermath_n_870175.html

Child Development and Public Health

Choose one public health topic from the list above (or one that you think should be added to the list).

 

 Access to Runnint Water- Haiti 

Describe in what ways this topic is meaningful to you.

  This topic is meaningful to me, because I work at a Head Start facility; which is an state funded program for families that are from the low income group. My families may have several situations that may prevent them from being able to uphold a household as a traditional family would be able to.

 

Find information about this topic from a different part of the world, and include this information in your Blog.

Haiti has experienced struggles in obtaining clean running water and sanitation for some time now. The local government there has been attempting to strengthen the ability for the island to have access to clean running water. Haiti has improved their water source by 60% in the rural area, in comparison to 56% in the urban area. However, the urban area has a better department of sanitation standing at 28%; whereas the rural area is still lacking at only 14% in health and sanitation.

According to Wikipedia, the earthquake that occured in 2010 left millions of people without; their home, food, clothes, and or running water.

 While researching the island of Haiti, and the lack of running water, I came across a non-profit organization that has been created to assist those from Haiti with necessary essentials. The organization is called: Clean Water for Haiti, which is a faith-based volunteer group. Clean Water for Haiti's mission is "to provide the people of Haiti with affordable access to clean water in their homes through the use of Biosand water filters." (2011, Clean Water for Haiti)

 

Share ways the information you have learned may impact your future work

•  This information will inform all those who work in the educational field, or similar too; to educate, teach, and model the children the importantce of running water; ways to use it properly, and the fact that it is apart of keeping them healthy and clean.
• I have children at my school, who you can tell are not being guided, taught, nor modeled too; about using running water. It really hurts my heart to see children who come to school and you can just tell they have not had a bath in days. Children, not only in foreign countries or far away, but also in our own backyards would be considered "the end of the world" to just be able to have and use claen running water.
• We as professionals should also encourage the parents and provide them with resources about using it for giving the children baths, drinking water because it carries flouride in it and will help protoect children from getting cavities easily.
   

 

 

 

Resources:

July 2012, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Haiti

 

2011, http://cleanwaterforhaiti.org/

Childbirth in Your Life and Around Your World

Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child's birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?

-I'm going to talk about a birth that I have been told about; being that the three suggestive questions do not pertain to me. I'm going to describe my brother's birth, who is 2years older than I am. My brother's name is Jeff, and he was overdue by 1week. My mother had a docter's appointment on a Monday and she was told that if she didn't go into labor over the weekend, that she should to the hospital 6am Monday morning. My father took my mother in on that Monday morning so she could be induced. My mother can't remember if she asked not to know, or if the sex of the baby was unavailble; but at that time of being induced, she had not been told yet as to what she was having. Sometime that afternoon, after being induced, she birthed a son. My mother experienced a very hard labor, and the pain medicine was not very effective. The baby was larger than expected which caused a very stressful labor. At birth, the baby weighed 8lbs, 15 oz. and had a very large head!
-I chose to write about this experience, because this was my mother's worst labor and her only late baby of three children. My mother was having other health complications; such as gestational diabetes, and very bad swelling of the legs and feet; which caused her having to use crutches. My mother's other two children, my sister and I were normal deliveries and didn't cause too much pain. :)
-The birth of a baby at times can produce it's ups and downs. But after the end results of some happy and sad times, a beautiful baby is born.

Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?

-I have selected Bermuda to research and find out what similiarities and differences do they share with the USA, when it comes to women giving birth. In Bermuda, it is common for women to go to the hospital; one in particular: King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. KEMH allows the new mother to recover depending on private insurance companies and what is covered. The new mother is also allowed to have visitors during specific hours of the day as well as some down time during the "quiet hours" of the ward. 1 piece of information that I did find interesting is that all Maternity Nurses are both RN's and registered nurse midwives. I think that is an plus and if families decide to change their mind and or are sent home because of a false alarm; the same maternity nurse that have been dealing with will also be able to be their midwive because of the duplicated education.
Resources:
Bermuda Hospitals Board, 2012; http://www.bermudahospitals.bm/womens-services/maternity.asp