Tips for Part 2, Expanding Resources

The steps that I took this week to locate and contact the two professionals, was to call and e-mail professional from the podcast and contact the local U.S. embassy for that country. I have made some progress but not enough to say that I have accomplished the mission. I think that I will be selecting the alternate assignment for Part 1. The process of selecting the early childhood organization was that I looked for video links and other articles and newsletters that would help with early childhood topics and issues and trends. I chose the “The Global Fund for Children: An organization which provides capital to communities worldwide to improve the lives of children.
http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/” website.

"My Supports."

My emotional support comes mainly from my spouse and my children. They are the immediate support in my life and next there is support from my family members. My spouse is the strongest supporter and then there is my father, my brothers and sisters, and there are my aunts, uncles, cousins and my in-laws. My practical support, such as a grocery list or monetary support, or help around the house comes from my spouse and my children. Mostly my physical support comes from my wife and my son and daughter if I need assistance with completing a task. Emotionally, they were there for me as when my mother and my brother passed away or when my day at a job goes bad.

A practical example is when my spouse and children are willing to write out the grocery list and help with the cleaning, decorating, shopping, washing, ironing, tracking the bills, when to pay, how much to pay, cooking, and stay home and wait for me to finish my assignments or allow for me to stay up late and complete an assignment.

Physically, they are there to help carry in the groceries, furniture, rearranging the home, bringing a glass of water, preparing food, and throwing out the rash. Without this I would be overwhelmed and not know where to start. I would not know what to purchase at the grocery store, know what furniture to purchase, have problems carrying in furniture, decorating the home, remaining calm after a bad day at work, and not be allowed to complete my Walden assignments. I would not be able to complete this degree. This provided a relief of stress and provides a sense of support that everything is going to be fine. Without this strong support my life would be very difficult. Completing my Masters in Early Childhood Studies-Admin, Mgmt, and Leadership would not be possible.      

The challenge that I chose to imagine and the thoughts I have with regard to supports I would want and need include help with transportation to work and car repairs and financial support. The potential benefits of these supports is that I would be able to get to work much easier, be able to fix a current car, purchase a new car, and have more funds available after rent and bills for going out to eat, stay-cations, a vacation, travel, visiting family and friends. Without these supports it would be very difficult to function on a daily bases. There would be emotionally high stress, and worry, practically I would be unemployed, or discomforted and have to rely on public transportation, and physically I would be tired, cold, or hot from standing at a bus stop, or walking to get groceries, or walking to do errons around town. If these were not present I would not know where to turn. I would be very upset each day and life would be no fun.

"My Connections to Play."

Images

This is a play item that I would want

 

 

 

As a child I was raised in the country consider today as a remote area or wooded area that had limited activity. I was raised by a single mother who had to spread her highly demanded attention to each of us. I had to make my fun as well as my older siblings with whatever resources were available. I spent quite some time alone because I was the youngest of 7. When I was not plying with my older siblings I was playing with my cousins. Some of my time was spent playing by a stream in a wooded area and when it rained the pools were filled the top and this caused a run off of excess water to flow out of the pool and down a small stream. I played for hours at this small stream when I was approximately 4 or 5 years old. I was not of school age and was not allowed to attend kindergarten.         

This is another item that I would want

 

"In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself." - Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934).

 
“A child's greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action and morality.” ~Lev Vygotsky.





This is another item that I would want.

 This is an idea of the country environment that I grew up in. Unfortunately, I have no childhood pictures available of myself.  Three pictures of essential play items for your younger self include.

 Play was not as monitored or studied as it is today. There were times that I spent a great deal of time playing alone without the supervision of an adult. Due to the fact that people were not as vigilant or attentive as they could have been. They purchased what they could and gave almost complete autonomy to children at that time.

 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 somewhat similar to play when I was a child. People are not as attentive as they could be or too busy to take time out with their children. Play has been replaced with the internet as opposed to a toy or a physical game or a bicycle. It is the same effect; children are not getting enough attention or guidance.  What’s different today is that recess is being phased out at school but play is much more monitored, studied and controlled by the government. But there is less of a feeling of community. People do not get involved today if a child is not their own or if a child is seen doing something that was not moral, ethical, or wise.    

 As a child play for me was different in the fact that I was not monitored, studies, and there was less control by the government at school. The community played attention to children and did not have the uninvolved mentality that they do today.  Children were corrected by members in the community if they saw a child dong something that was not correct. Punishment was accepted and allowed within the community.   

 Play served for me as child a way to relax, express myself, discover myself, my creativity, and develop mentally, physically, cognitively, and socially. As an adult I have discovered that my personality is more reserved and I prefer to work in a relaxed environment.   

Relationship Reflection

• Relationships are important to me because they provide a sense of support and a sense of belonginess.
• I currently have a positive relationship with my father, sisters, brothers, uncles and aunts.
• My relationship with my father is positive because it provides me with a reference point when I need to get advice or when I can’t answer a problem or need financial support. I contact him each week to see how he is doing.
• This helps us to develop and sustain our relationship. My sisters keep in touch with me and my brothers also. We contact each other every week also mostly during the weekend.
• My uncles and aunts contact me each other every six to 12 weeks just to say hello and offer any assistance that they can provide.
• Some of the challenges to developing and maintaining and relationships is that over time people relocate to other cities, countries, towns, only communicate thru e-mail, letters, texting, or lose contact information.      
• Special characteristics of these relationships that make partnerships is my family’s willingness to care and be wiling to contact me and reach out and offer a helping hand or provide financial assistance, and advice consistently.   
• My experiences with different relationships including my family, co-workers, and friends, have prepared me to be an active, reflective contributor, to the early childhood profession. I developed a caring attitude, good self-concept, social and emotional growth, more confidence, which are the qualities that are critical to success in the early education field.            

When I Think of Child Development

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky, was a Russian developmental psychologist who believed that the focus of cognitive development of a child should be on their social and cultural world, instead of Piaget’s views of individual performance. Vygotsky believed that cognitive development progresses as a result of social interactions which connect equal work to solve problems. Children progressively grow intellectually and begin to function independently with assistance from adults and peers (Feldman, 2005). One of Vygotsky’s quotes on educating children that appeals to me is: 

 

“People with great passions, people who accomplish great deeds, people who possess strong feelings, even people with great minds and a strong personality, rarely come out of good little boys and girls.”
― Lev S. Vygotsky

  Feldman. R. S. (2005). Development across the life span (3^rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:    

       Pearson Education, Inc.

Testing Intellegence?

The holistic view of middle childhood children definitely should include assessing their cognitive growth.  As an educational administrator, cognitive growth is an area that I feel needs to be closely looked at. 

Because anxiety disorder in childhood it can be chronic and lead to substantial social, emotional, and educational impairment. And it is the most common disorder in children. This area is central in driving developmental milestones. And because strong language and thinking skills, and emotional a stability are critical for survival in society today (Mor & Meijers, 2009).

In Israel, they are examining the scientific basis of cognitive behavioral therapy that is used for treating children with anxiety issues. They are proving information on the components that include psycho-education, coping skills and exposure and the role of the parents in the therapy process (Mor & Meijers, 2009).

The method that they used is the assessment is the evidence-based assessment model. This particular model gathers information or data which leads to case conceptualization. Case conceptualization plays a large part in assisting treatment planning, treatment evaluation, monitoring of treatment progress, diagnosing existing anxiety, or potential cases, the cause or nature of the issue, and understanding patients, assessing cost and treatment effectiveness, the  satisfaction of clients, monitoring changes during therapy, and treatment evaluation  (Mor & Meijers, 2009).

In addition, as an administrator, it is a great idea to make assumptions and preplan for disorders of any type.  Leaders must become proactive and schedule interviews with parents and children and probe for information that may reveal signs and symptoms of any anxiety disorders.

Mor, N., PhD., & Meijers, J., PhD. (2009). Cognitive behavioral therapy in childhood anxiety. The Israel      

       Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 46(4), 282-9. Retrieved from 

       http://search.proquest.com/docview/

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

As an African America child growing up in the Deep South, there were very many stressors to deal with.  There was definitely racism, poverty, hunger, and violence.  I mostly grew up in a broken home on a small farm located in a very rural area outside of town with a single mother.  My mother had eight children and not very much support from my father.  We had to live with my father for one summer due to my mothers inability to properly support us.  We were unfortunate to not have proper conveniences that others had.  We had no automobile, no electric stove, no running water, limited bedding, a fireplace and only two rooms available to sleep.       

As a coping mechanism we were not aware that we had a choice or that life was much better than our experiences in that state.  We wore the same clothing; eat limited portions of food, shared water from a neighbor, food, telephone, and automobile, shared child caring and caregiving. We mainly shared resources.       

The region of the country that I chose is the country of Israel.  Israel has experienced or has been forced to fight many wars. War is a constant for this nation as they are fighting everyone that they must.  Fortunately, their fighting spirit and resilience have always afforded them a victorious outcome. Israel is known for a place where Jesus Christ once lived walked and preached the gospel.  Jerusalem is the capital and is often mentioned in movies, books, article and other sources of information.  

Unfortunately, this has been a war zone many times.  War and terror attacks or violence in Israel has caused the quality of family life to fall very low in this historic religious nation.  Children have to leave tier homes for an uncertain amount of time and live in fear of terrorist attacks.  Economic and physical uncertainty has a great impact on their stress levels. Their hope for the future is threatened and poverty is increasing, child indoctrination occurs, abuse by militants as human shields, and detained by militants, on one side of the war.  The impact of war causes them not to sleep well, hunger sets in as well as a poor education, a lack of food, and posttraumatic stress on all ages.  

In addition, children handle stress better than adults and despite their experiences many are able to show positive growth in the aftermath. With a richer spiritual relationship with Christ,    changed priorities, interpersonal relationships, things can turn around.  (Kimhi et al. 2010)

Some peace projects that were implemented in Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Health professionals from each city have worked together through the Canadian International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO).  The projects goal sis to promote peacebuilding through addressing mother-child health, nutrition, youth health, disease and youth health (Skinner et al.2005).