Final Communication Blog

Classmates,

For the last eight weeks, I admit that I have finally found a common ground with all of you---Communication, which seems to be an on-going challenge for each one of us. I greatly appreciated each one of you and your willingness to share your experiences and opinions.

One thing I learned that communication comes in different form, sensation, and meaning for each one of us. This makes our lives more interesting and challenging in positive ways. To encourage the up keeping with communication skill, I encourage you to connect me through facebook.

I enjoyed working with you and am looking forward to continue.

Deborah

Week 6: Team Building

Not all groups make the adjourning process difficult to do.  However, I remember one in particular that made me very sad when it ended and that was the planning of my 10^th year class reunion.  I remember at the end of reunion everyone shared stories of planning the reunion and how everyone began to laugh at the various hurdles we endured throughout the planning process.  Although they were not funny at the time, we were able to look back over them and laugh.  The entire process took about a year to plan and during this time we had created new memories that I had not realized until the last night of the reunion.  We had begun to connect not only with each other but with each other families as well.  It was very difficult to tell my friends good-bye and watch them go back to their individual worlds after staying on the phone until wee hours in the mornings, attending long planning sessions as we drank numerous cappuccinos,  and   hours and hours of licking envelopes, making phone calls and searching the web trying to contact over 400 hundred classmates. 

I feel that high-performing groups are hardest to leave because they represented unity.  Everyone on the team was dedicated and motivated; thus, striving for a common goals.  We had an awesome leader who promoted mutual trust and respect.  She shared her vision for the reunion and was open to suggestions from all the team members.  Everyone respected what the others had to say and in the end we voted on any and all major decisions before they were implemented.  

At the end of the reunion everyone exchanged phone numbers and e-mails so that they could stay in touch.  Some of us hugged, cried, and vowed to stay in touch as well as visit if we were ever in their area. We also took photos to remind us of our time together. 

I imagine my adjournment from my colleagues will be very emotional for me, because we have encouraged each other, shared our experiences and knowledge and supported each other’s ability to learn, grow and develop both personally and professionally.  It is one thing to express our inner thoughts on the discussion board or through our blog, but it will be another to finally meet face-to-face at graduation.  I look forward to meeting each and every one of my colleagues so that I am finally able to put a face with the personality behind the words of articulation.  I think that adjourning is essential because of the need of closure.  The adjourning process gives the members a chance to conduct an after action report so that they can discuss what was effective and what was ineffective for future projects.  This also gives them the opportunity to say good-bye and wish each other well in their endeavors (Abudi, 2010).

Reference

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

This week lesson on conflict has really been surreal for me.  A few months ago my company decided to close operations at my childcare center and combine with another center that was close to us.  They had placed a new director there and wanted me to mentor her and help her get the center at the same quality level as my center was.  Unfortunately the director did not welcome my help and would undermine things that I had put in place.  Staffs that were used to working in an atmosphere of quality childcare were now in a place that was not being operated with quality in mind.  The tension between the director and me came to the point that I decided to just step away from the center to let her have full control.  I informed my supervisor about the uncomfortable situation.  Although I am no longer at the center, I still feel a commitment to the families and staff and feel that I have abandon them. 

The strategies that I was trying to use in this situation is to not provoke the new director anymore with a conflict and that is why I decided that mentoring her was not in my best interest or hers.  We have incompatible goals - mine is quality childcare and her goal is being financially stable with the company.  My motto has always been that if you provide quality childcare, you will make the money.  I tried to reassure the director that I did not want her job but wanted to help her be successful.  I feel that I communicated my intent effectively but apparently not and so that is why I decided to walk away from a potential conflict that probably would have escalated.  By learning this week about non-violent communication has helped me know that I did the right thing by walking away.  Please pray that I will overcome this bitterness that I have towards her.

Communication--Week 2

For this blog activity, I decided to watch a movie called Jane Eyre and analyze the communication style. There are two main characters: Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.

Jane Eyre, a young and twenties-something woman, had gone through tragic ordeals through entire of her childhood and adolescence. She protected herself from others by remaining plain in clothing, speaking, nonverbal communication, and everything. She always stayed on guard. She set herself apart from others by wearing dull clothes (plain) and kept things to herself.

Mr. Rochester, forties-something man, was a father to a young girl. He was hungry for connection with a person. He was on emotional roller coaster, because his first wife had severe mental illness. He reached out through verbal constantly.

When Jane met Mr. Rochester, her body language reflected fear in Mr. Rochester's eyes. He attempted to converse with her, but she would not go pursue in-depth conversation. He read her eyes, body language, and clothing and was able to identify that Jane did not want to share her past with him.

To keep the story short and to the point, Jane and Mr. Rochester realized they were comfortable with each other based on the fact that she listened actively to him and he was able to read her. Naturally, they developed romantic feelings for one another.

As I watched the movie, I could "feel" their emotions and read their nonverbal communication before next event. I immediately knew these characters would bonded.  It was clear throughout the movie. It was easy to observe the eye contacts, the body language, and a few dropped hints such as how Jane rub her hands when she's around Mr. Rochester, and how Mr. Rochester became upset when Jane did not attend his parties on a few occasions.

The more I paid attention to the communication cues, the more I recalled the moments of my life that I probably did not realize when others needed me or did not want me. Now I need to pay much more attention on what messages I am sending out to others and watch for a response from others. Perhaps, I will find a proper way to interact with others.

Communication-Week 4: Who am I as A Communicator?

After doing all kinds of assessments, I perceived myself according to my own standard of what a effective communicator  appeared to me.  Then I reviewed two persons' assessments on me. I found that I felt somewhat insulted for being placed in "significant" on Verbal Aggression Scale. It made me feel like I've worked so hard in improving how I argue the cases with others in appropriate way seem trivial.

However, I realized that this person may not change his/her perception of me, because he/she may already "set up" a certain perception of me based on the first impression. What does it take to change one's perception of me is an important question. This had gotten me to reconsider how I communicate with others. I am becoming much more aware of how others react to my communication approaches.

I am hoping to improve my communication styles in different areas so that I could continue being an effective communicator for everyone including myself.

Communication and Culture---Week 3

Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

 I sometimes find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. I work at a university, and I have many co-workers that are from different counties that do not speak good English and I am unable to understand some of the things that they are saying, so sometimes I use body language and facial expressions instead of verbal expressions.

 I also communicate differently with people that have a different religious belief because I am a Christian and my ways of living are different from others that religion belief is not Christianity.

I have found that there are three strategies that I have learned this week, which would help me become effective communicator. First, listening skills are very important when it comes to communicating with different people. Second, learning about culture and sharing culture even though people communicate differently, we can all learn from each other and be successful. Third, gain my perception of self and of others by learning and relearning about diversity, culture, and my being.

Communication Skills

I choose to watch one of my older sisters' favorite shows that I have not had the opportunity to watch before called, "Bizarre Foods, with Andrew Zimmern who is a chef and foodie. His job is to find the world's most unique tastes traveling all around the world. I have always found food as something you can really enjoy and share with others, the more diverse the tastier. As I was watching the program without any sound, I came to like the personality of the presenter as his facial expressions were very friendly and expressive. It looks like he was visiting India, as I was able to observe in the scenes they were showing of the city and its people. As he arrived to the city a person was waiting for him, I imagine it was his guide there was a lot of talking smiling among them as they walked among the city. The guide would point to the different scenes and Andrew's facial expressions demonstrated admiration as well as interest to learn and see more, the guide's face also showed expressions of pride as we should his pointed to the different places.  I enjoyed seeing how they would actually seem to listen to each other as they spoke by making constant eye contact as well as smiling and shaking their heads.

Then I saw the program once again but now with sound and I was surprise to see that most of my interpretations and assumptions were actually correct as I was actually able to connect their non-verbal communication with the words they were saying. There was actually a lot of good communication being done, as well as mutual respect to both cultures what made it even richer for those that were watching the program. I am a strong believer that communication can exist among all cultures, as long as we are open to learn, respect and value the believes traditions and points of view of all people, even if they differ from our own. If we are able to do this then we are capable to communicating with others in a productive and effective way.

What is Communication

I would like to share some of the qualities I have observed from my current supervisor, which is the center director of the Head Start program that I work in. When it comes to communicating with the parents or staff she is very proactive to finding various ways to communication such as notes, emails, phone calls as well as person conversations. Despite the fact that a75% of our parents do not speak English she always welcomes the children and families with a smile  in her  face and one or two words she knows how to speak in Spanish every morning. Her doors are always open for any concerns or questions parents might have, and they know that even if she can't understand most of what they say she always has somebody that translates for them and does her best to help them in any way she can. I also admire the way she can easily influence others for the improvement of the services we offer to the families, she is very clear and assertive at what she says as well as her expectations. Her vision and goals are very clear  and she does not  get  intimidated  when it comes to  speaking up  when there is injustice  or discrimination  towards  the  services the families receive in our program.  She is  a strong believer  that  we need to empower the parents so they can  speak up when  things to  not seem right, and not get  intimidated if  they do  not speak the language .

I have also observed the way she is able to influence all staff to work together as a team  and not just doing what is their part , but actually helping others once completed their tasks. Her phases are always we are a team, it's not just about what is our job, we are not alone  in this.   I  have learned  several techniques  that have improved my communication over all with  my students as well as my parents,  I have also  learned to  speak up and empower my parents  with the  various resources and contacts  I have  obtained over the  years. By improving  my communication  skills  I  have influence and created  a relationship of trust, team work and  respect between other staff , parents and  children  which are crucial  elements when it comes to  providing quality  service.

Uplifting Stories

The story that came to mind of me is our Conscious Discipline that we have been studying with Becky Bailey. This is an alternative form of discipline that has been researched and it is making positive impact on children. This form of discipline puts the focus on the child and the child's feelings. One of our children was a real problem in the classroom. He was real defiant and violent. We began implementing this Conscious Discipline at the beginning of the school year. The teacher and assistant are using all the techniques and even shared them with his mom so she could implement them as well at home. This boy has made a complete turnaround! This is almost the end of the school year and it has made a difference in his life. This is one positive effect that I can see from their research. I am not as involved in the Conscious Discipline as the teaching staff is, but I am eager to get more familiar with it. Has anyone ever heard of it before? Does anyone live in Florida, because I believe that is where it is based?

Your Personal Research Journey

I chose to take a closer look at developmental concerns and delays in early childhood children.  It was not easy to simply pick one topic because I have such a wide variety of topic interests and need for further growth.  However, I narrowed it down to the one I felt currently impacted me the most.

The topic of developmental delays was of great interest to me for several reasons.  One was personal.  I have a relative who was not diagnosed with a reading disorder until eighth grade.  He missed out on valuable instruction and opportunities simply because he got overlooked.  By the time it was finally discovered (because his parents got fed up with trying to go through the school system they took him to an outside agency for testing) it was almost too late.  He's never really been able to bounce back or learn to adjust and the impact on his life has been fairly substantial.  I know his parents have that "if only it was picked up on sooner" mindset, and who can blame them?  As early childhood educators it is so important for us to watch out for potential problems, delays, or concerns and relay that important information to parents which is my professional interest in this topic.  I think sometimes I tend to work the extremes.  Either every little thing is a potential problem or everything is developmental and children will “get it eventually”.  I want to be more knowledgeable about developmental concerns and delays so parents don’t have to wake up in 10 years going “if only they had caught this sooner”.  This topic can be sensitive to discuss with parents as often times the early childhood teacher is the first set of non familial eyes and ears on the child.  We could potentially be the first one to suggest there is something "not right" about their child so it's important to know what to discuss with parents and how to approach the sensitive subject.  I also want to work on collaborating better with special education teachers so I'm not devoting all of my time to the few special education students and neglecting my others (which I tend to do now).  Unfortunately for me (and my students) I only had one special education class in college, and it was not the greatest learning tool.  With the amount of students coming into my classroom with developmental delays and concerns I realized my deep lack of understanding and vowed to fix this as soon as possible!

I think thus far, I’ve learned so much about the research process.  Perhaps the biggest thing I discovered so far is how to design the research.  This is such an important step and one that takes careful and deliberate planning.  One small mistake should have huge implications for the validity of the study.  Who would think something as simple as how many students to study could be a make or break decision?  Design the study is one important building block in the process, but one I know little about implementing.  I’ve never actually conducted a formal research project so my fear lies in setting it all up correctly!  Research is so time consuming I would not want to be at the conclusion and realize my work is not valid due to a design failure.

What are your thoughts and/or opinions on my topic?  Do you have any input that you think would help me out either with this study or in this class?  I’d love to hear from you if you do!

Wk 8 Final Blog Assignment

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development:

1). By learning about the international early childhood education, I can be helpful to my co workers or any other EC professionals, by providing resources that maybe used within their classrooms or given to families.

2). I can use the information about the international early childhood field, to help get the word out about the importance of early childhood education and the benefits that a young child can receive when he/she attends a high-quality program.

3). When visiting websites on the international early childhood field, I can learn about goals, mission statements, research and many other areas that are of high importance when it comes to young children and their families.

There are many ideas, concepts, resources and information that the international early childhood field provides for EC professionals and any other professionals who have the best interest for young children in mind.


One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations:

I would hope that the one goal that ALL EC professionals lean towards is to provide high quality learning programs, that can improve health, social emotional and cognitive outcomes, improve school readiness skills, prevent achievement gaps, and provide cost effective investments along all education pipelines. (RAND, 2008).

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3

I am having trouble with my international contact. All of a sudden I am not hearing anymore from him. I am not sure if he is extremely busy or if he is no longer there. The email hasn't bounced back so I know the address is still good. I did however meet a person Monday night at a parent workshop that was held at my nephew's school, (Also the school where the Head Start class I work in is located). She isn't international but she is in another state. This person I talked to had a wealth of information for me. I had printed out this assignment for the blog, so I was asking her some of the questions. She is a parent trainer, and also trains teachers and teacher assistants in the Early Childhood professions. She said the issue regarding quality childcare that they are talking about is training. Of course she is in the training field so they are most concerned about the development of staff. She said they find the primary reason programs do not train staff is because of budget. However this is so important for maintaining a high quality center.
They have several different opportunities for professionals. One of them is the CDA-Credential. The program that she works with offers that for groups and will send out professionals to oversee staff working on the credential. They also offer private trainings on a variety of topics focused on specific needs of programs.
Her professional goals are to travel, meet and train as many Early Childhood Professionals as she possibly can. She feels this is the key to transforming our childcare standards to higher quality. Her dream is to see a set of Standards put into place for all child care centers that want to be licensed. She also wants to see a system of checks and balances so that we know the centers are abiding by the standards.
I really enjoyed the chat with her that happened by chance. I don't believe in coincidences, I feel God sent her my way because he knew I would need her. I also got her card so maybe our teaching staff can be trained by her.

Sharing Web Resources

Some of the links I explored went to training events that NAEYC offers. I also saw one link that told about special projects and initiatives that were happening all over the US. The one area that I explored was Week of the Young Child which is this coming week, April 10-16, 2011. I chose this to explore because I am so excited about it! The center here were I lives is  planning activities at the Head Start center in recognition of the week. It gave suggestions for activities you could do and places you could share what you're doing. There were also themes you could use for your celebrations. I do not receive an e-newsletter from this site. The thing on the site that adds to equity and excellence in child care would be the trainings. They also offer a training guide to go with their journal that they mail out. These things could improve the quality of the care children receive by training the Early Childhood professionals who are members of or visit this site. The other insight I gained from exploring this website is more information about Week of the Young Child. It gave me some more ideas of things we could do next week. I also learned the theme is "Early Years are Learning Years" and the site listed some sub themes and my favorite was "Play: Where Learning Begins". I will be consulting this site more next week. Lots of good stuff!

Exploring Global Children's Initiative

I had to do the alternate assignment this week because I haven't heard from my contact in South Africa. He hasn't responded to my email this week. In looking at the website Global Children's initiative, I discovered

1. Other countries around the globe are facing the same issues we face in the United States. Such as poverty, hindering the learning process.

2. I also see that other countries have the holistic approach to child development. This is what I pulled from one part of the website.

"Much progress is needed to successfully raise the commitment to an integrated approach to early childhood health and development in global and national policy circles. A particular challenge in this area is the multidisciplinary nature of comprehensive approaches that bring together all the domains of child development."

Child Health is very important in the development of children.

3. Here is another thing that I found similar. The effect of stress on the children around the world is a growing issue as well. The following is another interesting point that I felt I should share.
"Healthy social and emotional development can be derailed in early childhood by a wide range of stressors and environmental influences interacting with genetic predispositions. Indeed, the foundations of many mental health problems that endure through adulthood are established early in life. In some cases, significant impairments in mental health that occur in young children can have serious consequences for early learning, social competence, and lifelong health."

I enjoyed being able to see training opportunities on the site. I also subscribed to the newsletter and events that are being held at Harvard.

Exploring NAEYC

The specific section of NAEYC that seemed relevant to my professional development is the Periodicals Section. There are so many articles that you can read and study guides to go with the articles to help facilitate training sessions.

There was an idea that made me look at an issue in a new way. That issue was engaging diverse families. On the website it recognizes centers that are exemplary in engaging families. It had a guideline of what families should look for in choosing a center that encourages involvement from all cultures. This made me look at this from the standpoint as if I was the one from another culture coming to register my child. It made me think differently about the whole concept.


The thing that showed me about support for early childhood was the section that talked about Supporting Japan's young children and resources for coping with disasters. This is something specifically for the children of Japan after suffering the earthquake and Tsunami.

The other new insights I gained were the fact that there are other organizations bigger than National. There are also world organizations that NAEYC ties into. We are all concerned about our children no matter what country we are in. I also gained insight to t he fact that our profession is one that requires constant training. We have to stay trained on current methods that are best for educating young children. NAEYC offers many trainings all over the nation that supports this effort. The website lists these trainings and helps you to stay on top of current issues.

International Contact

My conversation partner is Eric Atmore. He is the Director at the Centre for Early Childhood Development in South Africa. The Centre for Early Childhood Development is committed to putting young children first by ensuring quality care and education for our country’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Mr. Atmore responded to  me when I first was seeking out an international contact. He said he would help me in whatever capacity I needed. The most important part was he said he would be happy to assist in whatever way I needed. This made me feel good because I knew I had someone who had a passion for the Early Childhood field because he was willing to help someone coming up from the ranks wanting to learn more.

The most interesting thing Mr. Atmore has shown me is their program called Little Village Early Learning Programme. This is where the Centre has developed a programme of Literacy, Numeracy and Life Skills for children ages 5-9. This is some tidbits about Little Villiage from the website:

# The Little Village characters are colourful comic puppets. They do not represent any race, religion or group. Little Village is a place that could be found anywhere in South Africa.
# The characters in Little Village promote our belief that learning must be fun. Each edition of Little Village is validated for ECD suitability by ECD specialists at the Centre for Early Childhood Development.
# Educational material is often too expensive for families in the lower LSM brackets. Little Village is cost-effective to print as it doesn’t require glossy paper or fancy binding. An additional benefit of this is that the booklets are designed to be well-used by young children. Each booklet includes at least three age-appropriate activities. The booklet doubles up as a workbook and a story book.
# The Little Village Activity Booklet is designed to be used by teachers in the classroom; however, teachers are encouraged to send the booklets home with their children to encourage parent-child interaction.
# The Little Village Activity Booklet can be translated and printed in any of the eleven official languages to ensure mother-tongue instruction for young children.
# Jincom Publishing and CECD plan to create a radio and television broadcast of Little Village to encourage learning through popular mediums.

One thing that I have learned about poverty from Mr. Atmore for South Africa is that you have to meet people where they are at to really help them. It made me feel like there was a Head Start in South Africa. Where we go out and do home visits with the families, this center actually goes out to the villages and works with the groups of children together. It reminds me of our Home Based program for Head Start. Its a combination of literacy and life skills as well as medical. The Little Village program includes hygiene which is not a primary topic for Head Start but we do touch on Hand Washing and make sure the children brush their teeth. It was great to learn that we approach poverty in some of the same ways. Meeting them where they are at because they can't get to us is one important factor. Also, making the families realize the importance of Literacy and an education is another approach that we use. If the parents realize the importance, then the child has a stronger web of support. This child getting an education and being successful could be the key not only to his family of getting out of poverty, but in South Africa a whole village's key to getting out of poverty and/or improving living conditions. This is so exciting! I really want to go to South Africa now, just to visit this Centre and learn more about Little Village.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose is The National Association for the Education of Young Children
www.naeyc.org
My favorite part is Next. That is a collection of study guides to go with Young Children. Young Children is an award-winning, peer-reviewed professional journal published bimonthly by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Young Children issues are organized around topical clusters that devote special attention to issues in the field of early childhood education. Next for Young Children suggest ways to build on the content of selected articles from Young Children. I like that because we can use articles for staff training and professional development. The site also has upcoming trainings in different locations listed. One other thing I found helpful was that you could join the organization online. The website has this posted:
NAEYC members can receive this award-winning journal (Young Children) for free six times a year as one of their membership benefits. Ninety-three percent of a survey sample of independent members named Young Children “the most useful NAEYC benefit in their work as early childhood professionals.” I think this organization is a great resource for us all.

Expanding Resources

I have to admit I was a little nervous about this assignment. I was afraid of being able to communicate with people outside the United States because of language barriers. I did however choose to make contact with someone in South Africa. I emailed (2) two people. One at the UNICEF in South Africa and the other was at an Early Childhood Conference in South Africa. I am excited now about what I could possible learn!!!!

I chose to use The National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/ website for exploring. I like it because they have so much information from all over.  I really am looking forward to getting information from them.  I especially like that they have different trainings that are offered listed on their site for a variety of different issues.  This is going to be great!!!!!!

I can't believe somebody actually responded!!! I figured they would ignore me!!!

This is the information I have found out so far from my resources in South Africa.

#
The Centre for Early Childhood Development is committed to putting young children first by ensuring quality care and education for our country's youngest and most vulnerable citizens.  We aim to do this by improving the early childhood development (EDC) services in South Africa through training, support and advice in the field of early childhood development.
#
The Centre for Early Childhood Development is an Association not for Gain (Section 21 Company) and has Section 18A status in terms of the Income Tax Act.
#
The Centre for Early Childhood Development provides training, support and advice in the field of early childhood development by offering courses and programmers aimed at enhancing individual and organizational capacity; by developing and disseminating resources; and by carrying out research specifically related to the African context.
#
The Centre is fully accredited as an ECD training provider by the ETDP-SETA.
#
The Centre finances its administrative costs through the sale of its services (training, project management, consultancy, publications and research) and specific programs and projects through grants from spporting donors.  Based in Cape Town, SOuth Africa we offer services and programs country wide, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of early childhood development provision to all South Africa's children.

My Supports

I am supported in a variety of ways in my personal life. First and foremost, I am supported by God. My faith gives me a great deal of strength and comfort.

My family is very supportive. They are verbally encouraging. My child and neice support me by doing housework and running errands when I am tired. They buy me presents and take me places We have fun on trips. We read books and discuss them. They give me foot rubs and back rubs. They call me daily or send me little text messages. My cousin plan meals and bake. They often grocery shop. My friend takes care of our home and yard work.  He can and does fix anything and everything that breaks or doesn't work. He gives me advice when I need to take the van to the shop or can't make a decision. He works three full-time jobs and supports me financially. My cousin and I would not be where we are without his generosity and kindness.

My family also supports me emotionally and spiritually, They attend services with me and engage in meaningful conversations about life, faith and life after death. They encourage me when I am down and compliment me when I do good things. My cousins depend upon me for help, and that makes me feel needed and wanted - like I have real purpose and meaning in my life. They tell me I am smart and are proud of me. My friend constantly tells me how beautiful I am. My friend and child have never raised their voice to me. They don't fight with me, but rather ask me to sit down and have discussions with them when things aren't going so well.

I have a large network of friends that I can call on at a moment's notice. They are always there for me, again, emotionally, socially and even financially. My aunt battled cancer for 8 years, and our church, friends and family all raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to ease our financial burden.

My colleagues at work support me in teaching. We plan cooperatively, and are a team. We give each other verbal encouragement and help each other by taking on duties when someone is absent. I can go to any one of my co-workers and ask for something, and they will deliver. My administrators, secretaries and support staff are all a great help and encouragement. I could not do my job effectively without their support.

My doctor supports me in my physical health. She is there when I need her. She can make a diagnosis, write a prescription or refer me to a specialist. It is a real comfort knowing that an expert can help me stay in good health.

God, through the Bible, gives me emotional encouragement and support. He gives me lessons for living the best life and practical ways to deal with hurt, anger or frustration. I often turn to scripture when I need to uplifted or make a decision.

Walden University is currently supporting my efforts to want to further my career. I am engaged in a course and pursuing my master's in Early Childhood Education: Teaching Adults in the Early Childhood Field. I have many resources at my disposal to research, learn and grow as an educator. I also have a great deal of professional development opportunities which support me in my career, as well.

If I did not have my friend, I can't imagine what life would be like. Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a friend's husband. She woke up last Sunday and he was dead. She is just 5 years older than me. Wayne is my mainstay. I don't function well when I don't have him around. He used to travel with work, and actually worked in another state once for almost a year. I felt very alone. Wayne is my rock. He can take care of anything and everything that I cannot. He makes me feel loved more than any other person alive. He trusts me and depends upon me. He is a faithful, loyal, godly friend. He is a fantastic father to his two daughters. He is so great, in fact, that at 17 and 18, they are not yet interested in young men or dating. They compare every man they meet to their father and no one has measured up yet. Without Wayne I would love 3/4 of my income. I would lose the emotional support of love and, quite frankly, great love! I would lose the support of taking care of and fixing things and have to pay for all those things. I would lose my best friend and the world would lose a great man!

Wk4: My Connections to Play

 

 2 Quotes: 1).Playing reduces stress, improves life, and increases creativity. Who doesn't want that? Stevanne Auerbach, Dr. Toy 2). Along with milk and vegetables kids need a steady diet of rocks and worms.
Rocks need skipping,
Holes need digging,
Water needs splashing,
Bugs and Frogs and slimy stuff need finding.
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I always had someone with me outside and encouraging me to explore, but to be safe. I was the kid who was not afraid of picking up bugs, snakes or anything else and either trying to keep it or chasing the other kids around the yard with it in my hand.

I feel that play is different now than when I was a child, children don't go outside and play that much any more. They have way to many other things to occupy them, they have video games, computers and other electronic materials. I would hope that young children would be encouraged to get outside and play more and to explore the beauty of outside. I still love the outdoors, I love to get out and look at trees, bird watch and work in my flower garden. I am constantly collecting things to share with my students, we have snake skin, bird nest, bee hive, pine cones, leaves and even dead bugs that are in bug boxes. I love for my students to get outside and play, explore and learn. It is very important to get out and play.

Week 2: Child Development and Public Health

Child Development and Public Health

I chose Mental Health of mothers, fathers and families in general. The topic is meaningful to me, because as an early childhood professional I never really know what type of issues that a child and his or her family may be dealing with. It is very important to me that I am made aware of changes or issues that a child may be going through, so that if I observe different behavior, I can hopefully help the child and family. I also know of someone very close to me that was diagnosed with depression at the age of 13 and it was very hard for the family, because this was a first for the family. No other family member had ever had problems or issues. However, without alot of communication and help from medical professionals, this person is on track and is doing well.

I found information at http://www.menshealthaustralia.net/. A study was conducted of nearly 87,000 families in Britain and it was found that 21% of fathers and 39% of mothers experienced a period of depression by the time their child was 12 years old. Depression is most common amomg parents of babies with 13% of mothers and 3% of fathers becoming depressed by the time their child reached its first birthday. Overall suicide rates 2005 were 16.4 per 100,000 males,4.3 per 100,000 females 1657 males committed suicide in 2005. Divorced men are three times likely to committ suicide then any other. Suicide rates are as follows highest for ages 30-34 and then ages 40-49. Men ages 30-34 had the highest individual suicide rate in 2005 at 27.5 suicide per 100,000 people. Married have the lowest suicide rate. Divorced and never married men have higher rates than married men.

I have learned that it is very important to be aware of the signs of depression and or suicide. It is very important to communicate with parents and care givers. It was also be very helpful for parents with teenagers to have resources available, just in case they have a teen in trouble or know of a teen in trouble.