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.
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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.
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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.