Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the course of the past eight weeks, I have learned several significant lessons about diversity and equity. One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that it is not my place to judge others. This lesson may seem simple, but in reality, it is very difficult to put into practice. I have learned that bias and judgment about certain types of people or practices may actually be a part of family culture, which has been passed down through the generations with some possible minor adjustments. If I truly want to accept all people for who they are, I need to first learn about myself. What do people expect from me? How do others view me? How do I view myself? What are my own expectations for myself? How do I expect others to react? Which family members have influenced my beliefs and how? The answers to all of these questions and more are essential to taking a step toward supporting diversity and equity.

One hope that I have is that I am able to keep an open mind when I am working with the families and their children in our Early Head Start program. I am learning that when I think that I may know a family, something always seems to come about that changes my viewpoint. It is essential for me to remain neutral during any situation so that I can do what is best for the children.

One goal that I have for the early childhood field is that we can move toward implementing more anti-bias education activities and trainings into the classrooms. Children need to be exposed to diversity at an early age and learn that it is okay for people to be different. More trainings and resources need to be available for early childhood educators so that they too can learn about anti-bias education and the importance for teaching it to our children.

I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone so far for all of your feedback to my blog. It truly means a lot to me that you all are taking the time to read my posts and provide comments regarding the content. Many of you have shared personal stories about how the content in my posts relates to your experiences in the early childhood field. By sharing our experiences, we are able to learn new ideas that we may not have thought of otherwise. Thank you!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

I have recently received word that we will be receiving a child from Pakistan into our child care program. Since I personally do not know anything about Pakistani or the associated culture, I am turning to various resources in order to prepare myself for their arrival.

1. The first thing that I will do is ask the Director about the child's information that they received during enrollment. From this information, I can learn about the child's primary language, family members, nutritional guidelines, health risks, and other basic information.
2. The second thing that I would do is find access to an interpreter, if English is not the primary language. I want to be able to readily communicate with the student and their family.
3. After an interpreter is assigned, I will set up a conference with the child's family, preferably in their home. By meeting in their home, I will be able to visually see how their family functions and determine if changes need to be made in the classroom routine in order to accommodate the daily structure of the child. I can also discuss with the family members in order to learn more about their expectations for our program and myself as an educator.
4. The next step would be for me to access materials about the Pakistani culture to have around the classroom. I can work with the family to see if they can suggest any materials, such as furniture, decorations, books, or pictures, in order to help the child feel welcome.
5. I will also communicate with the families about the incoming family and ask if there are any questions or concerns about the intake of the new student. By becoming aware of any bias or prejudice held by any of the other families, I can help address these concerns before they develop.

By addressing these steps before the child enters the program, I hope to display the image that the family is accepted and welcome. My goal for the classroom is to have an open-door policy where everyone is welcome and free to express their own beliefs, even if everyone does not agree on them. I also hope that by including the family in the planning process, I can gain a deeper understanding of their expectations and help them feel included in the education of their child and in the community.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

This week, I was reading through the local news headlines and one particular headline caught my eye. The article explained that a twelve year old boy was being denied use of a local transportation service because he was too tall. The bus driver stated that there was no way that the boy of that height could actually be twelve years of age and therefore was not allowed to use the bus pass that he was trying to use. His school officials provided paperwork stating that the student was actually twelve years old, but the bus driver still refused to serve this child. The link for the article is here: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/12/05/cota-bus-harassment_.html.

When I first read this article, I was shocked that the bus driver would refuse to allow the child to ride the bus. The bus driver was judging the credibility of the bus pass that was actually issued by the bus company. I was glad to see that the school was working hard to assist the family, even though the school was not directly related to the incident. The bus driver was using a form of ageism because they did not agree that a twelve year old child could actually be that height. I would be very upset if they were judging my child based on their size. My four year old daughter has a large bone structure and looks older than what she actually is. There are also many times where she acts older than her age as well. That does not give people the right to treat her as though she is older than a four year old. This article truly opened my eyes to how bias and oppression actually occur regularly in everyday situations. In order to make things fair, the bus driver should have to not only honor the student's bus pass, but all make a public apology for not living up to the standards of the transportation company and serving all paying citizens. The child should not have to go get state issued identification, which is the proposed solution for this incident.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week, we were asked to keep an eye out for any instances of microaggression that we might happen to encounter. When I was covering in the classroom this week, one of the staff members went to a student's diaper bag to look for a change of clothes for the student. This particular student keeps a bag full of clothes at the center so that their clothes can be changed if they become messy after meal or other activities. The bag goes home on the weekend so that the dirty clothes can be washed and refilled with clean clothes for the next week. As the teacher was searching for a clean outfit, the teacher noticed that the clothes that were sent home last week to be washed were still sitting in the bag without being cleaned. The teacher looked at another teacher in the classroom and they both rolled their eyes. There have been previous comments made by the teachers about this particular parent because of the parent's seemingly lack of effort to care for the child. This parent is married and both parents work outside of the home. The student has a twin at home who used to be a student in the classroom, but due to health issues, had to be withdrawn from our program. Whenever I have spoken to the parents, they always seem to have the best intentions in mind for their children. When the teachers commented about the child's clothes not being washed, they gave a microinsult toward the family, resulting in the lack of compassion for what the family is going through having to care for twins and work outside of the home to provide for the needs of the family. I try to help my staff recognize the struggles and circumstances that our families are experiencing, but there are times that the staff's actions are reflective of their unconscious beliefs. These actions can be hurtful to our families and result in conflict among our staff and families. I hope that as I continue through this course, I can pass my newly learned knowledge on to my staff so that they can work to become aware of their views and use caution when interacting with our families in order to ensure that they are respectful of our families' cultures.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week, we were asked to interview three people and ask about their personal definitions for culture and diversity. Below are my participants' responses:

• BB (European American female and colleague): "Culture to me is this: I am from a rural area, mostly white population, grew up as a Methodist so attending church was important. I have one sibling, many cousins, family traditions (Christmas & Easter with the whole family on my Father's side). So, I believe culture to be who you are and how you grew up based on where you are from and the family values. So, it is customs, things and values. Diversity is based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, differences (kind of like we are a box of crayons). But, I also think you cannot think about diversity without including culture as part of the definition (example - where you are from could be included in this as Amish, Gay/Lesbian communities, German, French, Italian, etc.)".
• NN (African-native, American citizen female and parent of former student): "Culture - As an African, our culture dictates the way in which we live our lives. Culture is the tradition, beliefs, customs, clothing, food and language of a specific group of people that binds them together. For example, African tribal languages and food that are specific to a culture. Diversity - The act of bringing together a group of individuals who come from different backgrounds, cultures, nationalities, and races".
• LF (European American female and relative): "Culture is the way of life that has been passed on to me from my parents and grandparents. Diversity is a group of different people or beliefs that make up an area, such as a neighborhood, school, or business".

When reviewing the answers that were given to me, I realized that they all had an understanding of culture similar to my understanding at the beginning of the course. They all defined culture by naming characteristics that are attributed to a person's surface culture. BB described her culture by listing things that other people may attribute to her culture based on her appearance. All three described culture by attributing it to how they were raised. Their answers for diversity were similar as well. They all described diversity as being based on groups of people who share (or do not share) various attributes related to culture.

All of my participants failed to acknowledge their deep culture, or those attributes that truly make us unique and define how and why we are who we are. For example, I am a morning person and am a lot friendlier early in the day. I have more motivation to get things done in the morning than I do as the day goes on. The fact that I am a morning person is a vital part of my culture, but it is not often visible on the surface.

I think that it is so difficult for people to reveal their "inner being" because they may not truly understand it themselves. Some attributes contribute to a person's life, but that person may simply accept it as being there without fully understanding its purpose. This could be why my participants did not acknowledge their deep culture. They may not realize that the simple, everyday routines are an integral part of their culture and contribute to diversity in society.

My Family Culture

For this week, we were asked to consider what three items we would take with us if my family was forced to relocate to a foreign country. I found this task very challenging because it made me stop and think about what I most valued with my family. The first item that I have chosen was rather easy to decide upon and that is my Bible. My family is Christian and I read my Bible daily for spiritual guidance and wisdom. We would turn to the scripture in order to find comfort and understanding in being relocated to a new home. My family would also be able to use the Bible and our faith in order to help teach our new neighbors about our religious beliefs and practices. The next item that we would bring would be our wedding rings. My husband and I made a commitment to each other five years ago and the rings serve as a symbol of our love and commitment to one another. Also, if need be, due to their material value, we would sell the rings in order to obtain local currency to purchase anything that we would need in order to survive that was not already provided for us. The third item that we would bring would be our daughters' "lovies". My oldest daughter has a lamb that she takes everywhere with her and it means the world to her. We lost it once before at the grocery store and it was devastating for her and the rest of our family. She was so heartbroken that she had lost her best friend. Miraculously, her lamb was found at the same grocery store almost a week later and a clerk called us to tell us that it had been found. The look on my daughter's face when she saw her lamb again was priceless. I want my daughters to have a piece of home to bring with them so that the change is not too dramatic. If they can take one "lovey" with them, it would help bring them comfort in all of the turmoil.

If once we arrived at the new destination and we were told that we could continue our journey with only one item, it would be very difficult for me to choose. Each of the items listed is valuable to our family in its own unique way. If I was forced to choose, I would allow my daughters to keep their "lovies". Their happiness is more important to me than anything else. I can continue to pray and ask God for guidance. I also trust that He would provide for all of our needs and the rings are simply symbols, despite their monetary value. My daughters' "lovies" are irreplaceable, even if an exact same replica is found. I want them to be able to have at least one aspect of consistency in their lives and these items would allow them to have that.

This assignment has allowed me to reflect on what matters most to me and my family. My family means the world to me and I would do absolutely anything for them. I would sacrifice anything of mine if it meant that my family would be better off by it. I love my girls so much and I only want to see them happy. This does not mean that they receive everything that they ask for. However, I do my best to ensure that all of their needs are taken care of. For example, after I had my second daughter, I decided to stay home from work because I wanted to be at home with my daughters. After a few months, I realized that financially it was not the best decision and I returned back to work. It is my responsibility to make sure that my children are healthy and safe and by staying home, I could not ensure that because we did not have enough money to pay for all of the necessities. Now, my income will not only assist in making sure their needs are met, but I can also address some of their wants, which makes me feel pretty good too.

When I Think of Research...

When reflecting back on all that I have learned over the past two months, I am amazed at how little I truly knew about research and the knowledge that I have gained throughout this course. I simply assumed that all research was considered equal, but had no clue that there were different research methods that can be used (qualitative, quantitative, and combination of these). When I first glanced through the textbook, I realized that there were a lot of research terms that I was unfamiliar with, but as I progressed through the course and put these terms into practice through the creation of my research simulation, I realized that I knew more about research than I gave myself credit for. One major lesson that I have learned about research is that it is never complete. A researcher can spend a significant amount of time planning out exactly how they will proceed, and then follow that plan. But, during the analysis of the data collected, the researcher could possibly notice that their data is telling a different story than originally intended, leading to an entirely new direction of research. At that point, the researcher creates a new plan and follows through with it, revising the plan in order to match the direction laid out by the data. As an early childhood professional, I am looking forward to conducting research of my own within the field. There are many questions about the field that I still do not know the answer to. As I gain experience in the field, I am sure that many of those questions will be answered through practice and observation. However, many more questions will be formed and after completing this course, I now have the tools and knowledge to take that first step in research.

Research Around the World

This week, we were asked to explore various early childhood websites that featured an interest in international research. The website that I focused my studies on was for Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) or http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php. This particular page of the website features various final reports and papers from different international scholars in the early childhood field. Some of the reports focused on the inclusion of family members in the development of early childhood development programs. Stella Etse's research study, titled Parents' and Other Caregivers' Perception of Early Childhood Development Needs and Quality: A Study of the PLAN-Assisted Programmes in Bawjiase, Ghana,  examined the level of understanding parents and other family members have about the requirements and expectations for early childhood development programs. The results of the study showed that parents and other family members are very knowledgeable in the requirements for quality early childhood development programs and should be included in the development of these programs. Another focus of the reports was the inclusion of indigenous cultures in early childhood programming. Mgbechikwere (Uche) Ezirim's research study, titled Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in ECD Training and Studies, focused on the importance of keeping Indigenous stories in the lives of today's children, where urbanization threatens to push the lessons of these stories aside. The study suggested that early childhood teachers encourage the students to act out the stories, so that they become a part of the story and preserve the meaning behind it.

As I was reviewing this website, I found it humbling to learn that much of the international research focuses on issues that are similar to topics studied here in the United States. This just shows that the early childhood field is cohesive globally and issues or practices in the field can be studied in other parts of the world in order to find a universal solution. After exploring the website, I found it interesting that the participating students in the university had been elected by the school to participate. Each of the students is affiliated with multiple early childhood organizations, which shows that they are committed to the field.

Research that Benefits Children and Families - Uplifting Stories

Technology has become such an essential part of people's lives in today's society and the dependency on technology begins at a very early age. Researchers have expressed concern that too much exposure to television for children less than two years of age can have a negative effect on children's cognitive development. A study by Kikorian, Wartella, and Anderson (2008) describes how television could possibly have a positive impact on a child's cognitive development if parents monitor the content and amount of the television shows that are viewed. There are many children's television shows out there that claim to be educational. I have even heard some television networks to claim that they are like preschool on television. Research studies, such as the one previously mentioned, can help society by informing parents about how to monitor what their children are watching on television and how much television is considered too much.

I chose this topic because I continue to hear mixed reviews about the idea of young children watching television. I am a parent who allows my four year-old daughter to watch television. I do monitor what she watches and if something comes on the television that I do not approve, I turn it off. I also know when she has watched too much. However, I can honestly say that my daughter has learned a lot cognitively from some of the shows that she watches. She has learned to speak some Spanish through watching Dora the Explorer. She has also learned how to count backward and identify odd shapes, such as trapezoid and octagon, by watching Team Umizoomi. I believe that if parents pay attention to what their children are watching, then they can help promote their child's cognitive development by directing their children toward watching certain television shows that actually teach something. The above research study helped benefit society because it clarified some of the misconceptions about television viewing. However, this topic will remain controversial because many professionals and parents will continue to believe that all television is bad. As a professional and as a parent, I am not one of them. I will not purposely sit a child down in front of the television to teach them something, but I believe that occasional television exposure is not harmful.

Reference:

Kirkorian, H., Wartella, E., & Anderson, D. (2008). Media and young children's learning. The Future Of Children / Center For The Future Of Children, The David And Lucile Packard Foundation, 18(1), 39-61.

My Personal Research Journey

The early childhood field presents an endless variety of topics for an educator to research. After doing some soul-searching, I decided to look more into how participation in a family child care setting effects a child's performance throughout their educational career. Within this topic, I would like to explore possibly how having multiple siblings in the same family child care setting can affect a child's educational performance. I am curious to see if children who have siblings with them in the same "classroom" perform better in school because they were comforted by the fact that their siblings were learning along side them during their early childhood years. I would also like to examine if a child's attendance in a family child care particular program has an effect on their performance during their educational career. Maybe children who participate in family child care programs on a full-time basis perform better than their part-time peers because they are accustomed to the routine of the program and are comforted by the "home away from home" atmosphere. Another direction that I would like to take my studies is determining if the background of the administrator (owner) affects the overall performance of the child. I wonder if program administrators that have a strong background in early childhood education (college education focused in the field, along with years of experience working in the field) establish programs that promote a stronger educational growth in the children that participate in their programs compared to administrators with little or no previous early childhood training. 

What led me to my research topic was the fact that I am a new owner of a family child care program in my community. I have a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education and I am working on my Master's degree through the Walden program. I also have a few years working in various early childhood settings. After the birth of my second daughter, I decided that I wanted to be able to stay home with my children, but still provide an opportunity to help foster the educational development of the children in my community. 

Through the participation in the simulation project for this course, I am hoping to further understand the research process so that I can proceed with conducting research about the effectiveness of family child care programs. I know that there is often a misconception that family child care providers are basically babysitters, but that is not true. Many family child care programs offer strong educational opportunities for the children participating in the programs while maintaining the loving, home-like environment that many parents find comforting. As I progress through the assignments, I am learning that a lot of the terminology sounds similar, forcing myself to look more closely at the terms so that I can apply the correct terms to the proper research concepts. I know that as the course progresses and we learn to apply more of the research methods, the terminology will become easier to understand. I am looking forward to developing this part of my professional training so that I can become a stronger participant and contributor to the early childhood field. 

Reflecting on the International Early Childhood Field

Over the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to learn about the field of early childhood education from a global perspective. I was excited to have the opportunity to communicate with early childhood professionals from other areas of the world, but quickly discovered that the seemingly easy task was rather difficult to accomplish. I plan to continue to try to search for other early childhood professionals from outside of the United States so that I can further explore the field from a different perspective. 

One of the insights that I have gained throughout this course was that there is a strong passion for offering quality early childhood programs to children that is shared all around the world. I saw this passion directly when reading the news articles provided by UNESCO's Early Childhood and Care webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/). I was excited to see that even though we may come from different cultural backgrounds, we as educators strive to provide quality education to all children in the early years. 

I also learned that poverty-related conditions are not limited simply to third world countries, where poverty is highly emphasized. Poverty is seen all around the world and impacts millions of children each year (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/). As a result, children are faced with the task of fighting the effects of poverty instead of focusing on being a child and enjoying the basic benefits of childhood that many people take for granted. Children experiencing poverty lack the opportunity to participate in early childhood programs, which can often lead to poor educational performance throughout their childhood. If these children are denied access to early childhood programs because of their "quality of life" status, how are they supposed to overcome the barriers necessary for them to ultimately progress beyond poverty?

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Another insight that I gained over the past several weeks was that professional development is key to improving the quality of early childhood programs around the world. I am a strong believer in staying up to date with current trends and issues in any career field, but educators around the world agree that this is a necessity in order to maintain early childhood programs. In Turkey, the ACEV provided professional development opportunities to assist their teachers in learning how to help needy families access assistance programs throughout the country (http://www.acev.org/en/anasayfa). 

As I mentioned earlier, one goal that I have is to continue to try to initiate and maintain contact with early childhood professionals from around the globe. I think that it would be a great way to learn about early childhood programs from other parts of the world and see if there are any practices that we can put in place here in the United States. In the meantime, I will continue to explore the websites that I have listed in the past weeks to continue to learn about current practices and issues happening in the field. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

This week, I reviewed the World Forum Radio podcast featuring TJ Skalski (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/). She is the principal at the Mother Earth's Children Charter School in Alberta, Canada. Skalski mentioned that while growing up, she never believed that she would become a teacher, but her grandmother had always envisioned her as one. She eventually realized that her grandmother's vision for her life was correct. When she took over the position as principal for MECCS, she realized that she had entered an environment that faced a lot of opposition. The staff turnover rate was extremely high, resulting in a lack of leadership for the school. However, as Skalski continued to work with the students at the school, she quickly identified that the children lacked backgrounds in family values and strong work ethics that she experienced while growing up. It quickly became her mission to instill these values in these children so they could learn that they can pursue their hopes and dreams. Skalski's story reminded me a lot of my experience working for Head Start. We come across many children that come from impoverished backgrounds. These families struggle to put food on the table and many have experienced homelessness at one point. The hardships carried by the parents are often passed on to the children, making it difficult for the children to discover their aspirations and dreams. It is our responsibility as educators to provide the children with the resources that they need to not only succeed in the classroom, but in their home environment as well. We work closely with the families to assist them with providing a nurturing home environment, which is a key component to healthy childhood development.

I also took the opportunity to explore UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/). Under the Access and Equity tab, I found an article about the home-based programs in New Zealand (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137381e.pdf). This caught my attention because part of our Early Head Start program is home-based and it is the sector of EHS that I am least familiar with. I had assumed that "home-based" for New Zealand meant the same thing to them as it does here, but I was wrong.  Home-based services in New Zealand is the equivalent to family child care services to us in the United States. One similarity between the two programs is that there is a coordinator overseeing the homes that are participating in the program. One major difference that I noted was that their home-based programs are heavily regulated by the government, where family child care centers in the United States are rarely regulated with many of them not being licensed. New Zealand's home-based programs follow a curriculum for instruction for the children. Family child care centers in the United States can sometimes reflect group babysitting services, where little education is offered to the children. I would strongly like to see the United States to move toward regulated family child care centers, similar to New Zealand's home-based centers. Many families are leaning toward family child care because it tends to be a cheaper alternative to placing their children in a regular child care center. If the government begins to regulate family child care centers, then the children attending these centers may not miss out on valuable learning opportunities that often come from attending quality child care centers.

Sharing Web Resources - Additional Information

Throughout the past few weeks, I have had a chance to explore the ChildCare Aware of America website at http://www.naccrra.org/. One of the links that I chose to explore this week was the Publications tab. From there, I was given the chance to review a list of publications that ChildCare Aware has produced that are available for purchase as resources for childcare agencies. One of the publications titled Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2012 Report (http://www.naccrra.org/publications/naccrra-publications/2012/8/parents-and-the-high-cost-of-child-care-2012-report) I used as a resource for our main assignment this week. I was very surprised to learn through this document the price of child care services throughout the United States. For example, the price for infant care in a child care center could range anywhere from $1500 to $16000! One of the biggest struggles for families looking for quality child care services for their families is cost. As the quality of care increases, the price of services almost always increases as well. Families end up sacrificing quality in order to find affordable child care for their children, even if the conditions that the children are cared for in are not ideal.

I also took the time to look more into the information contained under the Programs and Services tab, particularly at the Child Care Partners section. There I found that in December, ChildCare Aware of America had partnered with Parents magazine to help persuade Congress to focus on child care during their negotiations. I followed the link provided to reviewed the article listed in the December issue of the magazine (http://www.parents.com/baby/childcare/child-care-crisis/). The article features a family who was lucky to have found a child care center that produced quality education, but the family was devastated to learn that the center was forced to close due to recent budget cuts in child care funding. This article hit home for me because I know of a few child care programs that have been forced to close their doors due to the budget cuts resulting from the sequestration issued in March, one of those centers was a child care research program located at a local community college. Hundreds of families will be looking for child care starting this summer due to the closure of these programs. Few centers will be able to increase the spots that they have available, so families will have to look elsewhere for lower par child care services.

I did sign up for the e-newsletters from the website, but have not received any updates recently. As a result, I returned to the website's homepage and reviewed some of the recent news releases. President Obama has released his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2014, which contains a significant push for increased funding for early childhood education (http://www.naccrra.org/news-room/press-releases/2013/4/child-care-aware®-of-america-executive-director-at-white-house-budge). My supervisor and I sat down this week when he released the budget and reviewed his proposal. We were very excited to learn that he is suggesting a focus on increased funding for Early Head Start programs and Home Visiting programs, recognizing the need for a strong foundation in education and related services for children beginning at birth. I am anxious to see what Congress decides to do with the proposed budget, especially after these exact same programs took a large budget cut with the sequestration.

Tiffany

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

I still have not heard back from any of my international contacts, so I continued working on the podcast alternative for the assignment. This week, I reviewed the World Forum Radio podcast featuring George Forman (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/). Forman is the Co-founder of Videatives, Inc., which is a company that helps educators understand children's play by video recording children during play and then providing a narrative description about what the child is doing and what the child's thinking process could actually be. Forman has extensively studied Piaget's theories on play, writing several books about the topic. During an child observation, Forman discovered that children may actually be learning about their environment from an active, verb-focused viewpoint. Instead of looking at how things are in the world, children look at their environment and see what everything is doing. The little boy in Forman's observation was playing with a log. He stopped walking and set the log in a vertical position. We would normally say that the log looked like a tower, which is a noun-based conclusion. Forman concluded that the boy was excited to see the log stand on end because it was standing, not falling, which is a verb-based conclusion. I really like Forman's view of thinking in terms of focusing on the world through a verb-based lens. Children are often engaged in play, so they are always manipulating objects and determining what their actions do to the objects.

I also took the opportunity to review Harvard University's Global Children's Initiative website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/). One thing that I was able to relate to was when reading the Initiative's fact sheet, I noticed that they are focusing on improving mental health resources for children around the world. In my classroom and in our program, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of children and their families who have needed mental health serviced due to a variety of factors in their lives. For example, we have an eighteen month old child whose mother is in prison for drug consumption and possession and the child has displayed an increasing amount of biting behavior in the classroom. Through observations, we cannot find any specific triggers that provoke the biting, so we have called for mental health services to help us assist the child with working through this behavior. A variety of factors can influence mental health behaviors that need to be addressed and it seems that the Global Children's Initiative agrees. Another insight that I gained from the website was the impact that malaria and other health issues are having on the educational experience for children in Zambia. The overall life expectancy for the population of Zambia remains below fifty years, due to the impact of poverty and illness. Educators understand the importance of early childhood education and care practices and how it can improve a child's life expectancy and performance, which is why they are focusing on improving the malaria treatment and prevention practices in Zambia. By helping children receive a healthy start in life, advocates hope to improve the children's education performance and increase life expectancy. I also followed the link to the ACEV: Mother Child Education Foundation (http://www.acev.org/en/anasayfa). The ACEV is based in Turkey, but has partnered with organizations in thirteen other countries. They focus on strengthening the relationships between the mother and child and the father and child in needy homes, understanding that healthy relationships are a key component to a child's childhood experience. ACEV provides a variety of professional development trainings for educators to assist families with improving early childhood experiences in the needy families of Turkey and Turkish immigrants around the world. I found it reassurig that other educators around the world share the same aspirations for early childhood education as we do in the United States.

Sharing Web Resources-Update

As I continue to explore the website for Child Care Aware of America (http://www.naccrra.org), I am learning more about the various resources that they have to offer for child care providers. For providers who wish to continue working on professional development, Child Care Aware of America offers a professional development training center (http://naccrra.smarthorizons.org/index.html). In the training center, there are numerous courses available, depending on the goals that the provider is looking to accomplish. For example, a provider can work on their Child Development Associate (CDA) initial certification and their renewal. Providers can also take specialized courses that are geared toward certain curricular areas that their students may be struggling in. Some of these specialized courses include child-directed activities, early literacy, and music activities. There are also professional development trainings that are geared specifically toward center-based or family-based child care providers, which can be beneficial since general trainings may not necessarily include topics or issues that are more relevant to center-based or family-based environments.

One article from the website that gained my attention was Child Care Aware of America Supports the Child Care Protection Act of 2013, which can be found at http://www.naccrra.org/news-room/press-releases/2013/3/child-care-aware®-of-america-supports-the-child-care-protection-act-. This particular bill that was recently introduced would require comprehensive background checks for all child care providers. As of right now, this process is only mandated in 13 states in the U.S. Since in Ohio, we are required to submit to regular fingerprinting for background checks if you work with children (I had to do this when I was a lifeguard for my local YMCA), I was shocked to hear that this is not a mandatory process for all individuals who could be working with children. This truly scares me to think that I could move to another state and place my children in a child care program where the staff could potentially be sex offenders or have been convicted of child abuse!

It took me a little while to search the website for an example of the support of early childhood education provided by someone other than educators and the federal government, but I did come across an article from New Mexico that described the movement to amend the state constitution to allow for funding toward pre-Kindergarten programs (http://coreissues.usa.childcareaware.org/latest-news/amendment-would-boost-early-childhood-education/). Even local business owners, such as Victor Limary-owner of Talin Market, support the move to provide state-funded preschool. The article states that by investing in the education of young children, the state is investing in the future of the local businesses by increasing the talent pool. This act is still in the making though because there are still several opposing groups, such as a local chamber of commerce that does not currently see that a current investment in the state's young children will bring a greater economic return in the future. I am curious to see if this amendment ends up passing!

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

The past few weeks have been very educational for me, even if I have not received any feedback from any of my international education professionals. I often find myself browsing the Internet looking for various education programs from around the world and explore their websites for any similarities or differences to education programs in the United States. One of the things that I have learned during this process is that all educators around the world are passionate for helping children not only succeed in the classroom, but in life overall. As educators, we understand that it is our responsibility to build a strong, stable foundation for children to learn critical developmental skills that they will use for a lifetime.

Since I did not receive any feedback from any of my professionals from around the world, I have switched to an alternative assignment, which involves reviewing and reflecting on the podcasts issued by the World Forum Foundation. This week, I chose to listen to the podcasts featuring Susan Lyon and Barbara Jones. Susan Lyon is the founder of the Innovative Teacher Project (http://www.innovativeteacherproject.org/index.php), which bases its educational principles off of the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. I loved hearing Susan Lyon describe her experience working with a little boy on how to spell the word "city". During that special moment, she learned the importance of viewing the world through a child's eyes, which I agree is a key principle that educators need to focus on when working directly with children. Children may not necessarily view the world in the way that we want them to see things, so it is our job as educators to take a step back and learn each child's perspective on things. Barbara Jones is the founder of the Pine Grove Montessori School in Falmouth, Maine. She began her career in Early Childhood Education looking to take part in a non-traditional early childhood program. That is when she came across for a listing for a teacher position available for a Montessori school in California. She later moved to Maine and came across a small schoolhouse. She took the opportunity to purchase the school, renovate it, and turn it into her own Montessori program, which has been running successfully for over 25 years. The Pine Grove Montessori School (http://www.pinegrovecenter.com/index.html) follows the ideas of Maria Montessori, who acknowledged the fact that children are naturally-driven learners. The school uses observations for each child to learn about the children's interests and then provide materials and carefully guided learning activities for the students to explore at their own pace.

I also took the opportunity to explore the website for the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/) and look at the childhood poverty information provided for Kyrgyzstan. I knew that compared to the United States, the economic status for Kyrgyzstan was relatively low, but I was shocked when I learned about the number of children living in poverty conditions in the country. Forty-nine percent of urban children under the age of 20 and 55 percent of rural children under the age of 20 were living in poverty conditions. Of those children, 18 percent were not able to afford basic food expenses, leading to a high rate of malnutrition in the country. Due to the poor economic conditions, children are having to drop out of school and work to help support their families, which leads to a decline in the number of "properly" educated people in the country. Another factor of poverty hitting the country is the lack of access to health services. Some illnesses associated with poverty, such as tuberculosis, are beginning to redevelop in the country. As these illnesses affect the children, less children are able to work due to illness, again having an impact on the economic welfare of the people. I found this website very informative because it allowed me to look into how poverty is affecting other parts of the world. I can also compare my local poverty outcomes to those around the world and look at the similarities and differences in how poverty affects the people involved. In Kyrgyzstan, children are having to drop out of school to help earn income for their families. In the United States, child labor laws prevent children from being able to work to support their family, so families are forced to look for additional ways add income to their family.

Sharing Web Resources

The agency that I decided to focus my study on was the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, which can be found at http://www.naccrra.org. The agency offers readers the opportunity to subscribe to one of their various newsletters, with topics ranging from advocacy, public policy, and family resources. I subscribed to all of the them, so that I could follow the various topics that the agency addressed.

One of the topics that caught my eye this week was the push to contact local political leaders to take a stand against the recent sequestration that has taken effect in our country. This topic really hit home for me because my Head Start and Early Head Start program is facing a 5.3% budget cut on the remainder of our fiscal year. This cut adds up to around $122,000 that we have to cut from services. We are doing the best that we can to keep from cutting services offered to children, but we may have to shorten the current Head Start school year by one week in order to cover part of the loss. This means that our children can miss out on a week's worth of valuable learning that could help them prepare for entering school in the fall.

I also took the opportunity to sit down and review the agency's Strategic Plan for 2010-2015 to see what their goals were for improving quality child care, which can be found at http://www.naccrra.org/sites/default/files/default_site_pages/2012/strategic_plan_2010-2015.pdf. I found it interesting that about 90% of the child care programs in our country are NOT considered high quality. This is due to high staff turnover, lack of staff training and education, poor state requirements, and the lack of funding. As a parent who is currently looking for child care for my almost 4 year old daughter and will be newborn, I am scared to think of the cost that child care is going to be for my family. As an educator, I know the importance of high quality care, but as a parent, I simply cannot afford it. I am hoping that as I continue to learn about NACCRRA, I will find an answer to finding affordable high quality child care before I actually come to need it.

Establishing Early Childhood Contacts and Expanding Resources

I am truly excited to say that I am looking forward to working with other early childhood professionals from around the world. When asked to establish connection with at least two early childhood professionals from outside of the United States, I was not sure where to begin. Then, I remembered that the Head Start program that I work for serves a few families from various nationalities. I decided to explore those nationalities and attempt to reach out to a few professionals from those countries.

In order to establish connection, I have sent out emails to the following professionals. As of right now, I am still waiting for a reply, but as soon as I hear something, I will update my status.

• The first professional that I have contacted is Noushad Ahmed Khan from Pakistan. They are the Secretary General of Pakistan, working for the OMEP, World Organization for Early Childhood Education. I was able to find contact information at http://www.omep.org.gu.se/regions/asia_pacific/.
• The second professional that I have contacted is Tran Ba Viet Dzung from Vietnam. They are the Director General at the Ministry of Education and Training. I was able to find contact information at http://en.moet.gov.vn/?page=3.1&view=3463.

I have also decided to explore and report on the website for the National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies at http://www.naccrra.org/. I chose this website because I frequently use the partner website for the state of Ohio, but have not had the chance to explore the national website. At first glance, I have noticed that it is full of useful information that I will be able to use in my professional career and has resources that I will be able to pass on to my families. I am especially looking forward to reading the report about Child Care Costs, since I am personally looking for child care for my own children, but am struggling to do so due to the high costs of high quality care. As I continue to explore this website, I will also report my findings.

Tiffany

My Supports

I have realized that I have various support systems that help me get through each day. When I am at home, my family provides me with emotional support by showing me unconditional love, even when I feel that I am least deserving of it. They also provide me with physical support by helping with chores around the house and keeping me active while I'm chasing my 3 year-old around everywhere. My husband has always been the breadwinner of the family and has provided the financial support that we need to get by on a daily basis. When I am at work, my supervisor provides me with emotional support by providing me with encouragement and an "open-door" whenever I need to ask questions or need somebody to talk to. I also receive physical support at work through the various education and company policies and manuals that have been reproduced so that I can have them at my fingertips. I cannot tell you how many times a day I refer to the Head Start Act or Performance Standards when working on various assignments that have been handed to me at work. On a lighter note, coffee and chocolate give me the physical and emotional support that I need to tackle any tough challenge that comes my way.

A challenge that I hope and pray that I never have to encounter is being a single parent, especially since I am expecting my second child. I would not have that support person there to help provide the financial support to meet the everyday needs to keep our household going. I would struggle to put food on the table, keep a roof over our heads, have clothes on our back. These financial struggles would then lead to a large amount of emotional stress. I would have to rely on governmental assistance, if it was available to me at that time, to make ends meet and provide for my family. I would also have to rely on my family and friends to help me cope emotionally with the stress of being the main breadwinner for my family. Since I would be the main financial support, there would be a good chance that I would have to work multiple jobs, which would pull me away from spending valuable bonding time with my family. I truly give credit to the individuals who have to raise their children alone. They are strong individuals and they have earned my respect.

My Connections to Play

Play is such an integral part of any child's development and always has been. Unfortunately, over the years, there has been a push for children to spend less time playing in educational settings and more time preparing for standardized testing. Early childhood program often claim that they are child-focused, but they push children to follow such a strict curriculum that the fun of learning is lost.

When I was growing up, my mother was a stay-at-home mom up until I started Kindergarten. I remember spending the majority of my time at home playing in the backyard on the swing set or riding my bicycle in the driveway. When I played inside, I would line my stuffed animals up along my bed and pretend to be "mom", bottle feeding them and tucking them into bed. I did not have a television in my bedroom until I was a teenager and even then I had to share it with my sister. When I wanted to watch television, we usually watched it as a family. If I told my parents that I was bored, I was told to go play outside. My older brother was often into playing sports, so he would be practicing baseball or football in the yard with my father. My sister and I were six years apart, which was a significant age gap, so I was often left to play by myself. I do not necessarily regret that because as I grew up, I always preferred my alone time and still do. My alone time is when I tend to be most creative with what I have around me.

I watch my 3 year old daughter play now and there are some similarities to the way that I used to play. She loves to role play with her stuffed animals and other dolls. I will proudly say that that she had her stuffed animals potty trained months before she actually was. She loves to be creative with arts and crafts. The one main difference that I notice is the emphasis that she places on watching television and other technology. I truly do not agree with using a television as a babysitter, but there are times when a parent has to get something done and that is the only way to keep a child's attention. My daughter has also figured out how to use our cellphones to find games and other activities without our help. I try to limit the amount of "technology" time that she has, but looking at the way the trends are going, her educational experience and other areas of life are almost guaranteed to be heavily influenced by technology. I try to set time aside to just sit down and play with my daughter so that she can still see the importance of having that freedom to express herself.

Here are a few pictures that represent play as I was growing up:

 

This swing set is very similar to the one that we had in my back yard when I was growing up. Our swing set also had a baby swing hanging from it and I would often take my stuffed animals outside and push them in the baby swing.

 

 

This bicycle is similar to the one that I had growing up. I would often ride around in my drive way or once I was a little older, I was allowed to ride around the block as long as I did not cross the street. With the crime these days, I would not trust my daughter to ride her bicycle anywhere without having an adult present with her at all times.

 

 

This was my childhood friend. Pooh bear went everywhere with me. My grandmother gave him to me. When my daughter was born, I asked my mom to get one for her to pass down the tradition. I'm glad to see that my daughter loves hers as much as I loved mine. The one difference between them is the name. For some reason, she came up with the name "ho bear". We have no clue where that name came from.

 

 

Here are a few quotes that I believe reflect the importance of play:

 

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."  -Plato
 

 "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood." -Fred Rogers
 

"It should be noted that children at play are not playing about; their games should be seen as their most serious-minded activity." -Michel de Montaigne

Tiffany Booze

Quotes were retrieved from BrainyQuote.com

 



 

Relationship Reflection

When looking back over my life so far, I have noticed that there have been several relationships that I have formed that were rather brief and matter of fact. For instance, I went to high school with about 350 other students in my graduating class, but may have only formed actual relationships with a handful of them. Yes, I might be able to still recognize a name here and there, but many of those relationships that were formed during high school dwindled away to a mere memory now.

When I entered college, the same thing happened. I went to college for academic purposes. I truly did not care about the parties and social life that I could have been a part of. I found a church to attend when I lived on campus and they became my "friends" during that year, but once I moved off campus, those "friends" again became memories.

When I started working in the early childhood field, I was hesitant to become "close" to my coworkers because I felt that I was there to do a job: to serve my students and their families. I did not care whether I agree with my coworkers teaching styles or whether I was truly accepted. What mattered most to me was making sure that my students trusted me and through that trust, I was able to foster their overall growth developmentally. When I did start to seek my coworkers' opinions about early childhood education, I was surprised to see the lack of interest from them. They did not share the passion for the field like I did. I found it rather difficult to progress further in my professionalism when I did not receive the support and feedback that I was seeking from those surrounding me.

I started working with a great group of early childhood professionals this past November and it has made a world of a difference in my professional relationships. I feel as though I can share my thoughts and ideas with my colleagues and even if they do not agree with my views, they still respect my opinion and will offer professional guidance when needed. In turn, I have gained a significant amount of confidence about my growth and knowledge within the early childhood industry, which has carried over to other personal relationships.

My parents have always been extremely supportive of the decisions that I have made throughout my life. My father has always given me the freedon to make my own choices, but will express his concern if he feels that my decision is too risky. My mother has been more cautious, especially when I decided to enter the education field because she knew that education careers are hard to come by where we live. However, through her love and confidence in me, she gave me her blessing and has stood by my side as I graduated with my Bachelor's degree and am working on my Master's in early childhood studies.

My husband and I have been together for almost 7 years now and ever since day 1, he has been by my side through everything. There have been times where I have wanted to give up on work or school because I wanted more family time, but he would remind me that it was always best for our family's future for me to stick with things and has has been right. I am going through that struggle again since we are expecting our 2nd child in July. I deep down want to stay home with our children, but financially, it just is not an option. My husband keeps reminding me that our decisions now will pay off down the road and I just need to be persistent. He has truly held our family and myself together and I do not know where I would be right now without his love and support.

And then there is our daughter. I like to say that she and I have a "love-not like" relationship. I absolutely love her to death and would do anything for this child. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our family and I am truly grateful for that. However, I do "not like" many of her choices and actions. My poor husband has to come in and save the day too many times because my daughter and I are arguing (and she's only 3 years old!). I have to accept the fact that she gets under my skin so much because we are simply so much alike. We are both extremely stubborn and will say what is on our mind. Plus, she has absolutely has no fear and will do anything she sets her mind to. She keeps me on my toes and I have learned that I have to be more patient with her, but it is still tough.

This is a picture of my husband, Dan, and daughter, Madelynn, when we went on vacation in November 2012. If you look closely, you will see that my daughter is holding Lamby, another important member of our family. Lamby is Madelynn's lovey and if Lamby ever gets lost, our whole family falls apart until Lamby is found again.