Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose to do research on was the Institute for Attachment & Child Development. What is Attachment Disorder?  http://www.instituteforattachment.org/

One of this organization’s focus is on attachment disorders in children. The organizations states that “attachment disorder is the inability to form loving and lasting relationships, to give or receive love or affection, form a conscience, or trust others. Attachment difficulties are on a continuum of disturbance that range from attachment issues all the way to attachment disorder.
Attachment disorder falls under many names and categories.  In children, these names include: Reactive attachment disorder or RAD; Oppositional defiant disorder; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Childhood trauma, and Pervasive development delay or PDD” (Institute for Attachment & Child Development, 2014). The organization also gave some great examples of why some children do not form attachment within the first three years of their lives. The examples they provide were;

ü  Abuse
ü  Neglect
ü  Abandonment
ü  Multiple changes in caregivers
ü  Foster care
ü  Adoption
ü  Painful illness
ü  Exposure to alcohol/drugs in utero
ü  Maternal depression
ü  Inconsistent daycare
ü  Loss of a parent due to death or divorce
ü  Emotionally distant parents

In reading through these example I found them to be very interesting but it seem as though one example could be missing from this list. I truly thought culture background would have been in this group of examples through understanding that each individual culture may have their own specific ways of displaying what is consider acceptable attachment to children within their own culture. Whereas some others may view their ways as unacceptable and view these children as having a form of attachment from the list provided above if those evaluating young children having no background information or history on the cultures upbringing.   

 

 

 

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

In my attempt to contact with someone I am still awaiting to hear back. I understand that organizations can be very busy and it may take time for them to get back with me. However I feel if I have not heard back from them by mid-week of next week I will re-send my emails and continue my search. The contacts I attempted to contact were;

South Africa

The National Early Childhood Development Alliance.

Europe

Belarus
Belorussian Parents' and Teachers' League "Step by Step"

Germany
German National Committee for Early Childhood Education

However in part 2 of the assignment I explored;

Pre[K]Now: A Campaign of the Pew Center on the States
http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now28067
(Newsletter: http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_alerts.aspx )

“These providers visit the homes of vulnerable families regularly (generally once or twice a month) from the time a mother is pregnant through the first few years of the child’s life. During this critical developmental period, parents receive support and knowledge about how to provide a safe and stimulating environment as well as information about how children grow and learn. In this voluntary program, motivated parents learn how to be successful in their new role. Children get off to a better, healthier start with parents who have the skills needed to raise them”.

I believe this is what is really needed for new parents, and some parents with children but no family support or experience. Also through this program children and their families are said to be more ready for starting school.

These are some other sites that I found to be interesting as well.

National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
http://www.naccrra.org/
(Newsletter: http://capwiz.com/naccrra/mlm/signup/ )

National Institute for Early Education Research
http://nieer.org/
(Newsletter: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php )

 

"My Supports"

 

 

 

In thinking about the support I receive daily within my environment I would have to say the use of my car is very supportive within my life. In thinking about how I could have used all the many people in my life that are very supportive I decided to use my car instead because I feel I sometimes take having a car for granted, not realizing that having a car is very important to meeting my daily needs. Although it is a material thing it provides me with the support I need to do daily task. Through transportation I can go to work everyday and do the job I love as well as help provide for my family. I can even take my son to activities he have on certain days. Also by having means of transportation I can stop at the store and buy food to keep us healthy, and have a place to put it to help me transport it home without any difficulties.

Living in an area that do not supply bus transportation would be very difficult for me to get to work each day to provide for my family. Without having my own transportation I would have to emotionally, and physically rely on others to take me back and forward to work each day and other task that I may have to do daily through the use of a vehicle. However seeing that I do not have a lot of family members in the state I live in, and those that do live in my state live at least an hour away it would be very difficult to get the support I needed. Therefore if I no longer had transportation to commute back and forward each day I could no longer pay the bills it takes to run a home, and I could eventually loose my home by having no income to pay for all these things that I need to supply through the use of a car.



"My Connection To Play"

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.”

Mr. Rogers

“Play is the highest form of research.”

Albert Einstein

   

         

  



When playing as a child I was encourage to go outside and play my own way. Growing up I had plenty of opportunities to go out and play with old friends, and meet new friends. I could not sit in the house and say there was nothing to do, because the response to that was go outside and find some one to play with. Also it did not matter what season it was when it came to play. My parents believed that fresh air was what I needed to explore, grow, and be healthy. As a result I still love being outdoors.

Play today is different than when I was young. Most children today are not encouraged to go out and play by their parents. Then you have children that can not play freely because they do not have a safe environment to play in. On the other hand you have some children who do not want to go out and play. These children and some of their parents believe play is being connected to a game system or some other type of technology that do most of the thinking for their child. This could explain why some children enter preschool not knowing how to socialize or pretend while playing. Therefore my hope for children today is that parents encourage their children to get out and experience nature or take them to an environment that is set up for children to play freely in order that they can learn to play, and interact with other children.

I believe by being encouraged to go outside, and play to meet other children, it guided me with the tools of socializing, and using my imagination through pretend play. Moreover I believe free play as a child gave me the confidence in adulthood to meet new people and share in their interest of trying new things.

Relationship Reflection

I value the relationships I have formed over the years in my life. Strong relationships are very important to me because the relationships in my life is what keeps me going daily. The special people in my life make me feel as though I am valued and important to them as well. Being valued also makes me feel that if I were not in their life or they in mind, life would not be the same. Whether am having a good day or a bad day, or may not feel like being bothered, there is all ways someone their to pick me up or just to listen. That is what real relationships are about.

The first person I have a positive relationship with is God. To me he is very real and make life worth living. In this relationship I can talk with him, day or night and he never get tired of listening or fall asleep. God has all ways shared my happiness and my pain through out my life.

 

My second best relationship would be my mother. She is my rock. I value this relationship because I watched my mother go through so much in her life and still stayed strong. In my life I watched my mom loose her mother. After 42 years of marriage my mom lost her best friend, my dad, and then over time three of her eight children and still stay strong. But that's not all, my mom had a brain tumor removed and again still stayed strong. In this loveable relationship my mom taught me how to face life as it is dealt to you by just staying strong. Today my mom is 88 years old and doing fine. Even now I hope to be as strong as my mom each and everyday.

Third, I have to say my two daughters. Even though our relationships are mother and daughters we can not go a day with out checking in if only for a moment to say “I love you”. My relationships with my daughters are special because they are married with their own families but we value each others opinion on matters. Therefore in our relationship we never seem to cross the line when it comes to respecting each others beliefs.

Lastly I have my best friend that I have not seen in over a year because we live in different states. However we speak regularly over the phone. I have known her since we were in seventh grade. We have went through good times and bad times. When we were younger we have been upset with each other, and cried and made up like nothing ever happen. In this relationship it seems like she is a sister more than a best friend. We have that bond where we can let each other know when we are wrong or when we are right. Either way we respect what each other has to say with out getting upset.

In maintaining my relationship with God, all I have to do is have faith that his word is true and believe that I am made in his image, therefore, I am special. Whereas maintaining my relationships with my mother, daughters and best friend, it is all about respect and valuing each ones opinion. Knowing that we are all human and we are capable of making mistakes, and by being willing to forgive each other makes our relationships grow deeper. Also in maintaining these relationships one must know where ones place is with in the relationship.

However there can be challenges in developing and keep relationships and I have had my share. I have found that you give all relationships a try. You try to find the best in everyone you meet. On the other hand, relationships that take a way your focus in life or put unneeded stress on you, these relationships are not worth keeping.

I believe that through these positive relationships and maintaining them in my life has taught me how to build and maintain positive relationships with parents, families and their children with in my early childhood profession. I never gave it much thought, but over the years of building relationships has set me up for understanding others and knowing how to respect people for who they are, as well as value their opinion.

When I Think of Child Development “Quotes”

"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate."

Anonymous

"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow”

Mary Anne Radmacher

These three quotes I found to be very powerful when I took the time and mediate on them. Therefore when I mediated on them here is what I heard. As educators we know children are great, but what part do we play in making them greater. We want the world safe for our children, but what part do we play in making them safe. Our children are strong, so why do we not have the patience to let them try again tomorrow.

 

A Note of Professional Thanks and Support

I want to thank everyone through out this course for the support and feedback on the discussion board, and through our our blogs. Your comments and words of wisdom gave me a greater insight from a professional perspective. There is nothing more gratifying than to have a colleague share an experience and how they handled it, to help make life easier for both you as the professional and the child.

Testing for Intelligence?

In examining how children should or should not be measured or assessed, I believe children should be provided the learning tools that can help them succeed in and out of their school environment. By succeed, I mean to be able to provide in their own words what information they do understand with in the learning environment. I believe that children should be measured on what they can do, and the information they can connect with. Therefore not necessarily on what they do not know or can not do. In order words if it is something that they can not do, when being assessed, why not say they are in progress of learning what ever it is they have not mastered yet. Why should we just plain out say children can not do something when we as educators understand that every child learn at their own pace.

In all reality some children respond and develop on how we as adults, teachers, and professionals view them and express our beliefs in them. When we praise children for what they can do, children then have the self confidence to strive to do their best in all areas of development.

In assessing how school-age children are assessed overall in other parts of the world I wanted to do some comparison of the United States to other countries. “The chart below presents the findings of this Report Card in summary form. Countries are listed in order of their average rank for the six dimensions of child well-being that have been assessed.1 A light blue background indicates a place in the top third of the table; mid-blue denotes the middle third and dark blue the bottom third”(Unicef, 2007).

Also if you would like to view and compare other countries I have provided the link below.

Reference

An overview of child well-being in rich countries - Unicef

http://www.unicef.org/media/files/ChildPovertyReport.pdf

Dimensions of child well-being	Average ranking position (for all 6 dimensions)	Material and well-being	Health and safety	Educational well-being	Family and peer relationships	Behaviours and risks	Subjective well-being
Canada	11.8	6	13	2	18	17	15
Sweden	5	1	1	5	15	1	7
United States	18	7	21	12	20	20	-

Furthermore, when measuring or assessing school-age children by the information provided in the chart we see that children are assessed in every area of their well-being. I believe each of these areas some times play an important part on how a child develop with in their learning environment. Therefore I feel the question that should be asked to those developing standardized testing, based on one child fits all, how can we test a child's abilities in varies areas of learning with out knowing the whole child themselves?