My Connections to Play

Two quotes about play:

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

"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold"-Joseph Chilton Pearce

 
 
 Playdough was always the activity that I enjoyed with my sister and mom.
 

                                                                                          Barbie was my favorite doll when I was little.

 

People supported play with me when I was little by playing with me and always encouraging me to use my imagination.

 

I feel that playtime today for children is very different from playtime when I was a child. I see more parents and educators more concerned about academics, that they think playtime is just something for children to do and that it doesn't have any meaning or benefits. My hope for young children now is to be able to enjoy their playtime and be encouraged to have more playtime, with their peers, families, and teachers/caregivers. I just want more adults to remember what it was like to be a children and how much fun they had during playtime.

 

The role of play through out my life has taught me to become the adult I am today. When I was little I would watch my mom and dad and I would pretend to be them. I would wash my dad's socks in my toy washing machine, I would pretend to cook dinner for my family in my toy oven. I would pretend to do the same things that my parents did and know as an adult I find myself taking care of my own family in the same way.

 

 

Relationship Reflection

Relationships and partnerships are important to me because I believe they are the foundation of who I have become and who I am as a person, professionally and personally.

My best friend: My best friend is very important to me because he encourages me to always do my best and never give up on my dreams.  He is always there when I need someone to help me or just be there for me when I'm going through a hard time.

My parents: They have always supported me and always told me that I can do anything if I just try and believe in myself.

My sister: She makes me feel like I can do anything and is very proud of me for going back to school and making my dreams come true.

My experiences with relationships have impacted my work as an effective early childhood professional by encouraging me to be able to talk with other people, like parents and co-workers. My relationships have also helped me in my professional work by never letting me give up on myself and always encouraging me to give 100% of myself to everything I do.

Quotes about Children

I found two quotes that I liked.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
-Albert Einstein

"Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself."
-George Bernard Shaw

Testing for Intelligence?

I believe that when we assess school-aged children we need to be careful not to judge a child when we assess them. I think that it is important to test children on educational matters, like reading, writing, and mathematics, but I also think it is important to consider the children as individuals.

ITALY
In Italy pupils are tested on average about one test per subject per term, which goes towards the continual assessment of their performance, but does not count all that much. But for serious, GCSE-type, make-or-break exams, from the ages of 13 to 18 Italian students enjoy a long exam holiday, all the way up to the maturita exam which they take at the end of liceo, the senior schools in the Italian systems. On the other hand, the continual assessments can be rigorous, and if students at the top high schools score less than six out of 10 in two or mor e subjects they run a serious risk of having to take the year again (Cassidy,S).

GERMANY
In Germany, Germany's state-run primary school pupils start their education at the age of five or six. For the first two school years, they are not given marks for their academic performance. Parents are merely handed a school report on their child's abilities and behavior at the end of each school year.

From the age of seven, students are subjected to continuous assessment. Every piece of work, including tests and homework, is marked on a 40/60 per cent oral/written basis. The marks go towards an annual school report.

When pupils leave primary school at 10 or 11, they are provided with a recommendation, based on continuous assessment, to decide what type of secondary school they attend(Cassidy,S).

Resource
Cassidy,S. Our Children tested to destruction,(2008, February). retrieved from
http://www.independent.co.uk/education.com

Dealing with Poverty as a Child

When I was growing up I had a friend that was homeless. She lived with her family in a shelter. I remember how sweet and shy my friend was and how the other kids at school would make fun of her because of her clothes and her living situation. We became friends in elementary school and remand friends until her death in 1992. She coped with her life in a very private way. She always hoped that things would get better for her and her family, but it didn't. She would never talk about her family and I think I was the only person that she introduced to her family. In my opinion I think my friend handled her situation as best as she could, because after all she was only a child when I meet her.

In South Africa there is an on going problem with children living in poverty. The experts give two reasons to why this is happening. The first is because of racial problems in the country. South Africa has to this day an on going problem with racial issues and poor black communities not getting the help they need. They also don't get the same medical treatment options or educational options that white communities get. The second reason they have so many children living in poverty is because of the very high unemployment rate in South Africa. This is happening because of the expanding trades and global market that has caused a lose of jobs in the agricultural and manufacturing areas.

Resource
http://www.stwr.org/africa/south-african-child-poverty.html

Nutrition and Malnutrition

I believe that nutrition and malnutrition are both very important issues that every one around the world as to deal with.  This issue is meaningful to me because I have seen children living in poverty and the only meals that they get through out the day are the meals and snacks they get at school. Reading the article Current food and nutrition situation in south Asian and south-east Asian countries as opened my mind a great deal. I always knew that there were food production problems in certain parts of the world but I did not know that even if the countries are producing food they could still have many problems with malnutrition issues.

Food production in the countries of South and South-East Asia has shown a general upward trend during the last decade. Despite the considerable increase in population in many of these countries, food production per capita in 1988-90 was significantly higher as compared to 1979-81 figures, the increase being specially marked in such countries as Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Available daily calorie supply was adequate to meet the requirement. The overall pattern of food production however has shown little change, with cereal production continuing to account for a predominant part of food production. There is no evidence of a significant uptrend with respect to production of pulses, milk, horticultural products, poultry or meat production in most countries. A unique and unfortunate feature of the nutrition situation in South-Asian countries is that the incidence of low birth weight deliveries is as high as 34% (1990), ranging from 25% in Sri Lanka to 50% in Bangladesh (as against less than 7% in the countries of Europe and North America). Even in countries of Africa where the overall food and nutrition situation is worse than in South Asia, the incidence is well below 20%. This is a reflection of the poor state of maternal nutrition in pregnancy. Florid nutritional deficiency diseases have shown a steep decline over the last two decades, but goitre and iron deficiency anaemia continue to be major public health problems, though some headway has been made with regard to the control of the former. Severe forms of growth retardation in children have declined but the majority suffer from mild and moderate forms of growth retardation. Countries of the Region are in varying stages of developmental transition. Among the burgeoning middle classes in some of these countries there are evidences of escalation of degenerative diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. With increasing life expectancy, geriatric nutritional problems will demand increasing attention.

Resource
Biomed Environ Sci. 1996 Sep;9(2-3): 102-16.

Birthing Experience in the Netherlands

I learned that in the Netherlands, most women do not go to a hospital but chose to have a midwife and a home birth. They also do not go to an obstetrician, instead  the go to their family doctor who then refers them to a midwife. The mothers-to-be also get a birthing kit called a "kraampakket". This kit has everything the mother, midwife, and family needs for the birth(during and after the baby is born). This is very different from how women give birth here in the USA.  Almost all women in the United States give birth in a hospital with doctors, nurses, and an epidural. In Netherlands women do not use epidurals unless it is necessary and the midwife recommends it.

As far as my own experiences, I have never given birth nor have I ever participated in a birth. I don't remember my own birth but who does?

Reference
Schalken. L(2013). Birth Customs Around the World. Retrieved from
http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/birth-customs-around-the-world