Shared Web Resources

As I have studied diversity this week and its effect on children, families, classrooms and communities I feel there is one area that we have forgotten to cover.  Children with special needs are part of every community, most classrooms and some families in our areas.  These families and children need our support, guidance and encouragement as much as the families from other cultures do.  I feel it is important for teachers to understand the rights of the child and the family so they can better support them in the classroom.

I have chosen to learn more about The Division for Early Childhood (DEC).   The DEC is one of 17 divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).  Their websites is http://www.dec-sped.org/.  The DEC is about promoting policies and advancing practices to support children with special needs.  I chose to research this site because as I present Special Quest trainings I want to have the most up-to-date information to present to the educators in my class on working with children with special needs.  The DEC is nonprofit and is funded through membership dues and professional development activities.  The DEC is hosting it's 27th Annual International Conference On Young Children with Special Needs & Their Families in Maryland on November 17-19, 2011. 

A tab titled "Policy/Advocacy" is at the top of the page and important one that links families and educators of children with special needs to the topics related to policies being set and advocacy that needs to be done.  They discuss what is happening in Washington regarding funding and budgeting as well as links to click on for more information regarding the budgets.

There is a button to click on the website that is called "recommended practices"  I think this is a great piece to have on the website to keep teachers and families up-to-date on the best practices to reach the goals of the child.  They use research as well as knowledge and skills from those who with children with special needs to create their recommendations section. 

As the internet is used for information gathering for parents and educators I feel this website is an important resource for families of children with special needs and for all educators.  Some teachers feel that they do not need to learn about children with special needs or how they can support them because they do not currently have these children in their classrooms.  My advice to them is learn it now before you have a child with a special need so that you will feel prepared to support that child and family.  There is nothing worse than feeling inadequate as a teacher and unable to fully support the children and families in your classroom.  So being prepared for anything is the best course of action in my book.  I think a prepared teacher, though she will not have all the answers, will feel ready to help, assist and love any child that walks through her door.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

It seems connecting with Early Childhood Professionals in another country is going to be harder than originally anticipated.  I used The Global Alliance of NAEYC to connect with professionals in other countries.   I attemped to contact Singapore, Czech Republic, Canda and Romania through the emails provided on The Global Alliance of NAEYC site.  Those emails were returned as undeliverable.  I still have emails awaiting reply from Haiti, The UK UNICEF and Italy UNICEF organizations.  If I do not hear back from them I will have to use the alterative activity.  I have logged onto the World Forum Foundantion and located the podcasts.

The website I plan to learn more about over the next 8 weeks is the DEC (The Division for Early Childhood) website.  I chose this website because I am a member of the CEC (Council for Excpetional Children).  I joined the CEC to learn more about providing services for children with special needs because I provide training through Special Quest and determined this organization would have information that I could use to expand my knowledge and assist me in providing higher quality trainings to the educators in my area.  I receive the EC (Exceptional  Children) publication as well as the Teaching Exceptional Children publication from my membership in CEC.  I found that I have been so busy with work and school that finding the time to use the CEC or DEC websites has not been easy.  This class will force me to navigate and learn the DEC and CEC websites so that I can use them as resources in the trainings I present and I can recommend them to and assist others in using the sites.

Amy
Resources
The Global Alliance of NAEYC http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance

UNICEF has local organizations and representatives worldwide. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

The Division for Early Childhood
http://www.dec-sped.org/ 
(Review also the position statements: http://www.dec-sped.org/About_DEC/Position_Statements_and_Concept_Papers )

Council for Exceptional Children http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/templates/CECHomePage.cfm

World Forum Foundation. “A foundation whose mission is to promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings.” http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php 

Website: World Forum Foundation Radio. Includes links to podcasts of conversations with early childhood professionals.
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

My Supports

I have many people that support me on a daily basis.  My husband is very supportive of me.  He keeps me grounded, makes me see what is important and what I stress over that I shouldn't.  He makes me see things and people for what they really are and tries to keep me from "sweating the small stuff".  I say "tries" because I am a worrier by nature and that is a very difficult thing for me to change about myself.  He is my best friend and I know that I can count on him regardless of the situation.  I trust that I can talk to him without feeling judged by him.  He is also very helpful around the house and we have a great time completing projects together.  My children are a big support for me.  Most people would think that I support my children (which I do) so how can I think of them as a support for me!  My children are funny, creative, expressive little boys that keep me from taking life too seriously and they keep me having fun and laughing.  I need my husband and my children in my life so that I enjoy life more.  My parents have always been a huge support in my life.  They raised me to believe in myself and try my best at everything.  They are my sounding board for many challenges and choices that I have had to make in my life.  My siblings and their families are supportive as well.  We are a very close family and during a time when I was unsure of where my life was heading, being with family made the decisions and choices very clear to me.  My friends are a very close knit support system for me.  We have similar interests, similar motivations and they can help me work through problems and issues I am having.  I know I can talk to them without judgement. My co-workers, classmates and instructors are supportive to me as well.  I can bounce ideas around with my co-workers and use them to help come up with strategies for assisting centers with their issues. My co-worker encouraged me to start my masters program, she told me I could do it, when I was unsure of that myself.  She has assisted me in the online learning process.  Having my job supports me financially.  I am able to take care of my children because of that financial support.  I can feel independent and self-sufficient because of my job.  I know I can take of myself and my children financially as well as feel like I am making a difference with the job that I do.   My classmates and instructors have supported me by making me think deeper and in different ways, by helping me find out more of who I am as a student and making me more creative and expressive in my writing.  I think living without my support system would be very challenging.  I would be more stressed without them, I would laugh less and feel alone without my support system. I know I could survive without them, but life would not be as joyful, as rich, as fun as having them with me for the journey.   I need them.

If I had to imagine myself with a specific challenge I would say that I am unable to speak and communicate effectively with people.  I can understand this challenge because it is a challenge my ex-husband now has to experience after suffering a stroke.  It takes many people and a lot of patience to work through such a challenge.  If I was unable to effectively communicate, read, and write I would be unable to work to support my children and myself, I would have to rely on my husband as the only financial support for our family.  I would not be able to communicate effectively with my children's teachers and would not be able to assist my children with their homework or read a book to them before bed each night.   I would not be as much of a support for them as I am now and as a mom that is a devastating reality to face.  I think one thing that keeps me so grounded and so positive about life is knowing how much people rely on me for support, about as much as I rely on them.  I like to be needed! It would be very difficult to me as a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend to suffer the loss of my communication skills.  If I lost my communication skills I would have to rely on others to communicate for me, at the grocery store, doctors office, school, etc.  I would not be independent until I was able to learn other ways to communicate.  If I lost my support system as well as my communication skills I honestly do not know what I would do, how I would function and survive.

My Connections to Play

"It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them."  Leo F. Buscaglia

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

"Play has been man's most useful preoccupation."  Frank Caplan

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

"Play is the beginning of knowledge."  Anonymous


The materials that children need to play...



a bucket to share treasures with friends





 

a bucket for all collected treasures....treasures can be sorted, classified, counted and explored



boxes are a great material for children to play with ...they can be used to hide in and can become anything from a house to a car to a robot to a slide
boxes are a great tool for children to use to expand their imaginations and to use for experimentation and exploration

Materials such as tinker toys and legos are great for children because they are open-ended and children can use them to create anything they want.  The containers are also great for play as well.

Train track pieces that can be manipulated and created to become any type of track a child wants it to be are an important tool for a child.  They learn how to put a track to together so it will work and how they can criss-cross the tracks and use bridges and tunnels to create their very own design.



Books are great for children.  Books can be used to learn about many different types of items from trucks and cars to animals and families to pretend adventures.  When children are exposed to books a whole world of adventure and fun is opened for them.  Children who are read to when they are young and are shown the wonderful experience of reading will be more motivated to learn to read as they get older.



Having the opportunities to play outside and explore nature is very important to young children.  Being able to run, climb, swing, jump, chase and have fun are vital to a child's physical development.

Blocks are an important manipulative for children to use when they are young.  Blocks are open-ended toys.  Children can be very creative and imaginative when using blocks to create anything they want.

I've used pictures of my own children to show the types of toys I purchased for them when they were young.  They still play with these types of toys but have also gotten to an age where they want more video games.  I have purchased video games for them but limit the amount of time they may play with them. I want them playing with more open-ended toys, reading books and exploring outside.  I purchased for my children and created the same types of experiences for them that my parents had created for me.  I strive to buy the types of toys my children can use in many different ways, open-ended toys that require them to think, create, imagine and design.  I want them to have many different types of experiences as children because I understand how important it is to develop the whole child.

 In some ways I feel society has made some decisions for parents in regard to physical activity.  For example, in our town children are encouraged to become involved in organized sports at very young ages.  My 7 year old wants to play soccer in the fall and actually has to "try out" to make the team.  I feel that children at that young of an age should be given as many opportunities as they want to try many different types of sports and physical activities.  I do not feel children should have to try out for a sport at such a young age because they will never be able to learn the sport if they are not given the experiences of trying each sport out.  I think that our society has become focused on the wrong things for children in that regard. 

I believe that no matter what your age, you must play to enjoy life.  The people who are out enjoying life, having fun with life, laughing, smiling, giggling and playing are the people who experience less stress, less physical ailments and less health problems.  We all need to play and for children it is a vital part of development.

Relationship Reflection

Family vacations keep us close and connected

This blog post is to celebrate the relationships that I have with the important people in my life... family and friends.  The most significant people are with me to share milestones, celebrate holidays and to just have fun.  I have a very close family.  We spend a lot of time keeping our relationships close and significant.  We share family meals every Sunday together, celebrate birthdays and holidays together, spend quality time on vacation together, and just in general have fun together. When Kevin and I got married we began inviting our parents over for Wednesday dinners.  This has helped us merge our families into one.  We also spend Sunday mornings at church with Kevin's parents and Sunday evening dinners at my parent's house.  Shared religious beliefs are a way of connecting with others.   One way we are able to stay so close is through communication.  Without our daily texts, emails, phone calls and sometimes unexpected drop in visits our relationships would not be as strong. When I lived in California and England I had to be very specific with communication.  I posted pictures quite frequently on Ofoto for my family and friends to see how the boys were growing and developing.  We skyped frequently so the boys had a chance to talk with their grandparents and relatives.  My parents would visit us and we would come home on holidays to visit with my parents.  My parents pride themselves that they were able to spend almost every birthday with my children even when we lived so far apart.  Our relationships would not have been as close had we not kept in contact  with each other.  




Sharing holiday celebrations with family is important





Enjoying a football game with my siblings...shared fun experiences keep us close and connected





Summer fun with the boys and Kevin...I'm the target of the water fight that is about to commence...fun shared experiences keep us connected





Merging two families into one...shared family meals and consistent times we know we will be together keep us connected. 



My friends are very important to me as well.  We make it a practice to get together once a month to talk about our lives and families with each other.  We share stories about our work, families and lives to keep our relationships strong and connected.  I have friends that I keep in contact with in Florida, California and England by emailing them, calling or texting them and keeping in contact on Facebook.  Social networking has become a way to reconnect with people that I haven't kept in close contact with and am now able to reconnect and establish new connections and relationships with.  Communication is vital to relationships. 

Keeping connected with my friends and knowing I can count on them when I need them the most is valuable to relationships.

Teachers must have a connection with the families they serve.  They must learn about each child and family so they can find the best ways to connect and teach each individual child.  When teachers have fun with the children and families in their class, learn about their customs and cultures and connect with the children on what interests them most, then each child will get more out of their experience in the classroom.  Whether talking about my own family, my friends or the families in my classroom, communication is vital to the success of each relationship. 

When I think of child development

"There is no development without relationships"  Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm"  Ralph Waldo Emerson

"No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child.  The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure"   Emma Goldman

The Tone of Voice
I'ts not so much what we say
As the manner in which we say it.
It's not so much the language we use
As the tone in which we convey it.

"Come here!" I sharply ordered;
And a child cowered and wept.
"Come here," I softly whispere;
And into my arms he crept.

Words may be mild and fair,
But the tone pierces like a dart.
Words may be soft as summer air,
But the tone can break a heart.

Author Unknown

Testing for Intelligence

The definitions of IQ and achievement test according to Berger are an "IQ test is designed to measure intellectual aptitude, or ability to learn in school.  An achievement test measures the mastery in reading, math, writing, science or other subjects" (Berger, 2009, p. 323).  Schools use these test to determine how well the children are learning and how well the teachers are teaching.  It has been said that the tests do not really measure how well a child is learning because the teachers have started "teaching to the test" and the results show what the children have memorized and not necessarily internalized.  England has the same issues regarding testing as we do in The United States.   According to a news article from the BBC news two teachers unions are boycotting the test and do not feel they actually measure what a child is learning.
"Mick Brookes, NAHT general secretary, said: "The current system has resulted in thousands of children moving to the next phase with misleading information about their ability.  It has also led quite unjustifiably, to schools and their communities being labelled as 'failing' with the consequence of damaging recruitment of head teachers and worsening their working environment" (BBC, 2010).  The schools are concerned that the tests do not accurately portray what the children are learning and feel that the children spend their primary years preparing for tests.  "The Sats tests are taken each year by about 600,000 pupils in England and the results are used for the annual primary school league tables.  In previous years, pupils have taken tests in English, maths and science - but the test for science has been removed. The Schools Minister rejected the criticisms of the tests" (BBC, 2010).  He goes on to talk about how they have been working with the teaching organziations to explain to them that drilling with practice exams is wrong and that if the teachers have been teaching the curriculum all year the children should have no issues with the tests.  The issues of achievement testing is not just a US issue as I have shown here as teachers in England are having the same battle.  To test or not to test...that is the question.

Reference

BBC News. (2010, January, 26).  Sats boycott ballot for teachers in England. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8479426.stm

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.