Communication

We have traveled a wonderful road together, I am thankful for everyone who I have had the pleasure of working with.  Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. Good luck to everyone.

Groups

      I think high performing groups are the hardest to leave. In my adulthood I have not been part of any real groups where I was working towards something. I can remember how wonderful it felt in high school being a member of the track team. We had been together for four years and when it can to an end it was one of the hardest things for me to leave. Our team worked well together we did have our ups and down but we became a family. It was hard to say Good Bye.

       When I entered college the team was much large so things were very different than high school. People came from many different places and backgrounds it seemed harder for everyone to connect. You had your clicks, all of the distance runners were together and they didn't really interact with the sprinters and if you did a field event you were totally separate. When leaving that team it wasn't as hard as before.

      Working with these groups of people in these online courses is different, but you do get use to reading comments and post from familiar names, and I think it gives me some kind of comfort. I think that it will be more difficult not having the routine of doing work weekly. 

Conflict Resolution

    I have not or cannot remember a resent disagreement or conflict that I have faced in any part of my life. But over the past few weeks I have learned some very valuable strategies that would help me in the future. On the website The Center for Nonviolent Communication there are some great skills that will allow me to better prepare myself for future conflicts or disagreements.

Nonviolent Communication Skills (NVC)

 NVC offers practical, concrete skills for manifesting the purpose of creating connections of compassionate giving and receiving based in a consciousness of interdependence and power with others. These skills include:

 1. Differentiating observation from evaluation, being able to carefully observe what is happening free of evaluation, and to specify behaviors and conditions that are affecting us;

2. Differentiating feeling from thinking, being able to identify and express internal feeling states in a way that does not imply judgment, criticism, or blame/punishment;

3.Connecting with the universal human needs/values (e.g. sustenance, trust, understanding) in us that are being met or not met in relation to what is happening and how we are feeling; and

4.Requesting what we would like in a way that clearly and specifically states what we do want (rather than what we don’t want), and that is truly a request and not a demand (i.e. attempting to motivate, however subtly, out of fear, guilt, shame, obligation, etc. rather than out of willingness and compassionate giving).

 I also reviewed the website The Third Side where they discussed the 3S assumptions and discussed some misunderstanding that people have about conflict and how to work with conflict.

3S Assumptions

Conflict, in itself, is not a bad thing. Conflict is a natural and healthy process, necessary for making progress and dealing with injustice. The world may actually need more conflict, not less, if the appropriate skills are known and conflict can be managed productively.

That the goal is not to end or eliminate conflict but simply to transform the way it is expressed ­ from destructive forms such as violence, abuse, and intolerance into constructive forms such as debate, dialogue, negotiation, and democracy. Conflict is inevitable; violence is not.

The way to transform conflict is to create a strong container for creative contention. This container constitutes the Third Side of any conflict. The container can be created by the surrounding community friends, neighbors, witnesses, neutrals as well as by the parties themselves.

You don't have to take sides in a conflict, nor do you need to be neutral. No matter where your sympathies lie, you can choose to take the Third Side, in other words, the side of the whole whether that is the family, the work organization, the community, or the world.

 You can choose to take the Third Side anytime in the conflicts around you. This means seeking to understand all sides to the conflict, encouraging a peaceful nonviolent process for engaging deep differences, and supporting an inclusive outcome that addresses the essential needs of all

Responding to conflicts productively requires courage, preparation, knowledge, skills, creativity and coordination.

You have an important role to play in transforming the conflicts around you, whether you are one of the parties or a Witness to the conflict. You can make a significant difference.

By working together in a systemic way, we can create a strong Third Side for even the most intractable conflict. As the old African proverb goes, "When spider webs unite, they can halt even a lion."

The Third Side is not a new idea. In some form, it exists in every culture. Indeed it is the most ancient human processes for dealing with deep differences. It does not belong to any group or organization; it is the common heritage of humanity. It belongs to you.

Communicator

     For this week’s assignment which was to look at the differences and similarities on how I evaluated myself versus others, I don’t think that I was surprised that much by how I was evaluated. I felt good to know that others view me as a good communicator. So knowing this, my fears about how I am communicating were not bad, and it made me feel really good.

      I realized that I still have the same fear of public speaking today as I had as a young child. I need to confront my fears, in order to get better with speaking in front of groups. This will help me to become more effective in working in the early childhood field.

I didn't realize how effective of a listener I am, is makes me feel good because being a good listener will help the families that I serve to be able to connect better with me.

Communication

      I do communicate differently with people from different groups and different cultures. I feel that I do this because I based it on, will they receive what I am saying. When I communicate with someone in my family, I will use words that I may not use in the work place. My family has its own language and words that we use only in our family.

 I talk to the families at my child care differently too, it depends on who they are their background and level of education. I do this to ensure that they understand and are clear about what we discuss.

The three things that I will share based on this week’s learning are:

 Learn about the different culture of the families that you serve.

Put yourself in others shoes so you will learn what they want, like, and need.

Not to make judge others based on their culture.

Communication

For the assignment I chose the show: Gilmore Girls

What do you think the characters' relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating?

Based on the way the older women was communicating to the younger women it seemed to be a mother/ daughter situation.

 What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?

I thought the mother character was angry about something with regarding to her daughter.

Now, watch the show with the sound turned on.

What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed?

I was correct about the relationship being a mother/daughter. I was not correct regarding the mothers being angry with the daughter; she was more concerned with helping her daughter with figuring out a way to tell her dad something that may upset him.

Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well?

Yes, my assumption would have been more correct if it was a show that I knew, because I most likely have seen it before, and I have an idea of the characters and some of the struggles that they may be going through.

Competent Communication

The person that I feel demonstrates competent communication would have to be my uncle Keith. He is currently the head of a communications security department. As a child he was born premature and because of this, it may have been the cause of him being behind in school. 

However, he did let that stop him with hard work he finished school and went to the army after the army he went back to college and completed his master’s degree a few years ago. In his career path he has to do many investigative interviews with people who may or may not be doing illegal things; this requires him to be an excellent communicator. He also is a part of Toast Masters, he speaks at many event through the country. I would love to be a great communicator like him one day.

Professional Hopes and Goals

As I work with children and families who are from diverse backgrounds, my hope is that I am able to give them an open mind and show them love and respect for our differences.

The one goal that I would set for early childhood about diversity is to continue making those small steps at changing world by reaching and teaching every child. As early childhood professions I believe that this is important that we continue to teach others about diversity.

I want to say “thank you” to everyone for sharing their lives and their stories with me and allowing me to share with you all. I have learned so much from all of you and I hope you have learned something from me also. I pray that everyone has much success as they move through their journey

THANK YOU!!!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

            The name of the country that I have chosen is India.

The five ways that I will prepare for the family from India is:

o   Learn about their cultural customs and practices.

o   Setup a meeting for the family to come in to talk about the child’s care

o   Let them see that we are interested in their customs by learning to pronoun names correctly

o   Include some books or posters in the classroom about the culture

o   Educate staff about diversity

I believe that learning about a child culture is important for the growth of the child. I think that if we include pictures and other thing from that culture, we are letting the child and family know that we are including them. It is also important to educate the staff about diversity, explaining to them that all children should feel comfortable when they come through our doors. As early childhood educators it is important that children get a good first impression about learning, because it will make huge difference in their life.                            

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As a Black American woman, I feel like sometimes we suffer many injustices only because of the color of our skin is different. As I read the assignment I immediately remembered my aunt, who had just got a job in a bank. She was 19 years old and this was in the mid 1990’s. She was so happy because she was making her own money and was doing well. One day a middle age white man came into the bank and my aunt waited on him. When he was finished with his transactions he called her Whoopi Goldberg.

Now my aunt must have weighed about 110 lbs, her skin color is what some would say very light, which is nothing like Whoopi Goldberg’s, mind you my aunt is much younger. When I heard that story, my heart dropped because, I could not believe that someone would come right out and call someone a name, which had hidden meanings. The other bank tellers and the manager just stood and looked, no one said a word.

I think that it’s not fair to stand by and watch someone get hurt. I know that sometimes we don’t have time to react, but I think that instead of acting like it never happen like the other employees did someone should have spoken up and acknowledge that a wrong had happened.

I feel sad when I hear these kinds of stories, but it just lets us know that we have a long way to go before everyone is seen as equals. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

   Throughout this week I didn't detected any examples of microaggression, so I started to think back over the years and I remember when I was working for this company and I was switched to a different floor. As I began to meet my new coworkers, I started talking to this one girl, as we talked and to start to get to know each other, she asked me where in the city did I lived. I told her that I lived on the west side of town; she asked me if I knew a girl who like me was black and lived in the city. I informed her that I did not know her. This conversation left me thinking that she believed that I should know all black people or that all blacks knew each other. I wasn't sure if I was insulted or how I should feel about it, because I don’t feel that she said it in a rude way. I guess it left me more confused than anything else.

     I don’t often think about discrimination, prejudice and or stereotypes because it is something that you just live with or deal with when it happens. It’s the world we live in, I would love for it to never exist but it does. But going through this course and reading and viewing the resources for this week I have a better understanding of the feelings that come with being a victim if it.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Response from the questions ask,

What is culture?

What is diversity?

 An African American male -37 years

Culture - Although we are all human it is what defines us, it is what separates everyone.

 Diversity- is your own uniqueness regardless of your culture. So even though you are in the same culture within that you are diversity from them.

An African American female-37years

Culture- my beliefs and values, my music the food I eat and my attitude

Diversity- is a blend of people and cultures.

 A male 55years from Trinidad/ Canada

Culture-Distinct habits, behaviors, religion and lifestyle choices, general found in a group or population of people.

Diversity-The recognition of the differences in culture, habits and practice and religion.

The responses that I received are what we have talked about in this course. We have discussed that culture is who we are. I don’t believe anything that they talked about has not been mentioned in this course. I have become stronger in my beliefs of my culture and diversity.

My family culture

    The three items that I would take to the new country that I was  assign to, would be my bible, pictures of my family and my hair products.

    My bible is my life; I live by the word and believe in the Bible. My family is God fearing people who believe in the Bible, so with the Bible at my side, I would be comfortable in another country. Pictures of my family because I could always look at them and remember the good times when we were all together. My hair products because I love doing my hair and those around me, braiding hair is part of my culture, so by me taking my hair products, I can keep a part of my culture with me. 

    If I was told that I could only keep one item out of the three, I would feel bad about giving up my family pictures, but I have them in my heart so I could give them up, my hair products could give up. I would have to keep my Bible. It would be the only thing that would give me hope that one day things would be different. I would read it and find hope.

   The exercise really made think about what was important in my life, and how I view the many things in my life. Think that it would be hard starting in a different country, especially if you are forced.

When I Think of Research...

•What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

      I have gained a new respect for the process of what goes into research. Before this course I had no knowledge of the research process. There is so much that goes into development of research. So I appreciate what researchers do much more now than I did before.

 •In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

I don’t feel my ideas about doing research has changed I still would not be interested in conducting a research, but it has giving me a better understanding of it and if I did have the opportunity to be involved in one, I would not be completely unprepared.

 •What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

 I’ve learned that you need to be precise when conducting a research. You need to have a good plan, a good topic. Know who your target population will be and make sure information is protected and valid.

 •What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

I encountered a lot of challenges, this course was not easy for me, it was very much out of my comfort zone. Putting my topic in to a topic question that made sense was probably the most difficult part of the course. However, once I understood it, it became clear.

 •What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I don’t feel that my perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified or changed as a result of this course. But, I do appreciate the researched that has gone into the early childhood field more than I did before.

Thanks everyone...and much success in the future!!

Research Around the World

      The website that I chose to explore was www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au. This website gives us information on what Australia is doing in the early childhood world. While going through this website I came across some of the research topics in Australia. They have what is called “The Research in Practice Series” which is an easy-to-read resource that offers new effective approaches for challenging issues that may arise in the care and education of young children. It is an essential resource for individuals involved in the early childhood field.

    Some of the topics that I came across and I found interesting were,  learning and teaching through play, Diversity and difference: Lighting the spirit of identity, Managing change with infants and young children, Young children as active learners, Active children: Healthy now and later.

     I found that this website was a wealth of information that not only will help early childhood educators in Australia but help educators all over the world. It was very much like the NACYE website in that the information was clear and easy to understand. I also enjoyed the resource theme page and the Every Child magazine. It provided a lot of great articles.

        If I was able to conduct research any topic in early childhood field, it would have to be autism. I remember when I first entered into the early childhood field, at that time you didn’t hear of children with autism that was over 15years ago. Over the past few years autism has become so prevalent in our communities. According to the National Autism Association about 1 in 88 children are on the spectrum of autism. I would want to research possible causes and if there could be some way to prevent autism. 

     When I look at the children whose families are not financially able to help their children with autism or who are not knowledgeable of information regarding autism it hurts me because they are at such a disadvantage than other children who families are more involved in knowing about autism. This research would change the lives of so many families.

Reference

National Autism Association (2012). Autism retrieved from http://nationalautismassociation.org/resources/autism-fact-sheet/

Research Topic

        The topic that I have chosen to research is equity and excellence in care and education of children, families, and EC professional. I choose this topic because early childhood programs are not on the same level. There are programs that are in urban areas that are not high quality centers, therefore creating an unequal development for these children.  Someday I would like to see early childhood teacher and professional on the level that other professional are, being paid for the high quality work they perform. I think we would see less turn over if we were able to have salaries that reflect the work they do. The early childhood field is one of the most important careers that there is we, hold the future in our hands. Any suggesting or questions are welcome. Thank you

Professional and personal development

      The first consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that I realize that there are so many children in countries all over the world who are not receiving any early childhood education.

Next, I learned that there are many different organizations that are working extremely hard to bring early childhood programs to these different countries. These programs realize how important early childhood education is and want to make a better place for children.

Lastly, I feel by becoming exposed to international early childhood education it will open up awareness for others to be able to help.

My one goal for the field is to have more people become involved in international awareness and become able to help reach more children to ensure they have the best start in life.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

While looking through the UNESCO website I can across information regarding education around the world. I looked at a few countries and found some interesting information on Africa. The UNESCO has made Africa its priority, they feel that education is key to the region’s development. UNESCO has many field offices serving Africa and they work to keep education high on the agenda of governments and development partners.

They had information on access and equity, they talked about how countries try to promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often it can raise concerns about sustainability and quality (UNESCO, 2012). They also provided information on how governments must ensure a fair supply of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. This approach is aim to expand access without creating serious regional inequities. (UNESCO, 2012).

Investment and financing is another topic that was discussed on the website. Countries have the greatest difficulty with their efforts to expand and improve the quality of early childhood care and education is the mobilization of resources. This has become for the most part discouraging in developing countries, where early childhood is overshadowed by other pressing priorities, such as universal primary education. (UNESCO, 2012).

UNESCO. (2012) Early Childhood Care and Education. Africa. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I have been following is National Black Child Development Institute http://nbcdi.org/. I have been through the web site and I have found many really good articles. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any good web links through this website. There were a few through an article that I found and it took me to web links that focused on the educational, physical, spiritual, mental, social and emotional wellbeing of a child. I never received a newsletter from this website even though I signed up for one. I did not find any information that was pertaining to the topics we are discussing this week.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I explored the Harvard University‘s “Global Children’s Initiative” website, and learned what the centers mission is about and that they have three strategic goals that they have recently started. The three strategic areas that the center outlined on their site are:

·         Educate high level decision makers the science of learning, behavior and health in children.

·         Go into selected countries and help them to understand about what is healthy development and how it happens

·         On behalf of all children, build a better understanding of child development research and policy and to make it a global movement. (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010)

What I like about this organization is that they are focusing on a global effort, and are trying to meet the needs of all children from all over the world. Another thing that is interesting is some of the early childhood development project that they have going in places like Zambian and Brazil. The Zambian project was started in 2009, help measure the effects of an anti-malaria program on children’s development in that country. In Brazil the project is using science of child health and development to help create stronger policies and have more investments to benefit young children and their families. (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010)

Reference:

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I chose was National Black Child Development Institute. I enjoy going to the news section of the website, there are many articles and others web pages that offer great information that relates to my professional development.  I came across a great article called Child Health Talk this article was about getting children back to playing. I was drawn to this article because it tied in to what Dr. Grace’s video, when she talked on the importance of play and how we don’t allow children to do it like in the past. The article talks about how research about play shows its role in supporting cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. How play also strengthens creativity and academic achievement, and relieves the symptoms of attention deficit disorder, anxiety, depression, and potentially debilitating health conditions like obesity and diabetes, among other major benefits.

          After reading this article, it has just reinforced my position of the importance of play. I didn’t find any specific articles that related to economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field. There were articles that discussed funding for the early childhood and also funding for the institute.

Reference:

Marshall, D. (2012) Playing Alone: How Unstructured Play Improves Children’s Health.

Retrieved from http://nbcdi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/CHT-Spring-2012.pdf

Poverty in India

In 2001, India was estimated to have about 1.03 billion citizens; India's population is second to China.  It is stated that in 1999-2002 there was over 200 million people living in poverty in India.

In India half of the children which accounts for over 62 million are under the age of five and are malnourished. More than thirty percent of their newborns are considerably underweight.

India accounts for more than 20 percent of the children who are out of school. India has the largest number in the world of children who are under the age of sixteen and working.

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s (CHIP) India.(n.d.) Retrieved (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/),

Sharing Web Resources

       The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) is a Black Women’s Community Development Foundation that was concern with the unsatisfactory conditions that faced families who wanted to rear healthy children, so they decided to organize a national advocacy group. In 1970, they began to organize groups within communities as a basis for creating a unified national voice to develop strategies to improve the life circumstances of the developing Black child through policy change.

         The NBCDI mission is to improve and advance the lives of black children and their families through education and advocacy. Their focus is on early childhood education, child welfare, elementary and secondary education, and health, the Institute accomplishes by their mission. They are a good source of information for educators and all people in the early childhood filed as well as the community. They provide services for early childhood education, family support and health care for children. They work to   create public policy and influence legislation that directly affects the lives of African American children.

        An article that I found on the website in the archives talked about getting children to move, “Let’s Move Child Care,” it talked about children being overweight or obese by age 6, and how as child care providers we can help instill healthy choices that could help prevent childhood obesity. It gave things that we can do to give children a good health start.

National Black Child Development Institute

 http://nbcdi.org/ 

Establishing Professional Contacts

To get some professional contacts I went through The Global Alliance of NAEYC, listings.

I sent emails to:

Ajoke International School in Nigeria

Step by Step/Tipa Tipa in Haiti

OMEP Comité Nacional Mexicano, in Mexico

Ps. Aura Rodríguez de Montes, in Honduras

I received a "could not deliver " message back from my Honduras contact

I’m waiting to hear back from my contacts, if I can’t make contact with any of these professions I will have to go the alternative assignment.

 Part 2, Expanding Resources

National Black Child Development Institute
http://nbcdi.org/

I love looking through the site, I chose this one because It was new to me and I want to learn more about what they are doing.

“My Supports”

Every day I am supported, I have a wonderful staff, and without them, I would be lost. My assistant director is amazing she is my right hand and main supporter; she can run the center without me, even if she thinks she can’t. But I think can’t run it without her.

It is nice to have someone in your corner, someone that you can bounce things off of and someone who has a good opinion. Also, most of my teachers have been with me for over five years. So, they know me and the center very well, they are able to keep our mission, to educate children.

It would be difficult if these supportive people were no longer here, because I would have to establish the relationships and find comfort with new people. It’s hard to get to the place where you trust people and people trust you that would be my biggest challenge.  

My Connections to Play

“Play is not only our creative drive; it’s a fundamental mode of learning.” ~ David Elkind (psychologist, author)

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” Friedrich Froebel (founder of the concept of kindergarten)

      In many ways play has stayed the same, children still go outside to run and jump, climb trees, play basketball and so on. The things that have changed are that children are not doing the outside play as much; this is due to the innovation of computers, internet, and video games. Children kind of play has changed they are not as physical as in the past. I am hopeful that families and teachers will encourage children to go back outside to become more physical and go back to the days when children dug holes in the back yard and climbed to the top of the highest trees.

   I was never an outdoor child but I can remember being outside running and playing, laughing and having fun. There were always children on my street playing something, you may have a group jumping rope and another playing hide and go seek. I remember not ever having any worries or cares. It was a very freeing time. Even though it was a good experience for me, I didn’t give my nephew the opportunity to do the same, I never encouraged him to go out and play. I think it was the fear of what might happen to him. But as of a last year I started to encourage him to spend more time outside playing and he does.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important because they help to mode me into the person I am today. I have learned from both positive and negative relationships. The negative relationships have taught me who I am and what I stand for, what I really need from someone and how much I will take. They have made me strong. My family is the center of my life they are the most important people in my life. We are very close; actually the child care center where I am currently the director is family owned and operated. We have been in business for over 10 years. Most of our employees are family and those who aren’t have come to become family. I also have a few close friends that are very special to me. I can’t imagine my life without them in it. I have always been selective of who I let into my life so my friends have some of my own qualities. To maintain a healthy relationship there has to be a common ground, honesty and mutual respect. I treat my families in my center as though we are friends because we are in a relationship through the care of their children it is like a friendship. I want them to feel comfortable enough to be able to come to me for anything. I want to feel comfortable enough to come to them with anything also.  I am still learning and growing so I am excited to see some new impacts that new people will have on my life.

Quotes

“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” Quotes by Maria Montessori

http://www.dailymontessori.com/maria-montessori-quotes/

“The path of development is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line.”

― Eileen Kennedy-Moore, Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child's True Potential

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/child-development

Assessing the whole child

      The ensure that a child is whole or is well rounded, things that should be measured is academically, social ability, and physical capabilities. By assessing children it allows you to see their strengths and weakness, which will help in their development.

India

    Over the past decade India has been assessing school-age children, and has been increasing their commitment to assess them. In India 95% of the children are in school and a new tax was put in place to pay for universal primary education. (Poverty Matters Blog, n.d.) Even though these things have been put in place, the question is still asked, are the children learning and are they really benefiting? These questions were answered by Pratham UK - A Charity for Children in India, this group found that some 50% of children after five years in school could not read at the level expected after two years of schooling.  (Poverty Matters Blog, n.d.)  These numbers means that there are millions of children who are falling behind and being consigned to educational failure. Many international studies show that once kids fall behind, fail to learn the alphabet properly, for example it is very difficult for them to catch up). (Poverty Matters Blog, n.d.)

Pratham, is now assessing the schools in India yearly, they look at all 600 educational districts of India and assesses 700,000 children every year. What it has exposed over the last six years is that in some states, schools may be well-funded but they have failed to translate that into effective education.  The bottom line is that India’s government should get involved and hold these districts accountable for failing students. It is important to India’s growth and future that children get the best education.

Poverty Matters Blog. (n.d.)India pioneers volunteer-led assessment of educational standards: A grassroots appraisal system in India has exposed flaws in the education system at minimal cost. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/mar/15/education-goals-assessment-india-school

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

       Going through stressors as a child can have lasting effects that may follow them throughout their lives. As a child I did not experience any stressors, but my mother did, when she was around six years old, many US cities began to riot, these riots were the results of racism. Many African American took out their frustration out on their neighborhood corner stores. My mother said that one evening, a large group of men and women got together, and began to break store windows, taking many of the goods and some even set fire to some of the stores. There was a lot of violence in the streets, and the nation guard had to be called in to settle everyone down. As a child, she was very frightened, and did not understand this level of violence. My mother said that her mother talked to her and her sibling and explained to them that, the violence was outside and no one was going to come in the house to hurt them. Although, they felt safe when they were home, as they walked to school they had to walk over all of the glass and debris.

    In many parts of Africa children experience several kinds of stressors on a daily basis. A parent with HIV/AIDS is one stressor that a child in Africa may have to deal with.  When a parent dies from HIV/AIDS, these children are orphaned, and are placed in orphanages or many live on the streets and they have to raise themselves. (Steel, n.d.) Losing a parent is a huge lost and can hurt a child cognitive development. Many children contract HIV/AIDS from their mother, they sick all of the time so this can affect their development; they won’t go through the stages, properly.

Steel, Erik. (n.d) How Does AIDS Affect Kids in Africa?  Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/facts_5519392_aids-affect-kids-africa.html#ixzz1ko0wx6f

Nutrition and malnutrition

     Nutrition and Malnutrition is a very important issue to me because there are so many children in the world who are hungry. Not getting enough to eat affects many children in developing countries, and surprisingly here in the United States also. It is said that over 1 billion people including children in the world do not have enough to eat and that every 6 seconds a child dies from related malnutrition causes. (Kids health, n.d.) India has one of the highest percentages of children that are not getting enough to eat and many are dying of malnutrition. It is recorded that 38.4% of children under age three are has stunted growth and 46%  of the children are underweight, the cause is from poor nutrition. (Mother and Child Nutrition, 2009)

     In the United States in 2010 over 17.2 million households did not have enough food to eat. (World Hunger Education Service, 2011) At my family owned child care center, which is located in the center of the city, there are many families in need. About 90% of the families we serve are below poverty level. Many of the children at the center may only have their meals at the center. Our center participates in the Child &Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) food program, this program allows us to provide our children with healthy well balanced meals.

References

KidsHealth. (n.d.)Hunger and Malnutrition. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/hunger.html

Mother and Child Nutrition. (2009)  India. Retrieved from. http://motherchildnutrition.org/india/overview-india.html

World Hunger Education Service. (2011)Hunger in America: 2011 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts. Retrieved from http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/us_hunger_facts.htm

Child Birth

    My sister was just one week into her fifth month of pregnancy with my nephew, when she went to the doctors and had an ultrasound, they told her everything was good but they did mention that he was low. One week later, she was having contractions and had to be rushed into the hospital. Within thirty minutes of getting to the hospital, she gave birth to a two pound baby boy. A little while after he was born, he lost one pound. The medical team worked on him for hours and then he was rushed over to a different hospital that had a NICU unit. He spent the next five months in the hospital.  We named him Keion. Keion had many ups and downs, along with many surgeries. Each day that he was there, it seems like something different happened he would be doing good one day and the next day he would take three backwards.

   One thing that I remember so clear, is one of the nurses came to us and said Keion was a fighter, he was always pulling on the wires that were hooked up to him. She said that he would make it because he was a fighter. She was right he did make it. His first year was hard he was in and out of the hospital a few times. He was smaller than kids his age and for that, it put him at a disadvantage. My sister didn’t let him stay at a disadvantage for long, she worked with him to help him meet the milestones that he should at the age he was. I do believe because of his birth he has had more obstacles to overcome.Today, he is in the seventh grade above level in history and math.

In North America, we take child birth as an everyday occurrence, but in Africa, child birth is difficult and mother and child can be in troubled. It is stated that one out of every six children dies before the age of five and many die before they have a chance to live. (Hunter-Gault, 2006)  Africa women die in child birth more frequently than any other industrialized country. Many children are born by midwives, and in Zambia, mothers are young and they have an average of six children, which is different from here in the US where, where the average is family size is 2.59. (United States Fact Finder, 2010). In Africa women are being more educated on prenatal care and they are being encouraged to go to the hospital to have their babies instead of trying to have them at home this will give both the mother and child a chance to live.

References

Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. (2006) In Africa, Overcoming the Risks of Childbirth. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5628726

United States Fact Sheet American Fact Finder. (2010) American Fact Finder. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts