Sharing Web Resources

The organization that I selected to study is the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The focus of this organization is to conduct and communicate research to support high quality, effective early childhood education.

The mission statement of this organization states that the organization aims to: 

1.) Provide a vision of early childhood education excellence in terms that are usable by policy makers and are understandable to the general public

2.) Monitor and evaluate national and state progress toward early educational excellence

3.) Develop and analyze model legislation, standards, and other regulation policies required to improve quality and increase access to good preschool programs

4.) Explain the cost, outcomes and economic benefits of alternative policies

Web site link http://nieer.org 

In reading the January 2013 Preschool... Matters Today! newsletter from the NIEER one issue that caught my attention was the issue on poverty and how access to public preschool programs could be a solution to reaching children who are in poverty so they will be better prepared to succeed in school.One interesting piece of information that the NIEER shared was how the research has now shown that  Head Start programs are "not meeting their goals" (NIEER, Jan 2013) The NIEER states

"It is now clear: Head Start produces no perceptible lasting gains in any domain of child development. This does not rule out very small persistent gains, but Head Start is not meeting its goals. Yet, much of the field seems to be in denial, responding that bad public schools erode the effects of Head Start. Somehow they fail to see that even initial gains are quite small and that children in the study made much larger gains in kindergarten and the early grades than they did in Head Start. Other studies confirm that learning gains in kindergarten are much larger than in Head Start. The root of the problem is that Head Start is locked into a program model that fails to focus on intensive education and pays teaching staff abysmally" (NIEER, Jan 2013).

To read full newsletter visit http://preschoolmatters.org  (Article title:  Not Just Wishful Thinking, 1/10/2013)

Expanding Professional Resources

In accessing my available weekly time it is best that I choose the alternative to the Part I assignment. In searching through the early childhood organization there were several websites that were very interesting such as the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, the Center for Child Care Workforce, and the Children's Defense Fund. Although all of these sites had important topics to discuss I choose the National Institute for Early Education Research. This site in my opinion covered topics that were relevant to all those working in the early childhood field and includes all children. The featured newsletters and accessibility to information from this site will make it valuable organization for my professional resource expansion.

My Supports

Within my daily environment there are several support factors that I rely on through out the day. They are

• Calendars (for scheduling different activities and appointments)
• Notes (to remember things I need to accomplish in my day)
• Employment (so that I will have the monetary means to support my family)
• Vehicles (so I may get to here and there)
• Relationships with children, family, and friends (so that I can have emotional support)
• My realtionship with Jesus Christ (sustains me through out all I go through in life)

All these supports assist me in my daily life and help me accomplish necessary things. If these supports were avaliable to me I more than likely would forget appointments I schedule in advance and forget to do half the things that I need to accomplish each day. If the support of relationships were not avalible to me I would find it very hard to push forth through difficult times in my life. Although I would make it if some supports such as calendars, notes, employment, or my vehicle were out of my life, difficulty as it may be the one support that I could not do without is that of realtionships to my children, family, friends, and most importantly my relationship with Jesus Christ.

My imaginary challenge is loss of my right hand. I would imagine that this challenge would require many supports. I believe a challenge of this magnitude would require me to have physical support of others to help me in daily activities at certain times; I would require supports of doctors to assist me in any prosthetic endeavours, I would need emotional supports from family and friends, along with physical supports to help me accomplish things that may be difficult to do with one hand. The impact of not having these supports in my life would be negative; I believe that I would feel like an outcast if I were not able to do the things I see others doing and would make me feel unloved if I did not have the support of family and friends.

My Connections to Play

Quotes about what play represented to me when I was younger

Whoever wants to understand much must play much.

Gottfried Benn
German physician
1886–1956

  

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

Kay Redfield Jamison
Contemporary American professor of psychiatry

Three of my essential play items when I was younger

    

This was the popular toy to have as a girl. 

My pink bike

The playground

How play was supported

During my childhood years play was something that was expected out of children. My mother would give me one rule in regards to play be in before dinner time. She supported my need to get out and explore by letting me do so.  I can remember playing with my friends, I would get on my bike and ride to my best friends house up the street, climb the apple tree in my front yard, walk to the playground around the corner or play with my cabbage patch dolls.

Play today is much different than the play I experienced as a child. In my play days I explored outside, was able to play without parent eyes on me every second, I moved alot from going to the playgrounds and I played everyday. Play is far from this today. Now play has been limited to playing video games, not being able to explore the outside due to violence or parent's fears, having parents eyes on the child every second if a child is at play on the playground (which is good from a adult perspective but horrible from a childs perspective). I hope that play will be given the importance it needs once again in childrens' lives. I hope that children will once again have the freedom to explore, experiment, discover, and build self confidence as I once did through my play.

Role of play throughout childhood and adulthood

Play throughout my childhood helped me to form friendships with others. I was a pretty shy child in school, but once I was at play with others after school in my neighboorhood I opened up and begin to make friends through my play. Play gave me confidence and always pushed me to try new things, such as who could swing the highest and then jump off the swing. Through play I created elaborate imaginary play episodes in my mind that would lead me on daring adventures.

Play throughout my adulthood has helped me imagine things that I had not thought possible then acheiving them. Play throughout adulthood has helped to relieve stress, re-energize me, and helps me remember that life should not just be lived seriously because every one needs time to play.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because some have helped shape who I am, who I want to be and have provided me with a safe place to communicate my feelings and thoughts. There are a few people that I share a positive relationship with they are: My mother, my co-worker and best friend, my sister, and my children.

My mother:
My mother is the person who has helped to shape me into the person I am today. She is person with whom I can share my accomplishments and disappointments with, without the feeling of being judged.

My co-worker/best friend:
My co-worker/best friend is extremely valuable to me. She is someone who understands the challenges that I face in the classroom and out of the classroom. She is someone who always encourages me to continue on in my education and in the field of early childhood.

My Sister:
My sister is a safe place to turn to when I am in need of a positive word. She strengthens me spiritually and helps me talk things out when I am not quit sure the direction I should be taking.

My children:
My children bring a lightness to my life. They are always there to bring a smile, or make me laugh. My children get me out of my thoughts and bring me into their world, which to them is all about play and fun. They teach me about enjoying life and enjoying the moment and season I am in.

My relationships are not only based on what others give me but also on what I give to others. They are relationships that I have committed my time and energy to developing and maintaining through communicating, listening, being there for them, and helping them in any way I can. In maintaining my relationships there are challenges that arise that must be addressed so that the relationships can continue to stay strong and that is misunderstandings. In all relationships there is bound to be a time when something is misunderstood by someone, I have found the best way to handle this is to ask for clarification from the others you are speaking with before you create a dilemma that really does not exist at all.

My relationships can be seen as partnerships in the sense that both of us have invested into each others lives and it is an investment that is so valuable that it gets our full attention. My experiences with relationships/partnerships can impact my work as an effective early childhood professional by reminding me that relationships do not just happen over night they take time to develop and maintain; they are hard work but once you have formed a positive relationship the benefits are lasting.

Quotes about Early Childhood

"In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry of idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you train your children. Teach them right habits then, and their future life is safe.” 
- Lydia Sigourney

 
 We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."
- Stacia Tauscher


"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.
- Dr. Hiam Ginnot


"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."
- Chinese proverb


"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
- Henry Adams

Testing for Intelligence

Assessments of school aged children in Australia

In Australia there is an early years assessment test that is used for the primary schools. The assessment was developed by the University of Western Australia and is used in the Australian school systems. The assessment  is called Performance Indicators in Primary Schools, also know as PIPS. PIPS assesses early reading, phonics, and numeracy skills of the students in their first year of school. The purpose of this assessment is to identify as early as possible, students who may need extra support or enrichment. PIPS assessment testing is stated to be different, by the Australian Capital Territory Education and Training Website (2012), from other assessments in that its focus is not solely on what the student knows and can answer correctly, but on how the student goes about determining the answer. The assessments are done on a one to one basis with the teacher twice a year; the first one is administered within the first two weeks of school and the last one occurs during the first two weeks of the fourth term of school.

References

www.det.act.gov.au/teaching_and_learning

www.education.uwa.edu.au/pips

The Whole Child

In focusing on the whole child it is helpful to have a measurment that is based on the individual child in place. A measurement tool that is not geared towards teaching them standardized outcomes but one that is specific to the child's individual development. My reasoning behind having a measurement for the whole child stems from my understanding of Lev Vygotsky work on the zone of proximal development, which indicates that through the zone of proximal development teachers can take a child from what they are close to learning, to finally accomplishing that which they were close to learning; this is not accomplished through standardized test that want children to all learn the same thing at the same time, yet a measurement that is specific to the individual child's development will allow the teacher to assist in determining what the child is in the process of developing and then help to scaffold that child. In considering what to include in this individual measurement two helpful measurements to include could be: how the child learns in terms of their creativeness, persistence or curiosity, and how the child is developing emotionally in terms of their development of confidence in themselves and their sense of identity.