When I Think of Research

I have gained a great deal of information from the Building Research Competency course. The insights gained include tools of research, guidelines and standards, research designs, collecting data, establish validity and mixing methods of research.

Research takes time, it includes selecting a research topic and subtopics, narrowing the broad topics down to a researchable ones, ample reading, interviews, observations, sampling and providing age appropriate activities for young children.

There are many steps to follow in planning, designing and conducting research. You have to gather data, conduct observation and interview participants when all information is in then you must review it and establish validity.

Making sure participants where available, and understood everything that was being done. Also making sure you are sensitive to their values, beliefs and culture of the participants in the study.

I would like to thank my colleagues for the feedback you have provided me with during the Building Research Competency course. I appreciate the insight and ideas you have shared during this period. My wish for you as a colleague is to fulfill your desires in life on your professional journey.

Research Around the World

Some of the current international research topics on the Early Childhood Australia website were: Learning and teaching through play, respecting diversity: articulating early childhood practice, partnerships: working together in early childhood settings and the early years learning framework essential reading for the national quality standard.

Insights and facts gained from the Early Childhood Australia is that Australia’s largest providers of early learning services are working together to meet national standards and raise the quality of early learning Australia so all children get the best possible start in life. Early childhood Australia is supporting best practices in prioritizing education and outcomes for children in childcare by making it accessible and affordable for families while continuing to prepare children to lead in healthy, happy lives into the future.

The early childhood Australia’s website provides a code of ethics, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, Every child magazine, Research that is in practice, Everyday learning series, voice newsletter and supporting best practice resource just to name a few. I really enjoyed being enlighten by the information I read on the website.

www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org

Research that Benefits Children and Families

 

If I had a choice to choose any topic related to the early childhood field for research it would be the impact of the early exposure to literacy in education. The positive contribution for exposure to early literacy would be children having a vocabulary of 20,000 words by the time they enter preschool.  The development of literacy skills through early experiences is linked to children’s later success in learning to read and language development. This would also motivated children in their other studies.

www.reachoutandreadco.org

Your Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose to research related to early childhood education is Language Development.  I would like to identify ways of fostering language development in young children. Determine if listening and understanding help a child’s language development in a positive way and if relationships between parents and children influence their language development?  In being an early childhood educator it’s important to understand children and their families. By understand child language development and to build knowledge that can improve outcomes for children and their families. Speaking and communicating develops there increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs and questions. Parents have a positive influence on their child’s development. The quality of the parent child relationship is more important than any single parenting practice or skill. The articles from this week will help me validate information that is accurate and not accurate. I will utilize this information when doing my research.

Final Blog Assignment For Issues & Trends in Early Childhood

I have been enlighten in learning of current international issues and trends in the early childhood field.
First of all you are provided the opportunity to communicate with the early childhood professionals through podcast, informative websites and blogs that are related to the early childhood field.

Next, professional development opportunities are given that increases your awareness of issues and trends across the world that may help the outlook you have on particular issues you may be faced with in the United States. Also you may get suggestions on ways to handle them from view international websites.

Lastly, you are able to compare research issues and trends of the early childhood field with information given of other countries.

I was unsuccessful in having the opportunity to communicate with an international early childhood professional. If given the opportunity to share and gain insight with an international early childhood professional I would have gained information that would have been passed on to my colleagues.
One goal would be to increase awareness of issues and trends internationally by professionals being able to effectively collaborate about issues faced with.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part3

I have not been successful in receiving correspondence back from the early childhood professionals so I chose to complete the alternative assignment. Over twenty percent of young people in developing countries fail to complete primary school according to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.  There's an urgent need to invest in basic skills for children. The majority of the worlds poor and least educated live in rural areas of the country and they lack basic skills needed to protect themselves and make ends meet. This generation is very frustrated and confused. By acquiring a lower secondary education is a minimum today for young people to gain the foundation skills for being successful in life. By investing in young peoples' skills it is a smart move for countries seeking to boost their economic growth.

Latin America launch of the information system on early childhood known as (SIPI).  SIPI systematizes information on actions aiming at fulfilling the rights of early childhood in Latin America and evaluates the degree of fulfillment.  It provides updated information on the regulations and policies in 19 countries of the region and offers statistical indicators.

Insights gained on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization website is that UNESCO advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education programmes that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning which provides for children's holistic development.

Reference:
www.unesco.org 

Sharing Web Resources

Through exploring the Children’s Defense Fund website I have discovered a section called Policy priorities.  This section has information dealing with budget watch, children’s health, welfare, ending child poverty, elementary and secondary education, juvenile justice, projects for children in need, advocate and family resources.

In the early childhood education and care section issues addressed were the advantages of early childhood education, new data is out concerning early childhood education and care, increasing access to full-day kindergarten which is a strategy for boosting learning achievement gaps for children, and the President’s budget for fiscal year 2013 in early childhood education.  

The Children’s Defense Fund has Information concerning issues that are important to children in the 21st century, there are new common core standards that set high expectations for every child including kindergarteners. We need to prepare all of our children to compete in this global economy but for millions of children in the United States there is a missing half-step in their early learning years. Full–day kindergarten boosts children’s cognitive learning, creative problem-solving skills, and social competence.

Insight gained from the website about issues and trends concerning early childhood education include the President’s 2013 fiscal year budget proposal that would increase Head Start funding by $85 million over fiscal year 2012 funding levels. This would allow 962,000 children to participate in Head Start. These funds would also support the implementation of new regulations to strengthen the program by requiring low-performing grantees to compete for continued funding.

Provide an $825 million dollar increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant which offers subsidized child care dollars to families who need it. These funds would include a $300 million investment for a new child care quality initiative that states would use to improve the services that children receive in child care settings by investing directly in programs and teachers. This increase would also ensure that more than 70,000 additional low-income children would be eligible to receive services.

Support programs that benefit families with infants and toddlers by providing a $20 million increase to Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the section that provides grants for infants and toddlers with special needs. Provide a $50 million increase to evidence-based early childhood home visiting programs to improve health and developmental outcomes for families in at-risk communities. Also give a third round of Early Learning Challenge Grants to help states improve their early care and education systems through a portion of the $850 million investment in Race to the top funding.

This increase in the budget would give children and families the opportunity to be aware and have accessibility to attend these early childhood education programs and have a successful future.

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 2

Information I have gained while viewing the Harvard website is that Harvard has a global commitment to global work that represents an acknowledgement of moral responsibility to meet the needs of all children and a critical investment in the roots of economic productivity, positive health outcomes, and strong civil society in all nations, from the poorest to the most affluent. One essential, cross-cutting aspect of the Center’s approach is the commitment to work collaboratively across disciplines and institutions, drawing together the best and most creative expertise available to achieve the Initiative’s goals.

Harvard’s Global Children’s Initiative seeks to advance the Center's core mission globally by implementing research, public engagement and leadership development in child health and development that is grounded in science and engages researchers, public leaders, practitioners, and students from a wide range of institutions around the world.

The Global Children’s Initiative has begun to build activities in three domains. The three domains include areas in early childhood development, child mental health and children in crisis and conflict situations. Each of these domains is guided by faculty working group that facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration; design and implement new projects; and engage additional faculty, students, and collaborators beyond the Harvard community.

Other countries being helped by the Harvard Global works include Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) in 2009, a collaborative effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia and addresses the knowledge gaps of the Zambian children.

Brazil is another country being assisted by Harvard’s Global work with Applying the Science of Early Childhood in Brazil. In collaboration with local experts, this project aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

This project represents an opportunity for the Center to work with Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders to adapt the Center’s programmatic model for the local context in order to catalyze more effective policies and programs that will, foster a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society.

Together, these organizations will engage in activities that build a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development. It’s really great to see that Harvard is assisting these international countries with issues that will help make sure children are receiving the education and medical attention they need.

 

Sharing Web Resources

The Children’s Defense Fund September newsletter focus article is titled The 25 Percent it addresses issues of child poverty. Child poverty is an important issue in 2011 more than one in five children 16.1 million live in poverty (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). Families are struggling on a daily basis to provide food for them to eat. The founder of the Children’s Defense Fund stated these shameful child poverty levels call for urgent and persistent action. Citizens must demand that every political leader state what they will do now to invest in and protect vulnerable children and to prepare them to be competent future workers. It is way past time to eliminate epidemic child poverty and the suffering, stress, homelessness, and mis-education it spawn (Edelman, 2012).

 The article Be Careful What You Cut addresses issues about this year of stark political, economic and moral choices. How the federal budget, is critically important to remember that children did not cause the deficit. Americans have more just and sensible choices like helping babies during their early childhood development years rather than helping billionaires who need not one additional material thing, then speak up and fight back. There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor, hungry, uneducated and without health coverage. A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future. It’s a simple calculation. Protect now or pay later.

I believe if we unite and come together as a nation we can eliminate child poverty. I have enjoyed learning about issues that other countries and the United States face as it relates to early childhood education.

Reference:
www.childrensdefensefund.org

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I have not been successful in receiving correspondence back from an International Early Childhood Professional.

I chose to research issues related to the childhood poverty in India. India has the world’s largest number of poor people in a single country. Thirty-two percent of Indian people fall below the international poverty level. India’s accomplishments have been made in its health care and education programs. There are more elementary school-aged children attending school now than in previous years. 

India has implemented government programs to reduce poverty in it’s country.  Over the last decade India has made efforts to alleviate poverty through increase economic growth, including liberalization of the economy, targeted programs, land and tenancy reforms, empowerment based approaches and the provision of basic services.

These programs aim to improve the quality of life and cater to the special needs of desperate parts of its population, such as children, women, disabled and older people through organized and sustainable development.

References:

www.azadindia.org

www.childhoodpoverty.org

Sharing Web Resources

www.childrensdefense.org

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that provides a strong, effective and independent voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. They pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. There policies and programs help lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. The Children’s Defense Fund educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, drop out of school, get into trouble or suffer family breakdown

 

Be Careful What You Cut

Is an issue from The Children Defense Fund newsletter that caught my attention. The article talks about this year of stark political, economic and moral choices. How the federal budget, is critically important to remember that children did not cause the deficit. Americans have more just and sensible choices like helping babies during their early childhood development years rather than helping billionaires who need not one additional material thing, then speak up and fight back. There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor, hungry, uneducated and without health coverage. A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future. It’s a simple calculation. Protect now or pay later.

Establishing Professional Contact

This week I have emailed over a dozen Global Alliance websites but was unsuccessful in reaching any of them.  Most of the emails were returned as undelivered I will continue to email until I find someone that will correspond with me on educational issues in there country. After not being successful in contacting anyone from the Global Alliance I completed the alternative blog assignment and listening to the podcasts Episode 7 by T.J. Skalski of the Mother Earth's Children's Charter School (MECCS) in Canada. T.J. Skalski talked about the stability of the programand how they had been opened for five years and had gone through five directors and four supervisors. The children and teachers has been  working along with the new peinciple to make sure the program is successful. Contact information was given so I emailed a representative from there organization. I can't wait to hear back from them.


Part 2: Expanding Resources

The organization I chose to expand my early childhood resources on was the Children's Defense Fund. The Children’s Defense Fund is a non-profit child advocacy organization that works to ensure a level playing field for all children. They provide policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation.

 

The have a Leave No Child Behind mission and it ensures every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

 

CDF provides a strong, effective and independent voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves.

 

My Supports

Here are people and things that are supportive and has an influence on my daily environment.

God provides spiritual and emotional support to me. I rely on His word to get me through situations I encounter that may hinder me as an individual from reaching the purpose that God has for my life.

Family

My husband is the head of our household and the primary provider for our family. He shows love, is very affectionate and sensitive to the needs of his family.

My three children are loving, understanding, patient and very hilarious at times. I'm very blessed to have them in my life. My children have been very supportive and caring during my educational journey they are my motivation and the strength I draw from as I continue through the many test and challenges I face on a daily basis.

My parents have nurtured me into the person I am today. They love and accept me for who I am.  They also have imparted positive guidance and as a child encouraged me to be the best that I could be in every aspect of life.  They've had a tremendous influence on my spiritual growth and accomplishments as well.

Resources

Shelter provides a safe haven from dangers. It allows me a place to fellowship and raise my children without any negative influences.

Employment provides me with the experience I need to be producive in the world today. Offers me the opportunity to understand different cultures, backgrounds, traditions, values and beliefs others may have. It also gives me financial support through the salary I make to contribute to my household.

Money gives me financial support to be able to support myself and families needs and desires.

Without my supports it would be difficult to function and be productive in life.  We sometimes take the people and things that mean so much to us for granted instead of telling them how much we appreciate and or thankful that they are apart of our lives.  If my supports were not apart of my life I  would depend on others to take the place of those supports. That would cause a type of void in my life and I could only imagine the different decisions and choices I would make by not having the supports I have now in my life.

"My Connections to Play"

                                                                            

     

"Play is our brains favorite way of learning."
Diane Ackerman

"Children need the freedom and time to play.

 Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity."
Kay Redfield Jamison

Growing up my parents encouraged me to go outside an play. I guess they knew how important it was to be creative in pretending and letting your imagination run wild. When I was younger I looked forward to playing with my dolls, balls, riding my bicycle, and pretending to be a teacher with my family, and friends. Electronic devices were not popular when I was growing up. We watched television but not as much as children growing up these days. There was nothing more important to me than going outside to play. I enjoyed and looked forward to playing everyday and if we made it home to late, or the weather was bad I would ask my parents if I would be able to play the next day and they assured me I would.


Play today is different than when I was little. We would go outside and physically play until the street lights came on and then it would be time for us to head home. Playing would include activities like swinging on the swings, playing in the dirt, hide and seek with friends, baby dolls, and riding bikes. Today children think playing nintendo, wii, ipods, and on computers is real play. Play consist of being physical, having social interactions, creativity, using imaginations, dexterity, and cognitive strengths.

Insight gained from the importance of play is that it helps with brain development. Play allows children to create and explore the world around them. Play has an ability to foster overall success in school and in life.

                                                                            

                                                                            

Relationship Reflection

Relationships and family partnerships are essential to development cognitively, emotional and socially.  Relationships have an impact on individuals being successful and having positive productive future.  Positive, supportive relationships are important during the earliest years of life; they are essential not only cognitive development but also healthy in emotional development. Relationship’s build character and strengthens peoples understanding help build trust and respect of others. Communication is an important key in having a successful relationship’s.

Koran is my husband and our relationship is built on a foundation of love, commitment, and trust. Our union is based on fulfilling the purpose in life that God has for us and being happy, raising our children in a God fearing home.

My mother Denise and I have a very special relationship. My mother is very supportive, always giving spiritual advice and corrects me when I’m wrong.  She makes me feel special by the little things done to show how much I am appreciated. The relationship I have with my mother can’t be replaced.

My father Ernest and I have a father daughter relationship that is strong.  My father was the provider for his family, very nurturing and caring of his family. He also taught me the importance of family. We spent lots of time together doing things that I liked to do as well as things he liked to do. One thing I can say about my father is that he talks the talk and walks the walk leading by example. I really value the relationship between my father and I.

Communicating with each other can be a challenge in having an effective relationship. You have to be open to the opinions and feelings of others. If you are not open to the opinions of others this may cause conflict in the relationship. Trust and respect for others are components of a successful relationship.  

My experiences with my relationships will be the foundation for the relationships that I build with my students and their families. I will bring the same components that I value in other relationships to build upon in the relationships that I form with my students and their families to be impactful in my work as an effective early childhood professional.  

When I Think of Child Development

"A young mind is like gelatin. The idea is to put lots of good stuff in before it sets."
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                The Children's Institute

"A child's education should begin at least one hundred years before he is born."
                                                                                   Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
                                                                                                           Proverbs 22:6 KJV

These quotes are really true and we as educators should be an example for our students because sometimes we are the only positive influence they have in their lives. 


A Note of Thanks

I would like to thank my colleagues for the feedback you have provided me with during the early childhood development course. I appreciate the insight and ideas you have shared during this period.  My wish for you as a colleague is to fulfill your desires in life on your professional journey.

Testing for Intelligence

When considering a commitment to view young children (the whole child) I believe these areas should be assessed or measured. Each child is unique in their own way assessments should be conducted to measure individual needs too. Basic areas of development should be assessed like social and emotional development for self-concept, cooperation, and social relationships. Approaches to learning will measure by their initiative and curiosity, engagement and persistence, reasoning and problem solving abilities. Language development will be measured by listening and understanding, speaking and communicating. Literacy will measure phonological and print awareness concepts, early writing and alphabet knowledge. Mathematics development will assess numbers, operation, spatial sense, patterns and measurement abilities. Science will test scientific knowledge skills and methods. Creative arts will measure music , art, movement and play development abilities. Physical and health development measures fine motor, gross motor and health practices by assessing these skills and abilities you will help all children succeed.

The country I chose to look at how they asses their school-age children is Spain. Spain use early learning and development benchmarks. The early learning and development benchmarks provide them a set of general developmental expectations for what children should know and be able to do upon the entrance into kindergarten.

physical/health/motor

social and emotional

approaches toward learning

cognition and general knowledge and

language, literacy, and communication.

By having a concrete framework of standards for early learning and development, it promotes continuity for children, early opportunities, and promotes consistency in selecting and measuring the children outcomes to be achieved.

www.k12.wa.us/EarlyLearning/pubdocs/assessment
www.teachingstrategiesgold.com

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development WK4Assignment 2

I personally have not dealt with these particular stressor as a child , but I can tell about a family that was impacted by one of the stressors listed. On August 29, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana this student and his family would be affected for the rest of their lives by this Natural Disaster.  Hurricane Katrina had impacted the Gulf Coast and all the residents near it.  I met this family in mid September they moved to St. Francisville, Louisiana from New Orleans, Louisiana. The family had to relocate and find a place to live, new jobs and a school that would take their son.  The federal government allowed our center an additional 12 slots for families that would relocate from New Orleans. This family and others were able to enroll at the facility.  While talking to JB parents, I found out they did not loss any of their family members, but did experience the loss of personal property, stress and depression from the natural disaster.  Not only was the student afraid when it rained or the weather became bad. He also had nightmares at rest time and at bedtime.  The mental health counselor visited with this student on a weekly basis to find out how he was transitioning to his new environment. His mother was also having problems when the weather would become bad or it rained. She would have symptoms like an anxiety attack and would have to rest herself. The family went through counseling for a year and are now coping with their experience of hurricane Katrina.  They ended up buying a house and moving to a great school district that provides resources for their son and his experiences  and offers a great education.  His parents are really involved in his education and his life. The nightmares are not as frequent as they were at the beginning and he understands that every time bad weather comes it will not be a natural disaster like hurricane Katrina.

Studies show that children of Hurricane Katrina six years later, mental health effects are still evident in Gulf Coast children. Children exposed to Hurricane Katrina were nearly 5 times likely to exhibit serious emotional disturbances. The research also concluded that disasters affect children different and important ways which can negatively affect a child's physical, mental, and social development.


The country I chose to gather information about is South Africa. I wanted to know about the issues related to food, civil wars, health conditions, and orphans just to name a few.  Most of the children in this country are malnourished, with no food, clean water to drink or bathe in. The health conditions are really bad they don't have a chance to see a doctor unless a missionary comes to the area on a mission trip. The way they minimize this problem is by receiving help from the United States, different missionaries are sent to this country and they bring doctors, medicine, teachers and food to help the children and people here. Television Evangelist also send truckloads of food and water to help with the stressors they face. Commercials asking the public to make donations for the children in this country also help out with the resources and supplies that are sent to South Africa.

References
Tull, M. (2012). The effect of hurricane Katrina on children.
Nursingworld.org (2010). Children and disasters
Kaminer, D., Eagle, G. (2010) Traumatic stress in South Africa.

Child Development and Public Health Wk2 Assign2

I chose immunizations because of the importance they are to children's development and the affect on having a healthy future.  Immunization's protects children from getting contagious diseases.  Immunization is a process that stimulates the body's immune system to defend against attack by particular disease (Berger, 2009). Immunization is said to have had a greater impact on human mortality reduction and population growth than any other public health intervention (Baker, 2000).

Immunizations in Mexico

Mexico has taken a paternalistic approach that has led to a 96% vaccination rate for children ages one to four.  If parents are not taking children in a timely manner to get immunizations, a public health nurse will come to their home, and give the child their vaccination right there.  The public health nurse begins tracking babies before they are born.  The nurse is in charge of immunizations in a particular neighborhood and keeps a census of the area, including maps detailing where women of childbearing age live.

Where I work there is a schoolbase health center for the districts school system.  The Early Head Start and Head Start health coordinator and teachers are required to look over health records to know whose up to date on dental, physicals, and immunizations. Once we have reviewed records we encourage parents to get their children up to date in these areas. If the parents don't take the necessary actions the nurse from the school will contact the parents to schedule a kidmed appointment for that particular child and give them the immunizations they need.  I think this is a great way to keep children healthy and free of contagious diseases.

References

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

Parker, J.P. (2000). Immunization and the American way: American Journal of Public Health, (90), 199-207

www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews

Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

The birthing experience I would like to write about is the one of middle child.  My senior semester of college I began to have symptoms of being light headed, no appetite, and fatigue .  Upon going to the doctor lab test were conducted that's when I found out I was pregnant. She immediately made an appointment for a maternal specialist.  For the specialist appointment the doctor did an ultrasound the ultrasound determined how far long I was. I was five months pregnant with twins. For four months I had not received any prenatal care at all. At the end of the fifth month I began to lose amniotic fluid so the specialist put me in the hospital and told me I would have to stay until I delivered. My doctor told me I would need to take shots so the babies lungs would develop. I begin to take the shots. The next day my liver enzymes raised drastically and an emergency cesarean section was done. The girl twin weighed 14oz  and the boy weighed 8 oz he did not survive.  My daughter was incubated and admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. The doctors did not think she would make it, but one thing they told me is that girls have a better chance at survival than boys.  During her  eight month stay at the hospital we faced many complications. There were many times the doctors said she would not make it, but our faith and standing on the word of God brought her and our family through these times. She came home on oxygen and had to see many different doctors.  They diagnosed her as being developmentally delayed.  We had speech, occupation, and physical therapist and early steps teachers coming into our home to help her developmentally.  My family and I work diligently even now to keep focus and stay on task.

The reason I chose this birthing experience is because there are many people that are not aware of what happens sometimes during a premature birth.

Births have an impact on a child's development.  If there are complications during the pregnancy or birthing experience most likely the baby will be born with health or developmental issues. Some issues may be serious and others may be minor , but if you receive the proper prenatal care in most cases you will not have to deal with these issues.

Korean Births
Most Korean births take place in hospitals. It depends on your economic status whether your birthing experience is private or not.  A high percentage of deliveries are by cesarean section.  At hospitals babies are kept in the nursery for the first 24 hours per the doctors request.

The difference in Korea and the United States birthing experiences are that the U.S. has a high rate of vaginal deliveries. After the delivery babies are cleaned up and if everything is fine the parents have an option to keep them in the room with them. Korean babies are kept in the nursery for the first 24 hours. In the U.S. private rooms are provided in most hospitals if you are private pay or use medicaid insurance.  Korean has a higher rate of cesarean birth where as the U.S. or vaginal births.

Similar experiences between the U.S. and Korea are the babies are born in the hospital instead of at home. The hospitals offer the same birthing options to the families like birthing pools, vaginal and cesarean deliveries.

I would to thank my colleagues for the feedback you have given to me during the early childhood studies course.  I appericate the insight and ideas you've shared during this period.  My wish is for you as a colleague to fulfill your desires in life on your professional journey as an early childhood educator.

Examining Codes of Ethics

DEC CODE OF ETHICS

Professional Collaboration

We shall honor and respect our responsibilities to colleagues while upholding the dignity and autonomy of colleagues and maintaining collegial interprofessional and intraprofessional relationships.

I always try to treat people the way I want to be treated.  When working with others I work as a team member helping whenever I am needed.  I always go above and beyond if I'm able to.  As a team member I share information that is helpful to my colleagues whenever I receive it.


NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct and Statement of Commitment

Ethical Responsibilities to Children

1-1.1- To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.

Every year the teachers at the Head Start center where I'm employed are required to obtain twelve continuing education or training hours.  We are fortunate to attend the Head Start conference where we can get more than half of our required hours.  At the conference we attend sessions about new issues and implementations related to the early childhood field. During the school year we are given the opportunity to go to different conferences related to early childhood. Last year in September I was able to attend the "I am moving I am learning" conference in Spokane, Illinois.  The conference was a Michelle Obama initiative focusing on childhood obesity and I really enjoyed it.

1-1.11- To provide all children with experiences in a language that they know, as well as support children in maintaining the use of their home language and in learning English.

I encourage individuality in my class. I have incorporated Spanish throughout my classroom. Center signs are placed in Spanish and English, we have English and Spanish books in library and throughout the classroom, and we have songs we sing in Spanish and English, puzzles, posters and finger plays are in Spanish and English.  Also we discuss holidays that are celebrated in Spanish traditions and English holidays.

Course Resources

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
  
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
  
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
  
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
  
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
  
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
  
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
  
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
  
• Children’s Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
  
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
  
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
  
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
  
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
  
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
  
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
  
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.preknow.org/
  
• Voices for America’s Children
  http://www.voices.org/
  
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Additional Resources:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

"Old men can make war, but it is children who will make history."
                                                                                         
                                                                                             RayMerritt

http://www.tumblebooks.com/






  

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

 

"Not one idiot in a thousand has been entirely refractory to treatment, not one in a hundred has not been made more happy and healthy; more than thirty per cent have been taught to conform to social and moral law, and rendered capable of order, of good feeling, and of working like the third of a man; more than forty per cent have become capable of the ordinary transactions of life under friendly control, of understanding moral and social abstractions, of working like two-thirds of a man."

                                                                                                                            Edouard Segin

"It is a good rule to face difficulties at the time they arise and not allow them to increase unacknowledged."

                                                                                                                            Edward Zigler

"My built in passion was important to make a contribution and fix the injustice in the world as it relates to children."

                                                                                                                   Louise Derman-Sparks

Personal Childhood Web

Denise Williams
my mother

My mother taught me values, was always there and very protective of me. She shows how much she loves, cares and appreciates me. Always offering encouraging words in every situation I face. My mother's very supportive, always giving spiritual advice, on the other hand she corrects me when I'm wrong. I feel special by the little things she do to show her appreciation such as sending me flowers, and cards that always have uplifting words in them. My mother has a smile that will brighten anyone day. The influence my mother has on my life will last a lifetime.

Ernest Williams

my father

My father always put family first he was the soul provider of our home. He loved and cared for me, and always told me that no matter what anyone said I could be whatever I put my mind to. My father prayed with me everyday before he left to go to work and he continues to pray for me daily now that I'm an adult. He reminds me daily if when in doubt what the Bible says about different situations I encounter. I could remember when I was young my father teaching me how to ride a bicycle, to play softball, and when I was a teenager teaching me how to drive. He always wanted to be my first teacher in anything I needed guidance in. The influence my father has on my life will never be forgotten.

Goldean Williams
my grandmamaw

As a grandmother she always made she her family came together once a week. She was loving caring and nurturing in every aspect of life. I love spending time with her and learning from her. I would spend most of my weekends with my grandmamaw. My grandmamaw was an educator for thirty-five years of her life. My dream was to teach at a school just like she did when I became grown. The most encouraging thing about my grandmother before and even when she became ill she would still try to make it to all my sporting events to show her support.  My grandmamaw tought me to keep God first and everything will fall into place.


Thelma Leathers
my grandmother

My grandmother loved and cared for me as if I was her own. She spent quality time with me and imparted wisdom and knowledge from her life experiences into my life. She always encouraged and made me feel confident about myself. I was taught by my grandmother to never let life situations get the best of you, but to always make the best out of your life and the challenges you face in it.

Chanel Edwards-Ward
my god-sister

Chanel was protective of me. She spent a great deal of time with me, by taking me places, such as shopping, football games, and to the movies. There were times my parents would not allow me to go places because of my age and their beliefs. Even though she was older than me, she would not go because she respected the rules my parent set for me. As an adult I remember how Chanel would make sacrifices for me.

As an adult I respect the influences that my parents, both grandmothers and my god-sister had on my life.  The words of encouragement, support and nurturing is what has abled me to become the successful person I am today. I try to lead by example and have the same influence on my children instilling into them the same life lessons I've learned. I positively aim to influence others.

Personalizing Your Blog

"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven."

Henry Ward Beecher

"The Kissing Hand" By: Audrey Penn 

Is one of my favorite books. My daughter was having a hard time coping with the death of her little brother. She didn't undersstand why things like this happen. The story "The Kissing Hand" is perfect for reassurance situations such as seperation, death of a love one and different fears.Till this day my daughter still remembers this as being her favorite book.