Relationship Reflection

Surround yourself with people of like mind and different talents and temperaments with the purpose of serving the goals of every member of the group. Associate with these people on a regular basis. Jeff Olson 

It's a great strength to live knowing that if you lost every material possession, you would still have a life worth living. That means living without fear. We live frightened of things being taken away, but we don't need to be afraid. Strong relationships ground us. They complete us. You don't have to worry about losing material things; your life won't collapse without them. You can treat them as gifts and focus on the loving relationships that are really important, for they are the greatest gifts. Meg Meeker

These two quotes bring to light why relationships are important to me.  Life is full of adversity, disappointment, and difficulty, but overcoming these becomes easier when we have people to share the burden with.  The same is true of the good things in life, such as success, achievement, and new beginnings.  These are more enjoyable when shared with people we love and respect.  The people I keep close to me are few in number, but large in presence.   

My Relationships

My Husband- My husband is my best friend, and this relationship is my most important and most difficult.  Time, respect, understanding, and sacrifice are all required in this relationship, and not all of them are easy.  However the pay off is worth the work.  This relationship is also a partnership in that we work together to raise our daughter, and live the life we both want.  We must work cooperatively, using each others strengths to produce the life we desire to live.

My mom- My mother is always there for me, and she is always there to support me in whatever I am doing.  She is there to tell me I can do it, and she is there when I need someone to tell me its time to throw in the towel.  This relationship takes the same as my relationship with my husband though it is a relationship that is founded in unconditional love bore through having a child, raising that child, and allowing that child, me, to leave and find a life of my own.  My mother is always going to be one of my most important relationships.

My Friend, Kristi- This relationship is one that has always been effortless, but vital.  As we have known each other through high school, college, marriage, and children our relationship has changed with each new stage.  When we were young with few responsibilities we were together a lot, but as life has changed we aren't together as much, and don't even speak as much.  However, when we get together we are able to pick up right where we left off.  We are always there when we need each other, and supportive of all of life's challenges.  Friendships take time just like any other relationship, and I have found that at this time in my life it is difficult to give as much time to friendships as I would like to.  That is why this relationship is so important, because the foundation has been laid and we are able to simply build on it rather than lay a new foundation.

Family-  The relationships I have with my family members and my inlaws are all important to my husband and me.  We rely on our families for support and encouragement, and as a young family we rely on them for wisdom and advice.  These relationships are easier that friendships, but still require time and respect.

Work-  As I reenter the workforce after staying home to raise my daughter I am starting new relationships with my staff, and renewing my relationships with my supervisor and administration.  These relationships are certainly not as deep as the previous ones, but they are important just the same.  These relationships are not necessarily based on anything more than our like desire to serve the children in our care to the best of our ability.  We may not have much else in common, but this common link is a strong one.  

Relationships and the Early Childhood Field

The more experience I get in this profession, and the more I dig into the research and theory behind child development and learning I realize the importance of relationships.   I have always believed parents to be their child's first and most important teachers, but I now realize the importance of the relationship between myself and the families I serve.  As a parent myself I am now more able to relate to the struggles and frustrations of the parents in my classroom.  This has created such a wonderful classroom environment this year.  Parents are comfortable and feel empowered to help with their child's education.  Life is about relationships, and helping children to learn to nurture healthy relationships is vital for their success in school and life.

Early Childhood Quotes

“Close observation of children at play suggests that they find out about the world in the same way as scientists find out about new phenonoma and test new ideas…during this exploration, all the senses are used to observe and draw conclusions about objects and events through simple, if crude, scientific investigations.” ~ Judith Roden (lecturer, Canterbury Christ Church University College)

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” ~ O. Fred Donaldson (martial arts master)

I chose these two quotes because I believe play to be the most important aspect of early childhood education.  Children develop who they are through play.  They learn and grow by simple acts of play.  The first quote is a bit dry, but brings up a good point that children are doing just what adults do to discover new ideas and environments they just have more fun!  The second is just so true; children learn how to learn through play. 

Looking at the Whole Child

Assessment Here and Abroad

To view a child holistically it is important to understand what assessment is.  It isn’t just a standardized test, rather assessment is a process where information is collected, synthesized and interpreted.  This information is then used to drive instruction and special needs services.  A holistic assessment would gather information through observation, parent interviews, and analysis of work samples (Epstein, Schwelnhart, Debuin-Parechi, Robin, 2004).  Assessment is an important aspect of education of children.  It should be used to support children, teachers, and programs.  It is important that before selecting an instrument for use with a given set of children, assessors should be able to explain why that specific measure is being used and what the purpose of the assessment is (Epstein, Schwelnhart, Debuin-Parechi, Robin).

Resources

Epstein, A. & Schwelnhart, L. & DeBuin-Parechi, A. & Robin, K. (2004). Preschool Policy Matters. National Institute for Early Education Research. High/Scope. New Brunswick, NJ 08901.  Retrieved from http://nieer.org/resources/policybriefs/7.pdf

Stress and Children

My Experience in Poverty

As a child I went through what many families today are going though with the current economy.  When my parents were married I enjoyed a comfortable life.  We had a nice house, plenty of food, great toys, etc.  Then, when my parents divorced and my mom and dad both lost their jobs our lifestyle dramatically changed.  It started by losing our house, our car, and from there things got worse.  My mother was left to care for my sister and I while my father left the state to work.  She did her best, but at first she didn't know what to do.  My sister was just born and I was just starting school.  She couldn't afford daycare and work, so she had to find local resources to help her out.  She did her best and this experience made me the person I am today.  My sister was too young to realize the drastic change in lifestyle, but my world came crashing down.  Especially when we began eating the cheap food from the fantastic food my chef parents had always provided for us.  I learned about managing little money at an early age, and I also learned to be independent.  This time was very stressful for my mom, and I learned to take care of myself so I wouldn't add any stress to her plate.  My mother's family helped out a lot, and we received financial assistance for most of my elementary school career.  My sister struggled to make it through elementary school, and when she entered Jr. high she received a large amount of support from my dad's pension and life insurance.  The two different lives my sister and I lived under the same roof made us two very different adults.  I learned independence and she learned dependence.  I had six years of stability before she was born, and that stability provided me with the coping techniques I needed to get out of poverty.

Poverty in Canada

Canada has weathered the world financial troubles relatively well.  The came out of the recession strong, and their economy continues to flourish.  However, "when it comes to child poverty, it ranks 22nd-worst out of the 31 countries in the OECD, a rich-country grouping. More than 3m Canadians (or one in ten) are poor; and 610,000 of them are children"  (The Economist, 2010, p. 1). My providential governments have launched poverty-reduction programmes.  The focus of many is to help people back into work.  One providence, Newfoundland, has been successful and cut the poverty rate in half.  In 2010 a House of Commons committee urged the federal government to adopt a national strategy. "The response of Stephen Harper’s Conservative administration was that the best long-term strategy to fight poverty is “the sustained employment of Canadians” (The Economist, 2010, p. 1). 

Resources

The Economist (2010) Mean streets the persistence of poverty amid plenty. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/17581844

Public Health: Child Nutrition

My Thoughts on Nutrition

After having my own child; nutrition has become very important to me.  I also work for Head Start, and part of our program is promoting good nutrition.  I have saw the effects of poor nutrition on how children interact in the classroom, and regularly help families to become more aware of what they feed their children.

 

Child Nutrition Programs in Chile

The child nutrition programs in Chile are among the best in the world.  The program is administered by the government and implemented by privite contractors.  Chile's child nutrition programs have improved the nutrition in the nation and has increased school participation rate to nearly 100 percent.  This program is not only for school aged children, but also serve infants and toddlers in government run free child care centers.  Government support and public-private partnerships are credited with the programs' success (Winch, 2009)

"We realized education is the base of everything. So by having students with better nutrition, we will assure that students perform better. That is why the school feeding program is so central to us."  -Ramón Solís Cácares—Chief of the School Feeding Department, JUNAEB (Winch, 2009, p. 12).

How This Will Impact my Future Work

Proper nutrition is important for all children, and in the future I will work to provide more information on proper nutrition as well as ways to provide nutritious food for families in poverty. 

References

Winch, R. (2009). International Approaches to School Feeding: Country Experiences from Mali, Chile, and India. Global Child Nutrition. Retrieved From http://www.gcnf.org/library/International-Approaches-to-School-Feeding.pdf

Birth Around the World

When doing research for this blog assignment I cam across a website about birth customs around the world.  The first experience it describes the an american woman who gives bith in the Netherlands.  She described the experience as good, and outlined the many differences between there and the United States.  She stated that only about half of the women chose to go to the hospital for delivery, and that when pregnant women were referred to midwives.  Each woman is given a kit for a home birth, and even in the hospital it is less invasive and women are seldom given epidurals.  This is such a different experience from what I had.  My experience was stressful, but the medical staff was alway respectful of my wishes, and did what was best for me and my daughter.  The attitude of the Netherlands seems to be a more natural one, whereas it seems in the United States it has become more of a medical procedure than a natural experience in the development of life. 

This website also offers other experiences from around the world. 
http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/?page=1

Birth Story

Brylee 10-16-2008

My daughter was born two weeks late after a healthy uneventful pregnancy, I can't say the same about the delivery.  After my NST (non stress test) on Monday my midwife scheduled for me to be induced on the two week late date which was that Thursday.  On Wednesday I tidied up everything at work and prepared for the sub, went home and decided I didn't want to cook dinner the night before I was to have a baby.  So, we went to Chili's and I enjoyed a delicious meal of steak fajitas, and to complete the meal my water broke.  From dinner I drove to the Hospital laughing all the way!  From triage I headed to the room where I would deliver.  My water had broken 12 hours before I was scheduled to be induced.  It took a couple of hours before contractions began, and then many more hours before they would produce any progress.  However, by 6 a.m. Thursday morning I was too exhausted to go any further, so I conceded and requested an epidural.  The epidural was scary, but incredible!  I was finally able to get some rest.  Then at 7a.m. I awoke to alarms, lights, and all the staff in my room.  They had lost my daughter's heart beat, and couldn't reach my midwife or the on-call doctor in the practice.  The doctor who was available prepared me for a c-section, and at the last moment my midwife and ob walked in.  After assessing the situation the OB was able to find the heartbeat and decided to give her time to rebound from the tachycardia.  After several hours of watching the heart-rate monitor the doctor suggested Pitocin to help both her and me.  At hour 23 I got the news I had progressed far enough to begin pushing, by 26 she was born at 8:32 p.m.!  She was immediately taken to the examining table in the room and the NICU staff and her pediatrician worked to clear the meconium from her airways.  After what seemed like forever I heard her first cry.  The nurses cleaned her up, let me hold her, and took her to the NICU for further monitoring.  She had swallowed a significant amount of meconium, and needed to recieve 7 days of antibiotics to ensure she didn't contract pneumonia.  This was the best and worst day of our lives!  She is now a healthy three year old preschooler!