Thanks

I want to thank all my colleagues for the comments you have left on my blog and discussion board posts. You have been wonderful people to work with and I hope that I can continue to work with all of you!

Quote

Assessing Children

I believe that to be able to understand the "whole child", one must observe every level of the child. Children act different at home than they do at school, so they must be able to observe them at home and school to see the difference in behavior. The child cannot just be tested on knowledge by achievement tests because some children are just not good test takers, even though they may know the material. At school, we assess the child in a one on one setting and quiz them over their letters, numbers, shapes, colors.. etc. Sometimes when we have these special ed. children, the couselor and the special ed teacher will come and observe them at times during their "testing". Most of the time when these people are in the room, these kids act fine, and aren't going crazy. It's all the other times when they do things that aren't "normal". I have a child in my class who is very smart, but overreacts about everything and when we do our gross motor activities he goes crazy fast and out of control. When we do our paperwork everything has to be in detail and if he messes up, he will cry. I'm seeing a little autism in this child, but when the people come to observe him, he's acting fine. I think observations should last all day and even get the parents feed back on what goes on at home. Or even observe them at home. I believe every child learns differently and that every child should be observed putting their knowledge to use instead of just "tested" on their knowledge.
Assessments in France
France is known for having the worlds best education system. "A third of all pupils repeat a year at sometime during their school career in France. In fact, to repeat a school year in France is so common, there is even a phrase to describe it: "redoubler la classe"".
"These huge increases in the number of successful students must not mask the persistence of a "hard core" of children who fail at school, with the failure often coming to light within the first few years of schooling. Under France's education system, such children have traditionally been "punished" by making them repeat classes and labeling them "slow learners"; so far no way has been found to remedy the situation. These early difficulties were highlighted during a detailed investigation carried out in 1997 with children in the first year of collège: 15% were bad readers and 4% were nearly illiterate. Most of these children will find it difficult to overcome such a handicap. A few years later they will be among the cohorts of young people leaving school without any qualifications, and will still — around the age of 17 or 18 — reveal serious gaps in their education in the tests they take during the day of introduction to defense and the French armed forces (JAPD - Journées d'appel de préparation à la défense (5)).
National tests which assess the progress in French and mathematics of all children in CE2 (8 years) and the first year of collège (11 years) — introduced over ten years ago — are designed precisely to identify pupils struggling in school. To ensure not only genuine equality of access to collèges and lycées, but also an equal chance of achieving success at each level, requires giving more support to children experiencing learning difficulties, so as not to let them "fall by the wayside"".
I read that the French President said no more homework for their students. This was so they could get all their work done in school for those who didn't have the support at home. I read that France's test scores are above the European average. They go to school from 8 am until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. They usually only get one day a week off from school because they have to go on saturday mornings. From the readings, I found nothing about observations of the children, just the standardized testing. They sound to be very harsh on the children. They are punished by making them repeat classes and label them as "slow learners," how mean is that? Here in the US when children repeat a grade that is an advantage to them, in france they make it sound like a disadvantage, even though I did read that it actually helps them work harder and get the extra help they need.

Resources
http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/essential/schools-france.html
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Education/DF_education4.shtml
http://www.france24.com/en/20121010-hollande-promises-school-children-no-more-homework-education-reform-france

Stressors

In Oklahoma, the only stressor from this list I've ever experienced or know someone who has experienced is natural disaster. And that natural disaster would be a tornado! When I was younger I wanted to be a storm chaser. I always enjoyed watching the weather to see where the tornado was and how long until it got to us. I can remember we were coming back from a baseball game one night and we seen a tornado on the horizon, we drove really fast to get home. We didn't have a cellar, but we owned a dairy farm and we would go to the milk barn when it was about to tornado because it was made of cement. I never experienced one that took away our house or anything near us, but they were always around us. Now that I am an adult and have children of my own, I'm scared to death of tornados! When I was little I was enthused by them, because I wanted adventure. Now that I see the true toll they can have on families, I fear them. A couple years ago on new years eve, a family that lived near us died from a tornado and guess where they were at when it hit? The milk barn! That really set deep with me because the place we always went when there was a tornado, really isnt the safest place! Maybe it was the safest place we had, but it wasnt safe at all! This was definitly a shock. Since then, my mom and dad have got a cellar, but where I live, we don't have one! When there is a threat of a tornado now, I go to my moms. A tornado is not something to play around with and now I have realized that in my adulthood.
I looked up War and Education because I was very curious how children got educated in countries that were having wars. They divided "the country into three areas: evacuation (people living in urban districts where heavy bombing raids could be expected); neutral (areas that would neither send nor take evacuees) and reception (rural areas where evacuees would be sent)." All the teachers and children were expected to move to rural areas to learn. This is something that is very hard to grasp. I've never been close to war or know anyone close to war and it's hard to think that children arent getting educated. I can understand now why so many children are up for adoption in these areas. The parents are killed and poverty stricken. This is a such a sad issue.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWeducationC.htm

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

When you have your first child, all you do is worry. I spent many nights going in the bedroom, looking in the crib just to make sure she was breathing. Sudden infant death syndrome is a situation in which a seemingly healthy  infant, at least 2 months of age, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep (Berger, 2009). I had heard so much about SIDS after I had my baby, that I was so worried. I'd never done any research on it, but I had heard to make sure they sleep on their back and not their belly to reduce the risk of SIDS. 2-6 month old babies tend to be the time of highest SIDS deaths (Berger, 2009). In 1970, the infant mortality rates was almost triple what it was in 2010. India has the highest mortality rates. On mayoclinic.com I found that boys are more likely than girls to die from SIDS. For reasons that aren't well understood, black, American Indian or Eskimo infants are more likely to develop SIDS. Babies who've had siblings or cousins die of SIDS are at higher risk of SIDS themselves. The risk of SIDS is also affected by maternal factors associated with the pregnancy, including: Mother under the age of 20, Smoking cigarettes, Drug or alcohol use and Inadequate prenatal care (mayo clinic). I have read that low socioeconomic status increases the rate of SIDS (Berger, 2009). Also that long periods of lone sleep may contribute to higher rates of SIDS among white infants. Mothers who breast feed and tend to their sleeping babies, such as caressing a cheek or repositioning a limb have a less likelihood of SIDS (Berger, 2009). Here's what I found on Infant Mortality/SIDS in Mexico:

Among Hispanic Americans, the infant mortality rate ranges from 4.8 per 1,000 live births for Central and South americans to 7.3 per 1,000 live births for Puerto Ricans.  Puerto Rican Americans have a 30% higher infant mortality rate as compared to non-Hispanic Whites.  Hispanic mothers are almost twice as more likely to begin prenatal care in the 3rd trimester or not receive prenatal care at all as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers. 

• In 2008, infant mortality rates for Hispanic subpopulations ranged from 4.8 per 1,000 live births to 7.3 per 1,000 live births, compared to the non-Hispanic white infant mortality rate of 5.6 per 1,000 live births.
• In 2008, Puerto Ricans had 1.3 times the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic whites.
• Puerto Rican infants were twice as likely to die from causes related to low birthweight, compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
• Mexican American mothers were 1.9 times as likely as non-Hispanic white mothers to begin prenatal care in the 3rd trimester, or not receive prenatal care at all. (minorityhealth).

I learned that to reduce the risk of SIDS in children, dress them lightly, lay them on their back, tend to them often, sleeping in the same room as someone reduces the risk. I will use this in the future for the sake of my own children. I will also educate parents on it also. I would love to be an advocate to parents in Mexico or India where the SIDS is high risk. It is definitly heart breaking to see any child die. I would love to be the one to educate parents to prevent these deaths in children. Luckily, the numbers have decreased greatly. Hopefully, they will continue to decrease to an even smaller number.

http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=3329
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Childbirth in Turkey

I chose to study childbirth in Turkey. I looked how they used to birth back in the earlier days.

"It has been scientifically proven that the unborn child is influenced by all its mother’s actions, from the moment of entry into the womb; in this respect, a system of beliefs applies to all those parts of Turkey where traditions still prevail.

This system of beliefs leads pregnant woman to avoid certain forms of behavior or to engage in others.

Some forms of behavior that the pregnant woman is expected to avoid during her pregnancy are:

• Not looking at bears, monkeys, and camels,
• Not eating fish, rabbit, trotters or sheep’s’ heads, and not chewing gum,
• Not attend funerals or looking at the deceased,
• Not secretly taking and eating anything."

I respect the fact that they say the child is influenced by all the mother's actions.

"In the more traditional parts of Anatolia, women used to give birth at home in their villages with the help of midwives, and the majority of practices carried out during childbirth were believed to make the whole process easier. Some of these practices were;

• Unfastening the woman’s hair,
• Opening locked doors, chests and windows,
• Feeding birds,
• A woman who had earlier had an easy labor would rub the back of the pregnant woman,
• Shooting in the air,
• Putting the woman on someone’s back and shaking her,
• Making the woman jump down from a high place,
• Making the woman lie down on a piece of cloth and rocking her.

Nowadays, childbirth takes place in hospitals, and licensed midwives help pregnant women to give birth in remote, mountainous villages."

Through this research, I have found that these people along with the children will follow these traditions because it was the way used when they were born. When I had my child, there were really no traditions I followed. I read somewhere about the India people, they refused to show pain, if they did, they were looked down upon. I feel totally opposite here in the United States luckily we have the epidural, which is absolutly amazing and saves lots of pain! I don't think they use this in many other countries. The people take the pain because that is how their culture does, it is a tradition. These Turkish also have certain places to put the umbilical cord if they want their child to be a certain way.. Here's an example: Umbilical cord is buried in a stable. (For the child to be an animal lover). I have no idea what they did with our child's umbilical cord.

http://www.turkishculture.org/lifestyles/ceremonies/birth/birth-traditions-216.htm?type=1

Birthing Experience

First of all, I want to talk about my birthing experience (of my child). This is such an amazing thing to experience. I just wish it couldve been with a different man... haha! I was trying to write a paper for one of my Education classes that was due the next day and my stomach started just cramping! I was like daaaaang. So I got in the bathtub. It felt really good while I was in there. So I felt better so I got out. About an hour later is started hurting real bad again, so I got back in the bathtub again. Felt better, got out. Hurt again, got in. That was the last time I yelled at my husband (now ex husband) and said my belly hurts really bad, I think I may be having contractions. He said "just go to sleep and you'll feel better when you wake up" (he had a friend over and they were playing video games. I said "TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL OR I'M CALLING MY MOM!!!!" I can remember all the way there the contractions would come and go. When they came oh my gosh they hurt so bad. I can remember gripping the grip handle above the door and closing my eyes and toughing it out. Then, when I got to the hospital, I had to fill out more paperwork and everytime a contration would come, I would grit my teeth and say "oh my gosh, hold on" they acted like they were impatient. So I went back in the back FINALLY, and I was already dilated to a 6. I went to the hospital around 1:00 A.M. and at 6:18 my beautiful baby girl came into this world. It was a very easy birth. I had an epidural and all I felt was pressure... Now after the birth and the epidural went away... it wasnt so good. I laid in the bed for probably another 5 or 6 hours before getting up. I was so scared to get up because of all the..(hope there's no men lol) blood. Well after sitting there so long I was very stiff and my back hurt so bad. I walked for two weeks bent over because I couldn't stand up straight. When you first see the face of your angel you think they are absolutly beautiful!!!!! To this day I still beleive she is the prettiest girl on earth! She will be 4 on the 25th of this month!
Now, let me tell you about my sisters experience. Baby came out and weighed 11 pounds 9 ounces!!!! Second baby 2 years later weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces!!! That had to be painful!!!!! (had to share that with you because they were so big).
I think that birth is the second step in the development of their life! The 1st step is taking care of yourself and the baby in the prenatal stage. Second step is the delivery of the baby. If the baby stays inside the mother too long it could cause damage. If the baby comes out too early, there could definitly be damage or a lot of immaturity. I have the perfect example. I have a child in my class who was born 6 or 8 weeks early (can't remember exactly), but he was premature. He fought for his life the first few months. Now that he is 4 and in Pre-K, he is very immature, but he is definitly a fighter!! He stands up for himself very well. He doesn't let anybody run over him. He takes it too far though because last week he bloodied a kids nose. At recess, they are always playing fighting. He always hits and kicks other people. He will fight for something he wants. This is a very good example of why I feel birth plays a major role in child development.

Week 8

Wow that course went by so fast! I am so thankful for each of my colleagues positive comments on my blog and on the discussion! I appreciate Dr. Dartt for all the help and positive comments as well. You guys have made my first class at Walden a great success. I am very excited to start the next one. I hope I can stay connected with each of you.

Educational Ethics

There are so many ethics in the code of ethics in both of these programs. I chose to look on the NAEYC website at their code of ethics and here are the 3 I found that most appeal to me:

1: Ethical Responsibility to Families
Ideal 2.2- To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.

I feel this is an important one to me because these parents are allowing there children to come to a place with a person they've never met or never seen before and know nothing about this person (the teacher). I feel I have a partnership with each of my parents because I send a weekly newsletter to tell them what we are doing and I also send home behavior reports about their children.

2: Ethical Responsibility to Children
Ideal 1.4 - To appreciate the vulnerability of children and their dependence on adults.

This is important to me because I teach Pre-K, most of these kids have never been anywhere away from their parents. Children these ages need adults in their life. If you are a teacher who is loving and caring, they will love you and love to come to school. As long as they know they can trust you and you will help them, you just have to gain that trust from each and every child.

3: Ethical Responsibility to Colleagues
Ideal 3A.1 - To establish and maintain relationships of respect, trust, confidentiality, collaboration, and cooperation with co-workers.

I feel this is very important. I think your workplace should be filled with people you can trust with anything. My co-workers are amazing. I can leave my purse in my classroom and go somewhere and I will never worry about it. I can tell them anything. These are people you can and should  be able to trust.

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved October 19, 2012 fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Course Resources

This is our resources:

NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf

NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf

NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf

NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller

FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• • World Forum Foundationhttp://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Educationhttp://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP's mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education Internationalhttp://acei.org/
    Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• • World Forum Foundationhttp://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Educationhttp://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP's mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education Internationalhttp://acei.org/
    Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

HERE ARE MY RESOURCES
I chose these resources because they are in my local state!
http://ok.gov/section.php?sec_id=5
www.smartstartok.org/
www.ecaok.org/

and this one is in general: http://nieer.org/resources/research/multistate/ok.pdf

Quotes from Early Childhood Experts

Sometimes quotes are words of inspiration that keep you going on your worst days.

"The most important thing is to enjoy your children, to love them, be fair and just with them.  If you do that they're pretty likely to come out all right." Abigail Eliot

I love this quote because it's so true. Sometimes if you can't get a child to do something it may be because they just need reasurrance that they are loved.

"Parents don't make mistakes because they don't care, but because they care so deeply." T. Berry Brazelton

I like this one because sometimes kids say I don't like you, or your mean, but when they get older they will realize WHY you did things that you did.

 

Louise Derman Sparks - "teaching made me feel whole, made me feel creative... passion that all children were taught in environments that truly nurtered the children to grow and to learn in the fullest of their ability."\

 

I love this because this is how you should feel. I love how she played teacher instead of with her toys.

                                                                   

Personal Childhood Web

There are so many people in my childhood web! I will tell you the five most important. When I was young I was always with my mom and dad. We never stayed anywhere. On Saturdays my dad and my uncle worked at the sale barn, so we ALWAYS hung out with my cousins and aunt that day. I have a very close tie with my cousins and my aunt. My grandma and grandpa were also very important in my childhood. So I'll say my top five are: Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Rhonda! My mom and dad always taught me everything I needed. One time when I was like 10 I stole some money out of their closet to buy beef jerkey from my sister. When they found out I did it, I didn't get in trouble so much for the stealing. I got more in trouble for lying to them. They knew I knew it was wrong to steal, that's why I lied, therefore that's why I got in most trouble for lying. I got spanked when I did wrong. We never had timeouts back then. They always taught us to look on the inside of people not the outside. "Never judge a book by its cover." Neither of my parents went to college, but they had a dairy farm. They taught me and my sister the true meaning of hard work. We both went to college and now have wonderful jobs and a wonderful family of our own. My parents have been married for 32 years and that is absolutly amazing to me! They were and still are very good role models for me and my sister.
My Grandma and Grandpa always played an important role in our lives. They spoiled us. One Christmas I can remember me, my sister and all 4 of my cousins got .22 rifles! It was the best memory I have. I can still see it as if it was yesterday. We were all so excited. I don't think they ever whooped us. One time we stayed the night with my other 2 cousins and we kept giggling, grandpa told me he was gonna put me on the porch if I didn't quit. That's all he had to say and I was done. I wasn't getting in trouble by my grandpa. I have enough repect for them that I knew better. They are still very important to me. My daughter loves to go to their house. She just loves them so much.
My aunt Rhonda has taught me to be yourself no matter what. She is the craziest person I know, but you gotta love her. She is very caring when she needs to be, but very crazy! Me and my sister would stay the night over there some when we got older. We always picked on the youngest of all the cousins, which was her baby. She taught me that no body deserves to be picked on, even if they are the youngest.
These people still mean the world to me. They still teach me the same things they did when I was young. I have been through a divorce and they all helped me through it. I don't think I could have done it without them. They still teach me to always do the right thing, no matter what everyone else is doing. They taught me to go for your goals and don't stop until you reach them! When I was in college was when I got divorced and had a baby! My mom told me someone told her I would never finish. She wouldnt tell me who told her. It made me so mad! So that gave me even more will power to get it done, and I did. I still think she just made it up, so I would finish.

Week 2

This is my favorite picture (plus the only one on my computer at work) because me and my daughter went to chic-fil-a to see mickey and minnie but the line was way to long to see them, so we stuck with goofy! Kids love this! I also added a photo of me and my husband on my profile picture.

That Was Then....

This Is Now....

The first pic is me with a deer my dad killed. We looked for that deer forever and I was so happy when we found it. I was very young! The 2nd pic was me at my best friends wedding, such a lovely day.

I added my favorite quote under my title. It is from the Bible in the book or Proverbs it says "train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn it." This is my favorite because when I first started teaching I read this in the Bible and ever since then I remember it. If I can instill in a child what I should then he will remember it for the rest of his life!

I picked this as my favorite drawing because I love family drawings! When kids draw, you are able to find out who they have in their life or what goes on in their life. I love family drawings

This Is Where It All Begins

Hey guys! I'm so excited to get this started. I love blogging and I also have my own personal blog where I just write down what I'm thinking. My friends love it! I may have a hard time with stuff, but I'll figure out. I can't wait to get my Masters in Early Childhood. My mom told me I should've done it when I graduated college, but I told her I was tired of school. Now, I wish I had done it then, but I'm glad I chose Walden. There seems to be a lot of support here! Good luck to you all and thanks for reading my blog!