My Connections to Play

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play then in a year of conversation." -Plato

That quote was certainly true of me since I was a relatively quiet child unless I was involved in play.  I am an only child so my play involved imaginary friends as well as real friends.  I loved make-believe play and could play house or restaurant or mommy or school for hours alone or with a friend.  I took this photo today.  Yes, I still have my favorite doll, Maddie and my rocking chair used to rock her to sleep.  The Wizard of Oz album I played over and over, acting out all the parts and singing all the songs - one of my absolutely favorite things to do. 

Here I am engaged in another of my favorite play activities - playing in the cold Wisconsin snow, rolling snowballs into snowmen with my dad or flying down a hill on my saucer or building a snow fort!

I grew up in the 60's when it was safe to spend a lot of time outside playing with neighborhood friends.  If we weren't swinging on swings, playing hide and seek and tag, or doing cartwheels, we brought dress up clothes and dolls outside and made our play house under the big tree.

You can see from my expression that I loved to play and as I recall I filled my days with it.  That is why I think this quote describes my state of mind when I was playing:
"It's a happy talent to know how to play." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

My parents had different roles in my play.  My dad was more active in play when it came to outdoors activities or any sports I attempted as I grew older.  My mom played cards and table games with me.  She was the one who made sure I didn't get frostbite - calling me in to warm up and put dry clothes on during the snowy play sessions.  They were wonderful facilitators in helping me find props for dress up and dramatic play.  They gave me the freedom to enjoy free play with the boundaries I needed for safety.

I see some similarities in the play I experienced in the 60's and play today in the basic desire to experience life through play, whether it is dramatic play, blocks, drawing and painting, or running and swinging.  The difference I see is that children sometimes struggle to keep themselves engaged for any extended amount of time.  They also need more prompting by adults to get their imaginations started.  Now children have computer games and electronics which were not even around when I was growing up. I hope advocates for play in the early education setting make their voices heard so children have that opportunity to learn through play.  Children are not as safe as they once were to play outside and enjoy nature.  Hopefully, parents will see the value in finding ways for their children to enjoy playing outdoors and exploring nature. 

Dr. Stuart Brown pointed out in his discussion of play that throughout life is essential to play in order to become resilient people.  I agree with his conclusion that play keeps us young, no matter what our age.  As a preschool director and teacher I am blessed with the opportunity to experience play with the children in our care.  I know that keeps me young at heart! 

Microsoft Research. (Producer). (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul  [Video file].  Retrieved from
http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/default.aspx?id=103479   

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important because they offer support and encouragement.  They keep me accountable.  They make me a better person by giving me the opportunity to love and be loved.  Making relationships work requires commitment, give and take, sharing of time and space, unconditional love, and forgiveness.  God refines me through my relationships.

The relationship with my husband, Ken, is my most significant relationship at this time in my life.  We share life's ups and downs.  He is a good listener when I need him to be and offers honest opinions.    He is my biggest support system for this Walden journey.  He travels for a living so our relationship depends heavily on daily phone calls so we can keep up with each other's lives.  Communication is key to keeping close. Laughter is important, too!

My dog, Abby, is my constant companion and is great company when my husband is gone.  She is earning her Master's degree along with me!  Much of the time she is sitting on my lap as I work on Walden homework at the computer.  She gives me unconditional love and I recipricate.
  I am blessed to have many friends; but, I have two or three that I can share concerns and struggles with and know they will give sound advice, pray for me, and love me, and I do the same for them.  We do not see each other on a regular basis, so we make a point of getting together for lunch every so often which is hard to do with busy schedules.  We keep up with each other's lives by e mailing.  Again, communication is what keeps the relationships going.                                                          

I think commitment, acceptance, forgiveness, and unselfishness are important to maintaining lasting relationships.  All of those are hard to do at times; but, the security good relationships bring where you can be yourself, be supported, and be heard is worth the effort.

One of my favorite Bible verses is "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." (James 1:19).  That advice has served me well with personal relationships and certainly does as an early childhood professional.  Listening to families as well as to children shows them you value them.  I also have found that relationships are built on trust.  When information is shared in confidence, it remains confidential.  Just as I pray for my family and friends, I pray for my preschool families if they have shared a need with me.  It is a way of letting them know you care about what is going on their life. 

Quotes to Stimulate Thoughts on Early Childhood Development

                          "Education is helping the child realize his potentialities." -Erich Fromm

                  Don't label your students, instead, help them be better than they thought they could be (Caruana, 1998).        
                                                               


     "There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.  One of these is roots, the other wings."  - Hodding Carter

Roots=Strong Attachment Experiences 
Wings=Learning Opportunities Ripe for Exploration & Growth


Caruana, Vicki.  (1998).  Apples & chalkdust.  Honor Books: Tulsa, OK

I have enjoyed learning from all your posts.  I wish only the best for you as we make this journey!

Assessing Young Children

There is a place for standardized testing but when used as the only standard for assessment I think it falls short of giving a clear picture of a child's abilities and potential.  I like the way Meisels and Steele describe standardized assessments:  "Unlike standardized assessments that are little more than a 'snapshot' of a child's performance on a single occasion, portfolios capture the evolution of a child's abilities, providing a rich documentation of each child's experience throughout the year" (1991). 

I agree that individuals have strengths in different areas that cannot be evaluated by a standardized test.  Berger (2009) described Gardner's multiple intelligences as covering linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic (movement), interpersonal (social understanding), and intrapersonal (self understanding), naturalistic (understanding of nature), existential (asking questions of life and death).  William Martin, in a discussion on assessment of multiple intelligences, pointed out that brain injury research has shown that intelligences operate separately from one another (1995).  In other words, a high score indicating strong ability in one area does not mean that same person would show the same ability in other intelligence areas.  Martin asserted that cultural and biological influences are not taken into account in standardized testing (1995).  Someone could show a high ability in a particular intelligence but it would be demonstrated differently according to what is significant to his/her culture (Martin, 1995).  He suggested the use of  projects to assess an individual's intelligence strength (Martin, 1995).  I would say that projects and portfolios coupled with some testing provide a more accurate view of an individual's abilities.

Over the years we have received copies of our sponsored child's report cards from Tanzania.  She is given numeric scores which correlate to letter grades.  She is graded in math, English, Kiswahili, social studies, science, art work, and handwriting.  They give her a ranking among all the children in her grade level.  She also attends classes at a Mennonite center.  There she is not evaluated but takes classes in health (infectious disease), animal life, God, and sewing.  I looked into assessment in Africa and found that national standardized assessment is used to determine if children will be able to move on from the primary level to a secondary level of education (Kellaghan & Greaney, 2004).  According to Kellaghan et al., the tests are poorly written (some only in English) and assess only cognitive ability (2004).  Only a small portion of the children move on to secondary education.  There is no assessment of practical skills and knowledge needed outside the classroom (Kellaghan et al., 2004).  As I have seen with our little friend, there are classroom assessments, also. They seem to substantiate the claim that assessing is done more on the cognitive level and not the practical skill level.

I have found that a cummulative portfolio type assessment keeps me accountable to being alert and aware of progress and challenges on an ongoing basis.  Evaluating my assessments helps me rethink my goals for individual students.  Having clear teaching objectives is necessary for relevant assessing.  It seems the pressures of standardized testing in most public schools determine the classroom objectives rather than the desire to show development of potential and/or areas needing work.

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

Kellaghan, T. & Greaney, V. (2004).  Assessing student learning in Africa.  Washington D.C.:
World Bank Publications.

Martin, William.  (1995).  Assessing multiple intelligences.  Paper presented at International
Conference on Assessment.  Retrieved from ERIC Database.

Meisels, S. & Steele, D.  (1991).  The early childhood portfolio collection process.  Ann Arbor, MI
Center for Human Growth and Development  University of Michigan.

Childhood Stressors

As I think about the gravity of real childhood stressors, I realize how fortunate I was to have the comfortable, supportive childhood I had.  I was not touched by any of the listed stressors.  My early childhood days were in the 1960's.  The only stressor that comes to mind within my network of friends was divorce.  Divorce was very rare at that time.  My next door neighbors experienced it and they were not only left dealing with the sadness, anger, and adjustments that divorce brings; but, also the stigma that divorce in the 1960's brought with it.  I watched the two youngest show their distress in opposite ways.  One chose to externalize his feelings by acting out and was always in trouble.  The other internalized her problems and was very quiet and withdrawn, eventually needing counseling. Today, the stress of divorce is still very real, but the isolation and stigma that once was associated with divorce is not as relevant as it was in the 1960's.

I chose to look at the affect that war has on children in Africa.  These are Congolese children who are seeking refuge in Tanzania.  Many children and their families of the Congo have sought refuge since 1996 when the first Congo war began (Mann, 2010).  The Tanzanian government requires all refugees to live in designated camps, but many live undocumented in the city of Dar es Salaam (Mann, 2010).  Most Tanzanizans see them as freeloaders and do not respect what the refugees have experience in the Congo. Mann's research found that it wasn't the experiences of war that stressed the children most; but, rather the isolation, discrimination, and harrassment they experienced as "illegals" (2010).  Not knowing if their parents might be deported or if they would have food to eat or if they were going to be demeaned by verbal or physical abuse were the stressors they faced on a daily basis.  Children struggled to maintain some sort of healthy self concept amidst the barrage of negative comments. 

How do children cope?  Children had learned to cope as adults did, they looked to the future so that they would not get overwhelmed with the hopelessness of the present.  They stayed busy, helping where they could, because they feared the depression that thinking brought in idle moments.  They yearned for education as a means of building a future.  Unfortunately, the education the Tanzanian schools provided was of very poor quality.  They developed a "project" which was a plan for the future.  According to Mann, most of their childhood was spent planning for adulthood when they hoped to find a new life away from the dehumanizing life of a refugee (2010). 

In looking at the stress of war I found several other stressors interwoven: poverty, isolation, hunger, and violence.  The interaction of developmental domains present themselves in the biosocial domain with stomach pains, headaches, exhaustion, and slow growth due to malnutrition (Mann, 2010).  The cognitive domain is affected because appropriate affordances are not available, education is very inadequate.  Psychosocial development is the domain may be affected the most.  Fear is the strongest force driving their existance.  There is a constant battle with depression and a fight to keep some sort of healthy self conept in an environment of insecurity and harrassment.

Mann, Gillian.  (2010).  Finding a life among undocumented Congolese refugee children in Tanzania.
Children & Society, 24(4), 261-270.  Retrieved from ERIC Database.

Global Immunizations

I chose to look at the topic of immunizations.  From our readings this week, you might recall the case of the man from Kansas who died from complications from chicken pox (Berger, 2009).  He caught chicken pox (varicella) from his daughter.  No one in their family had been vaccinated.  This happened as recently as 2002.  I live in Kansas and varicella vaccination is now madatory for children by age 3.  Kansas made immunization standards more stringent in 2009.  As a licensed preschool we must be sure all of our children have the required immunizations or they are not admitted.  If families cannot afford immunizations, our local health department provides them at a reduced rate.  We sometimes take for granted that the vacines are so readily available so I decided to look into efforts to immunize around the world.

I found some interesting information on the World Health Organization's (WHO) website http://www.who.int/immunization/givs/en/index.html 

WHO and UNICEF joined forces to help more countries immunize more people.  They developed the Global Immunization Vison and Strategy (GIVS).  Their vision as stated on the website follows:
"Launched in 2006, GIVS is the first ever ten-year framework aimed at controlling morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases and helping countries to immunize more people, from infants to seniors, with a greater range of vaccines."

Many countries have now used GIVS to help them formulate national plans for immunization. As of May 2011 when GIVS reported to the World Health Assembly, routine immunization coverage has improved, more vaccines are available to more children, progress has been made in eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus, cases of measles and deaths have been reduced, and advocacy programs have been implemented to educate on the importance of immunizations.

One more website I would encourage you to visit if this topic interests you:  Vactruth.com
the particular link I visited discusses the need for proper handling of vaccines and the deadly effect improper handling can have.  It also proposes the idea that some of the children in poverty stricken areas are so malnourished and sanitation levels are so dangerous, they are too sick to handle these vaccinations.  http://vactruth.com/2011/03/21/children-die-minutes-after-measles-vaccine-in-india/ 

It seems that I am the "enforcer" when it comes time to screen our preschoolers' immunization records.  It is not a responsiblity I enjoy; but, I have a new appreciation for the privilege it is to live where these vaccines are so readily available.

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

Childbirth

I have to be honest and tell you that this week has been very educational for me and also very trying.  My husband and I are were not able to have children so over the years I have distanced myself from babies as a way of avoiding the sense of loss and sadness that comes with infertility. You might ask, why are you in this profession?  I have always wanted to be a teacher.  My passion is the world of three, four and five year olds.  I love them.  I hope my preschoolers will be my legacy.  So, my experience with childbirth is no experience at all except my own birth and my parents did not videotape that event since no one did that in those days.
After the readings and video this week my eyes were really opened to how the prenatal period really has a profound affect on the health of the baby.  I have a better understanding of some of my preschoolers when I look at the what their mothers' prenatal experiences were like. 

I found an interesting link after watching the optional resource (PBS Nova: Life's Greatest Miracle).  
The presentation is called "Two Worlds of Maternal Health".  It was an interactive question and answer session comparing the birth experience for women in developing nations (North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as defined by the United Nations) and all other regions.  The following statistics were provided by Susan K. Lewis (2008):  Women not living in developing nations face a significant risk dying from childbirth complications.  It is the leading cause of death for women ages 15-49. In the U.S. a woman's chances of dying are 1 in 4,800.   Many of the women in the poverty stricken areas are already suffering from malnutrition, anemia, and other infectious diseases.  The research showed that if adequate nutrition and medical care were provided from early pregnancy through post delivery nearly 3/4 of all newborn deaths could be prevented.  28% of women in the sub-Sahara give birth by age 18.  Their pelvises are small due to malnutrition or are not fully developed since the mothers are so young.  They face a high risk of stillborn babies or birth injury.  In developed nations, 99% of births are overseen by skilled personnel.  Only 1 in 17 births in Ethiopia have a professional present and in even poorer areas 1 in 100 have a midwife or other professional present at birth.  Most of these births take place in rural areas lacking clean water or sanitation.  The World Health Organization concluded that education is the key to overcoming poverty and the low status of females, as well as the lack of understanding and access to reproductive health care.   
Resource:  Lewis, Susan. (2008).  Two Worlds of Maternal Health.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/maternal-health.html