Sharing Web Resources

The website that I have been researching and exploring thus far is the National Black Child Development Institute. What seems to be relevant to my current professional development is the information on education in general, the layout of their policy on teaching black children, early childhood education issues and trends, family engagement, as well as the health and well-being of the children.

What I felt was very interesting when it pertains to families and family togetherness is the issue of absentee parents. On the NBCDI, “ the U.S. Census Buera reports that one-third of American children are growing up without their birth father. The last 50 years show that the number of children who live in a two-parent home has decreased by 22 points, and the number of babies born to unwed mothers has increased from 5% to 40%.” (NBCDI, 2014)  That is a issue all over, but especially in the black communities, and I am glad that NBCDI is making sure to bring awareness when thinking of the well-being and education for African American children.  Even though this is article is in the ‘who we are’ section on the website on the issues and policies they deal with, it is very relevant to my professional development. The newsletter has not come out thus far for the 2014 calendar year, but I am still keeping a lookout for the newsletter.

There are some great things this site has to offer. You can be a student, regular, or join the organization on behalf of another group for $40 or less. It is a great way to get involved for a small price, which is a great insight for me as an educator and advocate.

Reference:

The National Black Child Development Institute. (2014) Retrieved from http://www.nbcdi.org/ .

International Contacts

I have not had any luck getting or hearing back from the individuals I contacted during the first week of the course, and when trying to get the podcast website, the link was not allowing me to properly go to the site. I decided to go to this website to research on the poverty in Brazil/Rio De Janeiro at http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/ucs3.pdf . One of the most interesting insights I learned is that the largest populations living in poverty in Brazil are children between the ages of 0 to 17. (UNICEF, 1993 & 2000, pg. 11) Another interesting fact is that even though and since the publication has been published, there was a significant amount of children who were illiterate. This also made it harder for children to pass in primary education schools within the normal 8 years, children in Brazil would take 12 years. (UNICEF, 1993 & 2000, pg. 13) The publication is an older publication, but it is still allowing for us to see that poverty is such a real and global issue that needs more attention. Even though there has been more done in the later years since the publication, there is still a huge issue of poverty not just Brazil, but all over. Children suffer in education because there is not a way for them to afford to get into ECE programs, and may not be possible for parents to be able to send them to school because they cannot afford to get the necessities needed for their child to be in school. This issue needs more awareness and more advocates for children and their families so that children’s well-being, health, and education are met, and families are getting the help they need to make those things happen.

Resources:

  http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/96

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose was the National Black Child Development Institution. The link to the organization is: http://www.nbcdi.org.

This organization helps with children dealing with poverty and racial barriers have an equal opportunity at education. For over 40 years, the NBCDI has helped bring awareness of issues that effect the black community and child and tries to empower them from things like early childhood education, health, child-welfare, literacy, and family engagement.  The organization was launched by the Black Women’s Community Development Foundation, whose leadership, in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, was deeply concerned about the unsatisfactory conditions faced by families determined to raise healthy Black children.  For 38 years, NBCDI was led by Evelyn K. Moore, who got her start as a teacher in the ground-breaking Perry Pre-school/High Scope program, which became the model for Head Start.(NBCDI, 2013)

A trend that caught my eye about this website is just the overall mission of the site which is culture and diversity of African American children. Learning and understanding how to help them rise above racial differences and to provide ways for them to progress is a very great and essential them and focus of this organization. I also like that within the mission statement, they want ALL children to be successful, not just African American children.

I think this is an amazing website, and there is so much to learn. I feel honored to have stumbled across this website as a resources, and I recommend it to everyone who is an educator and non-educator. It is for everyone who wants to learn about diversity and culture and it is a great resource available to educators to help with teaching young African American children and inclusion of their families within the curriculum.

Professional Contact and Resources

This was such a step out of the box kind of assignment. I contacted to individuals, one from Spain, and the other from Morocco. It was hard to choose, but I wanted an email of an actual individual who I felt would respond to me. I sent a brief description of who and what my purpose was, and that I was interested in their views, perspectives, aspirations, dreams, and work in the early childhood education field.  I sent that off a day or so ago, but have not received anything as of yet. I am still hopeful. I know that they are busy individuals, so I will give it another week before thinking about the alternative to this part of the blog.

When choosing the early childhood organization and website, I wasn't sure what I wanted; the selection was so grand. I chose the National Black Child Development Institute. As an African American woman, I wasn't even aware of this website, and was just drawn to it because I wanted to learn more about the organization, their goal, and purpose. One of the things that also fascinated me about the organization is that they are supporters of the T.E.A.C.H. (Teacher Education and Compensation Helps) program to try to help stop high turnover rates in early childhood programs and to motivate early childhood educators to get degrees and to be compensated for their efforts.

I was just wondering if any has heard back from who they contacted, and how long did it take to get a response. Also, are any of you nervous about the process? I am more excited, but just a hint of nervousness; just because I am not sure about how the professional will perceive me. Best of luck to all of you on this journey!

My Supports

I have many supports within my daily environment. The benefits of having these support systems around me on a daily basis is knowing that I have protection and a close bond of individuals that can help me through whatever I need; whether it be with financial assistance, word of advice, or for someone to run an errand for me. I know that having support makes a person do and feel better about their life and situation. It is so hard for me to imagine not having these support systems in my life. My brothers and sisters help me with just daily everyday things and having family in a new town really makes me feel not alone. Also within that category would be my boyfriend of 6 years, who also is a huge support for me, as he is also family to me and helps me with everything from love, advice, studying; you name it, he is there. My father is such a huge support for me because he helps me not just with being my dad, but he makes me stronger for him. My father has always been my male hero, and he makes be believe that there are great male figures out here for young children to look up to. I have the honor to still have this huge role model in my life. My father gives me wisdom of situations that I may not know about that he has been through. My close friends are a huge support because of the bonds and relationships we have. 

With moving to a new state, I have to meet new people, and that can be a challenge. The impact these supports have on my life if there were not there anymore is super significant. It is hard to imagine what I would do and how I could find strength to continue my life the way I live it now. I would have to find strength if my brothers were not close or if I were to not have my boyfriend around. They help me with my day to day process; from relationship building to running errands that I can not because of work related issues to advice, and just comfortability that no matter what, these individuals are there to help me be better and to do better. If I were to loose my father, that would completely break my heart because I already lost a person who was one of my biggest advocates a couple years ago, which is my mother. My father is in stage for prostate cancer, and this scares me daily. He is such a huge impact on my morality and ethical ways of thinking. I love my father to no end, and not having his support in my daily life would be hard and un-imaginable. I would have to learn to find my own support within myself and from others, if I did not have my supports in my daily environment.

Having support is such an important aspect of living and learning. When you have to sit back and really think about what life would be like without it is hard. There are individuals without support. If children can get the proper support early on with teachers and parents, they can grow up knowing that they can find support in others and learn to cope and gain support needed if the time presents itself. That is my basic approach if I were to loose my supports.

My Connections to Play

 The quotes I feel summarized what play represented for me in my childhood is one by Herculatus and Fragments and Plato:

“Time is a game played beautifully by children.”

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

I feel these represent me because time goes by so fast, and when children play, and when I was a child and I played, playing becomes more and more sophisticated as I aged and time became measured by how much I played and what I did during play. As an educator of young children, I see time by watching children grow and play. You also can learn about a person socially and emotionally just by how they play and what they chose to play with. I was that child where you could see what I was playing with to learn so much about my likes and dislikes; just like I can see with young children around me in the classroom.

 

When I was a child, things like bike riding and using a bucket, yes, a bucket, was so fun to me because when riding a bike I can challenge myself physically and socially be with friends, and with my bucket, I could do all kinds of things that my imagination allowed for me to do, like collect 4 leaf clovers, or collect flowers and rocks, an make mud pies with my friends.  Play was supported around me by saying to go out and play and explore. It was healthy to get all of that curious energy out and play amongst peers and myself. When I was in school, recess and gym were mandatory for children to be able to play and release energy and get exercise. Now a days with play, it is more systematic in my opinion; like it has to be mapped out more and not just spontaneous and fun and messy. I do like that now it seems play is seen as important and part of curriculum, I just want to see more of it be more child directed than teacher directed. Children learn best about themselves and their environment by playing out how they see reality. Schools now seem to not have recess or PE be a mandatory thing as it was for me in school. I just hope that in the future, schools can get back to having children play, and let them be messy and explore with some boundaries, and not fully take away from the learning experience play has to offer.

Play is essential not just for children, but for adults. I still love to do things that are carefree where I can re-discover and learn through play. Play for me can be simple as games with my friends, or doing things that children once did, like run and play hide and seek, or travel. Playing in my childhood has taught me to always be open to exploring and learning more about my environment, and never to be afraid to try something new. I have taken that same train of though into my adulthood.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships and partnerships are extremely important to me because it is a way for me to bond with others and gain strength and wisdom. Building relationships help me to be a better person. Learning from others on how to approach and interact with diverse individuals is essential in our society, especially as an educator. Communicating with people who share your interest and/or passions in life makes you want to do more and really pursue your dreams. I am the type of person who likes to be around my family, friends, and significant other. I have positive relationships with my brothers and father, as well as my closes friends and my boyfriend of 6 years. These people are near and dear to me, and help me to become a better listener, person, friend, and advocate of things I hold near and dear to me. My boyfriend is a great communicator, which I am grateful for because it has helped me to be more communicative with not just him and my family, but with others as well. That communication skill has overflowed into my work, were I have also built great positive relationships with my co-workers, children, and parents I serve. I enjoy being able to openly communicate with my student’s parents. The factors that contribute to maintaining each relationship is definitely time, and lots of positive and constructive communication.

I cannot stress how important it is to have an open line of communication. With communication comes sacrifice to be vulnerable and open to different ways to maintain and develop the relationships further. This can be anything from a heart to heart talk, or doing activities together to keep the trust and bonding going. Listening and also know when to fight battles also helps me in maintaining my relationships that I have built over the years. 

With the same positive factors, the challenges that can come when trying to maintain relationships is not putting in the time and effort of communication. When life happens, we as people tend to let things slip through the cracks, and unfortunately, this can be our partnerships and relationships. When you talk to individuals who have been in friendships, worships, friendships, and relationships for a long period of time, the main thing they say that helped keep the relationship strong and going is open communication and sacrifice to put in the work to make the union a positive and productive one. These are the insights and wisdom I take from people who keep relationships for such a long time, and I try to put in the work and sacrifice as much as I can to build and maintain the current positive relationships I have, and the ones I hope to build in the future. Knowing how to build and maintain positive relationships will help me with getting parents involved in the early childhood program I am teaching their child, as well as create new partnerships down the line with new parents, and even connect on another level that I possible did not connect on before with current parents.