Establishing Contact

I made 3 attempts at contacting international early childhood professionals.  I sent 3 e-mail requests to contacts found in our resources this week.  I chose Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala contacts.  I am most interested in establishing contact with the professional in Mexico.  I work closely with the Hispanic culture and feel that connecting with an Early Childhood professional from this particular country would be most beneficial to me and my work.  I hope to recieve a response by early next week.  If not, I will proceed to the alternate blog assignment.

Week 3

Poverty
  I chose to explore poverty in India.  I learned that there are 62 million malnourished children in India.  That is a staggering number.   India is the country with the largest number(20%) of out of school children.  The largest anti poverty program is the Integrated Child Development  Services Program or ICDS. It targets children ages 0-6.  This is important as intervention is key to healthy development. 

References
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

Sharing Web Resources

I chose to explore the Children's Defense website.  It peaked my curiosity as I was unfamiliar with this organization.  The website provides a variety of information regarding child advocacy.  I particularly like the link that included information on advocacy for not only early childhood but for elementary and high school students.  I am interested and hope to learn more about something called Cradle to Prison Pipeline campaign.  1 in 5 Latino boys will end up in the prison system.  This is alarming to me.  Because I work with primarily Latino children and intervention is key, I hope to learn how I can help lower this statistic.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

My Supports

   Each day, I rely on many supports. Physically, I rely on my own body of course.  When it is not working properly, it is a challenge to get up and help all of those who rely on my support.  My vehicle supports me in that it gets me from point A to point B.  If not for my car, it would be difficult for me to get to my two jobs that provide the financial support that is necessary for me to support myself and my children. My jobs support me in that they provide money for me to pay bills.   My children are a greatest and most important support system in my life.  Knowing that they count on me to meet their needs is mental support for me and serves as motivation to work hard and stay healthy.  Without my children, I wouldn't have much motivation for taking care of myself and working hard.  My mom provides long distance emotional support.  I talk to her everyday and without her I would not have an outlet for venting as do my friends.   Many health care providers are supporting me right now as I am having health issues.  Without their support, my health would continue to deteriorate. 
   I  imagined a challenge of a terminal illness. I have a student with a parent that was diagnosed with cancer and it is very disturbing to me.    If I were in this position, I would need financial support as I would not be able to work and to provide for my family.  I would need the support of family and friends as I would need someone to drive me to and from my appointments if I were to weak to do so.  I would need the support of medical personnel to support my physical well being.  I would also need emotional and mental support from professionals as well as those who surround me.  With this support, I would feel better knowing that those around me are taking good care of me. 
   

My Connections To Play

   As a child, my family would always say "Go outside and play". That is exactly what I did. I spent hours upon hours playing in the barn, playing hide and seek and playing on the swing set. One of my favorite activities was climbing up into the silo and pretending I was skydiving as I jumped off into the huge piles of soft fertilizer(manuer). I loved the openess of running through the pasture pretending that the "bad guys" were after us and finding what my cousins and I believed to be the safest and best hiding spots. We would entertain ourselves with the real live cows, horses, pigs and chickens. I learned alot about farm life through my play experiences.   When not on the farm, I would still play outside. I loved playing with the piles of leaves and climbing trees. The climbing definately gave me practice at using my motor skills. I do not rememeber having many actual toys other than Cabbage Patch kids and a huge Strawberry Shortcake collection. I treated the dolls as if they were alive and could communicate with me.  My babies would be students when I wanted to play school and customers when I wanted to open my restaurant. What a great excercise in using my imagination! I also mimicked my mother's behaviors towards my baby brother. I also recall how I loved to play in the kitchen. I would pretend to cook, play music with the pots and pans and create some interesting concoctions out of whatever I could get my hands on.  My favorite was the dinner I made for my dogs.  It consisted of butter, garlic powder and "hi-C" juice.  I also remember that I would stack soup cans for hours and then bowl them over with my mom's bowling ball.  Another favorite indoor pasttime was making a tent out of a card table, lots of blankets weighted down by several books. I would make the tent in front of the fire place and pretend I was camping. Oh, those were the days.
    Today I feel that "play" consists of using more technological gadgets than when I was a child.   Computers, television, I-pods and video games seem to be very popular. When I was a child we had television and cassette players but there were strict limits and we were encouraged to go play in our rooms or outside. We played board games together. For many families today (mine included) these have been replaced with interactive video games.  We played with the neighbors and spent a lot of time actively playing by running and jumping.  We  created our own games.  When not outside much time was engaged in quiet play alone coloring or playing with dolls or puzzles. Today I often hear "I'm bored" if technology and friends are not available. My hope is that parents will understand the value of play and the young will be encouraged to turn off technology for a moment and spend time engaging in other types of play. I also hope that awareness of the many benefits of play will continue to spread and children will be encouraged and allowed to "play" more often. 

      I love this quote, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw.   I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to "play" at work on occasion even as an adult. Sometimes I get to participate in active, creative and dramatic play with my students.  When I do, I love every minute of it!

Child Nutrition

 I chose the topic of child nutrition, more specifically, childhood obesity.  This came to mind as I thought of  an incident at school just last week. One of my former students was crying in the cafeteria. She is obese. Another child called her "fatty, fatty, two by four." She is only 8. This broke my heart.  In her case it is not solely a matter of poor nutrition habits, it is genetic and doctors are trying to regulate her thyroid. 
   Obese children are stigmatized because of their weight. They become victims of discrimination and bias.  This can then cause psychological effects such as depression.  Socially, they might be withdrawn and or isolated.  This in turn can, because of the depression increase eating and sedentary activity.  Physically, they can experience problems such as sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, are more susceptible to type 2 diabetes and heart problems. 
    Currently, more than 30% of children in the United States are obese.  It has become a pandemic.   According to the Journal of Child Nutrition, in 2006, schools were mandated to create and implement a wellness plan in efforts to increase knowledge of child nutrition and decrease the obesity rate.  During my research, I found that in Africa, 19% of children under the age of 9 are obese.  This was interesting to me as I associate Africa with malnutrition. The rates are attributed to not only to eating habits but to things such as violence.  If it is unsafe for a child to go outside to run and play, then they most likely will be sitting indoors with sedentary activities. 
   This topic has sparked by interest and curiosity about child nutrition.   I need to take a closer look at obesity as it seems to be replacing malnutrition in certain areas.  It is important that I collect a wealth of  information on this topic so that I may be informed as I work to educate parents on the importance of nutrition to the development of their child. 


Resources
http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Chaput-TremblayANGxp.pdf
http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/newsroom/jcnm/08spring/mcdonnell/index.asp
http://www.socialbranding.org/sb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=46

A Note of Thanks

Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible – the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.
Virginia Satir

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.
Stacia Tauscher
Thank you to all of my colleagues and a special thanks to Dr. Longo for the words of encouragement, support and the wonderful professional dialoguing throughout this course.  Good luck to all of you on your future endeavors! :)