My Connections to Play

Quotes that summarize what play meant to me as a child:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

Two essential items that were essential to have when I was a child:


As a little girl my bike would take me anywhere. I remember my siblings and I would have bike races and ride for hours.

Barbies were the THING to play for hours and hours. My sister and I use to sit for hours on end playing with our barbies. We would have fashion shows, camping trips, school, or whatever else our little imaginations could create.

People supported play by letting me just play for hours and hours. As a child I spent many hours playing outside catching lightning bugs with my siblings and cousins, building forts with my cousins, riding my bike, roller blading,  and anything else that would be "fun" for the moment. My mother encouraged play as much as possible but if we dare uttered the words "Im bored" she found us some chores to do-especially during the summer time. Now days play is different than when I was a child. The world is much more dangerous so parents worry about letting their children outside to play. That is the reason many children play inside on video games, watch TV, or play games on the computer. It is  a shame that the innocence of play is destroyed because of the ignorance of the world.

Relationship Reflections

Relationships mean a lot to me. I have a  lot of people in my life that I have formed relationships with over the years-some stronger than others. The most important relationships to me are my children, husband, family, and co-workers. My children are my everything-the sun sets and rises through my children. God has blessed me beyond measure when it comes to my children and family. My family has always been there for me through the highs and lows of my life.

My professional relationships has helped me get through the highs and lows of my career. My co-workers have been there for advice or to lend a helping hand when needed. I am new to the Early Childhood field and find co-workers to be a huge help when it comes to answering questions or helping me figure out things. If it wasn't for the close relationships professionally and non-professional, I do not know where I would be. The people in my life I hold very dear and I am thankful to have them in my life.

Quotes relating to children

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.  ~Stacia Tauscher


While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Testing a child's intelligence...

Is standardized testing really necessary? In my opinion I do not think that it is. Growing up in Louisiana where these tests meant pass or fail a grade was stressful. The teachers push practice test after practice test on students trying to prepare them for the "big" test, but all of the stress causes some high performing students to freeze up once they are in front of the test. Should a student who has done so well all school year really have to repeat a grade because he or she failed part of the standardized test? I think there should be other factors looked at in combination with that test. In my opinion in doesn't seem fair to hold a student back if everything throughtout the year looked good. This is some information that I found about the test here in Louisiana.

"A key component of Louisiana's Accountability System is its statewide testing program. Each year, students in grades 3-11 participate in state assessments. Each of the 30 state assessments is based on Grade-Level Expectations, which reflect the knowledge and skills students should have acquired at the time of testing. Students do not receive a pass or fail grade, but receive an achievement level score.
The five achievement levels a student can earn on the LEAP, iLEAP and GEE are

Advanced
A student at this level has demonstrated superior performance beyond the level of mastery.
Mastery
A student at this level has demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter and is well prepared for the next level of schooling.
Basic
A student at this level has demonstrated only the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling.
Approaching Basic
A student at this level has only partially demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling.
Unsatisfactory
A student at this level has not demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling.

Students in 4th and 8th grade participate in the high stakes Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test, which determines whether they will be required to attend summer school or be retained. The LEAP measures 4th and 8th grade students' knowledge and skills in English Language Arts, math, science and social studies, and students must score Basic or above in either English or math and Approaching Basic or above in the other subject on the LEAP to advance to the next grade. 4th graders have had to meet this requirement since 2004, while eighth-graders have had to meet this requirement since 2006.
Students in 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades take the state's iLEAP test, which is designed to measure student progress but does not determine whether they will be retained in their current grade. The iLEAP is referred to as an "integrated" LEAP because it combines a norm referenced test, which compares a student's test results to the performance of students in a national sample, with a criterion-referenced test, which reports student results in terms of the state's standards."

http://www.doe.state.la.gov/

Children and the Effects of Poverty

I chose poverty because it seems that it is striking so many families lately. During my undergraduate degree I done some observations at a local elementary school where poverty was evident. Many of the children grew up in the projects and were sent to school with uniforms that were to small or way to big, and many of them didn't have breakfast before hand. I remember one little girl very vivid. It was a cold October morning and she was sitting in class with pants that were about two inches too short but a jacket on that looked like it was her mothers. I remember thinking to myself "Wow, if only I could help this child and children like her." After the class the teacher made a comment to me that still sticks out in my mind. She said, "Get use to this scene, because this is what you get in this school. Children who are from poor homes and have parents that could care less." I walked away discouraged and thought "hmmm...it might be discouraging BUT those chilren may only have that teacher who they feel cares for them." Children do not ask for the circumstances that they are brought into. I have made it a goal to donate clothing to the clothes closets for less fortunate families, donate to food drives, or any other activiites that supports children in poverty.

As I thought of how poverty strikes anyone at anytime. I found some interesting research on it.

• "In 2008, 39.8 million people were in poverty, up from 37.3 million in 2007 -- the second consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty (Census Bureau 2010).
• The 2008 poverty rate (13.2 percent) was the highest since 1997 (Census Bureau 2010).
• In 2008, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 10.3 percent and 8.1 million, respectively, up from 9.8 percent and 7.6 million in 2007 (Census Bureau 2010).
• 15.4 million Americans live in extreme poverty. This means their family’s cash income is less than half of the poverty line, or less than about $10,000 a year for a family of four (CBPP 2007).
• 16 million low-income households either paid more for rent and utilities than the federal government says is affordable or lived in overcrowded or substandard housing (CBPP 2007).
• 46 million Americans — more than one in every seven — do not have  medical insurance (USBC 2009 p. 20).

Causes of hunger and poverty
(Hunger is principally caused by poverty so this section will focus on causes of poverty.)
There are, we believe, three main causes of poverty in the United States: poverty in the world; the operation of the political and economic system in the United States which has tended to keep people from poor families poor, and actual physical mental and behavioral issues among some people who are poor.
Poverty in the world  There are a lot of poor people in the world. An estimated 2 billion people are poor, and the same amount hungry (World Hunger Facts)  They are much, much, poorer than people in the United States.  As can be imagined, people do not want to be hungry and desperately poor.  In the world economic system there are two main ways in which relatively poor people have their income increased: through trade, and through immigration.  Trade, we believe, is the most important.

• Trade. It is important to understand some basic economics. We in the United States live in a rich country, that has a  large amount of capital--machinery, etc.--to produce things relative to the amount of labor--people that want to work. Poor countries have a lot of labor, but relatively little capital.  There is a basic idea of economics--the factor price equalization theorem--that states that wages in rich countries will tend to go down and increase in poor countries through trade (Wikipedia 2010b). Thus China, with low wages, puts pressure on wages in the United States, as production is shifted to China from the United States. This movement of production from richer to poorer countries is initiated by corporations, not individuals, but it does  shift jobs and income to poorer countries and people, and has been doing so for the last 30 years or so. Lower income people in the United States are particularly vulnerable to such shifts.
• Immigration.  A clear strategy for poor people is to go where there are higher paying jobs (often opposed to the alternative of no jobs at all). Thus immigration has been a major response to poverty by people in poor countries. "

http://www.worldhunger.org/

Nutrion in India

The Food & Nutrition Board (FNB), set up in 1964, is an attached office of the Ministry of Women & Child Development and has a countrywide set up. Originally with Ministry of Food, the FNB was shifted to Ministry of Women and Child Development (then Department of WCD) in 1993.

Nutrition is the focal point of health and well-being. Nutrition is directly linked to human resource development, productivity and ultimately to the national growth.

Malnutrition is a complex phenomenon. It is both the cause and effect of poverty and ill health, and follows a cyclical, inter-generational pattern. It is inextricably linked with illiteracy, especially female illiteracy, lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation, ignorance, lack of awareness and ill health. It creates its own cycle within the large cycle of poverty.

Malnutrition in India continues to be at a high level with 42.5% children below the age being underweight and almost 70% being anaemic. 22% children are born with low birth weight. Lack of adequate information on nutritional needs, has been identified as a major factor for the prevailing nutritional situation in the country. Child malnutrition is both the result of economic conditions and poor nutritional awareness. Nutrition education and extension has been recognized as one of the long-term sustainable interventions essential to tackle the problem of malnutrition and to generate awareness and to promote the nutrition status of the country. FNB’s major task is to address this major challenge. (http://www.motherchildnutrition.com/india )

Nutrition has always intrigued me. I have a strong passion for childhood obesity and malnutrion through out the world. One article that I read for this assingment stated that children betweent the ages of 1 to 3 yrs old should get 40 calories per inch of heigh per day. For example if a toddler is 32 inches tall he/she should consume about 1300 calories per day. Children may or may not always consume this many calories depending on their appetites. 

Childbirth in Mexico

In Mexico the birthing process is considered a woman's job, ideally the job of her mother and midwife.  Cultural tradition dictates that a husband not see his wife or child until the delivery is over and both have  been cleaned and dressed.  In general, Hispanic women prefer that their mothers attend  them in labor.
Latin American women practice the custom of postpartum lying -in period.  This period is designed to give a woman the period of rest between childbirth and returning to work.  In these cultures women traditionally did not return to office work, but to physical labor in the fields.

Birth generally takes place in the home but for the birth of a first child it may take place in the mother's parent's home. After the onset of labor women continue doing house hold tasks until the labor intensifies to the point that it is no longer possible to finish doing what they were doing.