My personal resource - NAECTE

I chose the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators organization. The link to this organization website is: http://www.naecte.org/   Their focus is

To promote the professonal growth of our membership

To discuss educational issues specific to our membership

To advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education

Provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators

While reading their newsletter I discovered that the state of Arkansas is in the process of changing their teacher certification licensure from PK-4 to K-6. This is a huge change that will affect the community, families as well as the children. It is important that children receive a great education. Having an extra year of school would help prepare the children minds. They would be able to develop more cognitive and social skills. I hope the state of Arkansas reconsider their decision because early childhood is an important factor that should not be ignored.

I also learned about the Growing up Wild program. This program involves a childhood activity guide and training for schools through a nature exploration. This program has reached out to many nationwide educators. It teaches the educators how they are able to develop children that have a passion for nature new learning skills.

Establishing Professional Contacts

Trying to contact someone has been challenging, but I refuse to quit just yet. However I have emailed two contacts but I havent received a response yet. My two contacts are from major early childhood organizations. The first was Cynthia Wood from The Division of Early Childhood. The second was Will Parnell from The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators. I am anxious to learn about more about them and their journey of success in the Early Childhood field.

The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators is the site that I chose. When browsing the site, I saw a few things that caught my attention that I would be interested in learning more about.

MY SUPPORTS

I have a few good supporters that I use daily. They have all been a blessing upon me. My first supports would be my husband, my daughter and my mother. I love those three people so dearly. My husband is in my corner day or night. Whenever or whatever I need he makes sure that it’s taken care of. The days when I can’t push forward he’s there to lend a hand; especially the rough days of work and coming home to a busy toddler and having to complete homework. Each of them are forever in corner supporting me physically and mentally. They give me encouragement, they help me through my weakness and commend me on my hard work. Without my family, my life would be a wreck.

My second supporter would be my daughter’s school. They make sure that my child is well taken care of for hours while I’m away at work. They help me with educating her and teaching her skills that she will take with her throughout life. She has learned a lot from her school and I thank the entire staff for being supportive to me in helping my child become one of the world’s next greatest leaders.

If I did not have any of these supporters around, my days would be stressful. I would have to find another school that I trust. Without having my husband support, that would truly make things difficult on my end. I would have more task on my end to see after. There’s nothing like mom’s sweetest touch and helpful advice. My mom is my world and to imagine not having her would be a hurtful feeling.

My Connections to Play

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity”

Quoted by: Kay Redfield Jamison

“Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives us an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it, life just doesn’t taste good”

Quoted by: Lucia Capocchione

Growing up for me it was my sister and me, along with my 2 male (1^st) cousins. Many of the times we played it was inside with one another. Our parents worked, while our grandparents watched over us until our parents came home. My grandparents weren’t too excited about us going outside to play with other children. They believed it was enough of us to play with one another. I can remember times we made forts out of sheets, my sister and I would play cook with our kitchen set feeding our male cousins and times where we traveled make believe with our baby dolls in our make believe cars. We use to have so much fun with one another. Our grandparents nor parents had to worry about us getting into other trouble because we were busy inside playing with one another. My grandfather encouraged us to play with one another and taught us that we don’t need a crowd of people to have fun.

Observing the way children play today compared to when I grew up is totally different. They are more into electronics and games instead of old school play. For example my younger sisters are 9 and 11 and do not know how to hula-hoop or play hop scotch. They can barely jump rope. Today’s society is more relaxed and less interested in actual play.

I enjoyed play during my years, and I still do years later. I understand how important play/bonding can be to a child. I encourage my toddler to play every day. When she comes home from school I make sure that I take at least 30 minutes of my time to play with her. Although I’m a matured adult, I still enjoy playing. I’m a BIG KID AT HEART!

Special Thanks

I personally thank each of you for sharing your stories, research information and your inspiring blogs. I thank you all for the support you have shown towards me as well. We succeeded as a class without knowing one another personally. I hope that you all continue to succeed in everything that you do, and I wish you all the best for next semester.

Quote about Children

The quote I chose was:

Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love.
Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.
Rosaleen Dickson

ASSESSING CHILDREN

As a human being I believe that we are all different in our minds, body and spirits. When we were younger we developed at different stages amongst others and the same pattern exists today. In my opinion there are no two persons including twins whom develop alike. Children should not be assessed. Each child is different and may learn easier than others. A child’s background, culture and ethnicity should be taken into consideration before considering there is a learning delay. Often time’s children are being taught at school but have no one to tutor them while at home. Education should be taken seriously but I do not agree with school boards giving a test to determine where that child stands. That’s considered labeling and not every child is able to comprehend with standardized test. Some adults may become over excited or nervous when taking test and cause them to not do as well. This may occur with children also. The pressure of a test may cause them to become tensed and not able to concentrate.