Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I visited the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/),  and read about issues in Mongolia.  Mainly because I didn't know anything about the goings-on in Mongolia, I was curious what their situation was like.  After reading about it, I have to say I was greatly disheartened.  Mongolia was heavily tied to the USSR but when they opted for the "shock reform" in 1990, things began to go downhill.  Such rapid change that took place hit the economy hard, and unemployment rose and social services were cut.  Health care options for poor families were greatly reduced.  30% of children under 5 years of age showed signs of malnourishment and many children were not attending school.  Migration is a common practice in Mongolia due to the amount of livestock herders.  However, it was reported that most migration began taking place to give children a better education.  However, those who did move to another area for education were 3 times more likely to be out of school than those who had not migrated.  This is due to a number of factors including non-acceptance of students at schools, lack of nearbye schools, or cost of attendance.  Though the situation in Mongolia is beginning to look up, these facts are still an issue.  With such a gap between the rich and the poor, something needs to be done to help the children in this country so that they can overcome these obstacles and perhaps eliminate them in the future. 

Sharing web resources

The website I chose and subscribed to was http://www.zerotothree.org/.  Zero to Three is an excellent resource for any information regarding infants and toddlers.  They provide information for a variety of issues related to early childhood.  They are a non-profit organization whose goal is to simply improve the lives of infants and toddlers through information, trainings, and support of those in the early childhood field.  Though I did not find any current articles related to changing demographics or diversity, Zero to Three has a variety of articles that are updated frequently that address current issues in the field, so I feel that diversity is an issue that they provide information on as it comes up. 

One issue that was addressed in a July edition of Zero to Three's Baby Monitor newsletter was the debt ceiling debate.  Funding is a major issue in early childhood right now and this debate could effect the future of early childhood programs.  It is important that the government continue to support and fund programs for infants and toddlers.  The website offers a wide range of information regarding the debate as well as information on how to advocate for young children. 

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

For part 1 of this blog assignment, I have yet to hear back from either people I emailed.  Therefore, I am going to continue on to the alternative assignment.  For this, I subscribed to World Forum radio podcasts.  I viewed TJ Skalski's podcast, of Canada.  I was interested in the mother nature perspective of her charter school.  I also visited their website, http://www.meccs.org/site/ .  I found their mission to be inspiring.  They foster an atmosphere in which children learn to respect one another and accept everyone's individual attributes.  They honor thier cultural backgrounds while also instilling a mainstream education.

For part 2 of this assignment, I chose Zero to Three.org.  I chose this site because I often visit it already for my position as an Early Head Start teacher.  I have referred to it often for articles, information, etc.  I find it to be very informative and applicable to my needs.  There are many informative websites for early childhood education, but I find Zero to Three to be the easiest to follow.  Their website is designed so that I can quickly find anything I need to.  I was not already signed up for newsletters, but while visiting for this assignment I did sign up to recieve newsletters.  I look forward to getting my first next month.

Resources:
World Forum Foundation
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio

Mother Earth's Children's Charter School
http://www.meccs.org/site/

Zero To Three
http://www.zerotothree.org/   (May have to use http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ )
(Newsletters:
http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and
http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )

My Supports

When I think about the people in my life that I consider to be my support system, a few come to mind automatically.  First of all, my husband.  He is my daily support giver.  He gets to listen to me vent, or anything I need to talk about from my day he is there to listen and to offer advice, opinions, or support.  Secondly I think of my best friend.  Though we don't talk as regularly as we used to since having children, I still know that I could pick up the phone and call her whenever I needed to and she would be there for me.  Finally, I have my family and coworkers.  My family is there for me whenever I need them, though they're not necessarily the first ones I call on.  But it is good to have them.  My coworkers are there for my job related issues, to offer advice and support.  As far as my emotional needs go, my husband is by far my number one supporter.  It is not always the support I think I want, but later see that it is what I needed.  For instance, if I am crying because I broke my pencil (I am pregnant, this happens lol), he is there to tell me, as nice as he can, that I am being rediculous.  He is also the one I rely on most for my practical needs.  He brings home more money than me and helps me with things around the house when I need him to.  Without him, I would feel very alone and as if I didn't have anyone to truly rely on for anything. 

Because he is such a huge support system for me, I chose to imagine my life without my husband.  If we were to divorce what would I need from people.  First of all, I have a job so my practical needs would still get met, just a little more difficultly.  It would be possible that, with two children, I would need some financial support.  I could turn to Jobs and Family Services for help with food (WIC), and could see if I qualified for our state's food assistance program.  This would help with cost of food, which would give me more money to put toward bills.  I could find an income based apartment as well to cut down on rent.  All of these supports are provided from the state.  As for emotional support, I think I would rely heavily on my best friend and my family.  I would need them to help me get through the divorce and to listen/offer advice, etc.  If these supports weren't there for me, I don't think I could make it through a divorce and providing for myself and two children alone.  It is important that everyone have a support system, no matter what type, because I don't think anyone can make it through life alone. 

My Connections to Play

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning. -Fred Rogers (American television personality)

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. -Plato (Greek philosopher)

I chose these two quotes because I felt they really summed up how I felt while I played when I was younger.  All of my play demonstrated what I had learned or observed in my life.  If someone were to sit down and play with me then (and probably even now) they would learn about how I viewed the world.  They would gain insight into my feelings, my opinions, my beliefs.  Though as a young child I didn't realize all that was evident in my play, I now see that it was. 

Some items I played with regularly were my Barbies, coloring books, my chalkboard, and anything I found outside.  Most of my play during childhood was dramatic/pretend play.  With my Barbies, I would always make up scenarios for them, usually of things I had seen on t.v. or in real life.  With my chalkboard I would play school (this was a daily play activity for me).  I would be the teacher and would line up all my dolls and stuffed animals to be my students and would pretend to teach them as I had observed my teachers teaching me.  Outside, I would pick flowers, grass, wild onions, etc. and add water from the hose to make "stews."  I had an old pot and shovel that I would put my "ingredients" into and stir and stir.  My dad was a big soup/stew cooker and so I mimicked what I saw when I would go outside. 

   

I feel that the people surrounding me supported my play not necessarily by joining in (I usually played independently) but by not interrupting my play and by being role models for my imagination.  Everything I observed throughout my days would appear in my play.  Soap operas my mom would watch would become the scenarios for my Barbies.  Watching my dad cook would encourage me to pretend to do the same.  After being at school all day I would come home and pretend to be the teacher.  It seems like I was always playing and no one ever interrupted that play.  They never told me not to play with something or to play with it a different way.  I feel that gave me the freedom to play on my terms and make sense of what I had observed in my own way. 

Today I feel that the way children play has changed in many ways, though it is still the same in some ways too.  Children play more with technology today than I did as a child.  I also don't think parents encourage thier children to participate in pretend play or give them the chance to do so as much as mine did.  Pretend play was my main way of playing.  Today, it seems like children don't know what to do when given the chance for dramatic play.  They are too used to being told what to do, even when playing, that when they have the freedom to do what they want they are at a loss.  This being said, I think ways play hasn't changed is that children still enjoy pretending.  They still enjoy the same types of play I did as a child, they just need to be given the chance to do it.

Throughout my life play has had an important part.  I am a very thought oriented person, meaning that I spend a lot of time thinking about things that have happened or that are going to happen.  I imagine what might have been or might be.  This is where play comes in.  Where, as a child, I spent so much time engaging in pretend play by myself to make sense of my world, I do the same now only now it is only thoughts, not played out with materials.  I feel that thinking about things like I do allows me to organize my thoughts, and my life essentially.  Without so much pretend play as a child, I don't think I would be the critical thinker that I am now. 

Relationship Reflection

Throughout my life I have formed many relationships with other people, some lasting relationships others not so much.  Even though not all have lasted, I still valued the time spent with those people.  Relationships are important to me, and I think are important to us all as social beings.  We need to form relationships with others to share our thoughts, insights, and ideas with.  We need to feel connections with other people.  I value my relationships, be them personal, professional, or romantic, because they make me feel like I am part of a team. 

Obviously the most important relationship to me is that with my husband.  He and I have more than a marriage, we have a partnership that is give and take.  We know that we have to work together to make our family work and to keep our relationship working.  I also have positive relationships with my best friend, and the team of girls I work with.  All of my relationships are positive because none of them are one-sided.  We communicate and both do our parts to make the relationship work the way we need it to.  The girls I work with and I have a partnership in that we have open communication constantly and we all work towards the same goals. 

I think a major challenge for me as far as relationships go is that it is hard for me to be open with new people.  When developing relationships it is important to be honest and open.  Professionally, it is hard for me because there is sometimes negative things I have to bring up that I don't like addressing.  However, I know that in order for our relationships to continue to grow and stay strong we have to address even the negatives, not always the positives. 

My experiences with relationshpis affect me as an educator because I have to form relationships with my children's families as well.  Just as addressing negatives is a problem with my co-workers, it is also a problem with my parents.  I hate when I have to inform a parent of something negative.  I try to do so in a positve manner, but I still struggle with it.  Also being somewhat reserved when forming new relationships affects me forming relationships with my parents as well.  I have had to really work hard to overcome this obstacle and treat each of my parents as if I have known them for ever.  I have found that this really helps us to establish a good and positve relationship right from the start, which also helps down the road if ever I need to bring them not so good news. 

Special Thanks

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing.  What!  Is it nothing to be happy?  Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again.  ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." ~ Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S, First Lady

I want to take this time to send a special thanks to all my followers and those who have commented on my posts.  I truly look forward to reading your comments, they are supportive and insightful.  I hope to continue to recieve your feedback and will continue to read your blogs even after this course ends.  Thanks agian!