Web Resources

     The website that I chose last week was the National Head Start Association.  Their focus is to
"To lead.To be the untiring voice that will not be quiet until every vulnerable child is served with the Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family and the community.
To advocate.To work diligently for policy and institutional changes that ensure all vulnerable children and families have what they need to succeed" National Head Start Association.  I respect their vision for children, and it is a long and tiring vision, but it well worth it to see the success of these children!

      While I awaited information on how to subscribe to one of their newsletters, I decided to read an article that they attached to their page.  This article is from the Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-to-cut-head-start-is-to-scar-floridas-future/2141024.  It is about how the budget to Head Start has affected children in their local community. 
     Due to the recent federal budget cuts, more than 1,200 children lost their placements at educational centers.  This number does not include the teachers that lost their jobs, and parents that are in jeopardy of losing their jobs.  With funding being cut short children have no access to reliable childcare.  Parents have no one that they can call on for help.  This articles talks about two children that have developmental delays, and what kind of quality care are they receiving at home?  They fear that children are left in front of the television instead of being stimulated by smiling faces and teachers that care.  What is going to happen to these children?
     These stories break my heart.  I cannot fathom why budget cuts would be made to such innocent children, who need education the most at these beginning stages.  Do Congressmen and Senators not see what this long-term affects could be?  I know of one Senator that understands.
     Our Missouri Congressman came out to our local Woodland Early Learning Community School to discuss the progress that has been made.  I cannot explain how excited I am to be apart of this project!  Ever since our new director started last year in December, he has made it his mission to make a change with the families and the communities of the Kansas City area.  Within this short time span he has gotten people to understand the importance of these children's education, and he is making a change! I cannot wait to see what happens in the upcoming years working for these people! I encourage you to read this article, it shows what kind of change you can make when the right people understand.  http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2013/Gov_Nixon_announces_funding_for_Kansas_City_area_early_childhood_education_projects

Getting Ready

I went to NAEYC's page to locate professional contacts around the world. I chose some countries that have had personal connections in my life one way or another. I wanted to see what information they could give me, that might somehow explain the people that I have met from these locations. I was saddened when I instantly received an email back saying that the email address did not exist. I have received four of those emails saying that there is no email in their local network with that address. I still have hope for the other two contacts, that I will hear something within the next week. For those emails that I received rejected letters from, I am going to do some research and try and find alternative email information. My curiosity is not going to stop at a rejected email! So cross your fingers I can get a hold of some people, I really want to make that connection and have the ability to learn directly from another person.

The website that I chose is the National Head Start Association. Head Start is very close to me currently, because I am a Head Start teacher. This website was not my first choice, I did look into others, but this one was more informative to me currently. Our local area of Head Start has been affected by the recent budget cuts. We have had to modify our plan of action on how to get all of these children into our program. We lost 20 slots this past year, and they do not see them coming back any time soon. We currently have 706 children in our program in my area. And there are children that have been on the waiting list for over a year to get into the program. On the first day of school I had roughly 7 parents to and tell me that their children were in my room, because they wanted into the program so bad. It breaks my heart that I cannot accept them, and that education gets hurt with government budget cuts. In reading the monthly newsletter on the National Head Start website, it broke down where the budgets took place, and how they can further affect our students. I am excited to be able to stay up to date on information that the association puts out on their website.

My Supports

     This is a perfect week for me to discuss support.  This week I could not have gotten everything accomplished that I did, if it was not for my grandma.  My grandma decided to come up and visit and hang out for the week, because my family went on vacation, and it was perfect for us to have some bonding time.  When she came up I had just found out that for this upcoming school year I had been relocated to a new school on the other side of town.  So we took a trip south and went to go see my new classroom.  The minute we stepped inside we got to work.  There were supplies not from my old classroom, but from another one.  So we started "cleaning house".  We started rearranging furniture, clearing out the old stuff from previous teachers and making a plan of how we could decorate.  That night we came home ate dinner, and started crafting.  We put her cricut machine to work for house! The next morning we went to JoAnn fabrics to get material we had hunted down the night before for the bulletin board.  We finally make it back to my classroom with all my cleaning supplies, fabric for a bulletin board, our cricut projects and butcher block paper for another bulletin board.  We get to my classroom, and it has been flooded.  Everything that we had done the day before was pushed back to the back half of the room.  Apparently the sink had been left running in another room and had overflowed into my classroom.  Did that stop us? No! We got to work on those bulletin boards, and was there for about 6 hours doing what we could with what room we had.  Thursday we went back with the hopes that the water had been sucked out of the carpet and that we could start moving things again.  We were wrong.  So in the area that we did have, we were able to set up the Library area, and I was able to unpack about 15 boxes and throw away a dumpster full of crud that was left behind by other teachers.  We were there for another 5 hours that day.  When we came home we did not rest, we had more crafting to do.
      My grandma did not have to stay and help me, but she wanted to.  I would not have been able to get all these things done without her, and her crafting supplies.  I am so grateful to my grandma for spending this time with me, and helping me succeed in a position I was nervous about.  Moving to a new school on a new side of town was shocking to me.  I was looking forward to seeing some of my returning students this year, but with my grandmas help I feel better about my situation.  I have been able to make my room my own, and am excited for school to start. 
     I do not want to think of the day where my grandma will not be here anymore.  She has always been someone that I can talk to about our crazy family and she understands, and does not judge me for the things I think.  She is an amazing women, and I treasure every minute I get to spend with her! 

The Flooding

Bulletin Board just missing students pictures

The Library

The Library

Parent Info Board and blanket cubby

Job List #1

Job Chart #2

Library Bulletin Board

 

My Connections to Play

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.”
― Charles Schaefer 


"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." 
-Plato

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”
―Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr

I first two quotes I can relate to my childhood, and the third I found reflected my sense of self now.  
 

My brother and I would spend hours riding our bikes around town all year long.  It was essential to my youth.  I even remember getting up at 5 one morning to have a garage sale to sell my old bike so that I could get a new one. 

No matter where I spent my time, I was always doing some sort of art project.  I do believe this was the exact set that I had. 

I loved playing monopoly with my grandma during the summer.  It also came in handy because we did not have T.V. in my house for most of my childhood. 





Growing up in a time where we had neighborhood block parties in Arizona I knew everyone in the neighborhood at a young age.  During the day my grandma always allowed us to go between friends house, and we played outside.  We created ramps to go over our bikes with and my brother and his friend built a race car.  Now it was just made out of plywood, but it was the best creation ever!  Two of us would push and one got to drive it up and down the street, and then we would rotate.  Along with riding our bikes, that was the best outdoor activity.  When my dad would get a couple days off from work, he would take us camping.  He taught us how to read animal tracks, and how to pay attention to the world around us.
Now out at my mom's house we always had a huge yard.  So I spent a lot of time out in these old wooden structures, and would make them my "house".  If I wasn't out swimming, I was out in that house creating my own world. 
I do not think that play today is the same for everyone as it was 20 years ago.  Society has changed, children use to go outside without fear of kidnapping.  Now parents have a close watch on their children, and with housing growing so much there leaves little room for having backyards that I use to. 

I really enjoyed my childhood in regards to play.  I was always given the opportunity to create things.  That has affected me as an adult, because I tend to be an artistic person.  I love that during the summers I was able to travel to different places to see, and experience new things.  I was in a family that came from all walks of life, and each person in my family introduced me to something new.  It was a blessing!

Relationship Reflection

Even when we are children we seek out comfort from the people that we love.  For me it is the feeling of comfort to be around someone who enjoys me for me.  I have flaws,  I have learned life lessons and I have suffered heart ache.  But it is the people that stick with me throughout these situations that I hold dear to my heart.

My parents are some of those people.  They have witnessed me grow and change.  They suffered with me before I knew what suffering was.  Apparently I was not an easy infant, but the stories that they tell, just shows how much they loved me even when I was being difficult.  Now I have known for myself that I have been a difficult child from about 3 - 13.  As a child I did not like sock, shoes, clothes, following rules, naps, milk and following directions.  Most of the rule breaking happened when I was almost 2-4, but I do not remember most of that, so should it really count against me? Non the less my parents were advocates for me, and they still are, I treasure that everyday.

Now growing up I moved around a lot, and it was hard to keep consistent friends.  But I think that I have managed to gain a couple since my high school years, and there is one that has stuck around through all my trials in life too.  Ms. White was a friend in the youth group, who had a rotten living situation at home, but we bonded because we were both quiet people.  Through the years of moving around, she maintained contact.  It wasn't until my 20's that I started to appreciate the friendship that I had with her.  We are able to be completely honest with each other without the fear of judgment. We have both had our life experiences, and we share these situations to learn from each other. 

My grandmothers will always be the voice of reason in my ear.  I could go months without talking to them, and they will question everything and be completely honest with me, whether I like it or not.  Sure they care if it hurts me, but they rather be the ones to burst my bubble rather than someone else that is just going to make it hurt worse.

I have always appreciated my different family relations.  They have been hard to maintain.  The key to them all is communication.  I cannot be afraid to talk to any of them because of the outcome I think will follow.  But to have the courage to talk to them because we care about the same thing.  Without these relationships I would not have the confidence in myself that I have.  They are forever proud in what I am doing, no matter how hard I fall sometimes.  But I know that I can talk to anyone of these people and they will listen, and help me get through it.

I try to make this my example in my workplace.  I do not know everyone's story in their life, and it is not my place to judge.  But I can tell you that I will be there to listen, and I will help in anyway that I can. 

My thoughts on Child Development

We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

This video is from Jimmy Kimmel Live. I chose this video because it shows that children at all different ages learn from people around them. Some are more resilient when they hear the news that their parents ate all their Halloween candy, and others are not.  Some use language, cognitive skills or gross motor skills to show their frustration with their parents. The last set of brothers give their mom a good lecture on why it is not healthy to eat so much candy. Children do listen to what we tell them, so always be mindful of what things you chose to say.

Testing of our Youth

I found this information very interesting.  I looked at how Brazil asses their students and what I found was intriguing.  What they do is they pass out surveys’ to all the public and private schools, to the children and teachers.  Throughout the survey they are asked about their home life situations and their study habits.   Many children from the early age of 7 are put into the labor force, and they go to work after school. This survey takes into consideration what students have to work, students that get to go home and study, and children that do not do either.  From these surveys they randomly select certain classrooms to take the standardized tests.

            It is very interesting that they only give out the standardized tests to random classrooms.  I am curious if the classrooms that are chosen are ones with the majority of students that work strenuous hours after school.

            But here is my question, if only a certain amount of students are being tested, what amount of students are being left behind? 

             I like the fact that students and teachers were asked to take surveys that reflected their home life situations and their study habits.  A child that has a rough home life might not have the ability to study at home.  Or a household that runs a family business, that child might have to work in the family restaurant.  Those are all possible situations that can happen to anyone in the United States.  I appreciate the fact that teachers are required to take a survey as well.  Every teacher in the 2^nd grade can have the same information to teach to their students, but most of them will not teach it in the same manner.  Based on the way that those teachers were taught or how they were mentored. 

            I am always concerned about students being left behind.  I worry that government sets these standards, and they do not see how students are actually functioning in their classrooms.  How do we fix this lack of communication?

Marcio Eduardo Bezerra, A. L.-K. (2007). The impact of child labor and school quality on academic achievement in Brazil. Population Association of America Annual Meeting, (pp. 1-38). Los Angeles.