ReFLeCTioNS

Reflections

1.      Being in a caring collaborative learning community has taught me to be caring, sharing, and ready to help.

2.      Being in a caring, collaborative learning community has taught not to readily reject others’ opinion I may not completely agree with and see what I can learn from them.

3.      Being in a caring, collaborative learning community has taught me of which an effective early childhood education environment should comprise.

The way in which my colleagues and professors have been supportive, I want to take the time to thank each and every one of you for helping me grow through this journey.  I appreciate that the experience has granted me a number of resources and contacts that I can at any point reach out to for help, support, and collaboration.  With their help and the help of those I already have in my corner, I wish to advocate for universal preschool.  I plan to first start by advocating for mandated kindergarten in every state then pre-k; then focus on children under the age of three.

Wish me luck :-)!!!

My Hypothetical Family…Who Am I?

Greetings,

My name is Annie and I am a married mother of two, Calla and Carmelo.  My husband and I are not US native but have adopted English as our first language.  (He was born in Egypt and I in Haiti.)  We both come from large families but have no immediate family in Nashville.  I am a literacy coach and an early childhood consultant and my husband is a corporate lawyer at a prestigious firm.  We live in Nashville, Tennessee and gross a combined income of approximately 200,000 dollars a year.

Our twins were both diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of two and now at age five we have been living with the disease for three years.  Our children have a part-time nanny (Carrie) who works 25 hours a week and babysits at time on the weekends.  She fills in whenever my husband and I have work obligations that might interfere with the children’s routine.  She’s been with us for a short five months and has Type I diabetes as well so we feel comfortable when the children are with her.  We want to offer her a full-time position but can’t financially afford it presently.

Our children have a hard time coping with the ailment because of how they are treated at school by their peers.  While the preschool they attend is NAEYC accredited and the staff is amazing academically, I believe a lot of the staff is ignorant to the fact that having Type I diabetes is a lifestyle.  There are many things my little ones cannot do because of it and I do not feel that administration and their teacher are intentional enough where the twins are concerned.  Carmelo is a lot more reserved than Calla because he’s very intuitive and sensitive.  They recently started wearing a pump that administers insulin and monitors glucose level which my husband and I have both realize has diminished our stress level.  We are both constantly checking on the children at school throughout the day.  The school recently advises us to get Calla in a program because they believe her quiet nature is interfering with her learning. 

Economically we have taken a hit… While both our employers provide healthcare, the medical bills have been piling up for three years.  We’re happy the twins have not had to be in the hospital for the past six months because we want them to be healthy but also because we’ve had to adjust our lifestyle to cover medical bills.  There is the nutritionist, the newly acquired pumps, the strict diet (organic and natural food) for the whole family, the emergency room runs, the hospitalizations, and so much more; we now have to find a therapist for Calla.  Due to the psychological effect the disease has on all of us, our nutritionist suggested seeing a family therapist as well.  Neither of our health insurances will cover any of that.

            Federal and State governments provide some funding for research but because research is what will increase my babies’ quality of life, my husband and I volunteer our time to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation); He sits on the board of Directors.

            Health Education and Awareness is the primary issue for me and my family.  Our children are only five and cannot be counted on to administer insulin.  They do not like wearing their new pumps and take it off sometimes as a result.  My family and I are in need of mental health and support.  My children will always benefit from an early childhood education but the healthcare system needs to consider middle class families with children with special needs when setting up services to support healthy development.  My husband and I are looking for resources hence why we decided to become part of JDRF.  We look to support our children in any way that we can.

The Political Will to Improve Early Childhood Systems

Throughout my time at Walden I have learned a great deal.   This class (Early Childhood Systems) in particular has been depicting systems and the social, economic, cultural, and political influences on all of them.   One major strategy I can say I have learned that keeps others from either thinking no one cares or nothing will ever change is by keeping them in the dark.  Those in power do not directly keep people in the dark but people have become content the way life is and fail to seek information and/or question what they are told. 

Advocacy requires finding problems, getting background information, researching topics, understanding one’s capacity and seeking help where necessary and formulating an agenda. (Kieff, 2009)  With that said one of the most effective ways advocates achieve their goals is by raising awareness.  Informing people of the issue and what a community/country stands to gain/lose and providing small and large ways to contribute is very effective.  As an educator, I enjoy sharing with others the positive effects early childhood can have on their community, their state, their country, and even the world.  Understanding the culture of individuals wanting everything to come to them is one of the reasons I choose to advocate to make early childhood education a priority.

Reference: Keiff, J. (2009). Informed Advocacy in Early Childhood Care and Educational. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Parental Involvement

Parent Involvement

The personal significance drawn from the stories is the same idea I apply to my families by encouraging them to read to their children, to play and spend time with them, I should probably apply to my family.  While I am not a parent, I have one and now that I am older the responsibility falls on both of us to continue to embellish one another’s lives with love and care and other experiences

The professional significance drawn from the stories was validation.  The stories made me realize the reason I work so hard is to ensure that one day it is one of my families speaking on a video about how important it is it to spent time with the little ones.  The day when they all grasp the impact the relationships at home have on their entire development.  The stories demonstrate to the public the essential role early childhood education plays in a child and a family’s lives.  All parents stated the positive effects the experience had on them and their children and that message is powerful.

            The relationship one has with their parents sets the tone for all other relationships in one’s life.  As early childhood professionals, understanding that clarifies why it is so important to educate parents so that they in turn can provide a healthy environment for their children.  “With parents’s sensitive, responsive, and predictable care, yound children develop the skills they need to succeed in life”. (NCPFCE, 2012)

Reference: U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. (NCPFCE). (2012).  Understanding Family Engagement Outcomes: Research to Practice Series: Positive Parent-Child Relationships. Washington, D.C.

Profile of a Volunteer

Profile of a volunteer

            “Volunteering represents a way of life for so many members of our community and a wonderful way to extend support, skills, and knowledge to others. You may have your own personal experiences as a volunteer; still others may have been impacted by the work of a volunteer who has dedicated time to benefit the lives of others.” (Assignment Prompt)

Ms. RW is a volunteer with our program here at the 18^th Avenue Family Enrichment Center.  She is a high school student who comes in twice a week for two hours to work with our school-age group.  Ms. RW took the initiative to create a program that exposes the children and their families to new foods that are healthy and bringing awareness to the importance of exercising and being active for at least thirty minutes every day.  She connected the school with a company that does yoga for children and now we can add yoga to our extracurricular activities.  She is dedicated to improving the health of children in our program and for that I greatly admire her.  She is a leader in her community and I would support her in any way that I can.

Her volunteer work raises health consciousness which encourages children and families to be healthier, to exercise, and to be active.  Consequently our families have come to love her and cherish the work that she does.  Ms. RW reinforced the need in me to take initiative when I notice aspects of life that can be improved for children and families in my neighborhood and abroad.  She inspired me to be proactive about my beliefs and to stand firm to fight for them.