My Connections to Play

"Play is the beginning of knowledge" -Anonymous

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison (professor of psychiatry)

http://www.childsplaymagazine.com/Quotes/index.htm

I picked this photo because it demonstrates my favorite type of play-Dramatic play, these children are playing dress up, and for that moment they can be someone else.

I love this idea. I want this for my classroom and if I had the space I would defiantly get a boat for the room. The fact that this is a real boat makes it a great prop for dramatic play. I love using real items for my dramatic play area, I put real pots and pans in the kitchen area in my classroom. I feel like the children like to play with items more when they know they are the real thing, stuff that they see their parents using.





When I was little

Play was supported and encouraged when I was little.  Myself and my brothers were often sent outside to play and I loved being able to spend most of my childhood playing and imagining with my brothers and cousins. We did a lot of dress up and make believe play. I remember playing a game with my brother called lava. We would pretend the floor was lava and the bed was a boat. We would have to jump from the bed to other items on the floor that were safe areas. We would also wear our snow pants as lava gear and it would protect us. At such a young age we thought of this game and spent hours playing it, I love that our parents let us just be kids and have fun.



Play today

I think play is different today due to technology. Video games, tv, and the computer are taking children away from normal play. No longer do kids go outside for hours to play with their neighbors and friends, now they spend their time chatting with friends  online or texting them. Children can hop on the Internet and play a game with their friend without leaving their house. And I think that sometime parents feel better about having their child inside playing video games, watching tv and on the Internet then letting them go outside and play, due to safety concerns.  Not only that but when children are playing through electronics they become absorbed in it rarely talk and some parents may like this, because there child is being good and they can get stuff done.  I also get really sad when the children in my center get upset if they are outside or say they are bored.

Thanks for Everything!

     "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

This is one of my favorite quotes about children. I think that sometimes adults take life to seriously and sometimes just by watching children and interacting with them we can learn how to be carefree again.

I enjoyed reading all of the blog post this semester and really appreciate the feedback I have got from my own posts. I look forward to seeing more from you guys in future courses! Take Care and Happy Holidays!

Viewing young children hilistically...

Considering a commitment to viewing young children holistically (i.e., a commitment to “the whole child”), what, if anything, do you believe should be measured or assessed?

Every child is different, which means that we all learn differently as well and have areas that we are more and less successful in.  In the US the educational system tests children from grade school on using one-dimensional standardized tests. I personally hate standardized test and for someone like me they did not show how intelligent I was in school, instead they made me nervous to the point where I would freeze and forget everything I studied. How are these test beneficial to someone who is nervous about the pressure of taking a test that can effect their education for life. Because these tests are so prevalent in American schools  teachers are now forced to teach for these tests, they have guidelines and deadlines to complete certain subjects and have to move a long fast to teach all of this information in time for the exam. This is not fair for the teacher or the class.  In many areas, especially New York where I am from,  increased test scores have become the most important factor of school improvement. In turn administrators an teachers are under a lot of pressure to make sure that test scores go up. Which means that certain thing need to be cut and children are simple learning what is covered on the test.

My sister-in-law works in an urban elementary school in Schenectady NY, she teaches 5th grade. I decided to ask her about standardized testing and see how she felt about theses test,  testing the whole child. She basically told me that she has children in her 5th grade class that simply can't keep up, she says that she prepares her children for months at a time for these tests. She has children in her class that read on a 2nd grade level, and children who do not use English as there primary language.  She thinks that it would make a big different if a child was read the test, or the question was presented differently to them. Some children learn better that way. Just because John is at a second grade reading level doesn't mean that he is not smart or wouldn't understand the question if it was read to him.   She also blames these tests for why she has so many students that can't "catch up".  Because they are constantly being trained to take these tests and simply not learning anything of concrete value. She says a lot of teachers, teach using old tests and the children memorize information instead of learning it, how is this benifically to the child in the long run?

CHINA

Academics in China are completely different then in American, they score higher on tests, and on paper they are more intelligent then American students. The United States testing system seems like a joke compared to China, we are more relaxed and less disciplined then china.  In the east testing is a part of the learning system, children have to pass rigorous tests, and the students themselves take testing seriously. They out score American students in tests which is leading our nation to ask many question. Why are American students falling so much behind their Asian peers? Questions like these are what is making the United States education system increase their testing and copy some methods used in the East. Testing in the United States are becoming more frequent and important then they were when I was in grade school.  Where is the creative thinking in China and other eastern nations. Creative thinking is taken out of the equation and children in the East are thinking on a more concert level. Do we want to take this away from our children in American. This is the advantage that the United States has over nations like China, but if we keep cutting funding to these programs, are children are just going to end up as robots, all thinking a like.

http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=5264

We weren't rich...

We never had a lot of money growing up,  now I am not saying that my family was poor but money defiantly played a role in how stressed I was as a young child. My mother and father had to grow up fast, at the age of 16 my mom gave birth to her first child, by 23 my mom had three children. I am 23 now and cannot image having one child  to take care of, let alone three. I give my mother and father a lot of credit for keeping us clothed and feed. I guess my stress came from the fact that we could not get the latest and greatest things, and this never really effected me till I was in elementary school. Once I was in elementary school things started to get different, we weren't kids anymore, your friends cared if you were wearing name brand clothes and shoes. My parents could not afford to shop at all of the name brand stores, and a lot of times I wore my cousins hand me downs. It was difficult going to school back then and feeling like I didn't fit in. Now it seems so dumb, the fact that I cared so much about what my peers thought about my clothes is just ridiculous. I think about it now, it's just clothes why did I care so much, and the only way I can explain it is the fact that others made me care so much about my appearance. Maybe this is why today I am obsessed with my appearance and clothes.  I just hope that my children have more confidence then I did and realize that clothes are just material things and they do not make you who you are.

Sudden infant death

Sudden infant death syndrome is a topic that I have always been interested in, because I feel like it can be preventable. The rate of SIDS  in the United States has gone down a ton in the last decade, but there are still incidents occurring. Nearly 2,500 babies die a year from SIDS in just the United States.  I think that if parents were informed more about the how to reduce the risk of SIDS there would be even fewer cases of SIDS. One of the most important things  a parent should know is never let a baby go to sleep on it's belly. This is something that every parent should know. It would kill me to hear parents tell me at the my job that they put their baby to bed on their bellies. I would always tell parents to never put their babies on their bellies until they were able to roll over because this increases the child's risk of SIDS. Some other things that can reduce a child's risk for SIDS is, do not let the child have a blanket until they are able to pull it away from their face, do not use bumpers in a child's crib, not smoking, and also using a pacifier. I think awareness is the most important factor here, the more people know about the matter the better the outcome will be.


http://www.sids.org/nprevent.htm

I decided to research Africa and see how they were different culturally from the United States on this topic. In Africa they believe that SIDS is caused by a curse on the mother. They also believe that the baby comes back to haunt the family. I found a organization called Kabissa that is dedicated to raise awareness about SIDS and prove that it is due to real causes not a myth. I really found this to be interesting, because in Africa the rate of SIDS is higher than the United State, if people just knew how to prevent it there then they could significantly lower the rate of SIDS. 

http://www.kabissa.org/civiorg/106

Births around the world

I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the Chinese birthing process. China is very different from the United States and how they view birth is different as well. The Chinese birthing process is based on tradition, myths and customs. The Chinese believe that the a pregnant women should do certain things to ensure that the baby will be born properly. Chinese pregnant women should not go to funerals, eat certain foods, or loose their tempers, because these things may have a negative impact on the baby. One similarity that I found in the Chinese Birthing process and in my sister-n-laws was reading positive stories before bed to the unborn baby. My sister-in-law would often read stories to Eli before he was born. Overall I think that every individuals whether from  the U.S.A, China, or any other region have their own beliefs and superstitions about the birthing process, but in the end they all want the same results, a healthy, happy child.



http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/labor_birth/birthing_traditions/article/childbirth-traditions-china

Birth of Eli

I want to share with everyone the birth of my nephew Eli. I am very close to my sister-in-law she is like my big sister. Her and my brother have been together since I was 11 so we have seen each other grow up. They fell in love at 16, married each other young and were prepared to start a family of their own. Well I guess that is easier said then done. They tried for a while and she couldn't get pregnant, so she decided to go to the doctor and see if it was her. She found out that she had a condition that would make it difficult for her to have a baby. They told her pregnancy was possible but, it could take years for them to get pregnant. Soon after she found out her condition she search different therapy's that could increase her chances of getting pregnant. Her Grandmother suggested going to see a chiropractor. So she did and with in a few months of seeing a chiropractor she got pregnant. My whole family was so excited. This baby meant a lot to the family, because he is the first Grandchild and great Grandchild, and also because my sister-in-law was finally going to be a Mother. She wanted to be a mother so badly. Her Mother died of breast cancer when she was 9 so she always wanted her own family.  The pregnancy took its course and in the last 2 months she was put on bed rest with preeclampsia. Her blood pressure was extremely high when she moved around so she could barely do anything. And her feet were also the size of balloons! The doctors finally decided to induce her a few weeks before her due date. Literally my whole entire Italian family took up the waiting room of the hospital for days. She was induced on early Friday and by Saturday night she started to push. She pushed and pushed for what seemed like forever! After pushing for a good while they realized that the baby was stuck in the birth canal and the couldn't budge him any further. This is when they decided to do an emergency c-section. When they cut her open they saw the umbilical cord stuck around the babies neck 3 times around. If they didn't get him out then who knows what would of happened. Finally we were allowed to see little Elijah David. The hospital doors bust open and about 20 of us rushed him. He was beautiful. Perfect. I fell in love instantly. My brother was crying, I was crying, heck everyone was crying. In that instant our lives were all changed. And now almost a year later I am still in love with this boy! I am one proud Aunt, and I realized just how amazing the life truly is.