Friday, October 8, 2010

Course Resources


art 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices
Part 2: Global Support for Children’s Rights and Well-Being
Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations
Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library
Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to “How Do I...?”, select “Tips for Specific Formats and Resources,”and then “e-journals” to find this search interface.) 

  • YC Young Children
  • Childhood
  • Journal of Child & Family Studies
  • Child Study Journal
  • Multicultural Education
  • Early Childhood Education Journal
  • Journal of Early Childhood Research
  • International Journal of Early Childhood
  • Early Childhood Research Quarterly
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Studies
  • Maternal & Child Health Journal
    •
  • International Journal of Early Years Education
Additional Resources
Illinois State Board Of Education Early Childhood Resources
http://www.isbe.net/earlychi/
This website is the place to go to find out exactly what is happening in the Early Childhood field in Illinois. It lists recent news, funding opportunities, state standards, best practices, training opportunities and Illinois expectations.

The Project Approach Website
http://www.projectapproach.org/
Anyone interested in implementing The Project Approach in their classroom should go to this sight.  It has Project Approach guidelines, tips, sample projects, recent events, a resource section and an area where teachers can ask advice from others using The Project Approach.

The Illinois Early Learning Project
http://illinoisearlylearning.org/
The best thing about this site is that it has one page Tip Sheets that can be ordered or printed and then used as parent resources, staff resources, or just for personal use.  The tip sheets are available on a myriad of topics relating to Early childhood and in multiple languages - plus, they're free!  This sight is a great place to go for ideas, support or information.
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Friday, October 1, 2010

Inspiration

I have found the following quotes to be inspirational in both my life as a teacher and as a parent:

"I feel it is important to make a real contribution." - Louise Dermen Sparks

"Children need the tools to thrive/ survive in the public school system." - Louise Dermen Sparks

"Parents were involved and that made me want to be involved." - Sandy Escobide

"Of course children benefit from positive feedback. But praise and rewards are not the only methods of reinforcement. More emphasis should be place on appreciation—reinforcement related explicitly and directly to the content of the child's interest and efforts." - Lilian Katz

"Each of us must come to care about everyone else's children. We must recognize that the welfare of our children is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people's children. After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else's child will perform it. If one of our children is harmed by violence, someone else's child will be responsible for the violent act. The good life for our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people's children." - Lilian Katz

"In the United States, it is now possible for a person eighteen years of age, female as well as male, to graduate from high school, college, or university without ever having cared for, or even held, a baby; without ever having comforted or assisted another human being who really needed help. . . . No society can long sustain itself unless its members have learned the sensitivities, motivations, and skills involved in assisting and caring for other human beings." - Urie Bronfenbrenner

"One of the most significant effects of age-segregation in our society has been the isolation of children from the world of work. Whereas in the past children not only saw what their parents did for a living but even shared substantially in the task, many children nowadays have only a vague notion of the nature of the parent's job, and have had little or no opportunity to observe the parent, or for that matter any other adult, when he is fully engaged in his work." - Urie Bronfenbrenner

"Children need people in order to become human.... It is primarily through observing, playing, and working with others older and younger than himself that a child discovers both what he can do and who he can become—that he develops both his ability and his identity.... Hence to relegate children to a world of their own is to deprive them of their humanity, and ourselves as well." - Urie Bronfenbrenner

"Development, it turns out, occurs through this process of progressively more complex exchange between a child and somebody else—especially somebody who's crazy about that child." - Urie Bronfenbrenner
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Friday, September 24, 2010

Personal Childhood Web





I was a very fortunate child in that I had a strong and loving support system.  The five people who had the most impact on my development were my brother, my mother, my father, my grandmother and my grandfather.  I think back on all of these relationships as positive, and have very happy memories of all these people during my childhood years.  Additionally, I recognize the influence of these people on the adult I have become.

The first relationship I had, and the closest, was with my mother, JoAnne Yapp.  When I think of my mother during my childhood, I think about all of the things she taught me, and how she was always there to help me with any problems I was having.  My mother always spent time doing projects with me like cooking, crocheting or bike riding.  She helped me until I could do things on my own.  also, she helped me study and helped me to develop a sense of academic pride.  My mother stayed home when my brother and I were young, only going back to school and then to work once we were school age.  I am quite certain that it is because of my mother's influence that I became a teacher of young children.  because she was always there when I was little, I wanted to be close to my children as well.  Plus, she showed me what a big difference it makes for a child to have somebody who will spend time helping them understand the world.

While my father is a brilliant, hard working, man, when I think back to my childhood, the way I remember his is as a big playmate.  my father was gone at work all day, but when he came home, he spent hours playing with my brother and me.  He would let us climb on his back and ride him like a horse, or he would pretend to be a monster and chase us all over the house.  He would have parties with us where we stayed up late, watching TV in sleeping bags and eating chips and drinking 7-up.  He also took us on bike rides, camping trips, beach trips and hikes.  My father instilled a sense of fun into me as well as a love of nature.  It is because of fond memories of him that I play with my children, and take them camping and hiking and swimming.

I still see my parents several times a week, and am very blessed that they have a strong influence on my children's lives as well.

Another person who had a huge influence on my development was my brother, John.  John is two years older than me, and was, therefore, always slightly better at things than I was.  I looked up to my brother and strove to be like him, which made me work very hard on everything I did.  In turn, my brother always encouraged me to do the things he enjoyed, and was patient and willing to help me improve.  when I was seven, John was on swim team, and I, therefore, wanted to be a competitive swimmer as well.  He welcomed me onto the team, and I continued to swim competitively throughout my childhood and teenage years.  This positive experience with my brother did a lot to form the person I am, and taught me to live a healthy and active lifestyle.  Having an older brother like John meant always having a confidante and supporter, and I now try to be that type of person to those in my life.

When I remember my grandmother, I think of tenderness and love.  My grandmother was always kind, always caring, always soft, and always approving.  She was always understanding, even when I screwed up, and she was never disapproving or angry.  My grandmother was, however, very wise.  She had a keen understanding of people and their motives, faith that even the worst situations would work themselves out, and the ability to give sound advice exactly when a person was ready to receive it.  There were times in my life when I made very poor choices, and got myself into situations that seemed hopeless.  My grandmother made me feel loved and worthwhile even when I did not love myself or live like I was worth anything.  Her love and faith made me love myself enough to decide I deserved a good life, and made me feel I had the strength to create the life I envisioned.  My grandmother taught me how important it is for a child to receive unconditional love.

When I think about all of the people who loved me when I was a child, the first person who comes to mind is my grandfather.  I know, and always knew, that my grandfather loved me.  He always did things to make me feel special.  My grandfather passed away when I was ten, but I still have vivid memories of him.  I remember when he took me on a special trip to see Fantasia at the movie theater.  I remember how he would always hide money in my bedroom and pretend elves had left it for me.  I remember how, even though he had to wear a surgical mask to protect his ailing lungs when it was cold, he took me for winter walks to see neighborhood Christmas displays.  I also remember how he was funny, kind and good.  When my grandfather died, I lost a piece of my heart, but to this day I still feel his presence in my life.

These people, as well as others, taught me how important it is to make a child feel special and lovable. I have gone through some difficult periods in my life, but throughout it all, I was anchored to a family.  for this reason, I have overcome hard times, and have come to be a mother and a teacher who believes in making children feel important and worthwhile.   Because of the people who helped to form me in my younger years, I have dedicated my life to helping form confident people.

My family exploring the world together
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Are You My Mother?

Today I read the book "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman to my five year old class. I chose this book for several reasons. The first is that is was a favorite of mine as a child, and I have probably read it over a thousand times. I like reading books that are familiar because then I can be much more dramatic.

Another reason I like this book is because it presents an issue that the children in my school must deal with every day. Namely, the sadness of longing for their parents who are away at work. In the book, when Mother Bird realizes that her egg is getting ready to hatch, she goes out to find some food for her baby; low and behold, the egg hatches while the mother bird is gone. The baby bird immediately misses his mother, and goes out looking for her. He goes on an adventure, meeting several animals and things that are not his mother, for whom he is fervently searching.

The children in my class were enthralled by my reading of this book. When the story reached it's climax, and the poor baby bird found himself lost, alone, scared and in terrible danger, one little girl right in front of me said "I think I'm going to cry," which made me think I was going to cry.

Joyfully, the baby bird was reunited with his mother, and all was well. Still, at the point of this happy conclusion, the same little girl said "I still think I'm going to cry," which brought a feeling of tenderness to my heart. That moment embodied all of the reasons I love teaching young children. My class and I all lived that story and we all loved that book and we all experienced it together.

As happens in preschool, the event concluded far too quickly. Once the book was over, there was no time to linger. We were already late for outside play, and there is a certain danger involved in not allowing a large group of preschoolers to have their full playground session. So, the moment ended, but the feeling held on. I am looking forward to another day of teaching.
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Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Writer

I don't know, exactly, when David became a writer. Maybe he was born that way. I, however, didn't meet him until he was four years old. I do know that, by four, he was already a writer.
Don't get me wrong, he could neither read nor write by the age of four, but he had stories in his head, and he could dictate. Dictate is what he did - for hours and hours and hours.
At that time I was working as a nanny for the Pedigo family. David, as I said, was four, and his brother Jonathan was eight months old. My son, Steven, was eight months old as well, and I spent my days learning and growing with these three little boys.
I must admit that Steven and Jonathan learned early independence and developed a keen sense of mischief because much of my time was spent transcribing the stories that flowed out of young David's mind. I dare say that, at four, David was more prolific and more productive than Eliot, Hemingway or King. He had no distractions, no responsibilities, no burdens and no other focus. Every event in his life became a story, and he had a natural love for experiencing his words on paper.
So, for years, while Steven and Jonathan poured water into vents, peeled wallpaper off of walls, destroyed Lego masterpieces, and mixed potions in the toilet, David dictated and I recorded his words.
Those words were put into a file, and now, seventeen years later, they still exist. The words of four year old David did not dissipate into the wind, they exist, and always will exist, because David is a writer.
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Monday, June 15, 2009

What I Learned

Before taking this class I was a very strong believer in family being the most important influence on children's lives. Throughout the class, I really cultivated that belief. I have spent alot of time on the idea that education should beconcentrated on families - when it is too often used as a tool to separate children from their families.
Too often I hear educators making negative comments about families and listing reasons why they cannot better connect to families. Instead, the focus of education needs to be on families. If parents are involved - kids will be successful. This is the way to ensure school reform.
Going forward - my mission will be to educate and include the parents, grandparents, siblings etc. of children in my care. I am going on a basic belief that families love their children and want to be involved - but are, in many cases, left feeling powerless and unneeded when it comes to schooling. I believe parents should be made to feel empowered about their abilities to care for and educate their children - They should be made to feel that they are the most important factor in their children's success (because they are), and children should feel empowered to create partnerships with families rather than feel that they are on their own and solely accountable for childrens lack of success.
I believe that the first step in including families is meeting families where they are - in their homes. A couple of good guides for how to conduct home visits can be found at the following sites:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Guide_to_Home_Visits_44583_7.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin241.shtml - 46k
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Saturday, June 6, 2009

Let The Kid Be

A parenting article published in the New York Times entitled "Let The Kid Be" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/magazine/31wwln-lede-t.html?_r=2) was the impetus behind this blog. It listed trends in parenting across the centuries, the most recent being micro-managing kids time between soccer practice, violin lessons and tutors. I considered while reading this article that these parenting trends probably were aligned with educational trends (which one having the strongest influence, I don't know). Still, while parents have been mocro-managing, so have schools. Idle time, for the past century, has been considered something to avoid if we want college educated, successful children.

The Times article names a new parenting trend - one of letting kids be kids at their own pace - a non-chalance style of parenting where parents focus on their ownneeds and allow their children to pursue their interests at their own pace. I see this as a new trend emerging in schools as well. Clearly, the idea of filling every moment of a child's life with rote memorization is going out of style. Anti-micro-management talk is all the rage in educational sectors.

I, for one, am thrilled at this emergent style of raising children. I hate baseball practice and boy scout meetings - and I can finally admit that openly. I love letting my children play freely as children should - and I can admit that too without fear of negative feedback or judgement.

I hope this article is correct - because in a moment I am going to sit in the backyard with a glass of wine and a book while my children wrestle in the grass - and I wont have the pinge of guilt that they are maybe missing out on some important structured activity.


This article epitomizes why I hate baseball practice and cub scout meetings:
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=484
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