Time Well Spent

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops” – Henry Adams

I feel that I have learned so much throughout this course. It was a very interesting experience to focus on one issue for 8 weeks while creating a response. I learned so much about the issue that I chose and the different facets of the early childhood field and how they pertain to my issue. I now know of many useful organizations and individuals that I would love to work with in the future. I also know so much more about the issue of culturally responsive teaching and the need for more professional development and teacher preparation courses on this topic. However, even though I focused on this issue, I have learned so much about the issues that my colleagues have taken on. Each week, I discovered a little more on issues such as access to quality care for low-income families.

From this course, I have learned what I am truly passionate about. I find this the most interesting because culture and anti-bias education has never really been a main concern of mine before this course and the course prior. I realize that I have very passionate about culture and the cultural backgrounds of children and their families being respected in each classroom and program. I have always been a part of the dominant culture so I have never had to think of how how others may feel not seeing themselves represented or not feeling comfortable in their own classroom. I can definitely say that this program and course has awakened this passion in me. I also learned how important it is to have support. I love that my classmates were able to serve as members of my community of practice and provide me with feedback on certain subjects. That was extremely helpful to me. In the future, I know that I will be needing the support of my colleagues and hope that I receive as much as I did from my classmates. Finally, I learned what I am capable of. When this course first began, I was very nervous for the 8 weeks ahead. Each week seemed like so much was involved and it was all very overwhelming. I seriously doubted if I could complete this Capstone Project. I did it and I am proud of myself. I proved to myself that I could. I feel like I can take on anything now and I feel very confident about that.

It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass

One long term goal that I have for myself is to be employed for one of the organizations highlighted in my previous blog posts. Throughout this program, I have researched many outstanding organizations that help children and their families immensely. I thought it was so interesting to learn about what each organization does, why and how they do it, and the kind of people they are looking for to join their organization. A few that I have researched have certainly caught my eye. One of those is the NAEYC. It would be my absolute dream and career goal to be employed by this organization. I feel that they do so much good for children and they touch on almost every topic imaginable in the early childhood field. One short term goal that I have is to join the NAEYC and attend one of their conferences. I can’t imagine how much is to be learned by attending one!

“Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” – Chinese Proverb

I would like to say thank you do Johnna. You have been a great professor and very helpful. I appreciate all of your feedback and comments that you provided each week on my papers and discussion posts. I really took each of them seriously and tried by best to correct my mistakes. Thank you for guiding me these past 8 weeks and most of all thank you for all the help you provided in completing my Capstone. I hope our paths cross again someday!

I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to all of my classmates. You all have helped me through this program more than you know. Each week, you have added so much to my blog posts and my discussion posts. Thank you for being in my community of practice and helping me complete my Capstone. I feel that each of you deserve some recognition in my completion because you all have helped me along the way. I wish nothing but the best for all of you in the future! I know that you will all be great and do something great in this field. I cannot believe that we will have our Master’s. We have worked so hard and its hard to believe that it is over. CONGRATULATIONS to all of you! Be proud of yourselves! We did it!

If anyone would like to get in contact in the future:

Lauren Gors

Email- LGors0719@yahoo.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international organization that I chose is called Children International. The goal of this organization is to help children and families that are in need. They provide programs, resources, and services that aim to reduce the burden of poverty on young children (Children International, 2015). They also provide educational opportunities for children in poverty. This includes early education to secondary education. Children International currently assists more than 340,000 children around the world and they have 17 agencies in 11 countries (Children International, 2015). I would like to work for this organization because I think that it is wonderful that they are able to help so many children throughout the world. Poverty is an issue in every country and providing children who live in poverty with education, nutritional help, and developmental assistance can be very beneficial. I came across a few employment opportunities on the organization’s website. One position that stood out to me was Program Officer of Health and Nutrition. This job requires the ability to speak both Spanish and English, two years international experience, and the Program Officer must seek grants, organize and conduct training, and establishes partnerships with complementary programs (Children International, 2015. This is not necessarily an education position, however it is always interesting to see the different positions available in an organization that focuses on children.

The second international organization that I found is called Childfund International. This organization also helps children and families who are in need and living in poverty. Childfund provides services for infants, young children, older children, teenagers, and young adults. They have programs that focus on nutrition, health, safety, building positive relationships, civic engagement, and leadership (Childfund International, 2015). This organization has bases all over the country. They currently work in 30 countries and help an estimated 18.2 million children and their families (Childfund International, 2015). One job posting that I found that I was interested in was for the position of Program Director in Afghanistan, which I thought was interesting to read about. The person in this position must plan and monitor all program activities, document best program practices, and lead the development of grants (Childfund International, 2015). This person must have extensive knowledge in grants, international work experience, and and oral and written skills in Dari and Pashto (Childfund International, 2015). This is not necessarily a job that I would want, nor be qualified for, but it is always interesting to learn about these positions.

The third international organization that I found is called Children’s Humanitarian International. This organization’s mission is to empower and educate young people so that they are able to be leaders in their communities (Children’s Humanitarian International, 2015). They work together with the children on some challenges that they may face in their environment. This organization emphasizes diversity and collaboration, efficiency and sustainability, and quantifiable results (Children’s Humanitarian International, 2015). There were no job listings found on this website. However, there were opportunities to join the team as a volunteer, fundraising, events, and partnerships.

References

Childfund International. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.childfund.org/

Children International. (2015). Retrieved from  https://www.children.org/

Children’s Humanitarian International. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.childrenshumanitarian.org/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

While conducting research for my Capstone Project, I came across many wonderful organizations on a National and Federal level that I would love to work for in the future. The first that I found is called the National Education Association (NEA). This organization focuses on the educators and professionals of the education field and how they can better the lives of children and their families. They provide teachers with ideas for the classroom, lesson plans, and teaching strategies. Their mission is “to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world” (The National Education Association, 2015). This organization interests me because of its focus on education professionals. I feel that it is important that educators stick together and the NEA really acts as the voice of educators. As an early childhood professional myself, I would consider becoming a member of this organization. As far as job postings are concerned, I did find one opening that interested me. The job title is Director of Teaching and Learning. This position requires the individual to lead in-service workshops, monitor monthly Education Standards meetings, and to develop and coordinate training and workshops (The National Education Association, 2015). The skills needed for this position include knowledge of Common Core Standards and the understanding of teacher evaluation guidelines.

The second organization that I am interested in is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I know that this is a popular choice, but it is really my dream to work and be part of this organization. The NAEYC’s mission is to promote high-quality learning for all children through practice, policy, and research (The National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2015). They offer insight into the field, professional development, insight, accreditation, and they have offices and affiliates in many states. As I said, I would love to work for this organization. I found some different job openings. The one that I am most interested in is Education Manager/School Readiness Coordinator. This position requires that the individual coordinates curriculum planning for the center, supervises children’s assessment, supervises all classroom practices, and leads responsibility for parent involvement (The National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2015). The skills needed for this position include a Master’s degree in Early Childhood, bilingual, experience with low-income families, and expertise in planning and implementing child development activities (The National Association for the Education of Young children, 2015).

The final organization that I chose is called the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE). This is another organization that focuses on early childhood professionals. The goals of this organization include promoting professional growth, advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education, and to cooperate with other national and international organizations concerned with the education of young children (The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, 2015). Again, this group interests me because it focuses on the educators. I did like that one of their goals is to improve early childhood teacher education as that is a focus of my Capstone Project. The job position that I found within this organization is the Director of Cooperative Preschool. This position requires that the individual facilitates a play-based preschool experience, actively engaging each child, provide resources to parents, mentor staff, and ensure that the preschool is in compliance with state licensing requirements (The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, 2015). The applicant must have experience in non-profit management, experience working with parents in an educational setting, and experience mentoring teachers (The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, 2015).

References

The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.naecte.org/

The National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/

The National Education Association. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

I currently live in Michigan. I have contemplated relocating to a different state, preferably one that is warmer, but I chose to still focus on organizations that are here. I really enjoyed this blog assignment. It is very interesting and exciting to discover all of the opportunities that are awaiting us when we end this program. It is also refreshing to see the multiple organizations that have been created in the best interests of children and their families.

The first organization that I chose to focus on is called the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MiAEYC). This organization seeks to improve the welfare and education of children within early childhood and they support professional development of educators as well (Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, 2015). They offer many opportunities for professional development and they also have a scholarship program for early childhood educators and programs to meet their professional development goals. I chose this organization because I am a big supporter of professional development. It is a major focus in my Capstone Project as well. I believe that professional development regarding culture and being culturally responsive is important for teachers in this field. Therefore, I commend this organization for providing educators with many professional development opportunities. One of the job opportunities that I came across within this organization is for Early Childhood Specialist. The responsibilities for this position include developing and evaluating programs, coordinating learning activities for the public, developing early childhood newsletters and social media postings, and reaches out to groups and organizations. Some of the qualifications for this position include knowledge of early childhood development, family engagement, and expertise in programming.

The second organization that I chose is the Macomb Intermediate School District. This is located very close to my home in Macomb, Michigan. This organization offers early childhood services to families and educators and also provides professional development. Aside from childcare and classes, in regards to early childhood education, this organization addresses current issues, provides information, provides professional development and programming opportunities, and provides opportunities to share and network on a local level (Macomb Intermediate School District, 2009). I have had experience with this organization in the past. All of the professional development courses that I have taken were through this organization. I am very happy with the experience that I had and I was able to learn many new things about this field that I feel made me a better early childhood professional. A job opportunity that I found through this organization was for a position titled Consultant for School Improvement. This position calls for working together with the Chief Academic Officer to provide support to priority schools throughout the county. Responsibilities for this position include monitoring classroom instruction, provide coaching support for teachers in areas of need, and oversee plans of redesign and reform for struggling schools. Qualifications and skills for this position include expertise in school improvement models, and experience in planning staff development programs.

The third organization that I chose is the Michigan Head Start Association (MHSA). This association provides education and professional development for head start directors, staff, and families, provides a voice for the MHSA in Washington D.C., communicates with staff, families, and the community, and collaborates with organizations interested in supporting Head Start (Michigan Head Start Association, n.d.). I chose this organization because I believe that Head Start programs provide wonderful support and offer an opportunity for all children to receive quality care when they otherwise may not. I firmly believe that every child should receive the opportunity for quality care. I have found that I have quite a passion in this area and I would love to advocate and be the voices of these children who are denied access to quality care. A job opportunity that I came across is for the position of Site Leader. This position requires that the applicant assess staff needs, supervise staff meetings, direct program development, conduct classroom observations, and monitor home visit schedules, among many other responsibilities. Specific skills required for this position include experience working with those of different races and cultural backgrounds, the ability to speak multiple languages, and experience working with low-income families.

All of these organizations and job opportunities were of interest to me. If i had to pick one that I could really see myself doing, it would be the Education Specialist because I am really interested in gaining community involvement as well as developing and implementing programming.

References

Macomb Intermediate School District. (2009). MISD. Retrieved from http://www.misd.net/EarlyChild/

Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children. (2015). MiAEYC. Retrieved from http://miaeyc.org/

Michigan Head Start Association. (n.d.). MHSA. Retrieved from http://michheadstart.org/about-mhsa

Reflecting on Learning

As we near the end of our program, I find that I am becoming more confident in myself as an early childhood/anti-bias educator. I feel that I have gained the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in this field as well as create a positive and enriching environment for both children and their families. In regards to my future as an early childhood educator, my hope is to nurture and incorporate every child’s family and cultural background. I have learned how important it is to create continuity between a child’s home and school. I would never want to be the reason for discontinuity. I want every child to remain connected to their culture and their family. Therefore, it is my goal to incorporate every child’s culture into our classroom everyday. I do not want to only focus on holidays or specific months. I want to ensure that every culture is represented as equally as the next. I think that this will create a comfortable and welcoming environment for all of the children and for their families as well.

I want to say thank you to all of my classmates. I can honestly say that you have all helped me through this course. I enjoyed reading all of your discussion posts and blogs each week. I really appreciate all of your feedback that you left on my own posts and blogs. I read each and every one and have learned from each of your experiences. We have one class left! Good luck to all of you at the end of this course and for our next. See you in our FINAL course! 🙂

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world that I chose to focus on is the Middle East and North Africa. I chose this area because all of the turmoil that it is currently seeing, and has seen in the past, made me want to learn about some of the challenges the children living here may face. These children are living in war torn areas. They live everyday amongst violence and uncertainty. In Iran, UNICEF is focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention, child protection, education, child poverty reduction, and child rights monitoring (UNICEF, 2011). Many children, a long with their families, are having to flee their homes to avoid these areas of conflict. Since 2011, almost 140,000 Syrians have fled to Egypt where the children now attend school (UNICEF, 2011). Many of these children have experienced or witnessed traumatic events which leaves many with psychological trauma. One article that I found was from 2007, but I imagine the contents would still be true today. A Palestinian child shared that “most children spent their post-exam school break indoors, listening to the fighting in the streets” and that schools were forced to close down because it was to dangerous to allow the children to come (UNICEF, 2011). In Gaza City, many of the children are having to deal with the loss of their friends and loved ones due to war. In September of 2014, more than 18,000 houses were destroyed and 506 children were killed and more than 3,000 were injured (UNICEF, 2011). These children’s lives were basically turned into rubble. One young girl discusses how she found the dead bodies of her father and two-year-old sister, whose head was decapitated, after a shell struck their neighbors house (UNICEF, 2011).

The challenges that these children face definitely can impact their emotional well being and development. “Negative early experiences can impair children’s mental health and effect their cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development” (Trustees of Columbia University, 2010, p. 3). They can experience behavior issues and have difficulty in school. They may also suffer from emotional distress as they have been through such traumatic experiences. This can lead to emotional disturbances such as anxiety, depression, or psychotic disorders as these are believed to be caused by stress and family functioning, among other reasons (Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2014).

Personally and professionally, this information makes me sad. As a human being, I am sad that any other human being, let alone children, have to go through this distress. As an early childhood educator, it makes me sad that these children and not provided with the education and resources that they need for success. Many of us will come into contact with children from these areas throughout our career, whether they came to us by choice or war chased them away from their homes. It is important that we treat them in a way that nurtures them. It is our job, along with their family if possible, to support their healthy development. “Research suggests that up to 50 percent of the impact of income on children’s development can be mediated by interventions that target parenting” (Trustees of Columbia University, 2010, p. 4). Of course, the fault in these situations does not lie with the parents. However, we can work together when them to best support both the child and their families.

References

Center for Parent Information and Resources. (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/specific-disabilities/

Trustees of Columbia University, The. (2010). National Center Center for Children Children in PovertyPoverty (NCCP). Retrieved from: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_882.html

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

After reading So Sexy So Soon, I was saddened but unfortunately not surprised at all. I have seen the sexualization of early childhood occurring in our society for some time now. It seems that our society is one that is obsessed with sex. It is literally everywhere and I feel that the exposure is a lot different now than it was 50 years ago or even when I was growing up. Children can turn on the TV or look at advertisements on the streets and see sex. This is even true to the things that are targeted to young children. It is my opinion that children are growing up way to fast and seeing/discovering certain things way too early. As the article mentions, I do not think that it is wrong that children learn about sex and sexuality, though in a healthy and educated way. The author explains that there is a difference between sex/sexuality and sexualization. “When people are sexualized, their value comes primarily from their sex appeal, which is equated with physical attractiveness” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 4). By constantly being bombarded by pictures of skinny models with perfect faces, not to mention all of the photoshopping that occurs in print and magazines, we are putting more emphasis on being attractive than we are on being smart or kind.

I often notice the sexualization of young children when I am watching TV. I am not sure if this show is still on, but there was a show called “Toddlers and Tiaras.” For those of who who have not seen this show, it is about young girls who compete in beauty pageants. The parents of these girls put a lot of makeup on their faces and often times dress them in very minimal clothing and they then go on to compete for basically who is the seen as the “prettiest.” In one episode, a mother actually dressed her child up as Julia Roberts character in the movie “Pretty Woman” (pictured below). It just so happens that her character in that movie is a prostitute. There is a lot of discussion about beauty pageants and many people have their own opinions on the matter. I really don’t feel that all pageants are horrible, however, I just feel that this particular show almost exploits the children. Now this show isn’t exactly targeted to young children but I can only imagine how the little girls who are actually on this show must feel about themselves and what their idea of beauty is.

Another example of the sexualization of children is the dolls that little girls play with. More specifically, the Barbie doll. Barbie has always been seen by many as an unrealistic representation of women. She has long skinny legs, a tiny waist, long flowing hair, and her makeup is perfectly applied. This can give young girls the wrong idea about how they think they are “supposed” to look. I loved playing with barbies when I was younger. It was one of my favorite things to do. But I also remember myself and my sister making comments like “I wish I looked like this barbie.” Barbie dolls are beautiful of course, but we need to remember, and ensure that our children know, that they are toys. They are not real and not meant to be what they aspire to be. The article mentions Bratz dolls. These dolls are beautiful too. Though they have a ton of makeup, skinny bodies, big heads, and short skirts. These are the toys that are marketed to little girls. We as adults, and early childhood educators, must be the ones to set the example for the children to look up to and not allow popular culture to do it for us.

If anyone has Netflix, I encourage you to watch the documentary entitled “Sexy Baby.” This follows three girls of various ages and I believe that the youngest girl is around 12 years old, though she has very young siblings who could be in preschool or kindergarten. The movie looks at various ways childhood is becoming sexualized. They show the young girls listening to pop songs and dancing provocatively, like how they see their favorite singers do. They also touch upon the fact that the internet is so easily accessible to children now. I know, or at least I hope, that many children during early childhood would not be allowed to be on Facebook or other social network sites, but there are MANY children who have access to tablets. The boys that I nanny for each have a tablet and their favorite thing to do is watch Minecraft videos on Youtube. I think that we all know how easy it is to end up on weird videos on Youtube and there has been times that has happened to them. They are still “Minecraft” videos but the content is not for children. We have since put an end to this, but I know that there are many children who are able to view whatever it is they want, and they can easily be exposed to sex even though they may not understand what they are seeing.

Exposure to this sexualized culture may impact a child’s healthy development. Seeing these over sexualized messages show children that how a person looks is more important than who they are, that sexiness and physical beauty is what makes a person successful in life, and that sex is often linked to violence (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). “Such lessons will shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, values, and their capacity for relationships, for love and connection, that they take into adulthood” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 2). As early childhood educators, we must be aware of what the children in our program are exposed to and we must be aware of the messages that we are sending to children. When we see something occurring, such as children making a big deal out of someone’s looks or what they are wearing, we should intervene. We need to explain to them that who they are as a person is what is important and we are all beautiful. We want them to be able to grow up and build trusting and valuable relationships with others.

As I mentioned, I have been aware of the sexualization of childhood for quite sometime. However, I am glad that there is more awareness about it. Our society needs to do something different. I am not sure if that is really going to ever happen, but for the sake of our children, it needs to.

References

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Sexy Baby. (2012). Retrieved from http://sexybabymovie.com/thefilm.php

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Anti-bias educators are not immune to experiencing bias, stereotyping, and the different -isms that are prevalent in our society. Regardless of our education and training, experiencing such things can still be hurtful. They can not only impact our personal lives, but our professional lives as well. We bring a lot of ourselves into our classroom and this includes aspects of our personal lives. If we are experiencing these -isms outside of the classroom, they may still affect our relationships and interactions with children and their families.

For example, I am part of dominant culture so I have not experienced much bias or -isms in my life. However, I am a woman and I have experienced sexism. I think that many women have experienced unwanted advances or have had a sexist joke told at their expense. I have had some experiences in which men feel that I am intellectually inferior to them in general and in areas such as math, car repair, or driving. Because of these experiences, I find that I do get intimidated around men. I am much more comfortable being around and talking with women. I definitely feel that this could interfere with my professional life and my relationships with children and their families. I may feel less comfortable talking with fathers, and that has actually been true in the past. I am always more comfortable with mothers and female family members and will openly talk with them more than I do fathers or other male family members. This is obviously not fair to the males or the children because they will see that the relationship that I have with the males are different than the one I have with the female members of their family. This has been an issue that I have been dealing with for quite sometime in my personal and professional lives. I am working on feeling comfortable with everyone that I encounter and not let my past experiences with sexism interfere with my relationships and interactions.

I imagine that those who have experienced racism or other -isms may run into the same issues. If an educator is targeted by a specific group and someone from that group is enrolled in their program, they may not feel comfortable communicating with them. Of course, as anti-bias educators, we must put aside our feelings and do whats best for the child, regardless of their cultural background, but I can see how getting past this would be difficult.  Experiencing -isms, bias, or stereotyping is not a good feeling. We have learned that children who experience these feel confused, hurt, and my have damage to their self esteem and identity. The same can happen when adults are the victims. When we feel this way, we may not be as productive in our professional lives. We may not create a positive and welcoming environment for the children and families in our program because our mind is on the negative experience. When we are feeling sad or hurt, we may also not go out of our way to build relationships with children and families and will miss out on everything that comes along with this.

This can also occur within a program between educators. Our text discusses classism, but I feel that the suggestions provided can work with all -isms. If there is experience with -isms in the workplace, or to avoid them, educators should work to create an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable to share and discuss issues, celebrate and respect each staff member, and partake in development activities (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). We want to provide the best environment for our children and their families and this can be more easily accomplished when the staff is united and on good terms.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Observing Communication

This week, I had the opportunity to attend a field trip to a local pizzeria with one of the boys that I nanny for. Many of the children attended the trip with their parents, so I figured that this would be a good opportunity to observe communication. I decided to focus on a mother and her daughter. The mother was very busy having a conversation with a few of the other moms. Her daughter was trying to get her attention so that she could show her the design that she made on her pizza with toppings. Her mom did not respond as she was very wrapped up in her discussion. She finally turned around to her daughter and said “that’s nice” without looking at the pizza and without really knowing why her daughter wanted her attention in the first place. Another incident happened towards the end of the field trip. The moms were still talking amongst themselves and the little girls wanted to go into the arcade. So the girl asked her mom and she responded “ok.” About 5 minutes later, when it was time to pack up and head home, the mom freaked out because she did not know where her daughter went. One of the other mom’s filled her in and the mom and daughter were reunited. I have noticed that this happens a lot with this group of parents. I understand the need for adult conversation, but I also feel that when you are at an event that is for your child, you should make communicating and listening to them a top priority.

I feel that the mother could have handled this situation differently. When the little girl was trying to show her pizza design to her mom, she was looking for validation for what she created. I am not sure if the little girl was affected at all by her mom’s lack of interest, but there is a big chance that she was. We all know how it feels to not have our voice be heard; it does not feel good. Children are not immune to this feeling. I do not at all feel that this mom is a “bad mom” and ignores her child. I do not know what goes on in their home and what kind of communication they have. However, in this situation, I do not feel that she was demonstrating effective or affirming communication. When the little girl showed her mom her pizza, the mom could have paused the conversation she was having with the other adults for a moment and acknowledged her daughter. She could have also listened to what her daughter had to say about her design including what it was and why she made it. As we have learned, children must fee as if they are listened to in order to communicate with others and they must also feel respected, accepted, heard, and grounded with themselves (Laureate Education, 2011).

I try to always communicate effectively with children. I like to get down on their level so as to not tower over them and I like to give them their opportunity to speak when we are having a conversation. Some of the best conversations that I have had have been with young children. However, I am guilty of pseudo-listening at times. When you are with young children all day, there are times when somethings that they say go in one ear and out the other. I really want to work on this after reading the resources from this week. I realize that I can learn so much by what the children are saying. Even if we think that it is silly or doesn’t make sense, it is important and makes sense to the child.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author

Creating Affirming Environments

I have given a lot of thought of what I would like to do once this program is over. I will admit that I had some difficulty and often went back and forth. However, after research, and from what I have learned this week, I realized that I would absolutely love to open my own Family Child Care Home. I would like to turn my home into a small school of sorts. I think that i would be very important that I have different cultures represented throughout my center. I would not want only one culture represented as I would never want a child and their family to feel uncomfortable and not welcomed. I would invite the parents to be involved in as much as possible. For example, I would invite them and other family members to be special guests in our classroom regularly. I gained a lot of new ideas by watching the way Adriana ran her own Family Child Care Home. I was really impressed how diversity was displayed throughout her center. I would definitely use some of her techniques in my own, such as having different colored dolls for the children to play with, skin colored bean bags for the children to compare and match to their own skin tone, and having signs and pictures throughout the room in multiple languages (Laureate Education, 2011). I also really liked how she had a special area that allowed each family to share their culture. For example, one family brought in a collage of pictures and a kilt and this would change each month for a different family to share theirs (Laureate Education, 2011). I think that this is a great way to get to know the families in the program and allow everyone to learn more about different cultures. I also think that it would make each child feel special and proud of their family and culture.

As far as materials go, I definitely would want to incorporate persona dolls. I have never worked with these before but I believe that they are a great way to reach children. I would also want to include the usual: books, puzzles, dramatic play, music, movies, and an art area. However, I would ensure that each area is diverse. I would not only want white people, or only able-bodied people, depicted in these materials. I would carefully choose which of these I would allow in my center. In the dramatic play area, I would include numerous options for dressing up by providing the costumes for different occupations and encourage every child to try them on. Bj Richards also shared some good strategies from her own home center. Richards openly discusses others attributes with the children by answering their questions accurately and matter-of-factly (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). This center also focuses on the traditions of every child’s culture and teaches the children to recognize stereotypes (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). I want the environment that I provide to be optimal for each child’s success. I also would want to ensure that the four goals of anti-bias education are met.

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. (pp.32-52). Washington, DC: NAEYC

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Building on children’s strengths. Baltimore, MD: Author