Research Around the World

Sleeping and night waking was one of the current international research topics that I ran across on the Early Childhood Australia webpage that I found pretty interesting to read more about. According to the Early Childhood Australia webpage night waking and settling are common issues among young children. Night waking can affect children from six months to four years of age. It is important to point out that waking at night is normal for the very young; it is only if this pattern continues into middle childhood that it can be a sign that there may be some issues. 

The website points out that having a relaxing ritual at bedtime is very important when putting children to sleep. The website encourages parents to read bedtime stories or sing songs or even play some soft quiet music to encourage sleep instead of playing games or letting them watch television or screens right before bed because it usually results in over-excitement. 

Early Childhood Australia (ECA) has been a voice for young children since 1938. They are the peak early childhood advocacy organization, acting in the interests of young children, their families and those in the early childhood field. ECA advocates to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children aged birth to eight years. 

References:
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories **Option 2**

If I had the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field without any limitations or restrictions I think I would have to do some research on the personalities of the parents or legal guardians and how does it affect the personalities or behavior of the children so I guess my question or hypothesis would be: "Does the behavior or attitude of the parents or legal guardian play an important role in the behavior of the child(ren) and their attitude?"

Being that I have worked in several different settings of early childhood education I have come across numerous children and they have all had different types of attitudes, personalities and different behavior concerns. When working with children that are more mature than peers of the same age group I tend to wonder what their parents are teaching them or rather who they are watching at home to pick up on a certain behavior or attitude. I remember growing up and wanting to do some of the things that my friends were doing but my mom may have not necessarily cared for the way I was acting and she would always say, "Don't do what your friends are doing because they are going to get you in trouble; or she would say you need to find a different group of friends to hang with." 

The purpose of the research study would be to simply show parents how they act around and towards their children have an effect on how their children act in school or interact with others away from home. The research will present many positive contributions to the children and their families especially the families where the child was experiencing a lot of behavior issues; hopefully, the research can bring awareness to the parents and legal guardians to watch the language that is being used around the child and the behavior or attitude that is being portrayed in front of the children as they are nothing but sponges soaking up every new thing that they see and what they assume to be normal behavior. 

Physical Development in the Early Childhood Education Field

The topic that I have chosen for the simulation in this course is physical development which is such a great and important developmental milestone. The major and most important physical and gross motor skill that a child will learn is learning how to walk and walking up stairs with alternating feet, usually when children first start walking up stairs they will place both feet on the stair before proceeding to the next step to ensure that they will not fall. Usually what happens when it is time to go back down the stairs the child becomes confused or scared and will usually cry for someone to pick them up or some children just turn around and scoot down the stairs backwards.

The reason why I chose this topic is because in the past I have worked with many children that have physical disabilities or gross motor skills that have taken some time to develop and I am always interested in learning new facts and different ways to keep those children involved with the classroom without singling them out. 

The insights that I have gained so far by starting on some research on this paper is that not only at age 3 and 4 do children learn how to climb/walk stairs but they also gain some better upward body mobility which means that they are able to catch and throw things better with better speed and accuracy. I also learned that at this age and developmental period it is good for children to learn how to ride a bike because they are able to peddle and steer a tricycle. 

I am looking forward to reading everyone's simulation/research paper about their different topics that interest each one of you all. If you ever come across any information on  physical development and gross motor skills feel free to send the info to me via my blog with the URL.

Good Luck Everyone!

My Supports

When I hear the word support I think of numerous definitions. Support means to bear or hold up; serve as a foundation for, to sustain or withstand without giving way; serve as a prop for, to undergo or endure, especially with patience or submission; tolerate, or to sustain under trial or affliction, to maintain by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for, to uphold by aid, countenance, one's vote, etc.; back; second, to maintain or advocate. 

There are numerous things that I come in contact with that support me whether it be family or things around the house that support me.

My study room supports me in helping me remember what my goals are for my life. Here in my study room I have a vision board that have different clippings or images and scriptures about the things that I want to do and the direction I want my life to go. It also has a calendar posted that have due dates listed everywhere to help keep me on track with my assignments and tests.

My grandma and godmom are a part of my emotional and financial supports. My grandmother makes sure that I am financially ok and that everything that I need is taken care of. My godmother is very emotionally supportive - she makes sure that she is always there for me whenever I may need her to listen or to just give me advice. 

Church and prayer is a part of my spiritual support. I was brought up in a church going family so therefore I do believe in God and everything about Him. When I attend church on Sundays I feel so much better about starting the upcoming week I also feel 100% refreshed and relaxed. Whenever I run into trouble that my god mom or grandmother cannot fix I always turn to God and prayer and He will see me through whatever the situation may be. 

My supports are a big deal to me and I absolutely wouldn't know what to do if they were gone. The benefits of my supports are that they help keep me sane and not to stress out about things that are not of major importance. It would be very difficult for me to go on in life without my grandma and godmother but I am sure that I would learn how to cope and to go on in life without them because that is what they would want me to do. I definitely couldn't go on without my God- that's just silliness.

My Connections to Play

"Play is our brain's favorite way of 

learning - Diane Ackerman"

"When children pretend, they're using

 their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero. -Fred Rogers"

When I was a child play was highly encouraged. Whenever all of my cousins and other family members were over to the house the kids already knew that we couldn't stay in the house we were always told to go outside and play with the other children and to be back before dinner time or sometimes we would just go into the backyard and play. From what I can remember play was always a part of my education life, personal life and all other aspects of my life when growing up. 

Play is definitely different today then how it was when I was growing up - when growing up most of our play took place outside at the park, in the backyard or on the front porch with children from the neighborhood or family members. Children today consider play to be playing with their iPad/iPod/iPhone, Playstation 4, Wii or WiiU, Xbox or spending time surfing the internet. As a child I had no idea what a cellphone was or any of the gaming systems that are out now - children today do not understand the quality of playing outside instead they want to consume their time with technology - I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of children do not know how to ride a bike, play hopscotch, hide and seek, double dutch/jump-rope and other fun outside games.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are very important to me and to everyday life. A relationship is a connection, association or involvement with others that you care about and that care for you as well or it could be a professional relationship where you guys work solely with the business to become successful.

I have more than several positive relationships currently in my life:

1. My grandmother MeMe
2. My god mother Yolanda
3. My uncle GG
4. My close girl friends Destini and Ashley

My grandmother is my heart there is not a thing that I wouldn't do for her because she has done so much for me and she is still there whenever I need her help financially or just some advice for things that are going on in my life. My grandmother is loving and she motivates me to accomplish all of my dreams no matter the amount of time that it will take because the time will pass anyway. My grandmother loves me unconditionally.

My god mother is the bomb dot com. Yolanda is so sweet and near to my heart, I can come to her about any and everything and she will listen to me and give her own personal opinion - she is very honest with me she doesn't just tell me things that she thinks I want to hear but the things that I NEED to hear and most importantly she never judges me based on the things that I have done or the mistakes that I may have made. She is my spiritual queen and we can always relate on things that may be going on in our lives. I just love her to pieces.

My uncle GG is a great man. He has always been there for me since I was born - he is like my dad. He is not really the lovey dovey mushy type he is the type where he just wants to fix the issue so if I am sad he wants to know what the problem is and what he can do to fix it. He is funny and playful so whenever he is around its all laughs and good times.

My close friends Destini and Ashley are awesome! They are my sisters day in and day out - even though we don't talk everyday or see each other as often as we used to I know that we are all here for each other whenever one of us is in need of advice or anything. I have been knowing these lovely ladies for the past 10 years and they have never done anything to betray my trust and love. I love them! 

Destini and I                                                                           Ashley and I

I value all of the close and positive relationships that I have with the people that were named above and I love them all very much and glad that they are in my life.

Final Blog - Consequences of learning about International Early Childhood Field

1st Consequence
There were many consequences that was present throughout this course that I learned about while researching different topics relating to the early childhood field in different countries. For one, there is always going to be big differences in different countries versus the United States, the way that their children are taught may be weird to us and they can think the same way about us as well. Quality is always going to be a concern when selecting appropriate daycare/learning centers for our children or for others.

2nd Consequence
Equity. Equity is a huge issue that needs to be addressed and resolved really quickly before it gets terribly out of hand. Every child and teacher or I should just say every individual should be treated with equal respect and courtesy as others. A child should not have to suffer inequity just because they are of a different race or because of what their culture, religion or political stance may be. A female teacher should not be held to different standards just because she is a female versus a male.

3rd Consequence
Poverty. Poverty is going to forever be a big issue world wide no matter what city, state or country you are in. It is very sad to see children that come from poverty in school not getting the correct nourishment, supplies or support that they may need to become a successful person in life and not repeat the cycle of being basically poor and living from shelter to shelter or low-income neighborhoods.

Goal
My main goal in life is to be an inspiration to everyone that I cross paths with. I want to also create my own non-profit organization that will assist in helping families of low-income with find proper housing, making sure that their children have all of their health related issues under control, find a proper job for the parents and help with any other resources that the family may need. I just want to continue to do what God has called me to do and that is to be an assistance and inspiration to parents and children around the world or just around my community.