My Supports

My supports are:

-My family, they all live far away from me but having the ability to call them up for anything is so important to me. If I was not able to keep in connect with my family over phone or email, I feel like apart of me would be lost, that I would not feel as whole. I would be losing my base.

-My boyfriend, he is who I go to with any problem and is my biggest support in Hawaii. I have actually been through a time when he was deployed and all communication was cut off and it was very hard. I had to find new ways to vent, new people to surround myself by, a way to continue my routine without him, which was very difficult. I became a little more independent then I already am during this time.

-My friends, my family doesn’t live in Hawaii and my boyfriend is in the Navy and leaves often but my friends are always here, they have become my new family. If I did not have my friends around I would be depressed, I think I would lose apart of myself.

-My car, I rely on it everyday to get me to and from work and where I need to go. I think life would be different without it and I would have to find new forms of transportation, like the bus but I would still be able to function, it would just be a change. 

-My To Do list, I am a huge writer of do to list and have to be balancing work, school, and everything else. I would most likely forget to do things if I did not have them. I would have to find a new to keep organized, it would be a difficult transition.

-Money, even though I do not like to admit it but I need money. If I did not have money I would lose my apartment, I would not be able to buy food, etc. It is one of those things people can’t live without but if I had to, I would see a giant life change.

-A place to receive some kind of education, something to make me think and challenge myself. School and work provide me with my need to challenge myself. If I did not have that challenge and had no responsibilities I would lose my edge and my drive. I would lose my goals and overall not be the best I could be.

I have two cousins who are in wheelchairs and always wondered how they do it, how they stay positive and do not let them get in their way. So this is the challenge I chose. Supports that I foresee that I would need are; support from my family, boyfriend and friends, I would need someone on my side, someone who cares about who I am not my abilities. I would need to rely on others for transportation, for helping accesses places I couldn’t and to help make my daily routine something I could do on my own (move my clothes, food, and things I need to get ready to where I could reach them, etc). If I did not have people to depend on I do not know how I would function and I would also not be emotional stable. People are what help me get through the hard times. 

My Connections to Play

Quotes:

“When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” 

-Walt Disney

“Before you met me I was a fairy princess

I caught frogs and called them prince 

And made myself a queen

Before you knew me I traveled 'round the world

I slept in castles and fell in love 

Because I was taught to dream”

-Lori McKenna 

Play items:

When I was younger everything was based on my imagination. My mom did home daycare and their was always a lot of kids around. Watching tv was not an option, my mom always encouraged us to go outside and play or make up games to play.

I feel like a lot of things have changed since I was a child. I am 24 years old and I can see a difference. In my preschool class some parents base their parenting on electronics, I have children who get rewarded with i-pods and i-pads. I do not think using your imagination is support as much as it was when I was little, kids have so many toys and so many options, they do not need to use their imaginations to stay entertained. 

When I was little I was content with my princess dress, my bag to put things I collected from outside in and my treehouse. I hope for the future that children are able to be children, that they are able to explore, create and imagine. 

Relationship Reflection

Relationships/Partnerships are so important to me. The people who I have relationships with are the people I depend on. I am 24 years old and moved away from home about 1 1/2 ago and am still making choices about what I want to do with my life and who I want to be. I look to the people around more for guidance and support.

Kathy (my mom)

My mom still lives in Iowa but she is the person I can tell everything to and I know she will support me know matter what. Over the years my mom has changed from the parent figure to more of a friend. To keep our relationship we talk everyday at least once. It can be challenging being so far way from each other but we know that communication is so important to keeping our relationship the way it is. My mom is also a preschool teacher and has been doing it for a while. She helps me through problems I might be having at work and shares new ideas to make me a better teacher.

Andy (my boyfriend)

I have been seriously dating my boyfriend for a little over a year now. He is in the Navy and from Iowa like me. He is the person in Hawaii who I depend on. He is very supportive and a better communicator then I am. For maintaining our relationship we have to be very open with each, communicate and trust each other. Challenges for us our his deployments. He recently got back from a 6 month deployment and trust is very important for maintaining our relationship. We definitely have a partnership. He is the person who is the most supportive in me going back to school and furthering my education. 

Brennan (my roommate)

Brennan has been my friend for over 5 years. She is the person I go on adventures with. We have lived in Italy, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and Japan. We decided to move to Hawaii together and have been roommates sense. Communication is the key to our relationship, it is not always easy being someones great friend and roommate but we make it work. Brennan is also a preschool teacher for the Department of Defense but works at a different school. Having someone going through the same things that I am is really comforting. We are both young teachers at the schools we teach in and its nice to have someone to go through it together with.

Prima (my co-teacher)

Prima is my co-teacher. She has been working at my school for over 20 years and I could not ask for a better person to work with. I call her my mom in Hawaii because she definitely guides me and has helped me grow so much as a teacher and personally. Having a co-teacher can be challenging because you can’t just make discussions for your class you need to work with your partner to come to the discussion. Working that close to someone you see how important teamwork is and how you need to communicate all the time. Prima is a great partner and mentor to have.

When I Think of Child Development …

Quotes of inspiration...

“TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book.”       

-Unknown

"All children behave as well as they are treated."

-Jan Hunt

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression."

-Dr. Haim Ginott

I want to personally thank every one of my colleagues. You make learning fun for me. I love hearing others opinions, you help me to think outside of the box. I wish you the best with EVERYTHING in your future and may you continued to inspire children!

Thanks! Amy Lester

Testing for Intelligence?

Growing up I was in the lower-reading groups, I never did that well on test and I think this followed me for quite some time. I was dyslexic (and probably still am) but I was not tested for it until I was in third grade. I went to the same school k-8 and my grades followed me, I was put in the lower reading group at the beginning of the year and just did not reach my full potential. I thought of myself as not as smart as everyone else. Luckily for me I went to a new high school and had the chance to really learn and did much better in school. Standardized test were horrible for me, it was so much information in such a short amount of time.

I do not think all forms of assessment are bad, I feel like I had a bad situation. I believe that test taking and assessing students helps with their performance it gives them a reason to learn, not all children are self-motivated, some need a little extra push. I hated standardized test but I understand the reason for them. Now I do not agree with children having to take test to get accepted into public schools. In Hawaii some of the school require test for children to get into Kindergarten and I disagree with this. I think everyone deserves a chance to learn at whichever school they want to attend.

Assessments in the China: 

Chinese schools study the same things as American schools do, they just focus more on homework and test taking. “(...) where their school blended a mostly Western elementary school curriculum with the emphasis on discipline and testing that typifies Asian educational styles. In Asia, such a march of tests for young children was regarded as normal, and not evil or particularly anxiety provoking” (Rosenthal, 2010). In China they focus more on the test results and less on the student.

I think our society needs to remember that we teach for the children and not for the test results.

Rosenthal, E. (2010) Testing, the Chinese Way. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/weekinreview/12rosenthal.html.

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Muscular dystrophy is a disorder that weakens muscles and creates the loss of muscle, as the person gets old the condition worsens.

When I was four years old my family found out that my cousin who was just one year older than me had this disease. No one in my family really knew what it was or what caused it. Well over the next two years I saw my cousin be put into a wheelchair and lose his ability to use his arms and legs. At the same time my cousins condition was worsening my aunt and uncle found out they were pregnant with another child. When my new cousin was born he was also born with muscular dystrophy. His condition was worse than my other cousins from the start because he was born with it. It took awhile for my family to get used to the new routine, having two family members in wheelchairs and all the extra help that they would need but both of my cousins have incredible personalities and outlooks on life. My family quickly turned to MDA, Muscular Dystrophy Association for information and support. I know my cousins and their parents attended summer camps to help them cope with the disease.

MD in Japan:

Japan, has an organization similar to MDA, the Japan Muscular Dystrophy Association Corporation.  JMDA’s goals are to “Accumulates information on muscular dystrophies available to educate and enlight the disease to patients, their families and public.” They also want to , “Helps patients to adapt to their daily life and to improve their quality of life.” Lastly they try and “Promotes research into muscular dystrophy.”

Japan Muscular Dystrophy Association. Retrieved from http://www.jmda.or.jp

Child Development and Public Health

I remember when I was young, probably around 10 years old, I found out that my mom’s friends baby died. I remember her telling me the baby died of SIDS. At the time I did not understand but as I have grown up I have become a lot more interested in SIDS and feel as though I should educate myself on the topic because I do work in a Child Development center with infants.

When looking at how SIDS affects people from all around the world I found some interesting information from New Zealand. New Zealand used to have the highest crib rate death in the world, but new information has come out to change that. In 1994 a new campaign for wrapping infants’ mattresses came out. Researchers said the fire-retardant mattresses had harmful chemicals for infants in them, so they started wrapping them. Since these findings came out the number of deaths has significantly went down. They have also changed to having babies sleep on their backs as well, along with other forms of prevention.

The information and my findings on SIDS I have learned this week have helped me grow as an educator. This is syndrome that affects children in one of the age groups I want to directly work with. In order for me to be a successful care provider I believe that knowledge on medical issues, like SIDS, are vital to my job.

Websites referenced: www.preventsids.org and www.healthychild.com