My Connections to Play

There are a couple of quotes that sum up what childhood play represents for me.

“Play is the work of the child.” - Maria Montessori

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” - Joseph Chilton Pearce

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” - Kay Redfield Jamison

 

As a child, I enjoyed playing with my brother and sister a lot, we did a lot of painting and art work; we also spent a lot of time outside riding bicycles in the playground.  My mother always encouraged us to find ways to play together by making up our own games.  My parents introduced us to many activities like sports, playing musical instruments, and arts; they let us decide which one we preferred and encouraged us to explore that activity further. They would also spend a lot of time with us to guide us through our play.

During my childhood, my siblings and I were not allowed to watch TV for too long, instead we were encouraged to spend time playing outside. This allowed us to make friends and engage in physical activities.  I feel that children today prefer playing video games or watch TV rather than spend time running or riding bicycles outside.  It  makes me sad to see children who spend all day watching TV because their parents are too busy to spend some play time with them.

Play is a way for children to develop social skills, and also to have healthy physical and cognitive development. It teaches children to be creative and broadens their imagination.  Children need to run and play to explore their abilities. I believe that children need to be happy to have a healthy development.  

Relationship Reflection

    Relationships and partnerships are important to me because they create support and trust between people.  Everyone needs at least one source of support in order to have the feeling of belonging to society.  Having healthy social relationships enables us to discuss issues we have, assist one another and also learn more about ourselves.   

      One of the positive relationships I have is with my husband;  we have been married for a little more than a year and we have been going through life together. We support each other's ideas and we help each other through tough times.  Because we are both working and studying to improve our lifestyle, I believe that our relationship can also be considered a partnership.      

       Another positive relationship I have is with my parents, they have both been very supportive and always encouraged me to do more with my life.  They have always guided me and helped me make the right decisions. 

     The relationship I have with my colleagues at work is also a positive one.  We spend a lot of time together at work to discuss any challenges we face or to exchange advice and information.        

      Contributing to these positive relationships helped me become a better person and teacher; I have learned a lot from my parents and I have received so much support from them, so I try to give the same kind of support to my students.  Learning to listen to others and understand their ideas or problems helped me become more understanding and flexible while talking to my students' parents.   

When I Think of Child Development...

"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed"
Maria Montessori 

Testing for Intelligence

            Assessing school-age children is very challenging because children need to be in an environment where they feel at ease in order to be assessed accurately.  I believe that children should be assessed at home and at school; that’s why there should be running records in the two different environments.  These records should include notes on physical, cognitive and psychosocial development.  Observers can assess language use and communication, motor skills, social and emotional behavior.  Another useful behavior to assess is the child's ability to adapt to a situation and solve a problem by himself. 

            In Finland, a child's academic and social skills are assessed before being enrolled in a school.  Health tests are also conducted to measure the maturity of a child, particularly at age seven when most children enter primary school.  This test also checks if a child has any learning difficulties.  Children are assessed at school by teachers, a psychologist, a nurse and a social worker; this team work provides the support the students need. 

References

             Marcy Guddemi, Ph.D. Betsy J. Case, Ph. D. , Assessing young children, Assessment Report, Pearson, 2004. Retrieved from http://www.pearsonassessments.com/NR/rdonlyres/FD21F054-A5AD-42AE-9A00-43878827FD76/0/AssessingYoungChildren_Final.pdf

            Eric Clearinghouse, Assessments for Young Children, Assessment and Evaluation, LD Online, 1999. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6040/

            Innovative assessment tools and methods – Finland, European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.european-agency.org/agency-projects/assessment-in-inclusive-settings/assessment-database-of-key-topics/finland/innovative-assessment-tools-and-methods

Racism and Child Development

         Racism has a negative impact on child development; actually, children are aware of their ethnic identity when they are as young as three years old.  Racial discrimination can affect a child's self-esteem, cause depression and even affect brain development.  A study directed on the African American population in the U.S. showed that parents who are exposed to discrimination are less sensitive to their children's needs, cannot provide emotional support, do not discuss ethnic identity with their children and use harsh discipline.  Children need their parents' support to have self-esteem and be able to cope with discrimination.  Nurturing ethnic identity also helps children protect themselves from the negative health consequences of discrimination (About Kids Health, 2012). 

          Another study shows that parents who report racial discrimination have a lower risk of depression and other mental health problems (American Journal of Public Health, 2004).  Parents who take action when exposed to discrimination can cope better and help their children acquire ethnic pride; therefore their children also have a lower risk of mental health problems.

References

Caughy M, O'Campo PJ, & Muntaner C. 2004. Experiences of racism among African American parents and the mental health of their preschool-aged children. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 2118-2124.

Margaret O'Brien Caughy, Patricia J. O'Campo, and Carles Muntaner December 2004.  Experiences of Racism Among African American Parents and the Mental Health of Their Preschool-Aged Children. American Journal of Public Health: Vol. 94, No. 12, pp. 2118-2124.

Access to healthy water

More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes; unhealthy water mostly affects infants and young children.  This topic is very meaningful to me because access to healthy water is the most basic human need, it is a necessity for a healthy life. 780 million people lack access to clean water, mostly in third world countries (World Health Organization, 2008). 

According to UNICEF, lack of clean water leads to diseases and death of more than 1.6 million young children each year. Lack of separate and decent sanitation facilities at schools often forces girls to drop out of primary school; therefore most girls in developing countries are not educated (2003), this affects the future generations.  In Africa, women have to spend several hours each day finding a clean source and transporting heavy containers of water. Without clean water, they cannot grow food, so they cannot stay healthy. Due to the lack of proper health condition, nutrition and education, children cannot develop in a healthy way.

It is sad to see that so many people in Africa don't have access to clean water and suffer from various diseases; the average American uses 176 gallons of water per day compared to 5 gallons of water the average African family uses each day (www.water.org).  Water in third world countries is also much more expensive that water in developed countries; this also decreases the access to clean water in poor families.

Childbirth in my life and around the world

            Last year I attended the birth of my niece, my mother was also there to support my sister and her husband was there as well.  It was a very stressful experience for me because my sister was in labor for around 24 hours.  She was in a lot of pain and the doctor couldn't give her the epidural until her baby was ready to be born.  Her fever went up while she was giving birth and the doctors had to give her antibiotics, which meant that her baby also had to take them.  The doctors had to keep the baby in the ICU for observation for her first 24 hours, this really affected my sister because she needed that time to bond with her baby.  She also had complications because of the epidural, which also had a negative effect on her emotional state.
            Women in Japan traditionally give birth without any painkillers, this is related to the Buddhist perception of suffering.  They are accompanied by their mother; their husband doesn't usually attend the birth, the doctor and a nurse.  According to the Japanese culture, women bring shame to their family if they are loud during labor, so they are expected to be very quiet.  The umbilical cord of the new born is usually kept in a box.  After the birth of their child, new mothers stay at their parents' home where it is a tradition to stay in bed with the baby for 21 days.  
            Compared to births in the US, births in Japan don’t seem that different; however I believe that the husband should be present during the birth of his child to support his wife and to witness what should be the most memorable moment of his life.  Since my sister had complications because of the epidural, I am not sure whether it is a good idea to ask for it.  I think that it is important for the new mother to stay at her parents' home for a few days after giving birth, it gives her a chance to rest and bond with her child; all new mothers need that time to recover and get used to their new life routine.