Sharing Web Resources

ACEI    http://www.acei.org/

The Association for Childhood Education International is an organization that is geared towards implementing works globally for students and educators. This program is geared towards promoting the best optimal education to children across the world. All children are deserving of a quality education, even if resources are limited. This group seeks to provide educators with the necessary materials needed to make an educational leap with their students. "ACEI's tagline is "Bright futures for every child, every nation," which highlights ACEI's commitment to support and advocate for access to education, equity in educational settings, quality educational content, and the child's right to education. (- See more at: http://acei.org/about-acei#sthash.cmAsdGfN.dpuf) Despite living conditions, economical downfalls, or even cultural variations, this program fights to ensure that education is top priority along with social change.

A recent issue that has been discussed by this organization is gender disparity in education. The countries that display the highest prevalence of these disparities are in the Arab States, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. It is said that twice as many girls as boys will never attend primary school. Due to cultural norms and fear of violence or retaliation, most girls often shy away from education for safety. If girls would be afforded the same educational opportunities, the impact and socio-economical changes would drastically move in a positive direction.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nigeria.html

ABUJA Country Office	Mail address		United Nations Children's Fund UN House, Plot 617/618 Central Area District, Diplomatic Zone PMB 2851, Garki, Abuja FCT, Nigeria
	Visitors' address		See Mail Address
	Telephone		Country code	234
			City code	9
				461.8600 461.8505
	Facsimile		461.8578
	Email		abuja@unicef.org

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/rwanda.html

KIGALI Country Office	Mail address		UNICEF B.P. 381 Kigali, Rwanda
	Visitors' address		UNICEF Immeuble EBENIZER Boulevard de l'Umuganda, Kacyiru Kigali, Rwanda
	Telephone		Country code	250
			City code	-
				78816 2700 - Switchboard
	Facsimile		+250788162810
	Email		kigali@unicef.org

I have decided to make my two international contacts in Nigeria and Rwanda. I am excited to see how these two countries embrace early childhood education and what methods they use to progress in the field. I am excited to establish a relationship with the individuals in these regions of the world and make connections to open them up to our methods of teaching. I plan to correspond with these countries via email and learn as much as possible.

http://acei.org/

Association for Childhood Education International is the site that I am going to explore through the duration of this course. I have joined their email list to be able to receive the most current updates about what they have going on in their organization.

My Supports

The greatest supports that I have are my friends and family. These people assist me when I am hurt, sad, confused, seeking answers, or just in need of conversation. My family includes my husband, mother, father, grandfather, daughter, aunts, and cousins. They are the primary people in my life and contribute greatly to the person that I am today. These supports are compassionate and just provide an always listening ear. If I had to go through my life without them, I really do not know what I would do. I need them and look to them for encouragement and they make life a lot easier. If I am sick, they cater to me, and even if I find a particular task too challenging they are there to coach me through it. My life is centered around my family and friends because they are all I have. Jobs may change, addresses change, and even personal interests change but one thing that is always consistent is family and good friends.

I currently do not have a challenge with parenting and caring for my daughter. In the event that I fell ill or was injured in an accident that placed me in an disabled condition, the use of supports would be tremendous. I would need my husband to assist me with physical aspects and help with providing for my daughter. Since he would still have to work, I would also require the support of my family. I would need them to assist me with getting to appointments, help me with my daughter when my husband is working, and also to assist me with emotional effects of the drastic change in my life. The benefits of my supports would be enormous and provide me with a great deal of comfort.

My Connections to Play

Those two quotes are representations of what play meant to me during childhood. I was primarily outside and did not consider play an "in house" activity. I was always disappointed when it was a rainy day and I could not go outside. Technology was not as advanced as it is now and the activities that I participated in are very different from what children now engage in.
As a child, these were my favorite toys: easy bake oven, bop it, and skip it.



My family supported healthy play heavily as I was a child because they encouraged outdoor activity and did not promote watching television all day. We were allow to go outside and explore by riding our bikes, or playing hide and seek, and me and my cousins would constantly take trips to the park. We constantly participated in sports such as basketball, baton twirling, softball, etc. Those sports also promoted play because they helped to build relationships with other peers and engage in an active activity.

Play is definitely different now than it was when I was growing up. Children are now so consumed with video games, watching television, and computers, and could care less about getting fresh air. There are only brief moments now that children actually get to actually go outside and be a kid. Play was an essential role in my life and helped me with socialization, emotional regulation, and engaging with other children. I know that these developments were not only healthy in my childhood but also promotes the same engagements for children in this generation.

Relationship Reflection

The relationships that are most meaningful in my life consist of : my daughter, my husband, my family, and my friend. These relationships require active communication, listening, empathy, and devotion. All of them are equally important and play a drastic role in my day to day life.

My daughter (Kenzi) has the greatest meaningful relationship to me. She is my mini me! Everything that I do she mimics and takes pride in what I teach her on a daily basis. I actively communicate with and I am sure to be a great listener! She is full of questions and exploring the "newness" of the world. It is not difficult to maintain our relationship and I have not come across any challenges yet BUT I know when she hits that pre-teen/teenager stage I have my work cut out for me.

My second most meaningful relationships is with my husband and my family. My husband and my family are the most essential voices of reason in my life. They always have a listening ear and keep me grounded. These relationships require my active participation and for me to be a great listener and confidant. They always give me positive feedback and assist me with my day to day necessities. I also provide the same support to them.

 

Last but not least my relationship with my friends. These are the relationships that require the most maintenance to me. Me and my friends are so alike and so different that it makes our relationship very interesting, lol. I love my best friends and they have been of great support to me through the time that I have known them. I also believe that I provide the same support and positive reinforcement.

 

My relationships with the people in my lives will have a positive impact on my relationship in my career. I think that my relationships have taught me how to be a great listener and that is essential in Early Childhood Education. My relationships have also taught me how to communicate effectively and provide a positive atmosphere.

When I Think of Child Development

Holistic View of Children

I think that when looking and assessing a child in a holistic view, various topics should be looked at thoroughly.  Their reading skills should be looked at along with, vocabulary, mathematics, spelling, writing, and even their social traits. I think that looking at children as a whole tell the entire story of them and their learning scheme instead of just looking at one particular trait or feature. Children are complex and show off their talents in various forms and should be treated as though they are more than just one sided and objective. I think that children have capabilities that are often overlooked and assessments may often be confusing for children. Some have test taking anxiety and others may just be confused by the questioning. It is important that assessments are children friendly so that they are able to complete the task to the best of their abilities. I think that assessments should also incorporate questions pertaining to the child's personality. Personality plays a major role in the learning style of children and should be used to assist the teacher while in the classroom.

In Singapore, they are using a more holistic view with education and are focusing less on "content knowledge" and more on information processing. The teachers are given the opportunity to encourage creativity in their classrooms. They are also able to use the syllabus to in their own way to cover all of the material for the school term. They have structured their classes to incorporate learning in a nature environment and also to let the children prompt the learning focuses throughout the semester. They are still highly ranked in their testing as a result and the children are embracing the learning style.

Lim, R. (2012). Singapore wants creativity not cramming. BBC News. Retrieved from
                    http://www.bbc.com/news/business-17891211