Professional Hopes and Goals

Professional Hopes and Goals

This course may be over but the lessons never are.  The lessons we have learned will be taken out into the world and understanding and social justice will be continued on through our work.  We are the examples and we must spread the word to others. 

One hope that I have for all children and families that come into my care is that they feel safe, welcome, and valued.  I also hope that we will all learn from each other.  I never want anyone to feel left out or unvalued.

The goal that I set for the early childhood field is that all children are taught to respect other for their differences.  It is also important that the children will take the opportunity to learn from each other.  If a seed of understanding and compassion can be planted in one child then our work will continue. 

Colleagues and friends- I want to thank you for all your support through this class.  I feel that we have grown together, cried with each other, and supported on another through the tough times.  Only through this type of bond could we bare our hearts without fear of ridicule.  

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My new family is arriving from Russia and will be starting school next week.   In order to prepare for their arrival I have done some research.  I will try to make this transition as easy as possible.  I hope that through preparation and research the family will feel more comfortable and that they fit in with the school setting.  I have listed five ways that I will prepare.

First-I have labeled items in the classroom in their home language.  This will help them to find the items and rooms that they need.  This way the family can teach us new words while they are learning new words.

Second- I would plan a “share your culture” day.  All the families could participate in this so no one feels put on the spot.  I would also ask if they would like to come and share something from their culture.

Third- find out who in the family I should consult in education and health matters.  I want to make sure that I don’t offend the family by speaking to the wrong family member. 

Fourth- find out what experience they have had with public education.  If they have had little experience with public schooling develop a plan to slowly introduce them to the process.

Fifth- develop a plan to address issues of differences and avoid discrimination behaviors.

You can't have money because .....

One experience that I remember experiencing prejudice was when I first started college after high school.  I was registering for financial aid and waiting for the results.  I met with the financial aid officer and she told me that I did not qualify for much in the way of financial help.  She told me it was because I was white.  She said if I came back and was Native American, Black, or Hispanic she could help me. 

I was completely floored.  I could not believe that she just came right out and said that.  I know many people thought like that but never would say it out loud.  She was say that because I was white I did not need any help financially for school.  My parents had two children in college and one more on the way.  My parents were both teachers, we had no money.   I was upset and depressed because I would not be able to attend college at that time.  I was stuck in a minimum wage food service job that did not pay enough for me to even attend the community college. 

In this situation the financial aid system needs to change.  The need for help should be based not on race but on an individual needs assessment.  We fill them out every year, it is called the FASFA.  The financial aid system needs to look more closely at your ability to pay for school.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

My Horrible Mistake 

I choose an example that happened to me just this week.  My class was working on a cornucopia for Thanksgiving.  We were discussing the different fruits and vegetables that were in the basket.  Without thinking I asked one of my Hispanic students about the hard green bananas that they sold at Food City (a grocery store that caters to Hispanic cooking supplies).  I assumed that since he was Hispanic that he would know what I was talking about.  This is an assumption that I have to get rid of.  I am quite embarrassed by my behavior. 

The second example was from when I was in high school.  I lived in New Mexico on the boarder of the Navajo reservation.  The reservation schools would recruit student teachers from back east.  They would stay in the dorms with the students and have meals with them.  The student teachers statements when they came were that they were “going to save the Navajos”.  I am not sure what they were going to save them from but this was their attitude.  The unstated message was that the Navajos were unable to care for themselves and that they were uncivilized and educationally deprived.  This was so far from the truth.  The students were the ones that were hurt the most.  They had to correct the perceptions about them that these teachers came with.  The students were actually the teacher in this situation.

In taking this course, watching the videos and reading through the materials I have seen how hurtful these unintended comments are.  Most of the perceptions that we have about people are completely wrong. 

Culture and Diversity

Culture and Diversity

Culture-

Defining culture was not an easy task.  I asked many people their definition of what culture meant to them.  They all looked at me and thought it was going to be an easy task.  They found it to be as difficult as I did.  I always thought culture to be your ethnicity and the country you were from.  I am finding it is not as simple as that.

I asked my best friend and longtime colleague what culture was to her.  She immigrated to the US when she was a child from Mexico.  Her idea of culture is acknowledging your race and traditions, looking at your family values and morals.  It is also where your ancestors came from.

My mother’s idea of culture is the accumulation and development of beliefs.   Culture also encompasses a specific group’s heritage and history.

My father had a different idea of culture.  He said culture is anything you want it to be.  I thought this was a sarcastic definition, but as I have been reading and watching the videos I am finding this to more true than not. 

In reviewing my parent’s definitions and ideas of what culture encompasses I do not see my definition of culture before I started this course.  I gathered my ideas from my family but also from friends and coworkers. 

Diversity-

The definition of diversity came a little easier to most people.  I always thought of diversity meaning differences.

My friend Elida said diversity was being able to understand every culture, knowing their background knowledge.

My mother’s definition was variety amongst a common group of people.

My father’s definition was variety among others.

In looking at my parent’s ideas of diversity I can see where I got my definition for diversity.  We lived in a fairly diverse population as a child in regards to ethnicity and religion.

The parts of culture that were included in the answers I got were surface answers.   The definitions were very clinical.  The parts of culture that were not included were the parts of deep culture.  Specific parts of culture were not mentioned.    

If my family were to have to pick up and move to another country it would be a very traumatic experience.  The thought that we would not be able to go back to our home is hard to imagine.  I can only imagine the stress that families have to deal with in this situation.  The three items that I would grab are my study Bible, notepad, and click pen.  I grabbed my study Bible for guidance and hope.  I grabbed my notepad and pen to write down all my experiences and feelings.  I would also use the paper to write down phrases of the new language that are going to be important to the survival of my family. 

Now that we are in the new country we will try to set up our new life.  At this time we are scarred and confused by the new culture and expectations.  We have just been told that we have to leave two of the items we brought from our homeland.  I am confused as to the change in expectations.  I am frustrated and feel deprived.  I don’t understand why this is happening and just want to go back home.  I know that is no longer possible, so I am just going to have to make do and adjust.

          While thinking about my responses to this assignment many ideas and feeling came to my mind.  I learned that there were few items that came to my mind when thinking of the items I would take.  The items that I chose were items that I feel would be most useful to me.  My Bible is the one item that I would not want to live without. 

When I think about research......

Throughout this course I have learned many things.  I have had misconception cleared up.  One insight I gained from this course was that there are many considerations when setting up a research project.  A person cannot just walk in and start a research project.  One must have a well detailed and thought out plan before starting.   I also gained a new set of vocabulary terms.  The research process is less confusing once you have a handle on the terminology. 

During this course my ideas about doing research have changed in that I realized how detailed a plan a researcher must have in order to complete the research project they are working on.

One misconception that was cleared up for me was that there are many types of research designs.  I also learned that you don’t have to use just one type of design either but can used a mixture of methods.  I do believe that without the large amounts of research that have been done in early childhood that our education system would not be as advanced as it is today. We have dedicated research professionals to thank for that.

Some of the challenges that I encountered during this course were learning the vocabulary words and making sense of them.  A challenge for me was also being able to distinguish between the types of designs, qualitative versus quantitative.  Using the research chart was a huge benefit to learning and understanding the vocabulary and other concepts needed. 

My perceptions of early childhood professionals have not changed due to this course.  My perceptions of researchers have changed.  I now have a greater appreciation of the work they do.  I now realize how much thought, planning, and dedication it takes to complete the work they do.  

Research in Africa

The web site that I choose to look at was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Saharan Africa site.  I started to look at some of the research papers that had been done by the students of this university.  Some of the topics I found to be interesting were the development and delivery of nutrition training programs for homes that care for motherless babies.  They are trying to improve the nutritional care these children are receiving.  I also found a paper on involving the fathers in early childhood care and development.

The thing that surprised me the most when reviewing the site was the amount of research that is being done through this university.  The topics were not “fluffy” topics but ideas that will change the course of childcare and early childhood development throughout Africa.  The research could then be taken and adapted to other nations as well.  I noticed a few papers that dealt with leadership and curriculum development as well.  I am curious to see if they are starting from the beginning with the curriculum or if they are adapting one that is already set in place.  Another interesting insight that I found was the amount of research done on orphan children.  I know that there is a large orphan population due to HIV/AIDS and other health issues.  I am happy to see that they are not just dismissing this as just a part of life but are trying to help these children to become healthy and adjusted adults.

References:

Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Saharan Africa (2011). Final Major Projects and Theses.  Retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php

Research with Homeless and Transient Familes

Research with Homeless and Transient Families

Topic:

The topic I would choose would be academic achievement on homeless and transient families.  It has been shown that children living in poverty situations have lower academic achievement.  My research would include traveling among them to see where intervention could be implemented to help them in later academic situations. 

Positive Contributions:

The positive contributions that could be made by this research would be to improve the academic abilities of children whose families are homeless or transient.  This could reduce or even eliminate some of the guilt felt by parents who can do little to change their situation.  This would give their children a better start to life.

Rational:

Providing children with early interventions would help them have higher academic skills in school.  Living with people gives you a great insight into their thoughts and ways of life.  I would be able to find where the families get resources that they need such as shelter, food, and medical care.  Finding what resources they use on a regular basis and being able to implement early interventions would help all involved.  

Research simulation

For my research simulation I have chosen to research the effects of attending preschool on Autistic children.  I have a heart for working with children who have autism.   The struggles that they and their families deal with on a daily basis are more than I can comprehend.  I am interested in learning if attending preschool will help the social and language skills of autistic children.  Autistic children are often social outcasts and have difficulties with language and speech skills.  In my opinion autistic children being around peers with normal speech skills may help them pick up the language faster.  I believe autistic children being immersed in a social setting with other peers will help to increase their socialization and help them to feel less isolated.  I believe this experience will also help general education students with being more sensitive towards others. 

If anyone has any ideas or personal contacts that may assist in the research process I would be interested in browsing through them.

International consequences

As I come to the end of another course I reflect on the intended and unintended consequences of the relationships between professionals in the international early childhood field and us.  I have listed three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field.  One intentional consequence would be to learn that we are all dealing with some of the same issues; poverty, lack of resources, and Multilanguage learners.  Another consequence would be to learn about the struggles that international programs deal with on a daily basis that we take for granite.  Issues such as clean water and schools in close proximity.  A positive consequence is that we, as professionals, can share ideas back and forth.  We can gain new insight to an old idea, get feed back on things that have be tried and worked or not.

A goal for international awareness of the early childhood program would be to let people know that education is important and collaboration between professionals is important and necessary.  The other issue that I would like Americans to be aware of is the lack of resources such as clean running water, sanitation, and safe schools in other countries.

I want to thank all my classmates that have shared the information and contacts with me.  It has been a blessing.

Getting to know Roma

For this weeks assignment I went back to articles on the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education that was held in Moscow.  While reading through the articles there were a couple of items that caught my attention.  The first was the cost of good quality childcare is estimated at $7,600 to $22, 000 a year for one child (UNESCO, 2011).  For many families that is their entire paycheck for the year

The second issue that I found not only interesting but also appalling was on the Roma, an ethnic minority group in Europe.  More than 50% of Roma children fail to complete primary education in Europe (UNESCO, 2011).    Roma have the largest risk in Europe of being poor, uneducated and unemployed.  Reading this prompted me to do some investigation on the Roma people.  I was able to find out through Amnesty International, that often the Roma people are denied more than just education but housing, citizenship in some countries, healthcare, and employment.  They are subjected to violence and horrible discrimination.  Roma children are often placed in “special schools” the schools that house the children with mental disabilities.  In some communities the special schools population is 99% Roma children.  

The third issue was a statement that I found to be extremely true.  The denial of education nurtures social tensions was a statement that made me think (UNESCO, 2011).   If all people were allowed access to the same education would the world be a less violent place?  Social tension is caused by many reasons but the tension between the “haves and have-nots” is noticeable.  Those who can afford the best of education starting from birth on do much better in school and some get better jobs because of their education.  This is not something new.  Families that are fighting just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table are not able to afford the highest quality of school.  But if high quality education was available to everyone regardless of income then maybe we could close the achievement gap, lower tension and stress, and find world peace (just hopeful). 

Reference:

Amnesty International. Europe’s Roma Community Still Facing Massive Discrimination. Retrieved August 12, 2011, from http://www.amnesty.org

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Education-Early Childhood Care and Education. Retrieved August 11, 2011, from http://www.unesco.org

Sharing Web Resources

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I originally wanted to follow, http://www.ndafonline.bravehost.com, has not updated any of their information since 2010.  I decided to check into some other sites.  One that I looked at was http://www.ecc.org.nz -Early Childhood Council-New Zeland.  In looking at this website one of the articles caught my eye, “Information on managing measles outbreaks this year”.  I was intrigued because measles is not something you hear about often anymore.  I was having a discussion with a co-worker who was considering not vaccinating her child because she did not believe this was a threat anymore. This article discusses the need for vaccinations and symptoms of measles.  It also gives childcare facilities information on how to handle a possible outbreak (Early Childhood Council, 2011). Another article I found that related to our topics was “Govt should not use earthquake as excuse”.  The basic theme was that the government is trying to use the earthquake, March 2011; they had to cut funding for early childhood programs.  The programs have already endured many cuts and families have had to endure a raise in fees for early childhood, reduction in teachers causing higher child to teacher ratios.  The money that would be invested in early childhood programs provides support for families.  Employers are able to hire people who would not other wise be able to work due to daycare issues (ECC, 2011). 

The second website that I checked out was Autism Speaks Phoenix.  I have a heart for children with Autism.  Autism is a devastating disease that has no known cause and no cure.  Every child who has autism has a different form; there are no 2 children who have the same exact form.  In researching on their website I found that early intervention services are state specific and only apply to legal residence.  Children with Autism do fall under the special education realm and services are to be provided without cost to the families.  There are many services children with Autism need and it can be quite costly to the families.  From ages 3 and up services are provided through the public school setting.

Reading throughout these articles I realize that all over the world educators are fighting for high quality education and equity.  Equity I believe is that early childhood deserves and needs the same respect and consideration as other grade levels.  In some respects they deserve more because with a high quality early education the rest comes a little easier.  Early childhood education to many is babies laying on the floor and cooing at themselves in a mirror.  That babies and young children are not capable of learning but that is not true. As professionals we have to let the world know there is more to a young child’s academic capacity and it needs to be feed and fostered. 

Reference:

Autism Speaks. Preschool. Retrieved August 6, 2011, from http://www.autismspeaks.org.

Early Childhood Council.  Govt Should Not Use Earthquake as Excuse. Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.ecc.org.nz

Early Childhood Council. Information on managing measles outbreaks this year.  Retrieved August 4, 2011, from http://www.ecc.org.nz

Getting to know your international contacts 2

Center on the Developing Child-Harvard University

Global gathering in Moscow Put Spotlight on Early Childhood Issues

            In 2000 world governments set a goal for the year 2015, in this goal three issues were presented. 

1.    To end extreme poverty and hunger

2.    All children would receive at least a primary education

3.    To reduce mortality rates by two thirds.

We are very close to the year 2015, and some progress has been made but there is still a long way to go.  I look at the first goal to end extreme poverty and hunger.  Today there is a higher poverty rate than in 2000.  In reading goal number two I have to wonder if “all children” means the financially well off, average intelligence, and no physical disabilities’ or if any child regardless of sex, ability, race, culture, religion, and disability are going to get a primary education.     

Another interesting fact I read about from the Global gathering in Moscow was that only one half of the world’s governments have formal policies or coordination mechanism in place related to Early Childhood Development.  “According to a UNICEF report in 2006, more than 30 governments had established national early childhood development policies, and over 70 countries had some type of national commission to coordinate such programs across ministries and sectors.” (Center on the Developing Child)

World Forum Foundation

World Forum Foundation Video-by Tori Hogan

Early Childhood professionals get together every two years to exchange ideas and learn from each other.  Over 80 countries gather to discuss issues relating to children and families and the issues impacting delivery of services.  As one professional, Sue Sterling-Aboriginal Supported Child Development from Canada stated “We are all equal, people with limited education working and leaning alongside people with PHD’s.”

Mental Health-this is an area that is severely under addressed.  Mental health is just as important to the welfare of a child as anything.

Harvard is launching a project to study mental health services.  They are to address the gaps in knowledge and services available.  They are working in three main areas:

1.    In China they will be assessing mental health services for children

2.    In Rwanda they will be looking at family-bases strategies to prevent mental health issues in children affected by HIV/AIDS.

3.    In Barbados, Republic of Trinidad, and Tobago, and Suriname the team will be addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes (Center on the Developing Child).

Reference:

Center on the Developing Child-Harvard University. Global gathering in Moscow Put Spotlight on Early Childhood Issues. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Center on the Developing Child-Harvard University. Global Children’s Initiative: Activities.  Retrieved July 30, 2011, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

World Forum Foundation Video.  World Forum Foundation. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from http://worldforumfoundation.org

Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.

Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc.- http://www.cplc.org/

The information that seemed relevant to my professional development was this organization was helping to provide much needed resources to community members who had no other outlet.  Their initial focus was to create jobs in their deteriorating community.  They soon realized there was a much greater need.

CPLC focuses their efforts on:

• Economic Development:  The economic development division provides business lending, commercial development, neighborhood revitalization, and financial empowerment.

• Education:  Our education priority focus encompasses programs such as Head Start, charter schools, prevention, leadership workshops and academic enrichment programs.

• Community Development (Housing):  The housing component encompasses all types of housing development, property management, client counseling, and other pertinent services.

• Social Services:  Our social service programs include behavioral health, domestic violence shelter and prevention, emergency assistance, elder services, legal immigration counseling, HIV, individual and family counseling, women’s health, employment training and drug and alcohol rehabilitation and prevention (CPLC, 2011)

The statement on the website I found interesting and had to do a double think on was their support in the area of migrant workers families.   “CPLC’s Arizona Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Program is dedicated to providing Head Start services to migrant and seasonal farmworker children ages 0-5 and their families. The program is funded to serve a total of 752 children and families at nine centers located across Arizona” (CPLC, 2011).  Migrant families are very transient and the Head Start programs give the children a stable environment with caring adults and nutritional meals.  Arizona fields depend on the work of migrant farmers, politicians welcome the support to the families so they can work longer hours for the community.  Migrant housing is also an area politician’s support.

The organization is involved in many areas of life.  They are investing time in economics by improving communities in which families live in.  CPLC is focused on creating a foundation for a healthy and vibrant community for families to live in.  They want to provide economic opportunities and promote sustainability in it community through jobs and businesses.  With a vibrant community members are able to take control of their life and hopefully become and stay financially stable. 

A wonderful service CPLC provided is parent education and support.  The service Parenting Arizona is helping to prevent child abuse and neglect through parent education (CPLC, 2011).  They provide in-home family support as well as community based parent education.    The staff is bicultural and bilingual to provide services in ways families may welcome it. 

Reference

Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. A promise of opportunity. Retrieved July 23, 2011, from http://www.cplc.org

Poverty in Mongolia

Poverty in Mongolia

The transition to a privatized economy and democracy sounds like a great deal.  Farmers owning their own cattle and farms seem like the perfect set up.  Mongolia transitioned very quickly from a socialist society to a democratic system in the early nineties.  The transition was very hard on the people.  They experienced high unemployment, inflation on services and goods, and a cut in social service support.  The last thing they needed was a cut in service support.  Health care before the transition was open to all citizens and was of a very high quality, now the health care is poor due to health insurance fees and regulations.  In the education realm the government no longer funds or support early childhood education and the number of students enrolled in schooling has declined.  The children living in poverty often do not attend or have to drop out to help with the economic situation of the family.  Some improvements have been made in the reduction of poverty but not enough to cover the gap between the “have and have not” families.    As an outsider to the transition between a socialist society and a democracy seems like a bad move.  Not knowing all the facts in the situation it is hard to defend my position.  From what I read the government made sure that health care and education were funded and regulated.  Now there are many families who are homeless and a large population living below the poverty line.  Children have a larger responsibility and are having to become adults at a very young age.

Heart Breaking Facts:

Malnutrition has risen

51% of the families do not have access to safe drinking water

The Poor increased over 40,000

Harsh weather conditions reach a negative 30-40 degrees in the winter (the is rough for homeless families with no shelter)

On the Plus Side

Enrollment in schools is on the rise (not in poverty stricken families)

Birth rates have reduced and more children survive

Infant and children under 5 mortality rates fallen

Immunization rates have risen

Acute respiratory and diarrheal illnesses declined




Resources:
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

Global Autism Project in Nairobi, Kenya

Global Autism Project -Kaizora Consultants Ltd.
Nairobi, Kenya

Website issue: Autism around the world-http://www.globalautismproject.org

The organization Global Autism Project is provides help and services for parents, teachers, and children who have or are dealing with autism. Kaizora in Nairobi is part of the Global project that services families in Nairobi.  The organization is now working on in home visits and care for families who cannot make it to the center do to transportation or other issues.  The families they are servicing rang in age but the two sessions I read about were preschool age children with different disabilities.   One of the challenges they run into is language diversity.  The families they are working with have limited English skills but still remain optimistic about the help they will receive.  The organization is extremely devoted to the families in their care and work with each child on an individual basis as to reduce distractions for the child.

Related Topic of the Week-

It has been confirmed to me that all over the world people deal with and struggle with the best methods to incorporate and manage multiple language inclusion.  That across the world there is no “one” language that is spoken.  Every country is being transformed into a Multilanguage area.  We are not alone.

Contact Update:

I went with this organization since I am fascinated with Autism.  I have sent many emails to organizations around the world but have received not contacts yet.  It is a little frustrating.

Establishing Professional Contacts

I have sent out emails to two prospective organizations through NAECY.  The first organization is in South Africa and the second organization is in Canada.  I have not at this point heard from either organization.  I am hoping to get some conformation in the next day or so.  I am eager to hear about the differences between the two countries as well as the differences and similarities to the United States programs.  I am hoping that I will not have to do the alternative assignment but am able to communicate with the other professionals.  I choose to look at Africa because I am interested in the progress they have made.  I did some research on Africa in previous courses and have been extremely fascinated with their culture and distressed by the challenges they face each and every day.  I choose Canada because I have friends who live there and I am interested in what they may encounter in placing their child in preschool care.  I also choose these particular websites because they speak and write in English and I am not able to communicate in any other language. 

Niger Delta Academic Foundation- http://www.ndafonline.bravehost.com/ and National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators http://www.naecte.org/ (Newsletter: http://www.naecte.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=29 )   are the website I have chosen to follow. 

Programs I have contacted:

Niger Delta Academic Foundation- http://www.ndafonline.bravehost.com/

Canadian Child Care Federation

My Supports with Autism

My supports

Daily Challenge-Autism

My daily support team:

Family

            Parents love and help me to adjust to the confusing and difficult world in which I live.  They fight for my services within my academic environment.  They keep my world structured as much as possible for my comfort and anxiety.

Teacher/Caregivers

            My teachers help me to manage through my day, keeping me on track with my behavior plan and working on my physical, social, and emotional strengths and challenges.  Without these caring and devoted individuals I would be lost and have a very difficult adjustment away from my family.

Behavior support-behavior plan

            The benefit of a behavior plan helps me to adjust and follow the daily schedule with my peers.  The set schedule allows me to be prepared and aware of what is coming up next.  I also have the option to go to a cool down room when I am over stimulated and my emotions are out of my control.

Medical support-medication

            The medication helps to keep my ADD under management so I am able to focus in class.

Speech and language

Speech and language therapy help to work on my communication skills.  I am able to speak clearly with peers and caregivers.  Without therapy I would have great difficulty relating what my needs and wants are.

OT-social skills and dexterity

            Occupational therapy gives me the skills I need to be socially appropriate with peers and others I come into contact with.  I also work on dexterity skills so I can grasp a pencil correctly and my coordination is that of my peers.  Social skills and appropriateness is a skill that is a major challenge for me.  I need help with how to interact with others appropriately and how to engage others nicely. 

Special Education Resource Pull Out

            Resource pull-out gives me extra support in reading and math.  The resource teacher works with my classroom teacher on modifications and adjustments for my curriculum within the general education class. 

The combination of these supports allows me to remain in a general education classroom with pull-out services for reading and math.  Without these supports I would most likely be placed in a self-contained Autism classroom. Without the behavior support and ADD medication I would be placed in the Behavior Disordered classroom.  In a general education classroom I am able to interact with my peers.

My Play Connection

 The Barie Doll-many hours were spend dressing up, fixing the imaginary house with washcloths for beds and hand towels rolled for the furniture.  The happiest times of my life were spent on the living room floor with my dolls all laid out and ready for play.

The beloved kitchen set-royal dinners were cooked in the kitchen and served on the very best of fine china.

The box-many hours spent in a box.  The box could be transformed into anything you could think of.  It could be a house one day, a space ship to Mars the next, or even an evac helicopter over the Pacific.  There was no limit to what a box could be.

Favorite Childhood Quotes

When we play, we are engaged in the purest expression of our humanity, the truest expression of our individuality.

—Stuart Brown, M.D., researcher, psychiatrist, and play advocate

I have worlds to explore and things to uncover, give me my sandwich I am busy. 

            -----Kenzie Turner-brother

“The ability to play is one of the principal criteria of mental health.”

—Ashley Montagu, anthropologist 

My Support System

My grandmother gave us everyday items to make into props to use in our play.  We were given few tips or suggestions on how to use the items.  We were not allowed to spend all day in the house in front of the tv, but were “encouraged” to be outdoors and involved in an activity.

My mother always encouraged us to use our imagination to make our own fun, she would make puppets and castles with us and help me to find “princess” clothing when needed.

I don’t feel that play is the same now as it was when I was younger.  Maybe I feel that way because I was raised in a small town with no water parks or large recreation parks.  Maybe it was that I was raised by two parents and a grandmother who were all teachers.  I do know that I did not have access all the video games and internet access in which to use.  My parents did not feel the need to buy expensive or excessive amounts of toys.  I used what I could find for my play time.  A good mud puddle and grandma’s best roses made for a great mud pie party.  Imagination was the key component for my play.  Children today do not seem to have a well-developed imagination in which they rely on.  They want easy premade fun at their fingertips.  I would not give up my afternoons under grandma’s crabapple tree for all the video games in the world.  I treasure my adventures in my backyard.

The Role of Play in my life

My thoughts on play throughout my life-I treasure each and every minute of the play time I had.  I have a wealth of knowledge from the books I read and the time I spent acting out the adventures of The Boxcar Children, Pippy Longstocking, and such others.  Through play I was able to make sense of my world and the events in it.  Play helped a child with anxiety unwind and feel at peace with her world.  Even as an adult I do love to play, it just looks a little different.  It still helps with anxiety and to give peace and refreshment to my world.  Now I value the time I spend playing with my son.  We build tents to go camping, dig in the sandbox for lost treasure, and race our cars in derbies.