The end of another course

My goal and hope for my future as an early childhood professional is that I provide a warm and accepting environment for the families and children who I work with.  I want to create an environment where children feel safe and free to be themselves and not have to worry about being stereotyped.  I want children to be able to stand up for what is right and be open minded and accepting of differences.  I want families to see the center not just as a place to drop off their child but as a place of excitement and wonder where their child will be loved, accepted, and inspired. 

I want to say a heartfelt thank you to each member of this class.  I don’t think of each of you as just a classmate but as a valued colleague whom I am able to bounce ideas off of and get honest feedback.  Without the support from each other this journey would have been a long and boring ride but we have made it more bearable for each other.  So again dear WILDFLOWERS it is not good byes but see you in the next course. 

WILDFLOWERS

Without our differences our world would be bland

Individuals need to be able to shine no matter what

Learn to accept each other’s culture, beliefs, and languages

Differently abled doesn’t mean they can’t

Follow your heart

Level the playing field with education

Open the mind to acceptance

Willingness to learn about others

Ears open to listen for clues and hurt hearts

Respect

Strong enough to stand up for others rights

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

Central and Eastern Europe-Commonwealth of Independent States

The area I choose to look at was Central and Eastern Europe-Commonwealth of Independent States.  The reason why I chose this area is because I know so little about the state of care and education in this part of the world.  I am curious as to the conditions the children live in. 

The challenges that the children of this area are experiencing include children who have disabilities are kept socially distance, violence within schools, extreme poverty, and a lack of access to social services such as health care and child care. 

In the Kyrgyz Republic children are placed in institutions because lack access to social services such as day care.  Parents are not able to work and pay for the family.  They turn their children over to institutions.  The private institutions have no monitoring by the government and provide many safety hazards such as lack of heating, poor sanitation, and deprive children of their family environment.  Reform is coming in the Kyrgyz Republic to help with child care reform (UNICEF, 2011).  Children in Montenegro suffer mostly from poverty-every 10^th child suffers from poverty.  Children under the age of 5 are the heaviest concentration of those affected.  Parents who have not finished secondary schooling, children from north of Montenegro and rural areas are hit the hardest.  Poor households with children are farthest from primary healthcare and schooling (UNICEF, 2011). 

The experience of poverty is going to have a lifetime effect on children.  Without proper nutrition and healthcare they will not succeed in school as well.  They will be at an academic disadvantage to their peers who have had proper nutrition and healthcare.   If they are malnourished they may not have the strength and muscle tone that is needed for an active life style and they will not be able to fight off many childhood illnesses.  For the Kyrgyz Republic children who are placed in institutions they are deprived of the interaction and care that a parent figure will give them.  They may have a higher rate for depression and an inability to relate or bond with others.

As a professional in the early childhood field I feel sadness and struggle for these children.  With such odds against them they are going to struggle more than any child should have to.  It does seem that the government is trying to make the proper reform in the childcare area, but knowing how long it takes and the red tape that will come, it may be too late for many children.  With properly trained and caring professionals in the early childhood centers, these children will have more success than if they were just left alone.  It is my hope that in the reform the governments are making that they see the huge impact early childhood professionals make in a child’s life.

                                                      

Resources

UNICEF (2011). Analysis of the Situation of Children’s Residential Institutions in the Kyrgyz Republic.  Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

UNICEF (2011). Every tenth child in Montenegro is poor.  Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

The kids are learning WHAT?

My initial reaction to the book excerpt So sexy so soon, was amazement (Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J., 2009).  The thought that children at such a young age are being hit with these ideas and are able to process them was horrible.   Once I was able to close up my jaw from the shock I was able to process the ideas more clearly.  I started to analyze things I saw on TV and toys that are in the store and even my own child’s behavior.   I can see the ideas that they shared happening all around me.

One experience that I had recently was in talking with another professional colleague who worked with college level adults.  She was asking me my take on a conversation she had with a friend.  The friend has a preschool daughter (3-4 years old).  The mother got a phone call from the school about and incident that happened at during the day.  The girl leaned over the table during activity time and kissed a boy.  She had her tongue in his mouth and was holding on to him so he would not get away.  The mother did not understand why everyone was so upset.  She was asking “is this not normal?-they’re just kids”.   When I first heard this story I though “what is she learning at home?”   After reading this book excerpt I had to rethink.   It may not be what she is learning from her parents but the media she is watching.

This spring at our school play day the children were allowed to wear their swimsuits.  The children were third and fourth graders, who know what they are looking at.  I must be old fashion but the swimsuits the girls were wearing were a little lacking in the material department.  The girl’s new fashions were bikini tops and boy shorts.  I thought I was at a skin farm.  These bikinis’ showed way to much skin for 8 year old girls.  The girls were discussing with each other how “hot” their suit looked on them. 

These messages will impact young children in a negative manner.  The girls will think that they should wear clothes that are reveling and make them look “hot” in order to fit in with their peers.  If they do not have the “right” clothes they may be ostracized by the larger group.  This will deepen the message and cause them to go down a bad path-one of trying to be accepted.  Boys will be given the message that this is how girls are supposed to look and act.  So the message they will get about gender is that boys were just shorts and girls wear skimpy tops and boy bottoms. 

As teachers we have to stop looking the other way when issues come up.  We have to confront them even though it may be difficult and uncomfortable.  As early an early childhood professional I could promote books and pictures of children who are having fun in a nonsexual manner.  I could also use pictures and books with more sexualized images to discuss how it could hurt the image the child has of themselves.  We will also look at boys and girls who are outside of the normal stereotype and talk about it they are boys or girls and why they think that.  Also it is important to have the discussion that they are each different and that they don’t have to follow the rigid stereotypical roles. 

Resources

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from:http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

I can accept others

The ism that I have experienced in my personal life is my religious beliefs.  I chose to go to Church and I hold my religious beliefs tightly.  Some people feel that I don’t understand or accept specific groups of people.  They feel that they have to act and talk differently around me.  Some hold the stereotype that I will judge them for the actions they take or choices they make.   Emotionally this affects me in that I feel left out and not trusted.  People have not taken the time to get to know me for who I am.  Cognitively I understand they are basing their knowledge of me based a stereotype they have from the media or past experiences with others.  Physically I am worn down by having to work harder to get others to accept me or get to know who I am and what I stand for.

The consequences that I see affecting the children and families in which I work with is they may not trust me with family issues.  A gay/lesbian family might not disclose their situation for fear of me trying to burn them at the stake.  I want families to know that yes I am a religious person and I don’t participate in certain life styles but I do accept that others may.  I can be trusted and I try not to judge others for their life choices.  The children may be taught to keep parts of their lives secret from me.  Their parent may be afraid of what I may say or do if “secrets” are reveled.  All families regardless of their life choices are welcome and will be accepted.