My Connections to Play

Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.

Joseph Chilton Pearce

Contemporary American scholar

Do not…keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.

Plato

Greek philosopher

427–347 BC

When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.

Fred Rogers

American children’s television host

1928–2003

My Cabbage Patch Dolls, or my moms pots and pans were my favorite toys to play with along with my imagination.

When I was younger my mother supported my play by allowing me to play with household items, and by never hindering my imagination. There were times that i remember her having tea parties with me and my dolls, or helping me make a fort in the living room with sheets and blankets. She allowed me to explore with not only toys, but all of the things that i chose to play with. 

Play today is in some ways the same, but in many ways different than the play that i engaged in when i was younger. I remember playing outside in my front yard, or around the neighborhood for hours at a time. That is something that is not done as liberally as it used to be, mainly for safety reasons. There are also many manufactured toys that it seem every child feels that they need to have. When I was younger i did not have many manufactured toys. When i did i treasured it. I don't feel that children take care of their toys are treasure the things that they are given.

I feel that play has always been an important part of my life, and because of that i feel that i must teach others about the importance of play. There are so many ways to encourage learning, and to engage children by offering activities that they enjoy. Play is something that should be encouraged, not hindered, and all children should be given the opportunity to play.

Relationship Reflection:

Relationships are very important to me, as they should be to everyone. There of course are different types of relationships that i have formed throughout my lifetime. I have some close family relationships, relationships with friends that are closer than some family, everyday relationships with friends, acquaintances, relationships with my coworkers, relationships with the families of children i care for or children i have cared for in the past, relationships with each of my children, a relationship with my husband, and a relationship with God. All of these are important to me, but all are different. My most valuable relationship would be the relationship i have with God. My most valuable relationship with another person would be the one between my husband and i. He completes me and makes me whole. He is my rock and the love of my life. I enjoy the relationships that i have with each of my children, and i am thankful for the ones that i have with family and friends.

Each relationship that i have has had up's and downs, but they have become stronger because of these experiences. The relationship that i have with my husband is a positive one, im not saying that it has always been easy, but the trials that we have gone through has made us closer. Some things that contribute to our relationship would be good communication, compromise, and trying to look at things from the others point of view. Understanding myself and my feelings helps me to try and understand his feelings. The same is true with my relationship with my children. They are all very different and enjoy different things. I do my best to let each of them know that i am here for them no matter what, i will love them no matter what the situation, and even though i dont like it when they do things i don't approve of i encourage them to be open and honest and we will work through every situation. Communication is very important when building any relationship.

There have been times that i have tried to build or keep ongoing relationships with people when it just doesnt work out. There are several reasons for this to happen, and even though it was hard at the time i have learned from my experiences. Relationships take time, and as we grow and our lives change sometimes we dont have the time to devote to relationships that we once had. When this happens we will begin to not have as close of a relationship with the person that we once had. There can also be an event that happens that causes disagreements, and sometimes they can be worked out, but sometimes they can not. Sometimes although both parties try and resolve the issue the relationship will never be the way it was before the incident. I have learned that you need to understand the feelings and beliefs of others and do your best not to be disrespectful of them. You also need to have an honest and open communication in order for the relationship to be long term and positive.

My experiences with relationships will contribute to my work as an early childhood professional. I have had both good and bad experiences and have learned from the mistakes that i have made. I strive to be open with the families that i work with, and through my actions let them know that i sincerely would like to form a relationship with them so that together we can work as a team and act in the best interest of the child/children. I let the parents know that they can tell me anything. I accept input in all aspects of my classroom including room arrangement, lesson plans, activities, goals for their children, and anything else they would like to give me their input about. I let them know that i am here to work with them, and that i will help them with all that i am able to.

Thank You to all of my classmates:

I wanted to say thank you to all of my classmates of EDUC 6160. It has been very inspirational reading many of your blogpost's as well as reading your post's in the discussions. I have learned and grown a great deal during this class, and know that this is only the beginning of this journey that we are all on. Thank you for the many words of encouragement as well as feedback during this class. I hope to have more classes with you all.

Favorite Quote About Children....

"A person's a person, no matter how small"
By Dr. Seuss


This is and has been one of my favorite quotes for a long time. In just a few words so much is said. If you just sit and think about the many different meanings that this quote can have it can be mind boggling. What it makes me think of is that children need to be respected and treated like a person, like they have value no matter how old they are. It means that children should never be treated like property, or treated like they do not have feelings or an opinion, or even like they don't matter. Children should be lifted up and treated like the miracle that they are, and should be given the best opportunities possible, and loved like they should be.

Testing For Intelligence?

Should children be asesed and tested, and if so what should be assesed, tested, and measured? This is a question that i have found to be highly debatable, often with strong emotions attached to it. Here is my point of view:

I think that children should be assessed informally by their caregivers, educators, parents, and physician so that if there are any areas that the child is delayed or any areas that there are suspected disabilities or special needs the child can be formally assessed, and the problem can be focused on early in order to detur any major delay's in the future. I feel that children should be measured according to the averages that all children develop. Even though a child may be on the lower average there may be no special need or delay detected, but with basic informal assessments there would be an idea of possible delay's and the parents and caregivers would know what the child needs to work on.

Violence...

The topic i chose was violence, specifically violence in the home. This is something that i experienced as a young child that i knew was wrong, but did not know how greatly it affected me until later in my life. I was a very quiet, obedient child. I was very shy and had some trouble making friends. My parents divorced when i was extremely young due to abuse in the home, and unfortunately my mother continued to have abusive partners. I always hated my mother's boyfriends, even before things became violent. I never wanted anyone to ever be at the house, and didn't really realize why. This included anybody, male or female, and i didn't even want other children at my house. I really didn't want to interact with children at school either. This is how it affected me. I swore that when i became an adult i would never be with a man who was abusive. Unfortunately my first husband was abusive. I put up with it for a while. I hid it from others for as long as i could. I tried to tell myself he didn't mean it, and all the things you always hear people say. Then i looked at how my children were becoming. I thought they didn't know, but by the things they were acting out i realized they did know. As soon as my eyes were opened to the reality i was living i quickly left my husband and have moved on with my life. My children have unfortunately been affected, however it is no where near as severely as it could have been if i would have continued to stay in the abusive situation. There are many places that feel a husband has the right to keep his wife in line, and treat her whatever way that he sees fit. I thank God that i live in a place that offers a great deal of resources to the abused as long as they choose to seek the resources and get out of a bad situation. There are many people that will continue to endure the abuse because they feel they have no choice, there are some that will lose their life to their abusers, and children that see the abuse and are helpless to their situation. It is a sad circle, and i hope that others will realize that there is a way out.

Breastfeeding....

Breastfeeding is something that is very important to me, and i have strong feelings when it comes to mothers nursing their children. Although there are alternatives to breastfeeding, nursing is important to children in more than just nutritional ways. A bond is created between a mother and child when the child is nursed. Children that are nursed are always held when they are fed and this reduces the possibility of choking or other things that can happen when young children are left alone with a bottle. And Nursing is much more healthy for the young child with all of the benefits that breastfeeding offers.

In other countries, even third world countries breastfeeding infants is much more common than it is here in the United States. There are several reasons for this. Some reasons for this are that it has always been common practice and it is more widely accepted, in poor countries there are no available alternatives to nursing your own children, and when children are breastfed there is less chance of infection and disease.

I will use the information i have learned in order to encourage other mothers to breastfeed their young children, and give them the necessary information to know the benefits of breastfeeding. I will also let them know that there is a great deal of help offered to assist mothers with breastfeeding. While i was nursing my children i was given some information that caused me to not continue nursing my children that i later found out that was not correct. I would have liked to continue nursing my children and am sorry that i listened to the sources that i did. 

Some sources that were helpful while doing my research for this blog are:

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1405

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

http://www.llli.org/

http://www.breastfeeding.com/

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=257&topic_id=1357

http://www.007b.com/public-breastfeeding-world.php

http://www.breastfeed.com/nursing-mothers-life/nursing-facts