My Connections tp Play!

Play is the beginning of knowledge.” ~ Anonymous

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison (professor of psychiatry)

I had a lot of fun as a child and my life was full of play experiences. I remember playing army men with my brothers, or house using my dog as the baby, or playing ballet instructor at our family friends house in their pool. I played barbies at my friend Teresa's house well into junior high however that was our secret. I loved playing at the creek on my grandparents property, too. It was a blast. My parents allowed us to explore and encouraged play. We were not huge television watchers and we were encouraged to stay active. My grandma would play "ballet" with me and I would put on recitals. I would always want her to come out of the kitchen and I would come out of the bedroom and down the hall to make my entrance. My mom and dad would play in different ways. My mom would play house with me and my dad and I were dance partners often dancing to Elvis Presley.

The ways in which play is different today is a lot of "play" is not about exploration but about mastering a video game. There seems to be less places for children to freely roam, to run, scream, jump, and explore. Play (large motor) is less frequent in public schools and in some school nearly nonexistent. A few years back my daughter Sophia was given a planning time (detention) for running on the playground. Ridiculous but a true story. When I was young I could not wait to get outside to run on the playground but now it is apparently unsafe. I can only hope that through new research about the importance of play educators will demand that children have time set aside everyday for
large motor play as well as free choice play. Our children gain a wealth of knowledge in every domain through creative play and we must advocate for children and their right to play.

Josie Zbaeren 


 

Angie's Early childhood studies blog: Relationship Reflection

Angie's Early childhood studies blog: Relationship Reflection: "Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development" (Shonkoff & Phill...

Thank you for sharing. You have beautiful daughters and it sounds like a wonderful husband. I have 5 daughter's and a wonderful husband as well. I am excited to get to know you through your Blog.

Josie

Relationship Reflection:

I have a lot of relationships that are important to me for example my relationship with my husband, daughters, parents, siblings, church family, close friends and co-workers. I value them all but in different ways.

My relationships with friends, church family, extended family and co-workers are important to me because they are a form of support. I appreciate the people in my life that care for me, respect me, and value my opinion.

The relationship with my husband will be the focus of this Blog. This relationship is so very important to me because Bill (my husband) is my partner in life. He loves me unconditionally. He is my biggest fan and strongest support. He is a fabulous spouse; father, brother, provider, worker, and role model. He is my best friend. I love him!

I have a positive relationship with Bill as well as our daughters Madeline, Emileigh, Olivia, Sophia, and Kiera. I also have positive relationships with extended family and friends. Our family is our priority and because we have committed ourselves to family first we have great relationships with our girls.

My husband and I have a positive relationship because we are supportive of each other, we are respectful of each other, and we share our hopes, dreams, and goals. We are effective communicators; problem solvers and we are responsible. We share the same faith and values. We are connected through our marriage but we are still individuals. We have positive relationships with our children because we are consistent, caring, and responsive, we listen, set boundaries, follow through, and love them always. We have modeled respectful behavior and our girls are respectful.

We have learned over time (Bill and I) to make time for us. We have learned to talk about the good and bad stuff in order to work through it. We have learned that we will fail at times and to ask for help from each other as we need it. We have learned that surprises keep things lively. We have learned to laugh! We have learned to let go of things not in our control. We have learned in order to grow we will face challenges. We have learned life is short so we need to grab opportunities that come our way.

The special characteristics of my relationship with Bill are the love, trust, companionship, support, sense of belonging and the list goes on...

Understanding that relationships are based on trust, listening, problem solving, compassion and hard work will help me be an effective early childhood professional because I will pass these attributes onto the children I serve as well as their families. I will treat them with respect, honor their individuality, listen to their concerns, support their progress and collaborate with them to meet their needs and help them reach their goals.

Thank You!

Class,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Blog. I know I have enjoyed reading yours (at least the one's I could pull up)! I hope you all enjoyed my two cents as well. Good luck to everyone in the futre!

My Quotes:

Babies are such a nice way to start people.  ~Don Herrold


Every baby needs a lap.  ~Henry Robin

My passion is infant development (although I love working with many different ages)! I love learning about the impact the early years have on children as well as adults. Love on those babies and watch them grow.

Josie

Michele's Room: Assessments

Thank you for sharing. I agree that there is more to know about children then what we find out from a standardized test. I think there may be a place for them but when they interfere with a child graduating or not it is a problem. I wish public schools would focus more on individuality and different ways children learn. Teaching to different learning styles is crucial for the academic success of all children

Josie

Testing for Intelligence

I think it is important for early childhood educators to assess children however not in the same fashion public schools test children. Young children have short attention spans and grow rapidly and have times of rest as well. Standardize testing does not take in consideration family structure, individualization or cultural background. I found an article that covered the topic of assessments. The article titled Assessing Young Children covered 8 types of assessments used in early education (some more appropriate than others). The eight assessments include observations and checklists, anecdotal records, running records, portfolios, home inventories, developmental screenings, diagnostic assessments, and standardize assessments. I believe teachers can use observation, running records, anecdotal records, portfolios, and home inventories as assessments to guide their planning or “instruction” to better serve the children in their care. I think developmental screenings are useful to detect any developmental delays. I do not think diagnostic assessments are reliable for the classroom and standardized assessments are for policy makers.

I looked up assessments for school aged children in Ireland. It seems as though teachers or parents observe children and if either feel as though a child needs a formal assessment the process begins there. The articles I read listed reasons for assessing children are either for delays or for gifted children. I did not find actual tools for assessing children I found more about the process deadlines. For example if a principal informs parents of a developmental concern he has 3 months to administer the assessment.    

Josie Zbaeren

Case, B.J., & Gudderni, M. (2004, February). Assessing young children retrieved from

http://www.pearsonassessments.com/

Stressors

I did not experience any of the stressors listed and was not or I am not aware of any of my family or friends experiencing any of those stressors. Although this is tough for me to share I will share a little and move on. I did experience sexual abuse by my grandfather from ages 3 to 12 until my parents found out. I think I survived because I had my immediate family that cared deeply for me and I had faith. The ramifications are I have poor body image, I am extremely modest, and I kept my feelings bottled up for years. I did get private counseling about a year and a half ago (I am 39) and received counseling through my church as well. I think sexual abuse happens all across the nation and in every country of the world. Cognitively I think the stress affected my learning. There

were times it was hard to concentrate in school. When the abuse stopped my love for school grew and my grades improved dramatically. As far as my psychosocial development it clouded my thoughts about family, trust, and even hindered my social skills. As part of my healing I had to tell my other immediate family members (my brothers) about the abuse because up until a year and a half ago it was a secret. In response both of my brothers (both police officers) said, “oh my gosh now I understand why you are the way you are.” 

In the United Sates there are laws against sexual abuse however many people still do not report or they handle it within the family. As educators of children and parents it is important to remember it is our job as mandated reporters to report any suspicion of abuse. We must educate as many people as possible to protect children!