Relationship Reflection

Relationships are a give and take process in a bond that develops overtime. 
Relationships will become a partnership and lifelong bond if you treat people the right way. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Relationships have made me feel loved and encouraged.

Mom- I spend every Saturday with my mom. We go out to eat lunch, talk, and run errands together. On Sundays, we go to church together, eat lunch, and go to the grocery store together. When I do not spend time with my mom on Saturday, it does not seem like I had a Saturday.

My Brother - I visit him sometimes and he comes to see me sometimes. We like to eat together and talk. He will help me fix things in my house when he comes over. He is very good fixing some things. He has put in laminate flooring for me as well as do other things. I have helped him do some things at his house such as painting and building his building. He lives an hour and 15 minutes from my house. He recently got married.

Dad- Growing up I was daddy's girl. I would spend every Saturday morning with him. We went to yard sales, flea markets, and fishing together, and to Grandma's house. I still see him once a week when I go to my parents house.

Husband- I married my husband October 9, 2010. We met in college at UNCP in the summer of 1999. We stayed friends the whole time, although we lost contact some. He is funny and is one of the few people who can make me laugh. Even when I am crying, he can make me start laughing.
He is very sweet, kind, helpful, and has a big heart for everyone.

Daughter- Born October 18, 2011. She is now two years old. She ended up being my first year anniversary gift as my due date was 10-10-2011. I carried her one extra week. She makes me laugh and smile. I love playing with her and tickling her. 

Factors that contribute to developing my relationships: patience, helping one another, kind, faithfulness, trustworthy.

Insights I have learned over time regarding challenges to developing and maintaining relationships that I have learned from experience: It is good to reflect on your relationships and change yourself where needed. Sometimes the change is things you may want to do, need to do, and sometimes it is something you may not want to do. You can't change other people.

Special characteristics of my relationships: give and take. It takes both people working together to make the relationship work. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is difficult.

My relationships have been good relationships. All the relationships I have encountered have made me who I am today. I have learned a lot over the years. Stubbornness can get in the way sometimes. I can use my experience of good relationships to help others in my class. I can be supportive, loving, kind, encouraging, and a good role model to my children in my class.
 

When I think of Child Development

"Adult support and reassurance is the key to helping children through a traumatic time."
Source: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/SMA12-4732/SMA12-4732.pdf

I think this quote is important. It helps to give people the main thing that they should focus on when trying to help others dealing with trauma. It is important to be caring, and supportive for the child or person going through trauma.

Testing for Intelligence

I feel that the developmental milestones of each area of development that the child demonstrates should be measured or assessed. If the child meets most of the developmental milestones, then move them to the next level. If not, see if they have a delay. If they have an IEP, the school work is tailored to the child. Why don't we do that for all children. Meet the children where they are at developmentally.

I was curious about what assessments children in Germany have to go through. I found that they had to conduct research and do presentations on concepts that they had to learn through the year. They had to do a reflection of what they had learned. The children are asked to not only evaluate themselves but also their peers. The teachers evaluate each child individually. The teachers also have parent teacher conferences 2 times a year. The teachers go over the academic level of the child, and the results of the assessments.

All the test that we put children through to pass a standardized test to be able to go to the next grade level, does not prove anything but the fact that they may not be a good test taker. It also puts a huge amount of stress on the children. The same thing is true of education with the praxis test. It does not prove that the person will be a good teacher or not. Just that they can or can not pass a test. Sometimes adults and children are not good test takers especially when being timed. In my case, I was labeled ADD in college and was allowed to tape record classes and get extra time on test. I tried to get help with the praxis test but they turned me down because I did not have a "history" of ADD. How can someone prove a history when they have just recently been diagnosed. Labeling should be done based on the whole child.

References: International School of Bochum. Retrieved from  http://www.internationalschoolgermany.de/bochum/en/parents/assessments

Consequences of Stress on Children's Developmnet

 

Poverty

 

My dad grew up in a home that did not have a bathroom. He went to the doctor when he was 18 because he had a cyst on his spine. He had it removed and the doctor had told him to soak in the bath tub. He told the doctor that he did not have a bath tub or bathroom. His dad was told by the doctor that he had to have a bathroom in the house. They ended up having someone to build a bathroom in the house. My dad said that they would wash with using water used from the well. They had to heat the water on their wood stove in the kitchen. Later, they got a hot water heater and had water from the sink. They used a wood stove to cook their food as well.

 

 

Africa

 

The area of Africa is impacted by poverty, war, hunger, disease. The site I looked at mentioned that the disease there was Aids, Malaria, Cholera. Kids are used in war and receive no education. They are also sold as slaves. The poverty in Africa has been helped by china cutting poverty and thereby helping other places like Africa cut poverty. The site also mentioned that receiving aid in a non loan format from the government would help with the poverty.

 

 

References:

World Poverty. Poverty in Africa, famine and disease. Retrieved from http://world-poverty.org/povertyinafrica.htm

 





Child Development and Public Health

Malnutrition

 

I chose this topic because I understand how devastating severe malnutrition can be. My grandfather died this year from severe malnutrition. He was having problems swallowing and could not eat. He even had trouble swallowing liquid. We were trying to find out what was causing his problems, but by the time we started getting answers after many months of doctor visits and tests, it was too late. Malnutrition is a severe problem in the world. 925 million people in the world do not have food to eat. In developing countries, 1 out of 4 children younger than age 5 are underweight. People can become malnourished if they do not get the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals they need. The most common deficiency is iron and leads to Anemia. In Cambodia, 44% of children under 5 have stunted growth. As a result of poor nutrition, 28% of children under 5 are underweight. One out of 12 children die from malnutrition before they turn 5. Malnutrition causes people not to be able to resist infection very well, and they are less likely to survive common diseases. Poor growth and development leaves them physically and mentally impaired for life. AmeriCares provides meal packs that contain nutrients needed for healthy diets for 6 to 18 weeks. They found major reversals in malnutrition with these. Shanouk Center for HOPE found 9 out of 10 children improved their BMI enough to not be considered underweight. This information may impact my future work. You never know when you will be working with a child that may become malnourished or the child may have a family member that dies from malnutrition.

 

References

AmeriCares http://www.americares.org

Kids Health http://www.kidshealth.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



Child birth in my life and Around the World

My daughter was born on October 18, 2011. I had a long delivery with her. She was born at 1:05am and weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. I carried her full term, and she was born a week later. I was supposed to be induced the morning of the 17th if I had not gone into labor. That morning my water broke at home so I went to the hospital. I remember the staff kept telling me I would have her by lunch time that day but she was not born until 1:05 am on the 18th. I named my daughter Zoey Lynn Bragg. I had the support of my husband and my family. My husband helped the doctors some during the delivery. He even got to cut the umbilical cord. He was there with me the whole time. I enjoyed having the chance to hold her once she was born. Zoey is our only child so far. She was like our anniversary gift. Our anniversary was Oct 9th and her due date was Oct 10. Zoey is now 2 years old.

I chose to write about Zoey's birth because it is my only birth experience besides what my mom has told me about my birth. The things that can happen during the pregnancy and during birth can impact a child for life. For example, the use of drugs during pregnancy impacts the development of the child and the child might show characteristics of addiction after birth.

I chose to research births in Germany. I found in my research that in Germany births are performed by midwifes. Doctors are not mandated like the midwifes. Moms can stop work 6 weeks before due date. Moms are not allowed to work until 8 weeks after the birth. They get the full amount of pay while on maternity leave. The mother can take up to 3 years off of unpaid leave. The 3rd year is a floating year and can be taken any time. The mother or father can take off during the 3rd year. The Germany government has a list of names that is acceptable names to name a child. This is supposed to be to keep children from being picked on by other children.  In my experience, I had unpaid maternity leave. I also chose to have a doctor deliver Zoey because of the chance of complications that were likely due to me having a heart murmur.

Ideals of NAEYC

 

1. To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training. Things are always changing in the Early Childhood field. It is important to go to trainings to learn more about how to do things in other ways. Research in the field is also changing. I not only have to have training hours each year for DCD; I also have to have 150 contact hours each 5 year period to keep my license current.

 

2. To advocate for and ensure that all children including those with special needs, have access to the support services needed to be successful. Some children need extra help and support beyond what you can give them in the classroom. I feel these children need to have these services to develop to their fullest potential. Teachers have to be advocates for these children to receive the services that are needed. Each year I have children that I advocate for. Sometimes they receive the services and sometimes they don't. I do every thing I can for them but the parents have to make the choice.

 

3. To share information about each child's education and development with families and to help them understand and appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood profession. I work with my families to share information with them about their child and where they are developmentally. I give some suggestions on how they can work with them at home. I provide the suggestions based on what the children need help with and I give the activities in steps to the families. This way the children are being challenged as they are ready but not to the point that they are overwhelmed.