Time Well Spent

 

This is a picture of my current little family on the island of Molokai. You will notice that I’m the old man not in the picture. Some people are late bloomers, in this case I’m one. I invite anyone in our class to stay in touch. I’m also very moved by the level of education we all received. I feel much better armed to go out and advocate for the children. Aloha

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

My 13 year old daughter has been begging me to move her to London. So, a while back I started to explore job opportunities’ in the ECE field there. Finding multiple opportunities in Europe we later decided on New York for a while but I can always change my mind.

In England they have this one job position they call Early Years Advisor. It’s relatively new in their system but I think it would be interesting, “This new post will contribute to the strategic managerial leadership of the Educational Effectiveness team with Support Services for Education”. The focus is on ECE.

A part time job really got my attention at St. John’s RC Academy, Perth. St John’s RC Academy is at the heart of the North Inch Community Campus, providing education for children and young people from nursery through to secondary sixth year.

The facilities include 3 & 4 court games halls, all weather pitch, dance studio, fitness suite, drama facilities, recording studio and a public library, as well as state of the art teaching areas and an integrated support base to support pupils and families.

The campus has a peaceful setting, close to the banks of the River Tay, at the top of the North Inch, with outstanding views to Highland Perthshire.

I love sports and really need to be close to the water in which I have engaged in most every sport imaginable. My little family loves new experiences and I think when I graduate I might be able to help them out.

The third job we looked has to do with what I really want to do but was a bit limited. I want to teach with my persona doll Chuck Ells and this would give me the chance. Lecturers/Senior Lecturers in Early Childhood Studies/Early Years. This is in East London and this is what they say they are looking for: We are seeking new colleagues to join our vibrant, growing team to contribute to the teaching, management, administration and leadership of our Early Childhood Studies/Early Years Programmes.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The three national/federal organizations that really interest me are: Association for Childhood Education International, The U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and The Center for Nonviolent Communication. In working with these three groups an evolution takes place that the children benefit from. Money, education and the attainment of common goals. For example, the principal of educating children with skills and temperaments that benefit all peaceful sociological trends begins a journey. Giant fund raisers such as UNICEF funnel money in many directions with the mission of helping children all over the globe. What better assistance than educating them at early ages. How does the old saying go; “give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a life time”.

I am starting to possess the skills and determination to work with numerous organizations as a focused child advocate. How exactly this will all happen is a door I’m leaving open. I know I will have to leave my dear Hawaiian Islands to pursue the depth and breadth of my dream. My dream job would be working with Bill de Blasio mayor of New York City in regard to his dream of universal early childhood development. I want to take an ant-bias leap in regard to connecting rich, poor, black, brown, and pink, to a common goal that serves humanity. Very simply put, I want to usher in a fair start for all children even those that are middle class. Aloha

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

All but 11 states now have public schools accepting three and four year olds in preparation for kindergarten and they are thriving. The 11 states that haven’t accepted this practice will fall behind until they change, I’m sure it’s unintended but that doesn’t change the science and facts. Keeping this in mind here are some of the organizations that both hinder and address this practice. In Hawaii the HTA (Hawaii Teachers Association) just finished helping to defeat a ballot proposal that would have funded three and four year old education for all throughout the state. The HTA contended that private childcare institutions didn’t need the funding for our little ones education. The consequences will be that many middle class children will go without.

The ballot title looked like this: “Shall the appropriation of public funds be permitted for the support or benefit of private early childhood education programs, as provided by law, to help the State meet its goal of providing an early learning system for the children of Hawaii?” . The public schools haven’t come close to achieving early development programs and the teachers have now made sure no one else will be aided in achieving that goal. The question then becomes; “where will I find my community” that will aid me in making universal childcare a reality?

Being a child advocate and activist one might have to go to work for the enemy, however, in my case, I will not work for Hawaii Department of Education. I feel I can make better headway in an individual effort with some crucial sponsorship that gets my message inside the schools. These sponsors will include unnamed educational media companies and some named ones. For example Child Craft which combines to help fund such things as the NAEYC Annual Conference. Kaplan and other companies also with a focus on Universal Childcare will be in my scope of potential partners.

My passion and skill level in helping direct both political and educational childcare funding is growing. If I work for Kaplan or Child Craft or even some other educational media company I will bring a world of understanding with me. Monies need to go in the right direction to insure a positive social change.

Reflecting on Learning

In this thought process of early childhood studies it becomes incumbent on me to be honest and except any bias that occurs due to my origination of passion for this field. My father Dr. James E. Powell paved the way for my interest and passion in this field. He is one of the first males to become a child advocate for those 0-5 children that have a tendency to slip through the cracks of our sociological order. The funding and educational resources for those less fortunate has been an issue for mankind everywhere. Many politicians have advocated for the little ones among us and then gone to Washington and voted to cut their funds. Passionate discourse without action helps to get votes sometimes but does nothing to insure a head start for our children. My passion is so strong that I will join with anyone on both sides of our democratic process when it comes to funding, providing healthy meals and teaching pre-kindergarten children. So many studies bear out the advantage to teaching children early but somehow many still lack the political will to make it so throughout our country.

I want to thank my many colleagues that have assisted me in this grand endeavor. It is my firm belief that we are all taking personal and professional risks every day in trying to affect social change. When something seems a little off for some reason or we fail to see the fairness we do need to speak-up. It is the, “how” that is important in how we speak-up. This makes our colleagues non replaceable and of upmost importance. We learn from each other and we need each other.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area I chose for this blog assignment and soon travel destination is the Congo in Africa. I love the idea of the “Wild Kingdom” and it fits my adventurist life style. While I find certain indigenous wild life most intriguing the children would be the reason for my visit for the following reasons: DONGOU, Republic of Congo, 11 March 2010 – Tens of thousands of children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been seeking refuge in the neighbouring Republic of Congo since October 2009, when inter-communal clashes sent their families fleeing across the border.

This all caused a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. However the specific town I would like to visit and perhaps aid in some fashion is called the town of Dongou. Three public primary schools have opened their doors to about 800 young refugees. Morning classes are held for local children, while the afternoon is reserved for refugee students. Even most of the teachers are refugees but they are making headway in the most difficult of circumstances. It’s hard to imagine the strife and hunger these children have known but things are looking up.

I’m humbled and motivated at the same time to make a difference. Where ever I go (I do travel extensively) I want to make a difference. Sometimes people have challenges that many can’t even begin to imagine and others are just plain ungrateful for what they have created. I see universal child care and early childhood development around every corner, even for those most ignored.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Early on in the culture I live in we see the ramifications of a King and a Queen. The King being a man and the Queen being a woman, revered, and of a royal blood line.

The message about what kind of toys that children play with, the kind of ‘good’ food to eat, dress or clothes to wear, and many more we could find it very influencing. It really needs a wise consideration as the parent to realize it when particularly the media try to market their product- by influencing children with the highly sexualized images with sexy clothes, make-up, and very thin body.

With the growing and development of the more sophisticated and easy access of the gadget, media, online games and television right now-children nowadays would encounter this issues at much younger and younger ages, long before they have the ability to understand or deal with them (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). This fact would leave us, the parent, feeling hopeless not to be able to cope with the fast changing trends in the society, which is very different from their generation before.

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

Think about:

• a 5-year-old girl wearing a T-shirt that says “Flirt.”
• the advice given in magazines to preadolescent girls on how to look sexy and get a boyfriend
• print advertisements that portray little girls with pigtails and ruffles in adult sexual poses
• popular dolls in miniskirts and fishnet stockings advertised during Saturday morning cartoons

Turn off the TV!

However if this is not an option:

• Tune in and talk. Watch TV and movies with your daughters and sons; read their magazines and surf the Web sites they look at. Ask questions.
• Question choices. Girls who are overly concerned about their appearance often have difficulty focusing on other things. Explain how preoccupation with clothes might keep your daughter from focusing on school work, friends, and other activities.
• Speak up. If you don’t like a TV show, song, video, pair of jeans, or doll, say why. Conversation will be more effective than just banning. Support campaigns and companies and products that promote positive images of girls. Complain to those responsible when products sexualize girls.
• Understand. Help your daughter make wise choices about trendy clothes. Remind her that who she is and what she can do are more important than how she looks.
• Encourage. Encourage your daughter to get involved in a sport or other activity that emphasizes talents, skills, and abilities over physical appearance.
• Educate. Even if you feel uncomfortable discussing sexuality with your kids, it’s important to talk about peer and cultural influences on sexual behaviors, how to make safe choices, and what constitutes a health relationship.
• Be real. Help your kids focus on what’s really important: what they think, feel, and value. Remind your children that everyone is unique and that it’s wrong to judge people by their appearance.
• Model. Marketing and the media influence adults as well as kids. If you think about what you buy and watch, and why, you will teach your sons and daughters to do so too.

For more information, see the American Psychological Association Report at http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html

In my every day experience’s I am more and more aware of the affects of not confronting issues on sexuality. If we ignore little girls in particular this is some of what we get in return:

• Cognitive and emotional health: Sexualization and objectification undermine a person’s confidence in and comfort with her own body, leading to emotional and self-image problems, such as shame and anxiety.
• Mental and physical health: Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women—eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood.
• Sexual development: Research suggests that the sexualization of girls has negative consequences on girls’ ability to develop a healthy sexual self-image American Psychological Association Report at http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html

Week 5 Professional Evauation on Hungry Kids

Globalization is said to be responsible for the diversity in any specific region. This creates some challenges, however some still claim indifference to it. Changing demographics and diversity has consequences to curriculums when inclusion is a sociological goal. Gloria Swindler Boutte explained it very well along the lines of love and hate. She said; “In educational settings, love connotes that all humans deserve the right to dignity, freedom, and equal opportunities. On the other hand, hate in educational settings is defined as a lack of compassion and lack of respect for the rights of others” (Boutte, 2008, p. 1). When taking an individual child’s cultural identity and faith into consideration solutions to inclusion come much easier than claiming some kind of indifference to it. Teacher’s attitudes toward social justice evolve with classrooms that are diversified. Natural empathy resolves communication challenges and most inherent biases that may be in play. Time, experience and inclusion are the tools that one can use to become a better teacher and human being.

Many great philosophers have seen and will see poverty as a form of social violence. No child should ever go to bed hungry, dirty or exhausted from trying to survive. Having said that, what are we doing to mitigate this tragedy of way too many children being under fed and over stressed? When someone comes to the door collecting for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) how many Americans are familiar with what a donation does? Because there are still starving children in every part of the world we might guess that not enough people know about UNICEF or the fact that children have rights.

As a professional farmer I haven’t done enough to feed the children on my small island. Children that go hungry even though I have a crop in the field leads me to think I’m an elitist snob. The guilt of seeing non-nutritional food fed to kids is sometimes overwhelming to me. Hate, bias and apathy are many times the result of an empty stomach for some and too much for others. We need to find a balance and perhaps teaching well feed alert kids will extinguish some of the ism’s that are experienced in the class rooms.

Boutte, G. S. (2008). Beyond the Illusion of Diversity: How Early Childhood Teachers Can Promote Social Justice. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/detail?sid=184a77d7-c583-4e70-84e1-d973db7b4d38%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=114&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=ehh&AN=33648998

Observing Communication

Last night we went to our annual blessing of the canoes’ crossing the channel festival (Kulaia Ho’olaule). Most all the people from our island were there to eat, listen to Hawaiian music, talk story etc. When we gather like this kids are always running wild all over the place. We block off the downtown area and set up in the grass in front of the Library. In twenty years I’ve never really noticed how the children were actually communicating on such a focused level. This little blurb from a wonderful writer at Time Magazine that pretty much sums up my observation.

“Small children by their very nature, are moral monsters. They’re greedy, demanding. Violent, selfish, impulsive and utterly remorseless. They fight constantly with playmates and siblings but scream in pain and indignation if they are attacked in return. They expect to be adored but not disciplined, rewarded but never penalized, cared for and served by parents and family without caring or serving reciprocally”(Kluger, 2014, p. 42). After last night this statement make me chuckle.

One of the funniest things I did in this observation came from something I learned this week. I put all my attention on a friend of mine’s young daughter. Her name is Jenney and she is in my opinion, spoiled rotten. However, as she pulled her Dad’s shirt and demanded his attention (while he was conversing with me) I totally stopped and asked her what she was trying to communicate. She looked shocked and finally blurted out her need for cash. I made her the center of our conversation for as long as it took for her to hustle us out of five dollars. She strode off confidently cash in hand as we laughed because we had just been had.

Kids very much need to be the center of attention, this really does make them happy. They need to be acknowledged and talked to about what is happening. My friend and I paused our conversation and included Jenney in the most loving and heart felt way. She reciprocated in the only way she knew how, skipping off to the shaved ice booth. I can see where in the past we might have just blown Jenny off and continued our conversation. She would have went over to hustle my wife or her mother possibly encountering the same results. Becoming more and more frustrated she might have performed a series of well-practiced tantrums. However, because of this week’s lesson I decide to communicate with her directly and get to the bottom of her heart’s desire. Five dollars poorer I learned that kids have very acute begging skills if we listen.

Reference:

Kluger, J. (2014). The Little Narcissists. Time, 184(8), 42.

Family Child Care Home

Learning about who I am entrance board.

In the entrance of my Family Child Care Home I have a magnetic bulletin board with each child’s name on it. In a box below are products that easily stick to the board. Each child can pick one or more of these magnets to put within the box by their name. Mostly images with a few well thought out words can be selected from. Parents are encouraged to help pick them out when dropping off their children. When the parents pick the kids up they will help clear the board by their child’s name. This simple task must be adjusted frequently and the kids can pick new magnets throughout the day.

Happy, sad, tearful, handsome, ugly, sleepy, enthusiastic, busy, grumpy, dirty, clean, whiner, good hair, bad hair, hungry, aches and pains, are a few of the images depicted to choose from. However, the children can also make their own images with provided supplies. Unlimited creativity and inclusion leaves the caretakers all on the same page from the very beginning. No stereotypical images included.

Play Room

In my play room the ceiling is painted like a sky with a bright sun and clouds. The walls have as many animals and vegetation as the imagination can produce. Dolls, Art supplies, books, crazy obstacle courses, blocks and foam balls make up a majority of this room including each child’s personal space. Each personal space will be provided with any number of rudimentary child supplies and a personal display area.

The majority of a child’s day takes place in this room and it should be kept colorful and clean. The idea is that each thing in it is self-explanatory based on the thinking of a 3-5 year old. You might say that it is very user friendly to them. The play-learn motive should be readily available to the kids but not obtrusive and cold.

Sleep and Contemplation Room

When the lights are soft, created as if by stars at night, also soft classical music permeates this room. The ceilings are done like a star filled night with levels of brightness changeable. Nap time turned into an adventure of sounds, sights and smells depicting nature. Pillows and mats are everywhere because this is where one rests.

Many other rooms such as bathrooms and eating areas all depict the same theme of carefully making my home, your home. Maybe I have a great deal of imagination and enthusiasm, stick around long enough and you will too.