Sharing Web Resources

I was unable to make contact with another Childhood professional. I chose to to study the World Forum Foundation.

The link to World Forum Radio is http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio the focus of the radio broadcast is to for the early childhood leaders’ community. The podcast promotes the exchange of ideas between people and cultures on all topics related to young children.
Episode 10 was by Susan Lyon began pondering how children think, eventually visiting Reggio Emilia and then bringing the “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to the San Francisco Bay area on two occasions.

It was a very interesting podcast. It made me think about the Reggio philosophy and I related it to my own teaching. The Head Start I teach at now has a Education Coordinator with Reggio background so we are starting teach more with this mind set. The podcast also led me to find out more about the “100 Languages of Children”.

Twenty years of touring, five editions of the European version and the duplication of the exhibit in 1987 for a North American version, many showings throughout Europe and across the ocean, hundreds of thousands of visitors of all nationalities: these figures have made "The Hundred Languages of Children" a fundamental point of reference for Italian and international pedagogical culture. First conceived by Loris Malaguzzi and his closest associates, this exhibit is rooted in the forty years of experience of the educational institutions operated by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia. The exhibit bears witness to the originality and the extraordinary nature of the years of research that have led the Reggio infant-toddler centers and preschools to become a primary point of reference for those who work in early childhood education worldwide.

The 100 Languages of Children As children proceed in an investigation, generating and testing their hypotheses, they are encouraged to depict their understanding through one of many symbolic languages, including drawing, sculpture, dramatic play, and writing. They work together toward the resolution of problems that arise. Teachers facilitate and then observe debates regarding the extent to which a child's drawing or other form of representation lives up to the expressed intent. Revision of drawings (and ideas) is encouraged, and teachers allow children to repeat activities and modify each other's work in the collective aim of better understanding the topic. Teachers foster children's involvement in the processes of exploration and evaluation, acknowledging the importance of their evolving products as vehicles for exchange.

I love this saying and wanted to share...
Children have a hundred languages, and they want to use them all.
They learn very soon how difficult it is for this right to be recognized and above all respected.
This is why children ask us to be their allies in resisting hostile pressures and defending spaces for creative freedom which, in the end, are also spaces of joy, trust, and solidarity.

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I sent an email trying to establish contact with other Early Childhood professionals. I chose to send an email to Egypt, Moroco, South Africa, and Asia. My email read:

Hello,
My name is Alissa Stark. I work as a Head Start teacher in Oregon and currently purse my Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education at Walden University. I would love to make contact with another Early Childhood professional from a different part of the world to share our experiences. Please email back if interested, it would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Alissa

All of the first four emails I sent came back return to sender.

I sent two more emails to Unicef in Cambodia, Australia and Costa Rica. I am waiting for responses and hopefully I will make contact with another Early Childhood professional.

I received an email back from UNICEF due to the time pressure on staff in their office they are unable to participate at this time. I only have one other email waiting for a response.

The second option for the blog assignment might be my only choice. I am going to start listening to the podcast of World Forum Radio. This will be the first time I have ever listened to a podcast, and I am very interested.

My Supports

My Family
My Family is my biggest support. Each person in my immediate family works together to help our household function. My husband and two daughters support me in our daily routine to keep everything running smoothly. They help me with support around the house doing housework and chores. They also are an emotional support and are always there to listen when I need to talk. I can’t imagine life without this support. My family makes my world whole, and I would be lonely without them. It also is very nice to have everyone working together and always having someone there to lean on.

My Coworkers
I have a great team of coworkers who all work together to support our families. My coworkers support me and we collaborate on the work we do. It makes it much easier to work together and delegate responsibility. It is nice when you can count on the people around you for support. I would not be able to do my job without the support of my coworkers. It would be impossible to do all of their jobs and also mine.

My Friends
I have a very supportive network of friends. I can rely on them to support me when I am in need to talk or just relax and have fun. Many of these friends have been friends for years. If I did not have them it would be a loss. The challenge of these relationships is time, I rarely have time to see these friends and as time goes by with a busy life I see them less. If I did not have them in my life I would miss the support they give me.

My Community
I have a wonderful community of friends who are in my children’s school system who give me support. The other parents support me when it comes to my children. If I need someone to help me in a time of need I can call them. For example if I am unable to pick up my children from school these parents will step in and help me out. The challenges are I would never want to overstep my bounds and ask to much of them. I can’t imagine my life without them because they help me out and in return I help them.

My Connections to Play

My Connections to Play

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher


You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

When I was a child...
My parents supported me in play by allowing me to be a child and explore my surroundings. I played for hours outside in my backyard making forts in trees and taking in nature. The role of play in my childhood is one of my clearest memories. I spent all my time playing and creating. I feel lucky to have had a childhood where play was nourished.
Play today...
One way I feel play is different today is the reliance on electronics. I hear children talking daily about the different electronic games they play and the new game systems in their houses. Television and games are such a important part of children’s lives these days. I worry for the children of the future as this type of play does not develop open ended thinking. Children need to explore have all different types of play for healthy development.
Play through life...
Play is important for children as well as adults. It gives us the ability to relax and have time for enjoyment. One of the aspects I love about my job is it gives me the ability to play again and see life through the eyes of the child.

Childhood Play Items

I loved playing with my dolls when I was a child. I would pretend I was the mother and feed the baby and change her diaper. I still have my favorite baby doll and my daughter now plays with it.

I loved drawing and coloring as a child. I would spend hours working on pictures and drawing on my chalkboard. I still love to do art projects with children.

Relationship Reflection

My Husband
My husband Matt is my best friend as well as someone who forms the most important partnership in my life. We work together to make a loving home for our children and I always know he is on my side. One of the things I appreciate about this partnership is how we are always working together to deal with the issues in daily life.

My Daughter Harley
Harley is my oldest daughter and is 10 going on 30. She is very level headed and rational in thought. She gives me great advice and has a wonderful outlook on life. I enjoy my relationship with her so much, and after losing my mother to cancer in the last year have realized how important our relationship is.

My Daughter Brooklyn
Brooklyn is 8 years old and our relationship is much different. She is my baby and always will be. We have a very strong bond and I enjoy all the time I get to spend with her. She teaches me to remember how it is to be a child. She can play by herself for hours outside making fairy houses and exploring nature.

My Brother Travis
My brother is the most important relationship in my extended family. We have gone through so much together. My parents divorce, and losing my mother. He has always been there for me and supports me no matter what. I appreciate having someone who knows me so well and is such a good friend.

Considerations and Reflections

It won't matter
What kind of car I drove
What kind of house I lived in
How much money I had in the bank
Nor what my cloths looked like
BUT
The world may be a little better
Because, I was important
In the life of a child.

No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. Emma Goldman

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. Charles R. Swindoll

In the final analysis it is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings. Ann Landers

Testing for Intelligence?

Children need to think both critically and creatively and to solve complex problems. They also need to communicate well. Research shows a whole child approach to education will develop and prepare students for the challenges and opportunities in their world. In the public schools in the United States we focus on what a child should know and needs to know when completing a grade. The focus is all academic. I would like to show some social emotional approaches that have great success. Academic achievement and student behavior improve in schools with good social and emotional learning programs.
Child Development Program
For almost twenty years, the Developmental Studies Center in Oakland, California, has documented and evaluated results of its Child Development Project (CDP), which integrates lessons on caring, responsibility, and other positive traits with a rigorous curriculum that stresses cooperative learning, class meetings designed to build unity and a sense of shared purpose, buddy programs, and parental involvement. The research has consistently shown that students in CDP schools are more cooperative, helpful, and empathetic, are able to settle disputes among themselves without adult intervention, and are more committed to such democratic values as fairness and justice.
Resolving Conflict Creatively Program
A two-year study of 5,000 second- through sixth-grade children in fifteen New York City schools by the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University found a positive impact on children who received regular instruction in the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) curriculum from motivated teachers.
Children who received about twenty-five lessons a year in the RCCP curriculum, which is a violence prevention program with a core underpinning of emotional and social instruction, performed significantly better on standardized academic achievement tests than other children. Their teachers also reported that students in the RCCP classes showed greater emotional control and social skills such as cooperation, were less violent, and felt better about themselves. A separate study of RCCP teachers in Atlanta found that their listening skills, their understanding of children's individual needs and concerns, and their own use of conflict resolution had improved. RCCP, which was highlighted at the 1998 White House Conference on School Safety, also resulted in fewer suspensions, less physical violence, and a lower dropout rate in Atlanta.
Responsive Classroom
A two-year (1996-1998) University of Wisconsin study by researcher Stephen Elliott of two Springfield, Massachusetts, schools -- one that used a social and emotional learning program called Responsive Classroom and one that did not -- found significant social and academic dividends for the students in the Responsive Classroom program. The program is based on six components: a morning meeting, classroom organization, rules and logical consequences, guided discovery, academic choice, and assessment and reporting.
Responsive Classroom teachers reported an increase in such student social skills as using time appropriately, initiating conversations with peers, and getting along with people who are different. They also reported a decrease in such problem behaviors as interrupting, excessive fidgeting or moving, and feeling anxious among other children. The control group reported much less improvement in those areas. Over the two-year period, the Responsive Classroom group also showed significantly greater growth on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
Singapore
I chose to look at the school-age assessment in Singapore. My dad and step-mom lived there for 6 years. It also sparked my curiosity when looking at the chart in The Developing Person Through Childhood noticing Singapore was at the top ranking with math scores. They do not just look at the population of learners as a whole, but group them by learning ability. In 2005 the government chose to make cuts to curriculum and give greater focus to creative and critical thinking.
In 1999, fourth-grade test scores at the school using Responsive Primary education consists of a four year foundation stage from Primary 1–4 and a two year orientation stage from Primary 5 and 6. The overall aim of primary education is to teach the English language, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science. From the end of 2004, the EM1, EM2 and EM3 streaming for upper primary students were removed allowing schools the autonomy to decide how best to band their students by ability and value added information. Previously students were tested in Primary 4 to determine their stream: EM1 - brighter students, EM2 – average students and EM3 – a lower level of study for students who did not perform well in the testing.

References
http://www.edutopia.org/emotional-intelligence-research Singapore (Home page) foundEmotional-intelligence research: indicators point to the importance of sel. (2001, February 22).

Singapore – education system and school accountability. (2006). School Accountability Framework Review, Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/accountability/Docs/SINGAPORE.pdf