Establishing Professional Contacts

Grateful for the opportunity to gain access to professionals outside the United States. I have contacted five individuals from different organizations however I have not received a response from them. I look forward to each of their responses. The first step was to find interest in certain organizations. I then sent an email to each individual organization Please see the email below.

Hello,

My name is Alycia Sutton. I am a student at Walden University enrolled in the Masters Program for Early Childhood Studies. I am reaching out to obtain an understanding of the perspectives on some of the issues and trends explored within your organization. My task is to initiate contact with an early childhood professional outside the United States about their work, the state of the early childhood field in their country, their concerns, as well as their hopes and dreams. In this course we will be discussing Changing Demographics and Diversity, Poverty, Economics, Policies, and Science, Equity and Excellence of Care and Education for Children, Families, and Early Childhood Professionals. I would be asking you about issues and trends related to these topics within your program.

I hope that you could as a contact for me. This is my primary email address(alycia524@gmail.com). An alternate is alycia.sutton@waldenu.edu

Sincerely,

Alycia Sutton

Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

“ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and the “know-how” to nurture early development”(Zero To Three, 2013).Zero to Three understands that all babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to foster their intellectual, social and emotional development and lay the foundation for later school success.As I researched their site, I saw where they have resources available for parents, policymakers and professionals on how to stay abreast of several different policies options and strategies to use in efforts to have a positive change for infants, toddlers, and their families.This week I learned about policies and programs that support positive early learning experiences: Child Care, Early Head Start, and Early Intervention. I look forward to learning more from this site.

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/positive-early-learning-policy-toolkit.html

Click to access child_caremar5singles.pdf

Potential Challenge~Single Parent striving for a degree

I can only imagine what it is like for those who are individuals striving to obtain a degree and are single parents. Emotionally I am sure that he/she would want the support of a spouse and perhaps family members from time to time to help with the children and household needs as they dedicate a portion of their time school. Without this support I’m sure schoolwork would have to be done late at night. This would interfere with sleep. The weekends would be the primary time to complete assignments which would interfere with bonding time that could be spent with his/her children. I would be stress and sometimes feel a bit depressed if I were without the support of a spouse and/or family. I have yet to have children of my own or get married. I have so much respect for those that are striving for degree and are single parents. I encourage you to continue on the journey as you strive to make a better life for yourself and your children.

My Supports

My family is my biggest supports. They are behind me pushing me to accomplish my goals and dreams. They motivate me when I get discouraged. My dog Cocoa is a form of support for me too. She is my only child. She loves me unconditionally. When I have a bad day at work. I can come home to her cute face and she will always be happy to see me. The third photo is a photo of my co-workers. Our job is very stressful at times. We need each other to vent and remember to not take things personally that transpire at work. If I did not have these supports I would have a hard time getting through day to day struggles and relaxing at the end of a day.

My car serves as a huge support to me. This car gets takes me to all the many places I need to go. On the weekends I have very important errands I need to run and I would be unable to get there without it. I would miss out on many obligations if I did not have my car. My Iphone is my everything. It houses reminders, phone numbers, music, my GPS, memorable photos, keeps me connected to family, friends, work and school. I depend on it to remind me of everything and jot down notes when I am without paper and pencil. If I did not have it I would forget many commitments I have made. My laptop is my sole connection to school. Everything associated with my degrees as well as some memorable photos and music are on it. I would not have a means to obtain my degree without my laptop.

My thoughts on “Play”

Play is not as popular amongst us nowadays as it was for children when I was growing up. Most children stay inside watching TV or on a computer screen, and some even find entertainment in video games. I remember play feeling like my opportunity to have freedom and relaxation. I hope children today are give the opportunity to play and explore new things.The role of play throughout my life has helped me with sharing, interacting with others and physical activity.The role of play throughout childhood helps children to grow and benefits them cognitively, socially an intellectually.

My Connections to Play

Quotes that represent play to me:

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning~Fred Rogers

It is in playing, and only in playing, that the individual child or adult is able to be creative and to use the whole personality, and it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self. ~D.W Winnicott

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.~Stuart Brown. MD

My friends and I loved to play double dutch as a children.

My favorite color has always been red. When I was younger I remember my mom buying me a red 10 speed bike and I loved it. I named the bike Samantha.

My favorite doll was my cabbage patch kid. My mom bought me a cabbage patch that was a cheerleader which is a sport I participated in as a child.

Play was an activity I participated in on a regular basis. Although my siblings and I had “Nintendo”(video games) we could play with my mom made sure we went outside and didn’t sit in the house. My mom supported us playing by purchasing us outdoor toys and games. One of my friends next door would support us in “play” by playing jump rope with us sometimes, chasing us when we played “hide and go seek” and during the summer would take us swimming and to parks.

Relationship Reflection

The photos above are just a few of the people that I have significant relationships with. These are people in my life that I have had long standing relationships with. The first photo is a picture of my best friend of the past 11 years. From the day I met her we have been inseparable. She is the one person I can tell everything to and not ever fear being judged. The second photo is of my cousins. We have very good relationship. They encourage me to accomplish my goals and are the few people to get me to step outside of “my box”. The third photo is me and my two sisters. Although we are each ten years apart we are all able to relate to one another on so many levels. We are alike and different in so many ways. I can always depend on their support.

With each of these relationships we love and respect one another for who we are. We understand we each are different and make an effort to interact with one another while being mindful of those things. Although there is physical distance that is involved in these relationships, through open communication we are able to maintain good relationships. Each individual pictured above is either actively continuing their education or professionally involved in the field of education. Their accomplishments and aspirations are what help me to want to be a better me.

Weblink on Child Development

http://www.easternct.edu/cece/guidance_training_segment1.html

This weblink gives excellent information on the importance of trusting, supportive relationships,ways to show warmth, ways to respond to children and benefits of an attachment caregiver. These are a few things that I think is beneficial and influences child development in a positive way.

Reference

Guiding Young Children’s Behavior.(2013). Center for Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://www.easternct.edu/cece/guidance_training_segment1.html

Quote on Child Development

“Our life stories are largely constructed and without mindfulness can prove destructive.”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru

Assessing Young Children

In order to assess young children, I thought the site below gave some good information of what to know when assessing young children. According to Southern Early Childhood Association “Best practices for the assessment of young children include carefully selected informal and formal strategies that measure specific characteristics over several designated periods of time and in many different contexts.Formal assessments usually entail the use of standardized tests while Informal assessments rely more heavily on observational and work sampling techniques.”(Southern Early Childhood Association). This site also gives information on the difference between reliability and validity. Overall, I think this site gives good information to an educator individually what to look for and on how to access young children.

Reference

Assessing Development and Learning in Young Children. (2013). Southern Early Childhood Association. Retrieved from http://www.southernearlychildhood.org/upload/pdf/Assessing_Development.pdf