My Daily Supports
When I first stop to think about my daily supports the first person that comes to mind is my wonderful husband Jairo. He is the greatest support and has been a great supporter of me going back to get my Master's degree.
The next support would be my children Jordan, Lauren and Hunter. Hunter is the only one that still lives with us to see on daily basis, but the girls are in college and I either talk or text them daily. They are my everything.
My parents are alwasy there for me and I talk to my mother daily on the phone at least once if not more than once per day. She is my greatest cheerleader and best friend.
Without these people I would not be near the person I am today.
At work I have a great support system within our Leadership Team at my office. We have to support each other because in an office with 35 people there is always some type of drama going on and with out my fellow Leadership Team colleagues I would feel alone on an island.
My relationship with God provides the foundation for which all these other relationships are built and provide the opportunity to beat or survive any challenge that comes before me.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
My Connection to Play
Play to me means outside and exploration. I grew up on a farm in western Oklahoma and I spent hours outside playing in the dirt making mud pies and my other favorite was playing school with all of my dolls. The following quotes I think are instrumental in my believes about play in my own personal life.
I have included pictures of the books that I loved to read and use to play school with my dolls and some good old fashion dirt to represent my play in making mud pies with the picture of the old tin dish set. This dish set looks exactly like the set I had a child. Great memories.
My parents always allowed me to play and dream of all the possibilities that would come to life over the course of my lifetime. I was a very independent child and have grown to be an independent adult. Play was critical for me to figure out what I wanted in my life. I wanted to help people as a teacher, but what I did not know was I wanted to help many teachers of young children. Play is still an important part of my life and I am a firm believer that play is a necessary task in everyone's life. Play opens the door for exploration and opens the mind to be creative. My parents allowed me to explore and play all day everyday.
I think one of the greatest issues for children today is that they are not allowed to play outside because of parental fear of danger in our neighborhoods. I think it is crtical in today's society that we afford children the opportunity to learn to play in safe settings. Child care centers are the perfect place for children to have the ability to explore, dream and think about the possibilities. I have worked to create an environment in my home where my children played, explored and dreamed. It is amazing to me that today as 22, 20, and 18 year olds they still have dreams and play still plays a major role in their lives as young adults. If we teach children to play they will play for LIFE!!!
I like nonsense, it
wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a
way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I
do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.
Dr. Seuss
US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
You have brains in
your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go....
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go....
Dr. Seuss, Oh!
The Places You'll Go!
US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
I have included pictures of the books that I loved to read and use to play school with my dolls and some good old fashion dirt to represent my play in making mud pies with the picture of the old tin dish set. This dish set looks exactly like the set I had a child. Great memories.
My parents always allowed me to play and dream of all the possibilities that would come to life over the course of my lifetime. I was a very independent child and have grown to be an independent adult. Play was critical for me to figure out what I wanted in my life. I wanted to help people as a teacher, but what I did not know was I wanted to help many teachers of young children. Play is still an important part of my life and I am a firm believer that play is a necessary task in everyone's life. Play opens the door for exploration and opens the mind to be creative. My parents allowed me to explore and play all day everyday.
I think one of the greatest issues for children today is that they are not allowed to play outside because of parental fear of danger in our neighborhoods. I think it is crtical in today's society that we afford children the opportunity to learn to play in safe settings. Child care centers are the perfect place for children to have the ability to explore, dream and think about the possibilities. I have worked to create an environment in my home where my children played, explored and dreamed. It is amazing to me that today as 22, 20, and 18 year olds they still have dreams and play still plays a major role in their lives as young adults. If we teach children to play they will play for LIFE!!!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Relationship Reflection
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| My best friend Dawn |
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| College Friends |
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| College Friends |
The next picture of me and my middle child and baby daughter Lauren is us taking a picture of ourselves while looking at the ceiling at Graceland. One of the things the characteristics of our relationship is that we always have lots of fun. My husband and I worked hard to do lots of fun things with our children. We are a fun group!
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| My and my daughter Lauren |
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| Me and my friends from the Missouri Registry |
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| My mom, me, my cousins Teresa and Joe and my mom's twin sister Aunt Jerry. |
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| My Sister Jan |
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| My friend Lezley and me |
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| My best friend Kelly and me getting our Thunder on!!! |
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| My Momtana Registry Friends |
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| My dad, my son Hunter, my mom and me |
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| Me and my son Hunter |
My friend Denise from the Missouri Registry has become one of my very best friends and we started out really just being collegues that do the same type of work in different states. We served on the National Registry Alliance board together, but our parternship has grown and strengthened into a personal friendship type of relationship. This picture was taken last fall at the OKState vs Missouri game in Missouri. My husband, my son and I went and stayed with Denise and attended the football game together.
The next couple of pictures are of my family my mom is a twin and me and Aunt Jerry's children are really close and spend all holidays together. We are a constant support system for each other. Then there is a picture of my sister from 1999 about 11 months before she passed away. I have worked really hard to keep her spirit alive for my children. Aunt Jan meant the world to them, but they were 5, 7 and 9 when she passed away so they have distant memories of her and it is important to me to keep her alive for them. It has been a challenge just because they were so young when she passed away, but it is very important for me and my family.
This is a picture of my friend Lezley and I at the football game from today. We have been friends for about 8 years. She is my best friend from Blanchard the town that I live in and my Blanchard relationships seem very different from the rest of my relationships. In Blanchard I am just a mom, but all other relationships I am a mom and I have an identiy associated with my work as an early childhood professional.
This picture was from this summer when the OKC Thunder was playing in the NBA Finals. We dressed up at work to support our team. Kelly is one of my best friends and she is a jewel. We have a lot in common our kids are similar in age and we are at similar places in our lives. She is already an empty nester, but she is my one friend that understands both of my worlds the one that I am mother of three children and she understands my passion for my work as an early childhood professional.
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| Me and my oldest daughter Jordan |
My Montana Registry friends are a group of ladies that do similar work that I do for the state of Oklahoma in the state of Montana. We have become distant friends because of our common interests in Registry work. I am excited to get to see these ladies this coming week at The National Registry Alliance conference in Panama City Beach, Florida.
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| My daughters Jordan and Lauren |
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| My husband Jairo and I |
My daughters are Gamma Phi Beta's at Oklahoma State University and Gamma Phi is very important to my family because my sister was a Gamma Phi so that is connection she and the girls have so that is part of the legacy she leaves for our family.
Lastly, my husband of 22 years Jairo is extremely important to me. We are very fortunate that both of us have parents that have been married 40 plus years so they have been great role models for us and that they have shown us that marriage is hard work and you have to be committed to each other. I am hopeful that we have been the same type of role model for our children.
The committment to my personal relationship have been key to the foundation for the realtionships I have developed as an early childhood professional. I am public policy fanatic just as my blog states and our my work in early childhood has been the foundation for my public policy efforts. Just like we have read about all week relationships between teacher and the family is critical as a foundation for high quality. As a public policy advocate I have worked to seek funding for high quality early childhood programs and high quality relationships lies at the foundation.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
When I think of Child Development
When I think of child development and how children learn the following quotes come to mind for me:
From there to here, from here to there, funny things everywhere--Dr. Seuss
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.--Dr. Seuss
A person's a person, no matter how small.--Dr. Seuss
Do not to where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.--Ralph Waldo Emerson
From there to here, from here to there, funny things everywhere--Dr. Seuss
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.--Dr. Seuss
A person's a person, no matter how small.--Dr. Seuss
Do not to where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, August 4, 2012
To Test or Not to Test
To test or not to test that is the question. Society says testing is important, but personally I think we would focus on the whole child and meeting the needs of children we would need to test far less. Standardized tests focuses just one aspect of the child it does not test all aspects of the child. All children have different strengths and a standardized test is not going to tell the entire story about a child. My daughter Lauren is not a good standardized test taker, but she is an amazing creative writer. Unfortunately, there is not a standardized test available that would have ever discovered that quality.
The country I chose to write about is Venezuela and their school system basically two tracks they have a college bound or vocation bound education track and it begins in middle school. My husband reported that he remembers going into fifth grade and making the decision that he was going the college bound track so from fifth grade on he took primarily math and science coursework with a limited number of humanities. That was so surprising to me that as young as fifth grade you are making decisions about your future. I would guess that probably is truly based on the your parents goals for your future instead of the child.
I think that instead of getting children ready for tests it is more important for schools to get ready for children. I also think that schools need to be focusing on meeting the individual needs of the child no matter the age. If teachers focused on meeting the individual needs of children our children would be accomplishing amazing things.
The country I chose to write about is Venezuela and their school system basically two tracks they have a college bound or vocation bound education track and it begins in middle school. My husband reported that he remembers going into fifth grade and making the decision that he was going the college bound track so from fifth grade on he took primarily math and science coursework with a limited number of humanities. That was so surprising to me that as young as fifth grade you are making decisions about your future. I would guess that probably is truly based on the your parents goals for your future instead of the child.
I think that instead of getting children ready for tests it is more important for schools to get ready for children. I also think that schools need to be focusing on meeting the individual needs of the child no matter the age. If teachers focused on meeting the individual needs of children our children would be accomplishing amazing things.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Consequences of Stress on Child Development
Early in our marriage my husband went back to college to change careers and at the time we had our oldest daughter Jordan, but shortly after moving back to Stillwater for him to return to school I found out I was pregnant with our second children daughter Lauren. We were extremely poor at the time and we survived on the food items we received from the Women, Infants and Child (WIC) food program. Our daughters were so young they don't remember that time in our lives so I don't think it effected their development. My parents provided a strong support system for us. They provided so many things that our children that our girls never knew that we were poor. We were so poor at the time we did not even have a telephone so if my parents needed to get in touch with us they called the family that lived a couple door down and they would come get us. That almost does not seem real now. I have worked in Head Start for many years so I have seen first hand where poverty impacts children and sometimes their development if they don't have proper nutrition or adequate housing. We were poor, but we were fortunate that we did not experience life changing poverty.
I was reading in the Kids Count Oklahoma website and almost 16% of Oklahoma's children live in poverty according to 2010 data collection (The Anne E. Casey Foundation, 2012). This percentage has grown every year for the last four years. This is a continual problem for children in child care in the state of Oklahoma.
I think some of the resources available to children and families in poverty include WIC, Food Stamps, Head Start, Early Head Start and Medicaid. We were able to access part of these programs for our family and they made a big difference in our children's lives. My middle child Lauren had lost of medical issues as a child and has continued to have medical issues throughout her life, but having Medicaid so that we could take care her to the doctor when we needed to was such a relief. We are very fortunate now we both have great jobs and are not in need of these services, but because of our past it has made me a true advocate for children and families in poverty. Most of them are not living in poverty because that is the life they want they are there because of an unfortunate circumstance. Many people are just one chronic medical issue away from poverty.
I chose to look again to Venezuela since that is the country of origin for my husband. He still has most of his family still living there so we are well aware that the country is struggling with poverty. I was able to find an article about a music program that they have implemented to bring the joy of playing musical instruments to children in poverty. The article even stated that the government has put 64 million dollars into the program and that Chavez, the President is a supporter of the program (Walkin, 2012). These programs are operated in the schools after school so it is a way of protecting the children by keeping them off of the streets. The program serves pre-K through sixth grade.
Poverty is everywhere and it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that we have programs and support families in poverty. I think that programs like Head Start and Early Head Start are amazing because they provide a quality environment for the children grow and development so that their economic situation does not impact their development. Additionally, they also provide a parent component so that parents can learn how to better themselves as well.
References:
The Anne E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Data center kids count. Retrieved from: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/stateprofile.aspx?state=OK&loc=38
Walkin, D. J. (2012, February 15). Fighting Poverty, Armed with Violins. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/arts/music/el-sistema-venezuelas-plan-to-help-children-through-music.html?pagewanted=all
I was reading in the Kids Count Oklahoma website and almost 16% of Oklahoma's children live in poverty according to 2010 data collection (The Anne E. Casey Foundation, 2012). This percentage has grown every year for the last four years. This is a continual problem for children in child care in the state of Oklahoma.
I think some of the resources available to children and families in poverty include WIC, Food Stamps, Head Start, Early Head Start and Medicaid. We were able to access part of these programs for our family and they made a big difference in our children's lives. My middle child Lauren had lost of medical issues as a child and has continued to have medical issues throughout her life, but having Medicaid so that we could take care her to the doctor when we needed to was such a relief. We are very fortunate now we both have great jobs and are not in need of these services, but because of our past it has made me a true advocate for children and families in poverty. Most of them are not living in poverty because that is the life they want they are there because of an unfortunate circumstance. Many people are just one chronic medical issue away from poverty.
I chose to look again to Venezuela since that is the country of origin for my husband. He still has most of his family still living there so we are well aware that the country is struggling with poverty. I was able to find an article about a music program that they have implemented to bring the joy of playing musical instruments to children in poverty. The article even stated that the government has put 64 million dollars into the program and that Chavez, the President is a supporter of the program (Walkin, 2012). These programs are operated in the schools after school so it is a way of protecting the children by keeping them off of the streets. The program serves pre-K through sixth grade.
Poverty is everywhere and it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that we have programs and support families in poverty. I think that programs like Head Start and Early Head Start are amazing because they provide a quality environment for the children grow and development so that their economic situation does not impact their development. Additionally, they also provide a parent component so that parents can learn how to better themselves as well.
References:
The Anne E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Data center kids count. Retrieved from: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/stateprofile.aspx?state=OK&loc=38
Walkin, D. J. (2012, February 15). Fighting Poverty, Armed with Violins. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/arts/music/el-sistema-venezuelas-plan-to-help-children-through-music.html?pagewanted=all
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Child Development and Public Health
The public health topic I chose is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) because it amazes me with all the research there is out there about SIDS that parents are still buying bumper pads for infant cribs. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics parents should keep soft objects, loose bedding, or any objects that could increase the risk of entrapment, suffocation, or strangulation out of a crib (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2011). If parents are not going to stop purchasing bumper pads I do think that it is critical and ethical for manufactures to stop making bumper pads because if they are a part of the "bedding set" parents are going to keep purchasing them. This one of my personal pet peeves that by saving money and purchasing the bumper pad you may in fact be saving your babies life. Additionally, putting the baby on their back to go to sleep for the first year of life again is a potential life saving measure for your baby. Even with all the public awareness these two simple tasks are still not being taken by a great number of people and unfortunately we are still seeing many infants die due to SIDS.
In Australia there is new research that states by breastfeeding for the first six months exclusively and then continue to breastfeed until age one reduces the risk of SIDS by nearly half (Hofman, 2012). This is just another way of protecting our babies with breastfeeding reducing their risk of SIDS as well as many other potential illnesses.
I think for me finding a way to educate new parents about the risk of SIDS should become a task for all early childhood professionals because we have access to the most current research to share with parents. I also provide printout about the bedding, back to sleep and now I will also include information about breastfeeding as well in all of the baby shower gifts I give so it is my own little attempt to change the world one new parent at a time.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, December 28). Reducing the risk of SIDS. Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/sleep/pages/Preventing-SIDS.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token
Hofman, H. (2012, May 16). Global Post. Breastfeeding halves risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120516/breastfeeding-halves-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-sydrome-s
In Australia there is new research that states by breastfeeding for the first six months exclusively and then continue to breastfeed until age one reduces the risk of SIDS by nearly half (Hofman, 2012). This is just another way of protecting our babies with breastfeeding reducing their risk of SIDS as well as many other potential illnesses.
I think for me finding a way to educate new parents about the risk of SIDS should become a task for all early childhood professionals because we have access to the most current research to share with parents. I also provide printout about the bedding, back to sleep and now I will also include information about breastfeeding as well in all of the baby shower gifts I give so it is my own little attempt to change the world one new parent at a time.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, December 28). Reducing the risk of SIDS. Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/sleep/pages/Preventing-SIDS.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token
Hofman, H. (2012, May 16). Global Post. Breastfeeding halves risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120516/breastfeeding-halves-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-sydrome-s
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