ESTABLISHING PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS/EXPANDING RESOURCES

This week we were asked to contact two early childhood professionals outside of the United States. I chose to contact someone in Germany and in Spain, I used the The Global Alliance of NAEYC site to locate two organizations, that I am interested in learning more about. The professionals I chose are from the German National Committee for Early Childhood Education Secretary: Ms. Ulrike Konrad-Ristau (the site http://www.agj.de/ ), and World Association of Early Childhood Educators, Juan Sanchez (the site http://www.waece.org/index.php).  I sent both professionals an email with an example of instructions of why I am interested in contacting them. I also included my blog address, and invited them to follow me.

When I sat down to do this Blog post, I had not received any information from either of the two professionals. I will give it a few more days, after that I may proceed with the alternative assignment or choose two more professionals.

For part two of our assignment I chose to explore, the National Black Child Development Institute (the site http://nbcdi.org/ ). The site is very bright, colorful, and filled with an abundance of knowledge. The NBCDI publishes a yearly calendar. The 2012 calendar is currently on sale, on their site for $12.00. They are currently running an aid for the 2013 calendar. They invite anyone to follow the procedures to submit pictures of children and poems to possibly be chosen for the 2013 calendar.

 The NBCDI initiatives are:

o    T.E.A.C.H.
o    Child Welfare
o    Early Childhood Education
o    Education
o    Health & Nutrition
o    Literacy
o    Archives

The NBCDI National Conference is October 6-9, 2012.

Contact Information:
Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa
3030 Holiday Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Tel. 954-525-4000
Standard Room Rates
Single/Double $164

"MY SUPPORTS"

Factors in Daily Environment:

To be a single parent of 4 children, with a significant other in another state temporarily is a challenge every day. Having to be in 4 places at one time when it is only me, is a very difficult task. Having support from multiple people like; my best friend, aunts, cousins, business partner, god-mother, god-sisters, god-brothers, two mentors and very dear and loyal friends is a plus.

Having these supports allows me to stay grounded mentally. They also allow for me to have a support system, and cheering section at all of my children’s events, award, sports, music, and achievement ceremonies. If I am not able to attend an event for one of my children, I can send a stand in, and the children have beautiful healthy relations with all of the support people that I named. So even when Mommy is not there, they always have what they need.

Without these supports, my life would be difficult. Time plays a significant factor in my life, and sometimes there are not enough hours in the day to deal with everything. So my children would be disappointed if they had multiple events scheduled for the same day, at the same time. One thing I stand firm on is not disappointing my children. So my support system helps me to keep my word. If they weren’t in my life, I would have to find and pay a nanny to help me out.

Situation (imagine):

My family has been displaced from our home due to a termite infestation causes the structure of my home to be unstable. I have insurance claims to fill out, a new home to look for, and new clothes, home furnishings, and house hold goods to replace. I own and operate (70% me 30% partner) with a business partner 2 Early Learning Centers. My Director is out on maternity leave at one center, and my second director just left to go on a well needed, well deserved vacation.

What do I do about my day to day operations of my businesses?

Support:

So I make my Business Partner aware of my situation. He works at a job in another field, but is very aware of day to day operations, and has excellent history with conflict resolution. So he decides to take a 2 week emergency vacation from his day job to come run the day to day operations of both centers, until I have resolved some of my situation. Then I have a talk with my God-Mother. She is retired and traveling with her husband enjoying her life.

I explain my housing and business situation to her and she immediately comes to my rescue. She decided to help with both the housing situation and the Early Learning Center situation. For 25 years she cared for and helped raised other people’s children, she used to own her own Early Learning Center.

The potential benefits to these two support people are that I am able to still run my business, while handling my home situation. I won’t loose revenue, and I will be able to trust the person handling the business, because this resolution is a benefit to both of us. My God-mother helping to keep the kids occupied while I search for another home is important, and she is able to help at the Early Learning Center, if my Business Partner can’t handle a particular situation with the center.

My business would suffer until I was able to hire a temporary director, which would mean paying 3 people to do a job, which was meant for 2 people. My children would suffer because they would be bored shopping for homes and sitting to fill out paper work. If I didn’t have these two support systems in place I would be drained mentally, and physically my body might start to shut down because of all of the adding stress.

"MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY"

CHILDHOOD QUOTES

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” (When I became a WOMAN…)

(The Bible - 1 Corinthians 13:11)

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

-Dr. Seuss (Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel)

“CHICAGO ROLLER SKATES”

As a child one of my favorite activities was roller skating. I learned how to roller skate when I was about 4 years-old. I would skate in my backyard, and skate around the blocks in my neighborhood as I grew up over the years. Most importantly, I would go to the roller skating rink with my cousins and friends every Saturday night. We would practice our steps throughout the week after our homework was complete, then we would plan our outfits. Skating was a very important playtime for me, because it gave me the chance to be social and meet new people, it kept me in shape, and skating gave me an incentive to keep my grades up, because the rule in my house was, if you didn’t get good grades, you couldn’t go skating.

“SIT-N-SPIN”

My second favorite toy when I was a child was a “Sit-N-Spin!” I would sit in my backyard for hours and spin, and spin, and spin. I would spin so much when I got up, I would fall down in the grass, and it was so fun. Sometimes we would have a contest to see who could spin the fastest, and the longest without falling off. It was great!!!

Today’s Play

Today’s play options are still the same, for some children, parents recognize the importance of play so they limit T.V., video game options, and computer options. Some parents, like myself understand that activities like baseball, football, soccer, cheerleading, track, roller skating, and other activities are important, to keep kids socially, emotionally, and physically active. Board games like Monopoly teach kids the importance of handling money, buying real estate, and the importance of saving. Other games like Clue allow for children to use their memories to help teach problem solving skills. The WII System and the X-box w/ Kinect System does promote physical and mental strengthening.

As adults play is still an important way to build on and strengthen characteristics. As a child we are drawn to certain activities, based on our childhood. But when we become adults sometimes those activities are not attractive to us, we become different and sometimes are interest change. I personally still go skating, I like to play basketball, and I like to watch football, baseball, and hockey. I also enjoy playing multiple board and electronic games. This allows for me to interact with my children and show them the importance of family bonding.  

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

Relationships are important to me, because we as people cannot do everything alone. Building relationships is an important part of life. Rather it is a Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Best Friend, Colleague, or Professor/Teacher, it doesn’t matter people should strive to build happy and healthy relationships depending on the person, or persons you have the relationship with, you may have to establish specific boundaries to maintain and keep that relationship healthy. One statement I do not mind making is this, “do not let any unhealthy relationships, take over your life, cut the strings if you must, no matter the time you spent building it!” Sometimes we get too caught up in the timing, and do not realize that particular relationship was weighing us down, and stopping our blessings.

Don’t be afraid to meet new people, this brings networking opportunities, and  new friendships.

I have healthy positive relationship’s with my children, my business partners, and my best friend. The relationship with my children, is a must they are all under 18 years of age and they depend on me to guide them, build them up, and provide nourishment. My relationship with my business partners, allow for me to bounce many ideas off them, we connect and understand each other in business and in friendship. We are able to separate business from pleasure and have boundaries of respect, we agree to disagree. My positive relationship with my best friend has been ongoing since 1^st grade. We are friends for life. We talk, laugh, uplift, talk through, share, and support each other through true friendship. We also agree to disagree and maintain our friendship no matter how busy life gets, we can pick up a phone in the middle of the night and talk. (real friends are the ones you can call @ 2:00 in the morning) 

The relationship with my business partners are partnerships, because of the dynamics and are seen that way because of the divide in responsibility, finances, and company names.

As an effective early childhood professional , my ability to create, maintain, and drop unhealthy relationships can have an impact on me, because I have to deal with people every day in this field. So it is in my best interest to recognize unhealthy as well as health relationships/partnerships. The children and their families are the most important at the end of the day!

When I Think of Child Development …

ADDITIONAL QUOTES (continued)



Teacher Tom on the importance of questioning authority.