WEEK 8 Passion

My Passion: Helping children learn in a way that helps them be (and feel) successful, Help empower parents and help them know their rights (in regards to their child’s education), advocate for children and their families, and teach children how to advocate for themselves.

I feel that my personal experience of my son’s transition out of early intervention services into a developmental preschool setting puts me at an advantage for what problems could arise. For example, I do not believe that the early intervention coordinators or the developmental preschool representatives did a good job informing me about my rights as Owen’s mother, the options for Owen, or even the special education laws. These issues are why I am passionate about helping ease the transition for parents and their child.

Thank you so much for all of the feedback throughout this course. I must say that I am constantly learning new strategies to teach and reinforce anti-bias education. I often try them out on my own children and hope that I continue to learn and want to learn about helping children (and people in general) feel accepted and valued.

THANK YOU!!!

UNICEF Week 7

WEEK 7: PHILIPPINES

Share with your colleagues the area of the world you chose and why. I chose to look at the Philippines because as a child I sponsored a child who lived in the Philippines. His name was Manuel and I recently told the story to my children about sponsoring him and what that means. For this assignment, I took the opportunity to show my children photographs from the UNICEF website about the Philippines. It was very interesting to them to see children around their ages and what those children had to do each day.

Describe in detail some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting. The children in this country are facing recovery from tropical storms. This recovery includes rebuilding homes and farming areas. This area is also plagued with sicknesses. Children’s curriculum is now including daily teeth brushing and hand washing to try to reduce the transfer of these illnesses that can be fatal such as diarrhea and malnutrition.

Explain how these experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development. Many schools were destroyed during the tropical storms and many children miss school because of sickness (such as diarrhea or malnutrition). The UNICEF website did not specify what illnesses (that have diarrhea as a symptom) are a chronic problem. However, they did state that hand washing in clean water was helping. The UNICEF website also stated that many children did not have enough food and suffered the many complications from malnutrition. “UNICEF expressed great concern over the growing number of children and families affected by storm Ondoy, which dumped a months worth of rain in 12 hours, flooding 25 per cent of Metro Manila and affecting more than 24 provinces around the country” (UNICEF, n.d.). Many families are now living in some of the only buildings that survived the storms. In this area, I can see how education is not really the main issue right now. Instead, families are worried about survival. I must say that prior to reading this UNICEF information, I did not know much about the storm that is causing such devastation in the Philippines. (I believe that my children learned a lot from this website. My son, Noah, prayed for the families this morning and I hope that they learned a valuable lesson.)

Include a personal and professional reflection. Explain the insights you gained and the influences they may have on you as a person and as an early childhood professional. I think that one important insight that I was reminded of from this lesson is that sometimes families are dealing with issues much, much bigger than school assignments or lessons. It is important to talk with families and learn about them. As a developmental therapist, I will need to be accommodating to their scheduling needs and if they wish to meet outside the home due to issues at home. For example, if a family does not have electricity, they may want to have the developmental therapy session outside. It is important to for a good rapport with the family and become acquainted with local agencies that can support a family’s needs.

References UNICEF (n.d.). Retrieved from www.unicef.com.

Sexualization of Early Childhood

Blog Assignment: Week 6 This week we studied the sexualization of early childhood. I struggle with this topic. It is very frustrating to me when I shop for my daughter. She is three years old and I find many of the clothes to be inappropriate. When my oldest son was in preschool, I volunteered to help. Many of the four year old girls had on jeans and many of them had exposed bottoms when they sat down due to the “lowrider” style. I have noticed this when shopping for my daughter and I even saw “lowrider” underwear in a size 4 for little girls. How inappropriate!!! ************** I do feel that children are exposed to ideas of sexuality at an early age. Shows for children (iCarly, Victorious, etc.) have young girls and boys. While they may not breech the topic of sex, suggestions are very visible. From a dancing bra to couple groping, it is on television and in children’s shows. Even cartoons, such as Phineas and Ferb, have boyfriend/girlfriend issues and often have references to being “hot”. ************** Another problem that I have noticed within the last few weeks (in our local area) that is loosely related to the sexualization of early childhood is the increase in the number of teachers being caught having inappropriate relations with students. This is disturbing to me. Is this related to the sexualization of children? I believe that it probably is, since youth is being viewed as sexual and sexually ready at an early, early age. Some teenage girls are also wearing clothing that is exposing too much and some boys are wearing pants that show their underwear. I do not think that these children are “asking for” these inappropriate actions, but it may make them a target for inappropriate behaviors. ************** The misinterpretation of the ideas of sexuality in early childhood may be due to the fact that preschoolers are not yet clear about what actually makes them a boy or girl and their expected role in society (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Growing up, my mom talked about being “thin” with her friends. Very young, I wanted to be thin and had a very unrealistic view of how to become thin. As a parent, I try desparately to teach healthy habits and a love of exercise. Since I am a Type 1 diabetic, it is crucial that I exercise and eat right. However, I try not to talk about my frustrations with my own body image. This is one area that I think children do pick up on and if they are too young to process these “good or bad body images” it can lead to unhealthy habits or unrealistic expectations. Growing up, one of my friends was considered “chubby”. She wanted to be desired by the boys and started being sexually active very early because it made her feel wanted and desired. “Both boys and girls are routinely exposed to images of sexual behavior devoid of emotions, attachment, or consequences. They learn that sex is the defining activity in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 3). What is the solution? I think that in many cases, it is important to teach children to respect themselves as individuals. A positive self-esteem is important. ************* By reading the resources this week, I learned that many of the stories are similar. I truly believe that a positive self-image is important. Children must learn to love themselves in order to respect themselves enough to know the facts about sexuality and their own sexual actions. ********************* Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 2). I think that parents talking to children about sex is important. I wish I knew a solution to this problem, but I think that as an early childhood educator, we must teach children to value themselves and how to respect others. ********************

“The reason I say this is actually very simple: just become an approachable parent on all matters sexual. That's it. If you take it upon yourself to speak honestly, lovingly, and on a regular basis with your child about the sexualized world around her, you will help her make sense of it, help her to put it into an understandable context, and help her to counter any potential negative consequences to all this exposure. As parents we can't hide our children in the closet. The world is sexually complicated for all children but our job is not to run away from it. Rather, we need to make sure we speak, listen, and guide our children every day so they can make sense of their sexualized world. Remember two very important facts: One, your voice as a parent IS more powerful than your child's peers and the media; and two, talking about sex and sexuality with your child will NOT increase their interest in sex; only help them act more responsibly. It really is this simple.” (Kaeser, 2011).

**************These comments represent many of my own ideas on what is important when dealing with sexualization of our youth. It is important to be honest. It is important to be up front and open to questions. We need to work with parents and know that children watch our daily moves. By teaching positive self-worth, answering questions when they arise and not avoiding them, early childhood educators can help promote a world where children respect themselves and make educated choices. **************************References *********Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J.O. (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. The National Association for the Education of Young Children. Washington, D.C. **********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 ***********************Kaeser, F. (2011). What Your Child Needs to Know About Sex (And When). Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-your-child-needs-know-about-sex-and-when/201109/the-super-sexualization-children-time-take

Ableism

My professional background includes teaching special education. This background puts ableism close to my heart. However, it is my role as a mother of a child with special needs that make ableism one of my priorities. It was Owen’s (and my own role as a parent of a child receiving early intervention services) experience with First Steps (early intervention services) therapies (PT, OT, DT, and speech) that sparked my interest in becoming a developmental therapist. This role makes me want to advocate for young children and their families. I have been through Owen’s transition from early intervention services to a developmental preschool setting. If I did not have a professional background in special education, I know that my transition would have been more difficult. I have discussed this issue with friends of mine (through a local parents with special needs organization) about their experiences and their experiences were also rocky. The parents did not know the laws pertaining to the transition and the parent rights. This is one aspect that I am passionate about and view as a form of ableism. All parents should feel empowered and have the right to know what is happening in their child’s education. As a developmental therapist, I hope to ease this transition by telling parents about the options that are available, informing them about parent rights, and by being an active listener if they wish to discuss their concerns. I know from personal experience that it can be beneficial to participate in activities that include children with special needs. This experience helped me talk to other parents about various topics, learn about resources, and help my children learn about a variety of differences. Just this week, I spoke with one of Owen's doctors about his recovery from surgery on his brain this past July. I guess I thought that a physician would know about early intervention services and essentially his early intervention goals. However, I was surprised that many other fields outside of education do not know the laws or even the terminology. This is one aspect of ableism that I hope to change with people that I work with. Here is my reason for wanting to be a developmental therapist: OWEN!!! (and my other babies (Noah and Ella)! Love my kiddos!!!