Week 8: Sarah Holtz

Blog: Time Well Spent

(PHOTO: My reasons for wanting to become involved in making a positive difference in education! Noah, Owen, and Ella…)

I began my Master’s journey with a mission to learn about helping parents learn about their child’s education and their own parent rights. As a former special education teacher, I felt that knowing the rights and process was so helpful. As a parent, I belong to an organization called About Special Kids for parents of children with special needs. (I am blessed to have a wonderful, kind-hearted six year old, Noah. Ella is a sweet “girly-girl”. Owen is a hilarious “smile-maker”. Owen and Ella just turned four years old.) At our meetings, I continue to hear personal stories about parent frustrations with special education services or the process of receiving services.

My goals are to become a developmental therapist for First Steps in Indiana as well as continue to be an active member of About Special Kids. I hope to help parents learn about the laws by asking parents during their child’s therapy sessions about what they know regarding the transition process. This can be completed by asking them after the session is complete. I also hope to encourage parents to learn about the laws and parent rights. I believe that this helps them make an informed decision in their child’s education.

I wish you all the best in your professional and personal endeavors as we complete our Master’s journey. Feel free to contact me via Facebook (Sarah Holtz). I may even frequent Facebook more consistently once I am done with school work! Thank you all for the wonderful, helpful feedback. Throughout my Master’s courses, I have learned new ideas, new terminology, and have become more open to the ideas of others. Thank you all for helping me on my educational journey!!!!!!!

BEST WISHES!

International Organizations: Week 6

In researching international organizations or communities of practice, many of the websites appealed to me.

UNICEF is an organization that I had heard of and was somewhat familiar with. This organization does a lot with education on an international level. One program focused on literacy. I love the program of Libraries without Borders that sends mobile libraries to areas that may not have the ability to attend a library. My son is just learning to read and I see daily the importance of reading to your child and letting them read to you. UNICEF has positions in the form of volunteers that take the books to international areas. However, there are also positions in finance, education, advertisement, and other areas. I loved that this organization valued literacy. I believe in the benefits of reading and literacy, so I feel that I would like to become a part of promoting this valuable organization. The skills needed for this role would be flexibility and I also think that it would be important to be able to read in different languages.

The Academy for Educational Development is an organization that works to try to improve the living conditions for people living in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The areas that this organization concentrates on are trying to improve the acceptance of diversity and equality, communication, education, environment (trying to help with disease management and avoidance), gender equality, health, nutrition, and introducing technology to these areas. There are careers in the nursing field that work with patients with AIDS and educate farmers to try to decipher the early signs of disease. One job that I was interested in was that of an early childhood specialist. This position teaches about diversity and works with children to try to help them gain skills. I chose this organization because I did find it interesting that this organization uses only evidence-based methods and material. Since they only use evidence-based materials, I would think that there would be a need for educators who know how to utilize the materials.

The Save the Children organization helps children in the United States and in many other areas of the world. It is an organization that assists families and communities when a disaster occurs. It provides food, medical care, and education. It is staffed with individuals from a variety of professional backgrounds (such as medical, education, finance, construction, etc.). There is a current need for volunteers in all the areas. One area that I was interested in learning more about was literacy. This program is very interesting and I would love to become a volunteer in the future. When I was teaching, we mailed gently used books to the Save the Children organization stationed out of the District of Columbia. It is important to remember that people are in need all over the world and it is nice that an organization, such as Save the Children, provides assistance to those in need. In order to volunteer, one would need to have a flexible schedule. However, it is important to remember that one can help over the course of a weekend by helping clean up an area or by reading to children to try to distract them from the disaster. I think that this organization is very interesting.

I chose these organizations because I had heard of them and liked that they involved literacy. I believe in the benefits of literacy.

References

Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.aed.org/en/index.htm

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved fromhttp://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

Voices for American Children (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.voices.org/ UNICEF (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/index.php

Week 4: Organizations

My professional goal is to become a developmental therapist for Central Indiana First Steps. I enjoyed this assignment because it made me look at various organizations that could relate to my field or be a possible job opportunity in the future.

Ounce of Prevention (www.ounceofprevention.org) The first organization that I looked into was the Ounce of Prevention organization (www.ounceofprevention.org). This website is organized to help parents, student groups, practitioners, and other advocates get involved in the public policy-making process by educating key audiences about, and developing support for, early childhood initiatives. This organization addresses issues in Illinois and nationally. The website discusses how to become an advocate and how to volunteer. Being an advocate is a position that is always open and needs volunteers. The skills needed are training regarding special education laws and services.

The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) (www.dec-sped.org) The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) is one of seventeen divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (the largest professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted and talented (www.dec-sped.org). This site has a discussion forum for parents and professionals, recommended practices, section for parents discussing available resources, and policy/advocacy section. This organization promotes policies and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the education of children who exhibit developmental delays or disabilities. This organization discussed being elected as a public servant or public official. These positions must be elected.

IN*SOURCE (www.insource.org) This organization is an Indiana resource for families with children with special needs (infants through young adults). It is a parent organization, has many volunteers, an elected board, and many other staff. “IN*SOURCE celebrates the accomplishments of individuals with disabilities and their families and we affirm our ongoing commitment to them” (www.insource.org). This organization discusses available resources for families pertaining to education and local agencies that support individuals with disabilities. This organization is also available to provide support and information to parents and help them resolve school or early intervention agency-related problems. This organization was hiring for a public resource. This position is available to attend I.F.S.P. or I.E.P. meetings at the request of the parent. The skills needed are a knowledge base of laws and available services. You would also be able to form a good rapport with families. This is a position that I might be interested in in the future.

REFERENCES

Ounce of Prevention, (n.d.). Ounce of Prevention. Retrieved November 23, 2012 at www.ounceofprevention.org

Division of Early Childhood, (n.d.). Division of Early Childhood. Retrieved November 23, 2012 at www.dec-sped.org

IN*SOURCE, (n.d.). IN*SOURCE. Retrieved November 23, 2012 at http://insource.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

Blog Assignment: Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

As a developmental therapist, I will be working with children from birth to age three who exhibit developmental delay. My son received early intervention services (OT, PT, DT, and speech). Personally, I know that there was very little support for families to learn the laws regarding special education or transition from early intervention services to a preschool (developmental or general) setting. As my capstone project, I hope to develop a way to help ease the transition for families who are transitioning from early intervention services to a preschool setting. I strongly believe that knowing the laws that pertain to this transition is imperative. In this role, I will need to effectively communicate with families (in order to gain their knowledge about laws and their child’s needs), early intervention agencies (in order to learn what supports are available for families to learn the laws regarding their child’s services), and preschool coordinators (in order to inform families of available programs). Most importantly, the child is impacted by this challenge. Parents can make an informed decision regarding the placement and services for their child.

1. ASK: Parents who have experienced their child’s transition from early intervention services to a preschool setting can provide first-hand feedback. Early intervention agencies, early intervention therapists, and preschool coordinators can also provide information regarding placement and available services. In Indianapolis, agencies such as ASK (About Special Kids) provide support for parents of children with special needs (www.aboutspecialkids.com). Therapists and local support agencies (such as ASK) can also provide resources (such as a list of available related events or services) for the parents. I believe this organization will be a wonderful resource in my role as a developmental therapist. I am a part of a local program for families of children with special needs. I contacted ASK about providing information at our next meeting.

2. Marion County Early Intervention Planning Council: It would also be important to include Marion County Early Intervention Planning Council (M.C.E.I.P.C.) and get their ideas about improving early intervention services. “Early Intervention Planning Council’s goals include: expanding access to and improve the quality, coordination, and range of early intervention programs available in local neighborhoods, communities, and faith-based organizations; providing in-depth training to primary care medical providers, childcare workers, preschool teachers, and public and private school teachers in the assessment of childhood and adolescent risk factors and to help them develop procedures to refer identified children, adolescents, and families to the appropriate community services; expanding access to mental health services for children and families in need; and improving coordination of information and resources for children and adolescents entering the “system” (e.g., first contact with special education, child welfare, mental health, or juvenile justice)” (M.C.E.I.P.C., 2008). The Early Intervention Planning Council is a local organization that focuses on improving services in Indiana, mainly the Marion County area. Indianapolis is located in Marion County. I will be a developmental therapist for First Steps and practice in Marion County. This organization appealed to me because they promote acceptance and diversity. This organization is in the process of promoting minorities to enter the field of early childhood and youth programs.

3. First Steps: I will be working as a developmental therapist for Central Indiana First Steps (www.firststeps.org). First Steps provides therapies (OT, PT, DT, speech, and nutritional support). It serves children from birth to age three. All therapists are placed by an agency. I spoke with an agency this week and they submitted my resume to First Steps to become a developmental therapist. As a developmental therapist, I needed teaching degree with an early childhood focus. I am completing this requirement by obtaining my Master’s in Early Childhood: Teaching and Diversity.

References

ASK, (n.d.). About Special Kids. Retrieved from www.aboutspecialkids.org.

First Steps, (n.d.). First Steps Indiana. Retrieved from www.firststeps.org.

M.C.E.I.P.C. (2008). Plan for Improving Early Intervention Services for Children and Youth and their Families in Marion County.

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