My Supports

I live with my three children in a farm community. My husband works out of state and has for many years. He is gone for long periods of time. I remember one time it was three months before we got to see him. With this being said I have him as a support but mostly as a mental and emotional support. In my daily life the types of supports I have are my alarm clock, my children, my animals, my phone, my notes, and things around the house. My alarm clock helps me get up in the morning so I can get the kids ready to go to school. S,o I guess the clocks in the house are a support because they keep me on schedule. My children are a support because they remind me of things that need to be done for them and things I need to do with them. My animals are not only a schedule reminder but they are there for fun, enjoyment and emotional support. When you are having a rough day a dog is so nice to have because petting and loving them helps you relax. My phone is my calendar because it reminds me of appointments and other events. I would also have to add that the calendars in the house help support me on a daily bases. I also write notes down to help me accomplish things that I have to do. Objects around my house help support me in many ways because I am so reliant on things that I have. Yes, I can live with our many of my supports but my family and animals are not one of them. Modern conveniences are nice but I could just use calendars to help me keep my appointments. My animals wake me up so I could live with out the alarm it would be difficult some days but I would probably train myself.
I have had injuries to my hand and back problems with in the last 2 years and I can tell you I appreciate my body and what I can do. I believe that these short times with a disability helped me understand what I do not what to live with out. I praise and have the utmost respect for people who have no choice but I have gained a respect for the purpose of things. My daughter has recently smashed and broke her pinky finger and because she is so active the doctor and I decide to cast the whole hand. She is having to learn to adapt. The thing is she figures it out quickly. We as human beings learn to adapt and change very easily that sometimes we forget about the old way.  A support that I forgot about was my orthodontics and my family. My family supports me emotional in many ways and it would be hard to live with out them.

My Connections to Play WEEK 4 (educ 6161)

The Pictures I included here are pictures of my children playing with Lego's, playing with cars and trucks, and dressed up for Halloween. Included these pictures because when I was younger I loved to play we Lego's, cars and trucks and my sister and I liked to play dress up. We more liked to dress our cat and dogs up but we enjoyed playing dress up.

Play has been a essential part of my youth and into adulthood. I played sports when I was younger and I also had many free time play. I remember playing cars with one of my friends for hours in my hall way. I also remember my sister and I playing with our blankets on the clothes line building a house in our back yard. My mom allowed us to have an imagination and explore our world. We were allowed to play outside. We rode our bikes all over the town and during the summer we would play at the park. We had a swimming pool in our back yard and we would create all types of different worlds while we were swimming. During the fall we would rake the leaves up and play in them. I remember one year that my sister and foster sister stuffed me with leaves. I itched for hours afterwards. My parents supported my play by allowed me to explore and create without extreme boundaries. I believe that because of my free play is why I have fun sitting down with my children and playing with them. I love building Lego's with them. They love having me play Play Doh with them. I do this because I love them I just cannot handle the smell of the Play Doh. I love taking my children for walks in the woods and watching them explore. We go on bike rides and they also help me work in the yard. Planting flowers and a gardening is fun for them. They love to play in the dirt and getting dirty. I believe that because of how my parents were with me allowed me to have the foundation to allow my children to play without too much structure.

Play has defiantly change since I was a child. Electronics and technology are contributing factors. Other contributing factors is violence in cities and the fear of someone kidnapping your child. Where I live I do not have to keep a close eye on my children because we live in the country but many children in the cities and towns have to be watched closely. When parents get in trouble for allowing their child to play at the park without supervision I know our world has changed. My children have way more electronics then I ever had. They relax with a movie or a game. When I was a child quietly siting in your room was the way to unwind. Free play I feel in more structured because of the types of toys that are on the market. I was watching a commercial about a car set for preschools that talked to them and told them where their car was and what it was doing. Right now I am listening to my children play with Lego's and they are building and creating conversations. They are build a world among themselves and they toys are not telling how to think and what to do. I see more and more toys do not allow for imagination.

Week 2 Building Relationships

Relationships/ Partnerships are important to me because they help me gain knowledge and find happiness in my life. The people I have relationships with are my 3 children, my husband, my in-laws, my parents, my sister and her children, my friends and the staff at my daughters school.

My animals have a special place in my heart because they bring many things to my life. I have had dogs, cats, and Yak that have touched my life. I find that my animals help me get through difficult periods in my life. My relationships with them extend past their lives. Having a pet is work because they rely on you for food and water. I feel that the love thy share with me is an extra part of my relationship. It is like they have allowed me to love them.

The relationship with my children have given me joy and knowledge. This relationship gives me reel purpose in life. I feel that my children help me understand why God gives us the ability to have off spring. They give me challenges but I learn from those challenges to help better our lives as a family.

My relationship/ partnership with my husband is very important because he is my best friend, lover and my partner. We work together to raise our children. We are very open and honest with each other on our feelings. We are able to talk about difficult subjects and still love and care for each other. We have had our ups and downs but because of our love and positive relationship we continue to grow and become a better couple and people.

My in-laws help me see new aspects of life. They are there form me when I need them. They show my children and me unconditional love. I feel blessed to be able to have in-laws that I get along with.

My parents are what built my foundation of who I am today. My parents help me see and understand things in life that are difficult. I enjoy spending time with them.

My friends give me support and an outlet for my life. They help me with ideas and activities.

My sister and her children are a positive relationship because they give my daughters and me family to have fun with. My sister is someone who is always supportive no matter if she agrees or not. She is always there if I need her. She will drop everything to help. Her daughters give my children the best friend relationships that they need.

My relationship with the staff at my daughter's school is on a professional level. We work together as a team to bring a positive experience for the children at the school. We communicate about activities a at the school. My daughters teacher's and I talk regularly to help provide my child a positive learning experience.

In order to maintain positive relationships in my life I have to have positive communication. I know especially with family you do not always get along but communication is the key. In order to keep my relationships in a positive way I have come to the understand that not everyone has the same opinion and if I respect our differences then I can have better friends and relationships. I am open and honest with the people I know and I do not take things personal. I understand that we do not always get along but we are individuals. I like to learn and gain new knowledge from the people I know.

The best thing that I gained from building relationships is that it takes all kinds of personalities to build a society. I have understood that we will have to work with difficult people from time to time. I find the best in that person and work from their. I try and help them understand me and I try hard to understand them. I do not give up easy and I work at all my relationships. I understand that relationships do not come easy they take work from both parties. People change over time and we have to respect the changes and learn to love and care for them for who they are.

Week 8 When I Think of Child Development

"Quotes"
The genius of play is that, in playing, we create imaginative new cognitive combinations. And in creating these novel combinations, we find what works.

Stuart Brown M.D & Christopher Varghan



Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewy


In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior, in play, its as though he were a head taller than himself.

Vygotsky

WEEK 6 Testing For Intelligence

"According to the American Psychological Association, intelligence describes a person's ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt to the environment, to learn from experience, and to engage in reasoning and decision-making in all sorts of situations ( both new and familiar)" (Oswalt, 2010, p.1). Children are learning how to do these things from birth. I was recently talking to my daughter's teacher and she was telling me about her oldest son. He struggles with reasoning skills and being able to adapt when it requires him. He does not have the back ground in how to problem solve. His brothers and sisters all have the ability to accomplish these skills. So what makes him different? His mother contributes it to being in the public school system versus home school. All of his siblings were home schooled from an early age. He chose to stay in the public school system.  So, is intelligence an environmental issue as well. My children are very smart and I wish I could say that I am bragging but it goes beyond that. My 9 year old is 1 year ahead in school and all my children can problem solve very well. I have tried to raise them to understand the world they live in, they are allowed to explore the world. So back to the question what is the point of intelligence testing?

As a child is growing and developing we have charts that we compare their height and weight to an average child. There is room to move on the scale and the doctors like to keep a good tab on the growth of each child just in-case there is developmental issues. So why do we not do this with cognitive ability. I do believe how ever that the word intelligence is the wrong would to use because all of us are individuals.  my daughter's school has placement test at the beginning and end of school to measure the progress of each child. They use the beginning of school test to place them in the correct class. We have many 8th grades in 3rd or 4th grade grammar as just and example it does not matter your age but the learning environment is about ability. In the early 1900's Alferd Binet used intelligence tests to help the French educators from discriminating against special needs children. He realized that you have to take in account a child's age because then your data would be wrong. You have to consider age because a child's ability and capabilities expand over time. Leis Terman revised Binet's scale in 1916 and it is now what we call "IQ" (intelligence quotient). The IQ is based on a mathematical comparison of a child's age and mental age. So, it has evolved from just understand a child's learning level to mathematical comparison. I understand why Binet originally started the testing and it makes sense but I think it has gotten off course from helping understand a child to saying if you do not reach this score you are not smart.

Another topic about intelligence is emotional intelligent. Children have so many things going on in their lives that they do not always understand how to deal with their emotions. Raising and emotional intelligent child is very important.  Parents want a child to be complaint and obedient but they do not always understand why a child is misbehaving. Learning to be an emotionally-coaching parent can help your child have more general abilities in the area of their emotions (Gottman, 1997). Emotion coaching also helps parents maintain a close personal relationship with your child as the grow and mature. "The key to successful parenting is not found in complex theories, elaborate family rules, or convoluted formulas for behavior. It is based on your deepest feelings of love and affection for your child, and is demonstrated simply through empathy and understanding" (Gottman, 1997, p. 18). Good parenting begins with your heart and continues with listens and moment to moment working through a child's emotions. You have to listen and help a child work through emotional ups and downs not just ignore them. You need to understand your child and why they are having feelings.

"People in Western cultures, he suggests, tend to view intelligence as a means for individuals to devise categories and to engage in rational debate, while people in Eastern cultures see it as a way for members of a community to recognize contradiction and complexity and to play their social roles successfully" (Benson, 2003, p.1).  Some communities that have not yet been influenced by western schools do not distinction between social competence and intelligence. It has also been found that no matter what the problem is if it is in a familiar context whether in an industrialized country or non-industrialized country then that person can solve the issue. Many cultures that have not been exposed to western school measure intelligence differently and are concerned about other skills and abilities.
My believe is that intelligence testing should be used in a positive way to help understand a child as a whole and to help them succeed in society. Culture is a big part of understand intelligence and that needs to be factored in the test itself. I believe that children in Western society should be tested only to understand them and not as a measuring device to compare them. Parents need to understand the true intelligence of their child.


References
Benson E. (2003) Intelligence across cultures. Retrieved on October 4, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligence.aspx

Gottman, J (1997) Raising an emotionally intelligent child.New York, NY, Simon & Schuster Paperback

Oswalt, A. (2010) Intelligence: the measurement of cognitive capabilities. Retrieved on October 4, 2015, Retrieved from www.mentalhelp.net/articles/intelligence-the-measurement-of-cognitive-capabilities/s.

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development (WeeK 4)

Poverty is a huge stress on many families all over the world. Staying out of poverty. Feeding your family. Keeping your house. Our economy is making it hard for families and individuals to stay out of poverty. In the area we live it there has been a down turn and many are leaving or they are becoming homeless. I have family members that are considered to be in the poverty level of economy. My in-laws are helping a man and his family find a place to live and work. He was injured on the job and has been out of work for a month. His boss told him that his job would still be there when he was ready. Due to huge cut backs and the economy he does not have a job to go back to. My husband is lucky to have a job but he has to work in a different state then where we live. It is tough times and in our area it will get worse before it gets better. In our county we have more people on unemployment then 1 year ago. I chose poverty because it is close to everyone's heart and we have had our struggles but my family has always stepped up to help us out. Many people do not have the support and that is why they end up in poverty. People end up in poverty for many reasons and it is hard to climb out.
Poverty is not only a reality in the United States but in many countries around the world. My father in-law and I were talking to a man whose has been to Samoa on a mission. During his mission he worked among the people and was there to educate the older children so they could attend college and come back at teach other children. They want to break the education cycle by educating and bring people back to their own community to make a difference. The Church of Lateran Day Saints is working to educate and help break cycles.
Samoa has a huge population of poverty and the goal for break the cycle of poverty by the country has not been met. By 2015 they wanted to cut poverty in half and put people to work. It is 2015 and there is more children begging on the street then last year. Reason for poverty in the pacific is:
 The SBS report goes onto say “After extensive consultations…a working definition of Pacific poverty or perhaps more correctly hardship was defined in Human development terms as: An inadequate level of sustainable human development, manifested by: a lack of access to basic services such as health care, education and clean water; a lack of opportunities to participate fully in the socio-economic life of the community; and a lack of access to productive resources and income generation support systems (rural credit, capital, markets, skill) to meet the basic needs of the household, and/or customary obligations to the extended family, village community and/or the church.” (samoaobserver, 2013, p.1)
The government wants to break the cycle by getting rid of the hardship. The way they want to do that is by developing Somoa. By bring in more private sector jobs. Now that it is 2015 and the goal was not met I can not find and information on why and what the government is going to do. I found an article that speaks about how the government is reporting they have reached their goal but this is not true. After digging I found another article written this year and it states that due to inadequacy access to trade routes, poor nutrition and relying on other countries is why the poverty rates have not changed. Plus the report that said it was correct was read wrong. This was very interesting topic to research because I learned a lot about the country and its people.
References
The borgen Project (2015) Five factors that contribute to hunger in samoa Retrieved on September 13, 2015 from http://borgenproject.org/five-factors-contributing-hunger-samoa/
SamoaObserver (2013)Report finds Samoans living 'below poverty' Retrieved on September 13, 2015 from  http://samoaobserver.ws/other/food/4863-report-finds-samoans-living-below-poverty
Samoaobserver (2013) Of hunger and poverty in Samoa Retrieved on September 13, 2015 from http://www.samoaobserver.ws/editorial/4478-of-hunger-and-poverty-in-samoa

Child Development and Public Health

The topic that I chose was access to healthy water. Many people around the world do not have access to good drinking water. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 801,000 children died from diarrheal.  Worldwide the water is declining and is threatening humanity world wide. As I was reading these facts I keep thinking I am so glad I live where I do. I am glad my children do not have to worry about drinking unhealthy water. We live in the mountains and our water comes from ground water. My entire community has wells that we get our water from. We have had somethings come up that have threatened our water but as a community we have fought to keep these out. We have had strip mining threaten our water but has never been able to get off the ground. We depend on the snow and water for drinking water and water use in general. We have had a lot of rain this year and it has helped the farming community and the fire danger in our area.

As I keep reading and understanding that in many third world countries children have to gather water for their families. I was also thinking I am grateful my children can go to school and play and not have to worry about providing water for the family. I was really surprise at the facts from the CDC of the amount of children that are affected by unhealthy drinking water. Water, sanitation and hygiene can help prevent 9.1% of global disease. After reading this I was thinking that why has America been so successful? What are the reasons we are not a third world country? My daughter studied the pilgrims last year and I remember reading how many did from diseases and think we after in house plumbing was invented we do not have the vulnerability to diseases that once happened in our country. I understand our society has grown because of medical advances and technology but sanitation has helped in many ways. Very grateful but also would like all children never to have to worry about safe drinking water.