Issues and Trends - The Importance of Network

Establishing a network of professional colleagues is important.  Often, I turn to my contacts for advice, ideas and support regarding school matters.  Two heads are better than one, and several are even better!  I love culture and embrace diversity, so the assignment of corresponding with early childhood professionals from another country excites me.  Initially, I went to the website provided by my instructor and began sending emails, but several of them were returned as undeliverable and the rest I have not yet heard from. It took me a moment, but I realized I have over 300 contacts on facebook, and several of them have relatives in other countries.  I also have an employee who is from London who is working on getting me in touch with a friend of hers.  I am hopeful these leads will work out.

I have chosen to explore the website for the organization, "National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators", at www.naecte.org.  All the current information pertinent to the field is reported on, there are links to other organizations, and there are 2 E-letters published twice per year summing it all up.  I plan to follow this site closely to stay up-to-date on information in my field.

My Supports

Well, I have to say, my husband Ryan takes the cake when it comes to support.  He is the most amazingly loving, supportive, funny guy I have ever met.  After almost four years together, I still often pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming.  He raises my six year old son as his own while also being an amazing father to his own two children. He cooks, cleans, and loves to have fun with the kids.  He can fix just about anything, has the greenest thumb of anyone I know, and makes me laugh hysterically. There is no way I could ever work full time, teach dance classes in the evening, and attend college without his love and support. I cannot believe God has blessed me with such a wonderful man.  Thank you Lord!

 

When trying to think in terms of tools as support,  I came up with the items pictured above.  Without my phone, car, or computer, I would not go back and forth to work, keep in touch with my loved ones or do my job as efficiently.

My dependency on these tools really started to make me think about the supports we can provide children within the classroom.  If we can benefit so much from the tools around us, think of how much children can benefit with the right tools.

Aside from providing personal, loving support from a teaching standpoint, early childhood educators also have the responsibility to offer children the tools they need to become self sufficient in their leaning process.  Scaffolding the environment with these tools and providing routine procedures and gentle guidance are both forms of support.  For example, computerized programs are available for just about anything.  They can assist in teaching children language, math concepts, music - the possibilities are endless.  With exposure to the computers and a system for sharing them with the other kids, the children can learn so much.  We can also post pictures of their families, provide them with books about a variety of cultures, and be sure there are plenty of hands on learning opportunities  around for children to utilize as tools to keep them comfortable, motivated and engaged.

There are, of course, challenges to creating an environment where diverse learners can coexist and thrive simultaneously.  Funding for materials, personnel and technology are always scarce.  The trick is to do the best with what we have and be smart with planning.

The importance of play at all stages of life

 My husband and I had so much fun creating the video game, Super Mario Brothers, for our trunk or treat at the church.  We didn't even have our kids that weekend but he had a blast making the scene, buying the costumes, and we even downloaded the music from the video game and blasted it in the car while the children came up to get candy!






My mom, my best friend, and myself went to a local art workshop where we could choose a picture and try to reproduce it.  We had a blast!


My entire family (grandparents, mother, cousins, etc.) dressed as pirates and when out on a "pirate ship" for the day.  We had a wonderful time!

I come from a family who will always be young at heart.  From the time I was a small child, my grandfather was always playing with me.  We watched cartoons together, drank chocolate milk, created castles out of cardboard, and searched the garage for anything we could use to play games.  To this day, at 86, he still has that playful spirit and finds the time and energy to do the same with my children.  My mother is an art teacher. I often find myself at her house over the weekend creating new things.  We love to shop at the thrift stores and find things we can make even prettier with arts and crafts.  My husband is still a kid himself.  He is an engineer by day, as well as an engineer of fun by night!  At Christmas time he took several cardboard boxes, connected them down our curvy staircase, and allowed all the kids to slide down.  He even tested it out himself to be sure it's safe (I think he enjoyed it more than the kids!) see below:

Play is important all throughout life.  Not only is it healthy for ourselves to play as adults, it sets a positive example for our children, to let them know not to take life so seriously.  There is definitely a time for play and a time for business, but allowing those roots of play to guide our intentions for business is what makes us a success.  For example, as a preschool director I try to plan events for our children and families that I think are fun and educational.  My husband designs boat lifts and is always trying to invent nifty gadgets that look sleek and do cool things for the lifts, toys if you will.  These are always top sellers!

Below are some quotes I feel are an inspiration.  I especially like the one by Theodore Roosevelt.  If children are fulfilled they will learn there is a time for play and a time for school.  They will intertwine the two as long as their teacher allows, and learning will be fun, reducing behavioral problems.

Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.

O. Fred Donaldson
Contemporary American martial arts master

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato
Greek philosopher
427–347 BC

I believe that those boys who take part in rough, hard play outside of school will not find any need for horse-play in school.

Theodore Roosevelt
American president
1858–1919

Reference:  http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

Relationship Reflection

"Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement...all success...all achievement in real life grows."

Ben Stein


Growing up an only child and a product of divorce I struggled with sadness, loneliness, and feelings of guilt. I was fortunate to have many people around me who loved me. Without these relationships I do not think I would have had any hope or confidence to achieve the things I have in my life. My grandparents, Nana and Papa, were extremely involved in my life and still are. They are 81 and 86, and they only live two hours away, so I am blessed to be able to spend time with them to this day.  Nana is an outgoing, strong woman who worked her way through college and became a teacher while her husband drove a truck and was away.  Papa is a quiet man who would do anything to help anyone, laughs a lot, and still has the spirit of a child.  The two of them have a dynamic relationship and have been married 63 years!  They have always cherished me and made me believe I was special and capable of anything.  They stood by my side no matter what, and never showed any disappointment in me even when I made poor choices.  They taught me the meaning of unconditional love and modeled for me all the wonderful characteristics I possess today.

My Mom is an independent woman who struggled trying to provide me with the best of everything while raising me.  She worked and went to college full time and finally became a teacher when she was 38.  She always taught me I could do anything I could put my mind to, and she was right.  I ended up divorced with a baby and knew I wanted to finish school.  I was working full time and raising him and didn't think I could, but I knew she did it, so I knew I could.  

Attending school wasn't easy, and I could have NEVER done it without some very good friends. I was fortunate to find a job as an office assistant in a small church preschool.  It was there I met some of the best friends I have today.  After work many of them offered to watch my son when I had classes late at night.  Not only did they help with him, but they lifted me up and told me how proud they were of me.  They told me that I was their inspiration and I hope this is true.  I have been blessed by so many and my wish is that I can provide even more people with blessings in return.

My passion, my preschool, is a place where I depend on many women to help me provide the best quality spiritual and academic early childhood experience.  They dedicate their lives to working toward this common goal and I have learned and grown so much from them.  Without them, I would not be who I am or where I am.

There are many challenges in maintaining relationships.  It is not always easy.  When it comes to work it can be very difficult because I love all the women who work for me.  We are a family.  Sometimes it is very difficult to discuss performance issues or changes in the workplace without letting our emotions get the best of us.  We work through it and we work together in order to establish positive relationships with our families.  Many who walk through our doors can immediately sense the strong bond we all have and comment on the warmth and peace they feel just being around us.  This leads to them placing their children in our care and many of them become our "Sunlight Families" and remain involved with our school for years to come!

EDUC-6161-3 Effective Programs and Practices

Hello everyone!  I am so excited to be enrolled in this course.  As a program director, my main priority is to develop healthy, long lasting relationships with the families we serve.  I know between the content we study in the course and the input shared by myself and my colleagues, we will be equipped to improve our skills in this area.  Looking forward to getting to know all of you!

The crucial role of play in early childhood

A holistic approach to educational assessments

As educators it is extremely important we get to know each child on an individual level, identify their individual needs, and provide them with the necessary tools for a productive learning environment.  As children enter the school system they are expected to meet certain standards developed based on learning objectives for their age group.  Schools gage students' success based on standardized tests.  These tests, unfortunately, are administered the old fashioned way.  Test booklets, #2 pencils, and time restraints.  As we all know, not every student has the same learning style, and these tests are definitely not designed to take that fact into consideration.

Prior to testing, teachers can identify students who are having difficulty and recommend them to be evaluated.  Special education professionals, school administrators, and parents hold a conference and designed what is called an IEP, or individualized education program.  The purpose of an IEP is to describe how the student best learns, how the student can best demonstrate that learning, and what teachers can do and services the school can provide to assist the child (as stated by WikiPedia).  The IEP should also have specific learning objectives stated and a plan to keep the student in the least restrictive environment possible.
Teachers receive copies of these IEPs and work together with everyone involved to help them achieve their goals.

Is this process always effective?  Probably not, but it's an attempt to identify and meet children's specific needs.  I was doing some research on how other parts of the world implemented a holistic approach to assessment, and came across a website for "The Wishing Star".  This is a Canadian based foundation.  They provide what is called, "Psychoeducational Assessments".  See the description below:

Psychoeducational Assessments

Preschoolers, grade school students, and college or university students are referred for a psychoeducational assessment for many reasons:

• difficulties learning at school, college, or university
• "gifted" learning profile
• concerns regarding child development
• behavioural challenges at school
• concern that a student’s true potential is not being realized in the classroom
• the need for "accommodations" in the classroom and for exams (i.e. the removal of "barriers" that get in the way of student being able to succeed)
• questions regarding ideal school placement or programming

At The Wishing Star, each of our registered psychologists have doctoral degrees in the highly specialized field of school psychology. School psychologists are expertly trained to understand the learning process, to assess a student’s developing academic and cognitive skills, and to pull all of this information together in creating a plan for the student moving forward.

Beyond their expertise in the field of school psychology, our registered psychologists are unique in that each of them has completed intensive clinical internships and comprehensive counselling training, allowing them to bring a holistic lens to each of the psychoeducational assessments completed at The Wishing Star.

At The Wishing Star, the psychoeducational assessment process is informed by the most current information about brain development, and takes into account not only an individual’s strengths and needs, but also the role of family, school, and other contexts in the individual’s learning experience.

Although the components of a psychoeducational assessment vary greatly depending on the age of the person being assessed, each of our assessments is guided by contemporary intelligence theory (called CHC Theory). This understanding of intelligence suggests that all people have different "types" of intellectual abilities. To ensure a well-rounded understanding of an individual’s learning needs, it is therefore important to include a wide variety of activities that measure as many different “types” of intellectual abilities as possible.

Beyond the assessment of intellectual functioning, a psychoeducational assessment may include some measures of language development, social-emotional development, behavioral patterns, motor development, and academic achievement or school-type performance. We are pleased to offer our holistic approach to psychoeducational testing to children and students who are preschool aged, in grade school, or in post-secondary institutions.

 

How it Works

At The Wishing Star, we endeavour to make the assessment process a seamless and positive experience for the student, the parent(s), and any involved professionals. For a full psychoeducational assessment, we begin by scheduling a parent information session. At this session we call upon your expertise as parent to your child to let us know your child’s specific needs. We will walk you through a comprehensive clinical interview. This provides a starting point for our assessment process. This is typically a session just for the parent(s) although it may be appropriate for an older student to be involved with this session.

Next we will meet with the student for 4 to 6 hours of direct assessment time on average. This is typically scheduled across two assessment sessions. These sessions are student-lead in terms of work-load, frequency and length of breaks, etc. It is important to us that the student is functioning at their best during these sessions and we work hard to be very encouraging and to keep things comfortable for the student, including giving the student’s brain the rest required be attentive and engaged.

Many parents wonder what to tell their child about the assessment. We encourage an honest response that includes discussion of the purpose of the assessment, which is to make sure that all of the big people (parents, educators, other professionals) are doing their jobs in the best way possible for learning to be fair for the student.

When the direct assessment time is complete, the psychologist will then take 2-3 weeks to create a very comprehensive written report documenting the assessment results and presenting pertinent recommendations and, when appropriate, accommodations to ensure practical application. At The Wishing Star, our reports are carefully crafted to meet the needs of both parents and professionals supporting the student.

When the report is complete, the parent(s) are invited to an assessment debrief session. During this session we review the assessment outcomes and details of the report. You have the opportunity to ask questions and really understand the meaning of the results. You will be invited to review the report and provide feedback to the involved psychologist prior to final signatures. Although there are certain things that cannot be altered in the report, it is important to us that you have a final report that you are comfortable with and that adequately represents the child you know.

Following the parent debrief, the child is invited for their own debrief, depending on the child’s age and stage of development. During this session, the psychologist talks with both the parent(s) and the child about the assessment results in child-friendly terms to help the child understand his/her own learning profile.

For the adult student, the debrief session would be available for the student and any of his/her identified supports (parents, friends, involved professionals).

After the debrief(s) are completed, The Wishing Star psychologists are available to liaise with educators in schools and post-secondary settings to communicate the assessment outcomes as well as be part of program planning and support implementation.

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I really feel this is a thorough, trustworthy type of assessment and it touches on each aspect of the child's life. All children are unique and when there are special needs involved everyone in their life, most importantly their parents and teachers, must try to understand those needs and accommodate them.  I know it is costly and I am sure not everyone can afford this type of service.  I feel as if these types of outside agencies should be funded through state funds instead of spending so much money within the school environment.  If we could allocate some of the funds and provide them to families based on need, these professionals could work with the teachers.  I also feel health insurance companies should offer coverage under "mental health" for visits such as these.  So many children suffer from depression due to learning difficulties, and if children are not treated properly, this could lead to long term problems or even suicide. 

We have a long way to go before we are able to truly provide students with the care they need and assess them with proper tools.  I think a re-evaluation of funds allocation and identifying a more suitable cause would be a good start.