Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I could possibly be over analyzing the assignment but I am extremely nervous about the task that has been presented to me.  I have reached out and emailed a total seven individuals with not much luck in fact the majority of my emails were returned undeliverable.  I have not given though I will continue searching because my task has been accomplished successfully.  If worst comes to worst I will use the alternative and listen to the podcast provided.  I have already subscribed just in case it the need were to arise. I may be discouraged now but I plan to stay optimistic keep trying  :)

                          

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

This website really sparked my interest because the well being of children is ever early childhood professionals main goal.  This website helps those children that would truly be lost without the help provided by the supports and professionals involved with this program.  "Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world and when disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there to save lives with food, medical care and education and remains to help communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs" (Save the Children Federation, 2011).  The children that benefit from this organization would be ignored and possibly left to suffer if such an organization did not take notice and provide the help and resources available.  I admire those that are self less and truly care whole heartedly about the innocent victims of natural disasters destroy the world around them.  Imagining the feeling ans thoughts that go through those young lives unsure where their next meal will come from or if they will have a warm safe place to stay when such an organization like Save the Children comes in it is similar to a life preserver that will help maintain these innocent lives until long term arrangements can be set in to place.It is exciting to anticipate what great pieces of knowledge I will be able to learn from such a beautiful organization.

My Supports . . .

            I have to be honest, I have a pretty great life because I have people that I love and that love me.  Being a full time student and mother while working work full time can be difficult but with the support I have I have it easy compare to many in the same situation.  My support system gives me the encouragement and help to succeed and believe in myself.  The benefits to having people that are willing to support me is I may get stressed but I have people that are there to help in any way they can sometimes without even having to ask.  Taking on the challenge of balancing a family, my school work and a full time job life can be stressful but these challenge will prove totally worthwhile especially when I am someday able to not only be able to help my husband provide for my kids and our family but I will be doing it while helping others and spending my days working in a job that I truly enjoy care about.  Without support I can only imagine how stressful life would feel.  I would possibly be questioning and having more doubts more than I do now.  I have days that I feel like giving up but with the support I get to get through my rough spots I feel good about the situation after I get over the humps.

                                   

            Emotional support is something I need pretty much every day.  I suffer from chronic depression and that makes my low days even lower which makes finding the motivation to go to work and study when I get home extremely difficulty.  I am pretty sure everyone has days they are down in the dumps, but with my depression I can get into serious lows making it difficult for me to even get of bed.  I am on medications but there are times that doesn’t even help.  My father is one that I can talk to about my low days and he is always willing to listen which means so much to me. He will usually make me a copy of tea and then listens to me tell him about my feeling like so many others don’t have time too.  The support and time he gives me is what gets me through so many days, he is my hero and I love him.

                                                     

          Physical support comes from my husband. He not steps up and helps me do the chores around the house so I can study but he helps take of the kids so I can concentrate on my tasks and have to be distracted by screaming kids or kids whining in the evening. He has been with me though some rough times and has stood by me and never stopped loving me just the way I am.  I grew up never feeling like I was good enough to my mother and I was willing to do anything to make her love me including trying lose weight so I could skinny like she wanted.  Except I tried the wrong way and ended up fight bulimia for years which with my husband’s help and love I have begun to love myself more and more for who I am and not wanting to change myself to please others.   With his support and loving my unconditionally he makes sure that when I stop eating that I eat something to up my strength.  When I pull long nights reading for school especially takes care of me that I take of myself.  Physically I get tired and many times that is because I have not eaten but he steps in and cares for me because to him I am special and worthy of being loved.                                                   

            I am provided support in my job by my boss who cares about each and every one of her employees as a person and not just someone that works under her in the department and at home with people like my husband and father around me that care for me and want to see me succeed.  I have bad days but with the support around my I find a way to keep working hard on my goals and trying my hardest to make the most of the opportunities available to me.   

My Connections to Play

Two quotes:

Essential Play Items When I Was Little:

My favorite toys growing up help me realize that I wanted to me a mom. Helping my children grow and experience life is fulfilling and enjoyable.

Role of play in your childhood:

Play for a child has changed so much since I was a child.  When I was little we used our imaginations and did not depend on electronic devices for entertainment.  My parents limited the amount of time my sister and I were allowed to watch television allowing us plenty of time to pretend we were mommies or teachers.  Children today use game consoles and electronic gadgets to help them play.  Times were simpler and I remember pretending I was anything I wanted without needing electronics.  Children need to use their imagination I feel it helps their brains develop fully.  Encouraging children to pretend and explore the possibilities available to them it helps them see what could be.  

As a child I pretended I had children and it helped me see what I wanted when I grew up.  I now am a mom with four fantastic kids.  I enjoy playing with my kids and watching them play the kids are supposed to play.  Children should try out different options when they are young, not that it will make adult life easy or worry free but it can shed some light on the possibilities available to them.  Let them pretend they are firemen, mechanics, a dog catcher, or a stay at home parent those pretend situations help children grow and learn realizing their aspirations. 

Relationship Reflection

                 Christopher and Amanda Meier (Married February 22, 1997)

The relationship and encouragement I receive from my family and friends is what helps me through the tough times and help me celebrate the great times.  Through my adult years I have faced my stumbling blocks both with my education and with my career and it is from those I have learned just how strong I am and exactly what I am truly capable of.  My biggest supporter is my high school sweetheart and husband of almost 14 years, Christopher.  He sits with me as I pull all niters writing and proofing papers for submission and encourages me when I feel like I can't read one more textbook or article.  Or when I choose to stay home instead of going out and having fun with our friends.  He helps me focus on the final goal and that great feeling I will experience when I am able to someday help children that would otherwise be lost in the system.  It is because of his love I feel I have made it as far as I have because I know I would have probably have given up a long time ago without such a strong supportive man by my side. 

            Amanda and Bobbi (University of Phoenix Class of 2007)

Developing quality long lasting relationships personally and professionally take time and effort on all persons involved parts.  Relationships are built on trust which takes time to build.  Another key element to a positive relationship is communication that can be honest and open even in the difficult times.  No ones life is problem free, it is the relationships that help you through those times that really make the world of difference.  It is not hard to be a friend when things are going well a true friend sticks around and helps a person through the hard ones.  A friend that has stuck by me through the years during the good times and the bad is my best friend and colleague Bobbi.  I met her in the first few weeks of classes when we were both working towards our Associates Degree.  We helped each other and encouraged each other all the way through to gradation for our Bachelors Degree from the University of Phoenix.  To this day she is the first one I call when I need to vent, need a shoulder to cry one, or call to celebrate a good grade received in a class that was giving me a hard time.  Bobbi has truly been by my side through the good times and the bad ones, she is my best friend and confidant whose relationship means the world to me. 

Considerations and Reflections

"The way parents are with children is how children will be with the rest of the world" Susan Miller

Parents can be the most influential parts of a child's life. How the child is treated and how much love the child is shown effects how the child will love during it's lifetime. Attachment is an important piece of a child's social and emotional development. When a child has strong relationships growing up the child has the ability to feel love and for those that may come into his or her life. An attachment with parents helps build the foundation needed to have meaningful friendships and relationships that can lead to love. In my heart I feel that children can learn what it takes to maintain meaningful relationships it just may take longer and more work than those that grew up in loving homes.

Children vs Standardized Tests

Personally I feel children deserve to be given a chance to to succeed. Every child is unique and that means testing children should not be looked at as "universal". Learning styles are different and they way a child test can also be different. There are so many kids that experience test anxiety and that should be considered when standardized tests are performed. Offering options to kids that maybe need more time or could benefit from someone reading the questions out loud could make the difference of the child achieving a succesful score or failing. The needs of the child should be just as important as find out what a school know and comoares to other schools in the country.
A childs success or failure following stardized testing can effect how the child feels about themselves and those around them. A childs emotional intelligence can be considered a learned strength but if those involved with their everyday life a failure like the test given can hinder a childs understanding of emotion and how they feel anout themselves. I don't think evaluating a child's emotions is correct because just like adults children as long as it is done appropriately should be encouraged to express themselves.. So many time society tells boys not to cry and that is not fair, just they are boys doesn't make it ok to tell them they cannot express emotions. A child's emotional intelligence can effect their interpersonal intelligence. How a child feels aout themselves can effect how they show sensitivity to others feelings and moods. In order to communicate well children need to learn how to communicate and part of that is communicating emotionally.

I have seen first hand how differnet schools in the U.S. Are from those in Mexico. My family would go to Mexico for Christ,as vacation and while my sister and I rarely had homework my cousins would be studying during their vacations. I use to look at their homework in camparison to what I was use to and thinking that I had it easy. The expectations in Mexico seemed so much strict than what was expected from kids in the U.S. My cousin were always talking about the examinations given immediately following vacation and how if they did not study they would not do well which in Mexico would cause disciplinary consequences at home. Children are expected tontake their education seriously because that would determine the future for the child and opportunities available after graduation. From a child's perspective I could see the differences in expectations and although my education was good I wonder if my cousins got more out of theirs compared my sister and I.

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

External stressors for children may include separation from family or a change in family composition whether that be through the birth or adoption of a new sibling or loss of a sibling or family member. Both can cause a child to feel uncomfortable.

I was born in March of 1978, I lived with my mother and older brother, he was 2 years older than myself. I have no personal memory of that time of my life so I spoke to my brother about what he remembers and the story was heartbreaking.

This is a long story but for the purpose of the assignment I will provide the shortend version. . .

At the age of one my mother dropped my brother with our aunt and grandmother for the weekend. She took me with her and although that seemed odd to my aunt she didn't think twice about it. Life continued as usual and when it came time for my mother to come pick up my brother Aunt April got him ready. Mother came and picked him up but I was not with her. As it turned out she traveled to Montana and to visit with some friends but when she went home she did not take me home with her she left me in MT. Questions were asked at home as to where I was and why I was not around. My mother had very few answers. After about a month of not returning for me the friends contacted my mother and asked if she intended to come back. When she said no she had no intention of returning for me they asked her to sign over parental rights so they could put me up for adoption. After doing so I was put into the foster care system where I was moved from foster home to foster home until Catholic Social Servioce could find me a home and family. I was finally adopted at the age of two and a half. During this time my brother was left with no idea or answers as to where his little sister went and why she was not at home with him and mom. I asked him how he felt during this time and he said scared and very confused. He said he lived with the thought that if he misbehaved she might decide to send him away too. His childhood was spent dealing with the feeling of anger and loss, he compared it to the death of a sibling since all je knew was I was gone and not coming back anytime soon. His answers came at the age of 16 when he went to my aunt and asked the questions that had been bother him for years. Aunt April told him that when mom had gone to MT she had made the decision to give me up for adoption. We did not discuss the details of the conversation past that because it brings up a lot of anger on his part and sadness on my part.

I also dealt with issues of abandonment and the feeling of not belonging. I grew up questioning why no one wanted me and what I had done wrong to be given away. As a result of being given away after spending the first year with my mother I hadpve had to deal with attachment issues because in the back of my mind I was waiting for people to leave me. As a protective measure my mind and heart had a hard time getting attatched and when I finally did feel comfortable I worried all the time that that person would leave me.

This experience effect my brother and myself in a negative manner both in regar to our cognitive and psychosocial development. My brother had the memories of his little sister and the me worked of losing me and not knowing until a much later age what exactly had happens and why. His emotional development was compromised because he had a hard time trusting and his family. I dealt with issues because since I was small but not a newborn when this happened I had bonded with my mother, brother, and other family before I was torn away and forced to build and bond with complete strangers. My imagination ran with thought of what could have been and questions of why as well as my perceptions of relationships being tainted because of the feeling confusion and not knowing where I truly belonged.

Adoption in other parts of the world is similar to the process families go through in the U.S. For instance in Mexico a child that is given up for adoption is place in a prospective home in a trial stay and during this time the agency involved makes sure that the situation will prove to be in the best interest of the child and family. The Mexican government make every effort possible to place the child with a Mexican family but if that is not possible then the the agency will begin looking at the option foreign adoption. Families coming from out of the country are required to spend a period of time in Mexicio getting to know the child before the adoption can be finalized. This is done so that the family can get ti know the child in surroundings that are familiar to the child. For the benefit of the child the agency makes sure that the care the child will receive will provide the best possible outcome for the child.

In the end I found my brother when I was 19 years old and we are building a relationship that is wonderful. We are trying to make up lost time and get to know each other as much as possible since that opportunity was taken away from us when we were young. We both have dealt with issues as an effect of the adoption not all of them positive but we are both trying to get past the anger etc and enjoy the time we have now.