Reflections on Relationships

"Human relationships, and the effects of relationships on relationships, are the building blocks of healthy development" (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000, p. 4)

Relationships and partnerships are important to all humans because humans are generally social creatures, and we rely on one another for physical, social-emotional, and cognitive needs. As infants and children, our needs are met by our parents, grandparents, extended family and friends. As adults, our needs continue to be met by family and friends, and usually by our spouse or significant other. Children can also contribute to meeting a parent's needs by teaching us new things, new perspectives, and by their needs for physical affection. Some current positive relationships in my life are the ones between my husband and I, my son and I, my parents and I, and one very special aunt and I. Overall, the factors that contribute to maintaining these relationships are love, communication, and overall interest and concern about each other and what is going on in everyone's life. Many of these relationships have been forged over many years.
One significant relationship/partnership in my life is that between my husband and I. Our relationship obviously began as a romantic one, and has led to our new roles as parents. This joyful occasion led to us changing our roles as life partners to each other to a partnership in parenting our infant son. Clear communication remains a strong influence in keeping this relationship positive, with clear expectations from both of us about each other's roles and responsibilities, and how they change on any given day. When communication fails, this leads to frustration and stress for both of us, and ultimately our child.
In general, communication is the key to maintaining and improving most relationships. Clear communication, with a shared understanding of any goals, hopes, and dreams, makes everyone happier. It often leads to discussion and compromise when differences of opinion arise. However, ongoing, open and honest communication can be difficult, and therefore can also be a challenge to developing and maintaining relationships. This is especially true when differences in opinion arise, that may result in creating a rift between two people. Here it is especially important to discuss differences of opinion, to respect each other's opinion, and come to an agreement that is acceptable to everyone.
Reflecting on relationships contributes to early childhood professionalism because it helps us understand our own ideas, opinions, and biases, and therefore deal with them so that we can be more open and welcoming to the children and families in our programs. It allows us to see that our opinion is not the only one out there, and that sometimes we may be wrong or misguided in our opinions. This allows us to change so that we can improve our relationships with children and their families.

When I think of Child Development

Everyone needs to feel loved and cherished.

It is important to remember that every child can learn, that we all have varying abilities, and that if our methods are not working, we need to change the method to fit the child's needs. The child does not need to change to fit our needs.

This quote is important to keep in mind because as we know, every child needs to feel that someone cares, and as early childhood educators, we can be that someone.

 

Testing for Intelligence?

This week we have been challenged to answer the question: What is the most effective way to measure children’s abilities? I believe the answer to this question does not rest in a single method, but in a combination of methods in order to best measure each child’s knowledge and abilities. Most school systems in the United States rely on the results of standardized tests to measure student achievement. But how many children (and even adults) excel with the standard pencil and paper exam? Or even newer, computer based exams with question after question being asked? Tests like these should only be one component of measuring student achievement. They should not be the end-all, be-all measure we rely on. As we know, people learn in a variety of ways. Some people are visual learners, others auditory, others kinesthetic, and so on. People excel in different subjects. So why are we only testing children one way? It is my opinion that children’s knowledge and abilities need to be tested through teacher observations, student demonstrations or presentations and samples of completed work collected over a period of time, in addition to the occasional standardized test.  This will create a more comprehensive view of the student’s abilities, and highlight areas in need of improvement for reteaching.

                Children’s knowledge should not be measured by one test on one day in their life. Many factors influence children’s achievement on such standardized tests. If the child is hungry, tired, ill, or emotionally distraught due to a personal event, the test results will be skewed and will not be a true representation of what the child knows or can do.

                As part of my research this week, I sought to find out more about how children are assessed in another part of the world. For this assignment, I chose Argentina, a country dear to my heart because my husband was born there, and attended school there until age thirteen. I researched how children are educated there today, compared to what he remembers.  According to my research, children in Argentina are assessed by teacher made tests and observations. Standardized testing for reading comprehension is done in grades three, six, nine and twelve. Other than that, standardized tests are not used except for admission to universities.  When talking to my husband, he remembers attending school in the morning, wearing a uniform, and learning subjects similar to those taught here in the US. He recalls taking written tests, both open and closed book, making posters, and doing presentations in front of the class. Combining these methods presents a much larger picture of the student’s knowledge than each method alone.

 I am concerned with the weight the results of standardized testing is having on our children today. Children are pressured to perform well on these tests, and are often “taught to the test”, at the expense of learning other things. I am concerned that we as a society are putting too much stress on these tests and not looking at children’s achievements as a whole. Children should be assessed as a whole person, not just one test on one day. It is my hope that more educators will stand up and say “This is wrong. We should assess children’s achievement using a variety of methods, not just one.”

http://www.countryreports.org/country/Argentina/kidslife.htm

http://www.iadb.org/res/laresnetwork/projects/pr294finaldraft.pdf

Consequences of Stress on Child Development

Our world today has many different events and situations that exert undue stress on our children. Often, children's needs regarding dealing with these stressors are not met, resulting in long term and even permanent negative effects on their lives.
Someone very close to me experienced the stress of living in a country that was under military rule while he was a child. When the trucks or buses carrying soldiers arrived in his hometown, he would run to the highest floor of his house, close the shutters, and peek out, afraid of what would happen. He lived in Argentina during a time of political unrest and military control. One day, soldiers arrived, herded him, his mother, sister, and baby brother into a corner at gunpoint. They arrested his father and took him away. For months, his family did not know where his father was or even if he was still alive. After a long time, they were finally allowed limited contact with him in the detention center, until finally, his father was released. He was one of the lucky ones. The family relocated to the United States shortly thereafter, in an effort to provide a safer, more stable environment for the children and a better life for the family in general. To this day, he believes in having the tools necessary to protect one's home and family from harm, including but not limited to arming oneself. He is a strong supporter of our right to bear arms.
Children throughout the world are exposed to war, and are dramatically affected by it. In the words of Graça Machel, former First lady of Mozambique and South Africa: "War violates every right of a child – the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to the development of the personality and the right to be nurtured and protected." (http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/issues/children/) As adults we need to recognize and understand how our actions impact the lives of the world's most precious resource: our children. While much has been done in an effort to address the needs of children affected by war and military conflicts, there is much more to be done. It further demonstrates that we all need to advocate for peaceful resolutions to conflicts, and avoid war that impacts all of us.

Breastfeeding

This week’s post will focus on one of the public health measures that impacts children’s development worldwide. One area of concern that would improve the health of many of our children on a global scale is breastfeeding. It wasn’t until I took a class that addressed both the benefits of breastfeeding and gave new moms some practical advice on how to accomplish this as a new mother. My course this semester at Walden has also added some new insight as to how important breastfeeding is to the health of our world’s children. Breastfeeding is especially important to me because, as a first time mother to a young son, I realized that it is the best choice for me, my son, and our planet. Breastfeeding benefits everyone.

One benefit of breastfeeding, which has many facets, is the health benefit for the infant. According to the World Health Organization website, breastfeeding benefits infants by offering them protection from infections: gastrointestinal infections, respiratory infections, and ear infections to name a few. Breastfeeding provides optimal complete nutrition for infants from birth through six months of age, and can provide half or more of a child’s nutritional needs from six to twelve months. As the child grows older, breastmilk can continue to provide a third of a child’s nutritional needs between ages one and two. The World Health Organization goes on to say that “globally in 2012, 162 million children under five were estimated to be stunted and almost 100 million had low weight for height, mostly as a consequence of poor feeding and repeated infections” (www.who.int). Many of these problems could be prevented with more mothers breastfeeding their children. Another staggering statistic the World Health Organization cites that 220,000 children’s lives could be saved every year if optimal breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding practices were followed. Other health benefits for infants are protection from childhood cancers, protection from obesity, lowered risk of the infant developing asthma or allergies, enhancement of vaccine effectiveness, and facilitation of proper dental and jaw development. The list goes on and on.

Breastfeeding also benefits the mother in many ways as well. Mothers will benefit from a decreased risk of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers, and a faster recovery from childbirth. Breastfeeding mothers also enjoy a unique bond with their infant knowing they are providing for the infant’s nutritional needs and delighting in knowing they are helping their baby grow. On a financial note, breastfeeding can save families money because it is free; there is no additional equipment to buy! Even if you decide to express breast milk using a pump, the investment in a breast pump (usually about $250, now covered by many insurance plans) is inexpensive compared to the cost of formula (about $1500 a year per child, sometimes more).

On an environmental note, breastfeeding has positive environmental impacts as well. Because breast milk is produced on demand, there is no packaging to throw away that will end up in our landfills. We would also reduce greenhouse gases because we would reduce the amount of cow’s milk needed for formula as well as save in fuel and shipping costs, thereby saving money and helping our environment!

If you need more reasons to breastfeed, check out http://notmilk.com/101.html. It gives one hundred and one reasons that support breastfeeding. I support breastfeeding for all of these reasons, and if every child in the world was breastfeeding, our children would reap the benefits worldwide.

References

http://notmilk.com/101.html

http://www.who.int

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK52687/

Childbirth in your life and around the world

My personal experience with childbirth is a traumatic one. I will share the events surrounding the birth of my son. I chose this experience because it is fresh in my mind, and it also gives me hope, since my baby had a traumatic entrance into the world, and now he is a healthy, happy child.

 I arrive at my obstetrician’s office for my 38 week appointment on a Tuesday afternoon. My ankles, legs, and face are swollen; I can only fit into 2 pairs of shoes because of the extensive swelling. My blood pressure is checked, and it is high. My doctor advises me to stop working. I convince her to allow me to work a half day the following day, so I can say goodbye to my students; she reluctantly agrees, and writes me a doctor’s note. She informs me that it is unlikely my baby will be born this week.

By Thursday I have been keeping my feet up for the last few days, with minimal change in the swelling. I am restless and uncomfortable. I begin feeling some contractions during the afternoon, but attribute them to Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I have been feeling regularly the last few weeks.  Around 7 pm I notice they are becoming more intense and seem to be evenly spaced. I consult the clock, and sure enough, they are. When they reach about 10 minutes apart, I call my obstetrician for advice. She advises me to come to the hospital. My membranes rupture shortly before I leave and I notice they are heavily meconium stained. This is a very bad sign.  Throughout the next few hours, the usual labor pains increase. I had been adamant about delivering my baby without using any painkillers (especially an epidural- being numb freaks me out) and what do I end up with? You guessed it- an epidural. My son is exhibiting signs of being in serious distress, and as a result I am not allowed out of bed. His heart rate begins to drop, and the obstetrician decides that she has seen enough. She is concerned for the well being of my baby, and strongly advises me to consent to an immediate cesarean section.  I do, and my son is born at 3:59 AM on Friday morning. There are no cries for what seems like an eternity. His initial APGAR score is a 1. I am terrified. He is whisked off to the NICU, I am only allowed to see him for a few seconds. The doctors there are able to get him breathing, and his five-minute APGAR rises to a respectable 7.  We are informed that he will need to spend at least a week in the NICU, on intravenous antibiotics, due to his inhalation of stool. They will be keeping him under observation to make sure there are no more issues. There is also concern because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice, and they are worried about how long he may have been without oxygen. This new mom is incredibly afraid right now. My fears are slightly calmed when I am finally allowed to see him, and he is beautiful! What a little miracle. Then, he scares us even more at 24 hours old, when he has a seizure, and another at 48 hours old. He is put on anti-convulsive medication, and a week later, seizure-free, and having finished his antibiotics, he is allowed to come home. Thankfully, today, at just under 5 months old, he is healthy, growing well, and is being weaned off his medication, as his doctors feel he no longer needs it. His scans were clear, and we will see what the future holds. I credit my obstetrician for saving his life and possibly mine. I feel that without the cesarean section, one or both of us may not be here today.

From this experience, I believe that the circumstances surrounding a birth can have significant impact on child development.  We believe my son’s response to the oxygen deprivation and distress he experienced coming into this world was exhibited by the seizures he had shortly after birth. There are no physical abnormalities on the scans, nor were there any abnormalities on the brain wave test that was administered. This experience delayed some of the mother-child bonding that takes place after birth, since I was not permitted to hold him for about 3 days after he was born. While I could touch and talk to him, it was definitely not the same. Breastfeeding was also delayed because of this. We have also noticed some increased muscle tone, especially in his arms, which is being monitored by his doctors. Overall, we have not seen any developmental problems yet, and do not anticipate any. Hopefully, his long term development will not be affected by his birth experience.

After doing some research into how births happen outside of the United States as part of an assignment for my course at Walden University, I learned that many countries have vastly different approaches to the event of childbirth. Take Germany, for instance; a country I chose because of family ties there, both ancestral and current. In Germany, women see midwives, not obstetricians, for their prenatal care. Midwives are so highly respected and regarded in Germany that they must be present at every birth- it’s the law. Doctors are optional, and called in only if there is a complication. One German practice that I find appealing is that women who work full time are secure in their position from the time they tell their employer they’re expecting. They cannot be fired, and their position awaits them when and if they decide to return to work. Women are permitted to stop working six weeks prior to their due date and are barred from returning to work for eight weeks after giving birth, all with full pay! This is a wonderful way to develop the mother-child bond and ensure that breast feeding is well established, and that mother and child have recovered well from the birth. Mothers are also permitted to take up to three years of unpaid leave (with jobs guaranteed). I also support Germany’s practice of keeping a list of accepted names that parents must adhere to when naming their child. Their reasoning for this is to act in the child’s best interests, by preventing potential ridicule of the child for an incredibly unusual name. If parents choose a name not on the list, they must give a compelling reason for an exception, and exceptions are granted on a case by case basis. While I am not usually one that likes being told what to do, I feel that in the United States, there has been an increase in parents choosing names for their children that set them up for ridicule.

 

Information obtained from:

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/

End of First Course

As I finish the last week of my first course at Walden University, I am breathing a huge sigh of relief! I feel that I have truly worked very diligently at completing this course and can't believe that eight weeks are over already. Thank you to all of my classmates for all of their persistence in attaining this important goal, for all of their valuable insights, ideas, and additional resources. This has truly been a memorable experience. I wish all of you the best of luck in your continuing studies and hope we share more courses in the future!