Sharing Web Resources

The website that I refer to is www.nbcdi.org. I enjoy reading the articles they have in the resource section. I read two articles. The article that I read that was closest to my career development is, "Framework for Planning Implementing, and Evaluating PreK-3rd Grade Approaches." I hope to one day own my own daycare and reading this article can assist me with developing my program. I enjoyed reading this article, it was filled with important and vital information.

The other article I read opened my eyes to a new, yet important trend. "A Call for Change: A Preliminary Blueprint to Improve Educational Excellence and Opportunity for African American Males in Urban Public Schools." My attention was drawn to this article because I have a young black nephew that will be attending public schools soon. This is an important topic because I feel like the lives of African American males are unvalued in America. The high profile killings of young African American teen males in recent years and throughout history makes this a trending topic. I believe that it is important for African American males to excel in something other than sports. It should be expressed to them that education is important. Living in the "hood" most young men look up to drug-dealers, gang members, and other improper influences.

I didn't find anything related to this week's topic.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I have not received a response from the people I've reached out to, so I am using the alternative. Also, the website, www.childpoverty.org is down, so I researched www.nccp.com. I chose one of their publications: Basic Facts About Low-income Children. Children Under 6 years, 2011. The fact sheet gives a description of demographic, socio-economic, and geographic characteristics of young children and their parents, living in the United States.

Three insights I've gained:

• The highest races that live in low-income families are American Indian 70%, African American 70%, and Hispanic 67%. However, 4.2 million white children live in low-income families, making them the largest group and Hispanics are the largest origin of children living in low-income families.
• 75% of children under 6 years old with a single parent, live in low-income families.
• 52 % of children under 6 years old in the South, live in low-income families.

These facts stood out to me because I am an African American woman and I live in the South. While, my parents are married, I have friends that grew up in a single-parent households and had struggling times. I chose the fact sheet that discussed children under 6 because that is the age group that I work with. It's a repeating factor and it's sad.

"I mean, nobody should be hitting Lotto for 36 million and we got people starving in the streets. That is not idealistic, that’s just real." -Tupac Shakur

Seeing this quote today made me question myself: What am I doing to help someone in need? It's time for me to take action in my own community, so this is what I've gained from this week's trend and topic. We have to be the change that we want to see in the world.

Sharing Web Resources

National Black Child Development Institute
www.nbcdi.org

NBCDI is an organization dedicated to the success and well-being of Black children. They work with black children, age birth through 8, and their families. Their focus on issues that are related education, care, and health of Black children and their families.

I have not received a newsletter from NBCDI, but I looked at their resource page. There were a lot of helpful links and news articles related to the black community and how to lift up the black community. The reason why I chose this website is not to shut out other cultures or not look into the international websites, but I believe that it is important for me as a black woman to research what I can build my community. Future black generations, I believe, are at a great risk and as an early childhood professional I really want to do my part in my community.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I am still waiting to hear back from the people that I've tried to contact. I also put UNICEF in my favorites bar just in case they don't get back with me. This was a difficult assignment, but hopefully I can start establishing relationships globally because I do want to learn more. So my fingers are crossed.

One early childhood education organization that I was interested in when I started looking is National Black Child Development Institute. This organization captured my eye because it is about the improvement of children of color early childhood experience. I'm very excited about receiving their newsletters and even bringing an organization to my community. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I am excited to learn more about their organization!

My Supports

My biggest supports in my daily environment are family and friends. My mother and father have supported me all of my life. In this present time, they support me by letting me live with them (for free) while I finish Graduate School. Their words of encouragement are always helpful whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed or down. My family has always supported my endeavors and have always encouraged me to do my best at whatever. My friends are always there when I need to talk and have always given me positive and constructive advice. When my friends aren't there to talk to, I always pray. My faith in God has gotten me through a lot these past few years. I believe without these supports I wouldn't be the person I am today.  I thank God for placing such a great support system in my life.

A specific challenge that I am currently dealing with is school and work. I've recently just started a new job and going to school online is something new to me. It has been a struggle managing both, because they both are demanding. It has been kind of overwhelming, but encouraging words from my family and friends especially my mother have inspired me to keep pushing forward through both my career and education.

My Connection to Play

“Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.” -Brom, the Child Thief

This quote really sums up what play was to me during my childhood.

“What strange creatures brothers are!” - Jane Austen

I chose this quote because they were my primary playmates. Even though they didn’t want to play with Barbies and other girly things, my brothers made my childhood amazing! We still play.

 Sidewalk chalk was so essential to my childhood. I made hopscotch boards, 2 and 4 square boards, kept game scores, and many other things with sidewalk chalk. I used chalk at home and school.

 

 Spalding was my best friend 3^rd- about 8^th grade. I loved playing basketball and football as well. I played summer league basketball in 3^rd and 4^th grade, then I played the city league. My dad even had a concrete slab and basketball goal in the backyard for me and my brothers. We’d stay outside all night during the summer playing basketball.

Good, quality tennis shoes are essential to every childhood. I was a tomboy at heart, blame my brothers and dad. It was important to have good tennis shoes, because I would run at school and through my neighborhood. I loved playing, I loved running, and being outside.

My parents always encouraged us to go outside. We’d stay outside for hours, riding our bikes, playing games, and exploring our neighborhood. I’ve had teachers to take us outside during science lessons and have us explore our school grounds and let us explore nature. We had recess every day, well when weather permitted. I believe I had an awesome early childhood education, because my teachers allowed us to explore the world around us. We were playing while we were learning. I remember every school year, my teachers allowed us to help them clean their classrooms. They would give us some of their supplies they had used throughout the year. I’d use these leftover supplies they gave me to play school at home with my teddy bears and friends that would come over. I feel like my parents and teachers promoted my play by letting me be free and letting my creativity to live. I also developed cognitively, socially, and physically.

I feel like play is different because there is so many bad things going on in the communities. Children aren’t allowed to go outside and be free because of the risks of violence in the community. Their parents are afraid to let their children go outside. Some children are placed in front of a T.V and play video games all day, when they aren’t at school.

Realtionship Reflections

Positive relationships are important to me because sometimes you just need someone to vent to and relate to. My close friends and I have a group text message and we talk about so many things throughout the day. If one of us is having a bad day, we encourage each other to keep our heads up and offer help. I believe that relationships are important because sometimes someone needs that extra ump.

My most positive relationship right now are with my family (mom, dad, two brothers, sister-in-law, grandparents, nephew) my friends (Anna, Alex, Destinee, Bella, and Melanie) and my church family. Most things that I go through I share with my parents, siblings, and friends. They really help me through a lot of my problems. My mom is my best friend, I really can talk to her about anything and I appreciate her opinion. She is really understanding and no matter how bad I mess up she is still supportive. I don't share as much with my dad or my brothers , but we do talk about a lot of things. Since they are men, I don't expect them to understand most of my problems. My church family is highly supportive. When I was younger, I cried during every Easter and Christmas speech; they help me overcome my fear of public speaking. They encouraged me every Easter and Christmas. They were big on getting good grades in school and supporting those who struggled. Every six weeks they would give out rewards for making honor roll and principal's list. I believe it made the children in our church strive harder to get those rewards. I appreciate my relationships with my friends because we have different views and we our very outspoken with our opinions and views. No matter what those opinions are even though we might disagree on some things we are understanding.

I believe that trust is a major challenge in developing and maintaining relationships. Throughout the years I've learned that everyone is not your friend and everyone doesn't have your best interest at heart. I believe that actions speak louder than words and true colors will come out, you just have to recognize the signs.

I believe that my positive relationships with my family, friends, and church family will have a great impact in the field of early childhood education. I believe that you have to be very understanding, emphatic to people's situations, and encouraging.