"MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY"

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning"
                
                                                                     Fred Rogers


"Play is our brains favorite way of learning"

                                          Diane Ackerman




THREE ESSENTIALS OF PLAY

Riding bike with friends

Playing on the playground

                                                                   Playing with my toys



My childhood years was an amazing journey. I enjoyed my childhood to the fullest. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would want to be a kid again. My mom and grandparents were very  supportive of play. They allow me to play with my friends on a daily basis as well as my siblings. We would play in the yard and never have to worry about one another fighting. When I was growing up everyone was so nice and you never have to worry about kids being kidnapped, murdered, or molested. Growing up as a child with great grown ups to support play was loveable.

I feel that play is similar but yet different in which I was growing up. There are some much technology that hinder kids from getting more of outdoor play than when I was growing up. Even when I was growing up, I really didn't need a certain toy to play with I would play with my own imagination of things and enjoy myself to the fullest.

The role of play throughout my childhood is something that I will never forget. I enjoyed being a kid. I believe that was the most impotant part besides eating. lol!! As I look at the role of play during my adulthood. WOW!! I couldn't imagine if play didn't exist. Even though we are adults and we go on with our daily lives but there is always time for play because I enjoys it.

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

When it comes to Relationships/people that's important to me and plays a positive role in my life. Not only they are my support system, they are my biggest cheerleaders. They are always there to listen, share ideas when giving advice. The people that share most of my happines are my mom, dad, husband, my 2 best friends, children, and CS Manager/Friend. My mom has always play an important role in my life, but of course she raised me to be the woman I am today. She's always there for me when I'm in need. She always been my rock and supporter of all things I have accomplished. My dad has been there for me as well. He also taught me to believe in myself and to further my education. He stressed the importance of education and I soon to believe that education was the only word he knew. LOL! I Love him dearly!! the man of my life, my husband. He's just PHENOMENAL!!! My 2 best friends are my supporters in crime. Those two are truely a blessing in my life..that's one thing that I do is take friendship to heart. It's rarely that you find friends that are down with you like four flat tires.  We have been friends over decades and friendship is still strong. Anything that I need to talk about they always have an listening hear and always tell me things that puts a smile on my face. My children are my love bugs.. I didn't know you can love lil people this much when those two came into my life. They are my babies for LIFE... They are always there to provide help when I need them and they know that I will always be there for them..They are truely a ray of SUNSHINE!!! My CS managr is nice, sweet, and vibrant person. She has always been there for me since I have known her. We have only known each for a year and ten months, but it seems like a lifetime. I meet her in January 13, 2011. When I started working for Head Start, I was her assistant. We clicked after meeting for the first time. She has been a really great person. I can talk with her about anything and she's right there to provide me with the love and support. the individuals that I named has been there for me through it all and I love each and everyone of them until death do us part...

TESTING FOR INTELLIGENCE

In my personal opinion, I do not like to test, especially in the intelligence test. Human Intelligence facets many areas of a person's ability, as God grants a different gift to each human being. In the bible, Paul had mentioned the gifts of message of wisdom, message of knowledge, healing, prophecy, distinguishing, speaking different tongues, and interpretation of tongues. How do a person know which gift (s)he might have? Once upon a time, in a group study, the leader gave the group member a test, where each one fills a form by answering questions. the results would tell if you have the gift of teaching, caring, passion, or etc. Most member laughed after got the result. In the same way, when a school wants to know if a student is capable of accomplishing school work, it will require the student do some test. The popularly tests are the academic intelligence tests such as the SAT/ACT for admission into college, and the GRE/GMAT for administration of college students into graduate school. Some company designed test to measure a person's intelligence, such as IQ and the EQ test. These tests might help recognizing what the students had learned, but not the student's ability to learn.

The results of the tests might be affected by how many times a person practices; the more someone practiced and the more familiar (s)he is with the test, the higher the score (s)he will have. Someone with a PH.D degree told me that she took the IQ test, and in the beginning, her IQ was about 120, after took it several times, she got the score of about 140. She said that if she practiced more, she would have scored higher. so this test means nothing. Stephen Hawking said about IQ: "People who boast about their IQ are losers."

People do have intelligence or gift as God granted. A person might have a gift area and might have another disability area. for example, "Jacob, who has been diagnosed with mild autism, now 12 years old, mildly autistic and with an IQ of 170 – higher than Stephen Hawkings and Albert Einstein." Dr. Hawkings "was small and slow to learn to read" (Journey throught the galaxy) and has physical disability, He was assumed an extreme high IQ.((it was funny that Dr. Hawkings hisself said he did not know what his IQ was.) Albert Einstein, who had difficulty time to learn how to talk. "His elementary school teachers thought that he was a foolish dreamer, and one teacher had even asked him to drop out of his class." was assumed that he had extreme high IQ too. Another factor is "human can be modeled (like plastic), a child who need special education in an early grade might later be above average, or even gifted."(Berger K. S. 2009). A person's IQ might change in the life span. Testing intelligence migh have its limit.

CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS ON CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT

It isn’t till we are a little older that we identify the stressors in our own lives from childhood. Until we realize what is actually going on in our lives as children I think it is just survival. As resilient as children are many of the stressors they are exposed to as children have a lasting affect on who they become as adults. At least that was the case for me. Racism is a kind of abuse that can be both mental and physical. According to Cynthia Garcia Coll and Laura A. Szalacha in the article The Multiple Contexts of Middle Childhood, racism, is a pervasive and systemic reality in modern American society, inextricably linked to processes of social, political, and economic domination and marginalization (2004). It can be an innocent misunderstanding or it can be very directed and cruel. Whatever the case I believe that racism is taught, learned, or not corrected till it becomes belief. Often times racism is passed on through cultures and subcultures and I am amazed that it continues to thrive despite all the historical outcomes we have seen on its behalf.

Many years ago I was tending to my baby and pushing the grocery cart at a local grocery store. As we scooted into the checkout line we were passed by another mom with daughter in a shopping cart, a quite common event in a grocery store. As they strolled by her daughter with little blond curls bouncing up and down and sheer excitement on her face let out, “MOM, look it’s a chocolate baby.” Her mother quite embarrassed strolled away as quickly as possible. This is an example of the innocence of children. The little girl had obviously not been exposed much if at all to other races different from her own. However, I would have loved to hear the continuing conversation and explanation between mother and daughter from that point on. Children will naturally grow up to be non-racist adults when they live in a non racist society, until then, adults must guide children's anti- racist development (Derman-Sparks, Higa, and Sparks).

In the country of South Africa, children face many of the stressors children face in most parts of the world, Poverty and racism still remaining at the top of the list despite the end of Apartheid. The problem remains in majority populations of “Whites” where most Africans of color simply do not go out of habit or cannot afford to go or live due to socioeconomic status. According to a the South African Ambassador to Vienna, most Africans do not consider color as a definition of race, but rather whether or not you accept and participate in the culture . If you speak the language you are African. In the last ten years, many new laws and programs have been initiated in order to protect young children in South Africa regardless of skin tone. However, there is no recent evidence or studies I could find that South African children are any less affected by the countries racial problems and socioeconomic division of classes even with the end of Apartheid.

 

 

References

Coll, C. and Szalacha, L. (2004). The multiple contexts of middle childhood. Children of Immigrant Families, 14(2)

 

Derman-Sparks, L., Higa, C., and Sparks, B. (n.d.). Children, race, and racism: How race awareness develops . Retrieved from http://www.teachingforchange.org/files/027-a.pdf on September 30

 

BREASTFEEDING

"Breastfeeding... more than just Nutrition"

I’ve been an advocate for breastfeeding for several years. I’ve became an advocate when I had an experience with a breastfeeding mom while volunteering at WIC Nutritionist. I learned that breastfeeding is the best you can give your baby, it has all the nutrients, babies are less likely to suffer from colds, flu, ear infections, and may help the mom return to normal weight. Also, I had a client that was physically disabled and obese to breastfed her baby for 12 months without formula supplement and lost 30lbs. I was so inspired to encourage all of the moms to breastfeed. 
Infants are breastfeed for at least 6 months for their life. Working mothers nevertheless continue to breastfeed even though they are still working. This is a challenge that the US continue to make places breastfeeding friendly. I will continue to volunteer services in this field where I will promote breastfeeding because of the tremendous benefits. My motto is, “Breastfeeding...more than just good nutrition.”

CHILDBIRTH IN YOUR LIFE AND AROUND THE WORLD

I decided to share the experience of my niece when she gave birth to her daughter. On June 8, 2012, I had the opportunity to witness the birth of my great niece. My niece experience was exciting yet a pleasant experience. In the birth and delivery room was my mom, my niece mom, myself and my niece two aunts. I can remember like yesterday she had all of us working. She had one of us fanning her with paper, rubbing her legs and arms, and massaging her stomach everytime she feel a labor pain. The room was full of jokes and laughter while waiting on the arrival of our new edition to the family. However, the doctor came in to induce her around 8 o'clock that morning and from then on we were waiting patiently. It seem like it was taking her forever to dialate, so everytime she felt a labor pain she would do some breathing techniques to get through the pain. So the nurses came in and checked her for the last time and said she had dialate to 10 centimeters. One of the nurses called the doctor to let her know that she was ready to deliver. The baby start coming so fast, they told her to don't push but the baby was pushing her way out. All of a sudden the baby just dived out. It was so funny, the nurses didn't have to help pull her out. That lil girl was ready for this world. The doctor arrived after everything was over with. The doctor cut the umbilical cord, and cleaned up the baby so my niece could hold her. She weighed 7 lbs 3oz! What a precious jewel!!! The reason why I choice this birth experience was because she was my brothers first born and this is his first grand child as well as my first great niece and he didn't have the opportunity to see her being born. He was killed in an accident 10 years ago. This was a heartfelt moment for all of us.

Birth Traditions in Northern Ghana

When the female relatives of a woman notice she is pregnant they greet her one morning just outside her bedroom door and blow ash in her face. It is to assure a safe birth. If the pregnant woman had a difficult pregnancy then the traditional birth attendant will be called. Women often give birth just squatting down and pushing out the baby. After birth only very near relatives and very good friends can visit for 2 weeks. The visit must be short. After birth only very near relatives and very good friends can visit for 2 weeks. The visit must be short. They believe if a woman talks too much after birth it is not good for her. The new mother does not leave the room except to take care of her bodily functions. Her mother remains in the bed with her and at night. In the night after the new mother feeds the baby the grandmother takes the baby and cares for it and gets it back to sleep. Thus the new mother gets the rest she needs. The baby is not name until 3 months, however, the baby will be called a stranger until it is named. While pregnancy and childbirth tend to be joyous times for families in developed countries, both are dangerous and even fatal in developing countries. UNICEF calls the gap between maternal health care for women in rich and poor nations “the greatest health divide in the world.”
                                                                   BABY OSZY!!!

A NOTE OF THANKS AND SUPPORT

Dear Colleagues,

This course provided me with my first blogging experience; thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult as I had expected. I wanted to thank all of you for supporting me through your comments, questions, and insights that were posted to my blog. This was a great learning experience and I wish all of you luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Antowah Jackson