Early Childhood Stressors

This week's blog was hard for me to think about.  On one hand I felt incredibly blesses that I didn't have an overly stressful childhood.  I had 2 very involved, loving, supportive parents and my needs were well taken care of.  I feel that my husband and I are providing a very similar childhood for our children, and are lucky to have many of our extended family in the area to support us and our children as well.  My husband's upbringing was a different story, and one that is hard to talk about with him because he prefers not to think about it.  I had the chance to talk with him and his brother this weekend about what their biggerst stressor was growing up.  I went into the conversation thinking the stressor would be the poverty the family experienced during and after his parents divorce, but to him that wasn't the largest struggle.  He said they had food provided by the government and his mom was a wonderful cook that could put things together with very little resources.  He also had other family members around that would help provide clothing if needed and both boys got jobs very young to help provide for the family.  The biggest stressor for the children in the family seemed to be the chaos.  The divorce was very hard on his mom and she didn't deal with it well.  For a few years she was an absentee mother, as she was out most nights until very late and would come home drunk.  The boys were required at about age 10 to take care of the 4 siblings for sometimes days at a time.  Many times they look back and wonder how they didn't burn the house down when they were trying to make food or keep the house warm.  Keeping the house safe was another issue that got forgotten for much of their childhood.  Most often the flat roof was leaking and they had no door knobs to keep the animals out.  He remembers pushing the table in front of  the door to keep a hungry bear out.  I can understand why the responsibility to care for siblings along with the fear of being safe and having the resources to provide for the siblings had a large effect on my husband.  That being said, his school work suffered.  He didn't have anyone to help or keep him on task with homework, and many times he was up late worried about his mom and would fall asleep at school.  Luckily for their family the school was small enough that staff knew the family and would help out as much as they could; this meant letting the boys work as custodial help at 13, and allowing them to sleep in class when they needed to.  It makes me sad to think about that and then to compare what kind of father he is to my children is just amazing.  In comparing this situation to that in other countries I went to the unicef website (www.unicef.org) which talks about how the severe maltrition issue in Africa isn't because the mother doesn't care, she is busy in the fields and will take the time to feed the baby with her only if he cries.  It is important to provide these families as well as families all over the world with education about nurturing and supporting your child and the ways to do that with the resources available in your area.  I wish the county would've stepped in to help my husband's family.  It wasn't that she didn't care, but she couldn't even take care of herself, let alone her 4 children for a time.  In looking at early childhood stressors I think it is important to understand that even though the specific stressor might look different, the end result is similar: What happens - or doesn't happen - to children in the earliest years of their lives is of critical importance, both to their immediate well-being and to their future.  As I have said before, if the child isn't getting their basic needs met, they will not be ready to learn.

I chose to focus on child malnutrition because as a teacher I have seen the negative effects on families.  For the adults in the family it is very hard to provide educational support to children if they are concerned with getting basic needs met.  We have had cases where the child comes to school with such behavior issues, and once we figure out that they were hungry we added an extra snack in to the daily routine and the behaviors vanished.  When a child is hungry, he or she is not ready to learn in other areas, sometimes part of being a teacher is meeting basic needs.  In our district we have a weekend backpack program where children can pick up a backpack full of food for the weekend.  It was expanded from the free and reduced lunch program because they realized students were dreading the weekend because of the lack of resources.  It makes me sad when we think about how wasteful many of us are on a daily basis.

I was interested in looking into malnutrition in  Central America because I work with families that have moved from there.  Malnutrition is not usually thought of as a Latin American problem, but much of Central America there are cases of chronic child malnutrition as preveleant as it is in Africa or South Asia.   In Guatemala 50% of children under 5 are chronically malnourished and in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua 1 in 3 children under 5 years old are affected.  Good Nutrition is imperitive to survival, health and development of our future generations.  With well-nourished women there are fewer risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and well-nourished children perform better at school, become healthier adults and can offer a better start to their own children.  It is important that we not repeat the cycle.

Check out the full article at:worldbank..org,

Fighting Malnutrition in Central America

I think my favorite birth story is that of my 3rd baby, my daughter Averie.  I had 2 boys and was due to have another one on Mother's day 2001.  I was of course huge, hot and miserable and ready to pop!  We took a family boat cruise that Sunday to celebrate mother's day (many people thought I was crazy to go on an afternoon boat cruise when I could go into laber at any time) and then fortunately the next morning my doctor started the induction process.  Bless her heart she came in that morning with her own son in a front pack because she knew how ready I was to have this baby!  The gel started my labor slowly, and the room was full of my family.  I was pretty relaxed and comfortable as I knew some of what to expect in labor and had developed a birthing plan I was pleased with.  (This was the first time I opted for an epideral.)  Labor progressed as I visited with family, took a relaxing bath and sat on the birthing ball which I had never done before.  Needless to say I passed the point of being able to get an epideral without needing it at all!  The labor was very painful for the last 15 minutes or so and then I pushed quickly and my beautiful baby girl was born at 5:30 p.m.  I think the labor went the best for me because I was not as anxious and knew what to expect, I had my support system there, a doctor that knew me and the birthing ball and bath that kept me as relaxed as I could be.  I said a few times that I could have many more babies if all my labors went this easy!

I enjoyed reading about labors and deliveries in Australia.  Most often families are encouraged to stay home and labor as long as they are able to, and then come in for just the last part before the delivery.  In each story that I read on http://www.birthcenter.com/ the woman mentioned the importance of the midwife or midwives present at the birth.  The doctor and nurse were still attending but midwives were there to support the women in labor.  The significant difference I think was the sense of calm that I felt when reading the stories; I felt such a support system with each woman and her midwife that I think not everyone here experiences.  I was lucky enough to have that support system in my family there but I think felt less support by hospital staff and definitely did not feel like the staff was there to support my experience but was there for the baby.

My birthing experience connects to the family support I have in my life and in my children's lives that definitely have a positive impact on my children and me.  I feel incredible support from those around me and have a network of loved ones that surround my children and are involved in their upbringing and effect their growth in development.  I also think the way in which the children in Australia were brought into this world, in a calm and supportive environment will help them not start their life with risk factors

The items included in the NAEYC and DEC Codes of Conduct that spoke most to me were:

1. The value to base our work on knowledge of how chldren develop and learn, continually reflecting and assessing teaching techniques
2.  The value to appreciate and support the bond between the child and family
3. Respecting the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual- working to build individual relationships with each child
4.  The importance of using assessment information to understand and support children's development and learning to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services.
5.  The importance Caring and educating children in positive emotional and social environments that are cognitively stimulating and that support each child.
6.  The importance of referring families to community resources and support services.
7.  The importance of collaboration among professionals
 The one I would like tocontinue to  work on the most is serving as advocates for children and serving as a leader/mentor in the early childhood field

Reference List

• Minnesota Department of Education Website
• http://education.state.mn.us/mde/index.html

National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/

Pacer: assistance for children with disabilities www.pacer.org

Fun Learning Activities:

www.sesamestreet.org

www.pbskids.org

www.create-a-reader.com

www.coolmathgames.com

www.funschool.com

www.nickjr.com

www.makinglearningfun.com

www.fisherprice.com

www.crayola.com

www.preschoolexpress.com

www.preschooleducation.com

www.preschoolfun.net


Family Resources:

www.education.com

www.familyeducation.com

www.sandbox-learning.com

www.momenough.com

www.workingfam.org

www.helpmegrow.com

www.headstartbodystart.com

http://www.cherishspringfield.org/pages/read


http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/09/15/shape-stretchies/

http://fun.familyeducation.com/toddler/music/37371.html





Fun and Educational and Free Apps for Kids
Dog Story (about opposites)

MyFirstBooks (community helpers) Fun story and lots of things to talk about.

Grasshopper Apps has great story books with real pictures of people and things, and simple puzzles

Super Match Madness

FreePreschool IMM (matching)

PuzzlerFarm

Abby ABC Puzzle Lite

Timmy’s Preschool Adventure Lite

My Playhome

ABC Magnetic Alphabet

Vocab PCS

I Hear Ewe

Scribble Kid

imazing

Tozzle Lite

Toddler Teasers- Shapes

Draw Cast


Listed below are five web sites for parents to learn more about literacy and educational resources for young children with and without special needs.

1. Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) - www.cehd.umn.edu/CEED/

Developed by the University of Minnesota, this website provides Information about education and literacy for young children, including children with special needs.

2. Center for Early Literacy Learning www.earlyliteracylearning.org

Valuable tips and literacy resources for early childhood intervention practitioners, parents, and other caregivers of children, birth to five years of age

3. Is Your Child Ready - www.isyourchildready.com

Take a 5-minute online quiz that will help you gauge your child's readiness for Kindergarten. Find resources to help you find early care and education opportunities in your community.

4. Minnesota Parents Know - www.parentsknow.state.mn.us

On this website you will find age-specific early childhood information from the Minnesota Department of Education

5. Reading Rockets - www.readingrockets.org

This website offers fantastic resources and booklists to help parents with young and struggling readers.

• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
  
  
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
  
  
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
  
  
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
  
  
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
  
  
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
  
  
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
  
  
• Children’s Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
  
  
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
  
  
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
  
  
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
  
  
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
  
  
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
  
  
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
  
  
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.preknow.org/
  
  
• Voices for America’s Children
  http://www.voices.org/
  
  
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/
  

Another idea worth thinking about...

Dr. T.  Brazelton still sees his most important mission as fostering a sense of competent, loving, joyful parenting.    (That says it all to me!)


 Thomas Berry Brazelton Biography (1918-) http://www.faqs.org/health/bios/49/Thomas-Berry-Brazelton.html#ixzz1pmDcsioS

My favorite quotes....

Quotes from NAEYC (Susan Bredekamp, Ph. D)

"Children benefit most from teachers who have the skills, knowledge, and judgment to make good decisions and are given the opportunity to use them." – NAEYC, Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (2009)

"We are decision makers. As adults caring for children, it is our responsibility to seek out and intentionally plan the best opportunities for children that support their over-all well being and healthy development. Developmentally appropriate practice, commonly known as DAP, is a comprehensive educational perspective that supports optimal healthy development for every child. Understanding DAP - its meaning and intentional practices - is essential in guiding the decisions we make for young children". ~NAEYC article