Establishing Professional Contacts

For this assignment we were to contact two early childhood professionals outside the United States.  I have attempted to contact four professional from the NAEYC and UNICEF website; as of now I do not have a response from either.  I plan to reach out again, but from other websites in of hopes of getting a response as I think it would be interesting to hear their views.

My Supports

I am blessed to have a strong support system within my family and friends as well as my church family.  My father, mother and sister are my biggest cheerleaders as well as motivators in everything I attempt.  It makes my heart smile to hear my dad talk about how proud of me he is and this only makes me want to reach higher.

My challenge I chose to imagine was the thought of not belonging or having a since of togetherness.  I know that there are families out there that are not structured as mine; and I'm sure as they do that I could make it, but I don't feel I would have the same appreciation for family and the vital need children have to belong.

My Connections to Play

Quotes:

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.”

Stuart Brown, MD

“Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.”

Diane Ackerman

      

              

Growing up I remember summers at my grandparents house the majority of my cousins spent their summers there.  On any given day there could be twenty kids there, that’s including kids from the neighborhood also; but I remember my grandmother waking us getting us dressed and giving us breakfast and then it was out the door to play for hours until she called us for lunch.  We had so much fun on our adventures in the paths behind the house, using our imagination to take us different places.  It really brings a smile to my face to think of the veggies we cooked using leaves and the mud pies we made for dessert. Lol  Back then play was a lot simpler than it is today we could go out and play and parents would not have a care in the world on the safety of their child, not today play is lot more guarded today kids go out to play and don’t come home.  I would love for the innocence of play to be given back and children allowed to use their imagination to explore and take them places.

My god children....

Jaycee

Brayden

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

Relationships/ partnerships are very important and vital to our development.  Positive and negative relationships way heavily on our development and are reflected in our life.  One of the very most important relationships I have is the relationship I share with my mother.  Not only is she my mother she’s my best friend and I share every experience good or bad with her.  I can go to my mom with any issue and express my true feelings and not worry about being judged about how I feel.  I cherish our relationship and thank God daily for her.

I also would take nothing for the relationship I have with my two god-children: Jaycee and Brayden.  I’m so thankful God blessed me to share these two with their parents; and to be a small factor in their upbringing. 

When I Think of Child Development

"Children are like wet cement.  Whatever falls on them makes an impression." Dr. Haim Ginott~

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else you will have succeeded" Maya Angelou~

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

Poverty

I thank God that I was blessed to not experience any stressors in my childhood.  There is one stressor that I’m very passionate about and that is child hunger.  I know that there are a great number of kids in the US that experience this stressor, but when I think of childhood hunger I think of Africa.  In Africa nearly six million children die every year from malnutrition.  I was amazed to find that the majority of the deaths in African children are from treatable disease, such as diarrhea, measles, malaria and pneumonia and that this number could be lowered with proper nourishment.  Poverty, illiteracy and disease are all made worse by hunger, one report says. Malnourished children start school later and find it difficult to learn.  It breaks my heart to watch the commercials on child hunger in places like Ethiopia, and I wish there were more that I myself could do.  I know that with individual aid as well as International agencies, NGO’s, civil society and private sectors will continue to work hard to end hunger in the US as well as other countries.

References:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4459348.stm

http://www.end-child-hunger.org/

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Of the public health topics the one that really interested me was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) also known as “Crib Death” is the sudden unexpected death of a seemingly normal, healthy infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough postmortem investigation, including an autopsy and a review of the case history. 

·         90% of SIDS deaths occur during the first 6 months of life, usually occurring between 2 and 4 months.

·         SIDS occurs about 1.5 times more frequently in boys than girls.

·         The rate of SIDS is twice as high in African American infants as Caucasians.

·         SIDS claims the lives of about 2500 in the United States each year.

Needless to say after reading this information during my research it only made me want to know more about SIDS and the potential risk factors, which are:

·         Smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy

·         Poor prenatal care

·         Prematurity or low birth weight

·         Mothers younger than 20

·         Tobacco smoke exposure following birth

·         Overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding

·         Stomach sleeping

During my research I found a lot of information on Native American infants as it relates to SIDS.  Native American infants are 3 times more likely to die from SIDS than American infants.  This was unnerving to me and I wanted to learn more.  As I read more I found that one reason SIDS deaths are higher in Indian infants is due to Indian culture and tradition.  Indian mothers have a tradition of Co-sleeping; this is a highly valued practice for its physical and social benefits to the child, mother and family by providing child security, breastfeeding, bonding and family connectedness.

After my research on SIDS I feel that it is vital that we heighten awareness and education of SIDS in our younger mothers, lower income mothers, just mothers in general.  In many ways I feel that children that are dying from SIDS are dying from senseless deaths and when we know better we do better.  We have to educate them on how important it is for infants to sleep on their back on a firm surface in the room with the parents for the first year; avoiding high temperatures and excessive clothing; and how important it is to keep the temperature tolerable in the room in which the infant sleeps.

References:

Aslam, H., Kemp, L., Harris, E., & Gilbert, E. (2009). Socio-cultural perceptions of sudden infant death syndrome among migrant Indian mothers. Journal of Pediatrics & Child Health, 45(11), 670-675. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2009.01593.x

Athanasakis, E. E., Karavasiliadou, S. S., & Styliadis, I. I. (2011). The factors contributing to the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Hippokratia, 15(2), 127-131.

The birth of my god-daughter Jaycee

Unfortunately I have yet to be blessed with children of my own.  Therefore I chose to write about the birth of my beautiful god-daughter, Jaycee.  Jaycee’s mother and I became friends through a mutual friend.  She was 21 years old and had another daughter when she herself was in the 7^th grade.  She was very excited about being pregnant, but nervous also as her older daughter had been raised more like a sister than a daughter.  It was so much fun to experience each Dr. visit and birthing class as we prepared for Jaycee. I will never forget how nervous and giddy I felt when I got the call on October 9, 2009 that it was time!!!!  Kenley did opt for an epidural; I can’t help but laugh thinking about the nurse asking Kenley if she wanted an epidural or did she plan for natural childbirth, she rose up and said lady there is nothing natural about having a baby. Lol. About 5 ½  hours  later with her mom at her head holding her hand and me holding one leg and Jason holding the other leg my little Jaycee Bug came into the world.  I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of love that I felt for Jaycee the moment she came into the world.

I decided to look into birthing practices in Africa.  Women in Africa are 175 times more likely to die in childbirth.  That breaks down to one in 16 chance of dying while giving birth and according to reports can be avoided.  Many women in Africa deliver alone and without untrained attendants; most deaths and disability result from delays in recognizing complications, reaching a medical facility or receiving quality care.

Africa Childbirth Death to High

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3206960.stm