Parents or Pop Culture?

1. Which messages do children listen to the most?
Children listen to the messages from there parents and television the most. I think that these messages are both positive and negative, but for the most part positive. I think this because in most cases, parents give off positive messages through there words and/or actions, and television can give off both positive and negative messages. So the majority of these messages are positive. "African american and white children chose a parent more frequently. In contrast, Asian Americans and Latinos chose entertainers most frequently, with parents coming in second place." This shows that children listen to both there parents and television, but it seems that parents have a greater affect on them.

2. Whom do children want to be like?
Children want to be like there role model, or what ever person they look up to. For some kids, that might be a parent/family member, educator, or friend. For others it might be a movie star, a music artist, a cartoon, or even a character from a comic. "Overall, children most frequently (34%) named there parents as rolemodels and heroes. The next highest category (20%) was entertainers; in descending order, the other categories were freinds (14%), profesional athletes (11%), and aquaintances (8%)."

3. Do their role models vary according to children's ethnicity and gender?
Yes, children's role models defanitely vary according to ethnicity and gender. "Overall, children in this study more often chose a same-gender person as someone they look up to and admire...African American and white children chose a parent most frequently(30% and 33%, respectively). In contrast, Asian Americans and Latinos chose entertainers(musicians, actors, and television personalities) most frequently(39% for Asian Americans and 47% for Latinos), with parents coming in second place." There are many reasones for why children choose the role models that they do. It could be because that person is kind, or strong, or popular, ect. I know that my greatest role model in life is my mother, who is the same gender as me, but the reason that I look up to her is because she is kind, caring, loving, hardworking, and is always there for me.

4. What role can educators play in teaching children about role models they may never have considered?
Educaters can play a big role in teaching children about role models that they may have never considered. First of all, they should "encourage girls' participation in sports, as well as boys' appreciation of woman athletes as potential role models." This is important because studies show that girls' participation in sports is associated with a lot of positive attributes, such as high self esteem and self efficacy. Educaters can also expose children to a wider veriety of potential role models, such as historical heroes, of variouse professions, color, gender, and all races. "Educators could capitilize on children's need for guidence to expose them to a greater variety of role models. Doing so affirms for the children that there race and gender are worthy of representation. A variety of potential heroes and role models allows children to appreciate themselves and the diversity in others." So, it is obviouse that when it comes to teaching children about role models, educators play a very important role in doing so.

blog#4

Choosing from the Constructive Use of Time AssetsWhich do you believe is the most important in the healthy development of Middle ChildhoodDo you have any experiences that you can remember from your own childhood that you can write about that reinforce why this is the most important asset. What effect did this experience have on who you are today.If you do not have your own experience, explain how this asset would affect a child's development during middle childhood.

In the healthy development of middle childhood, I think that time at home- which is where a child spends some time most days in high-quality interaction with parents and doing things at home other than watching tv or playing video games- is the most important. My mom did not work while I was a child, so I got to spend a lot of time with her. I loved always having my mom around to play with and talk to. We would do things like go to the park and play games, which kept me from always watching television. With my mom at home, she also got to teach me things, such as my abc's. She even made up a fun game to play to help me learn them. My mom was my best freind and I looked up to her as a role model and somebody I wanted to be like. She modeled good behavior to me and she taught me how to be a good person. I still look up to my mom as a rolemodel today. I feel that my mom has had a great impact on me and who I am today. In having her around so much, she kept me out of trouble and taught me good values that I will use for the rest of my life. This is why I beleive it is important for every child to have time at home to spend with those close to them.

Journal#2 Second Semester

Skills For School Readiness Article
1. Summerize each part of the article in your own words
Independence- Children start to learn independence as toddlers when they insist on doing things themselves even if they cant do it. By kindergarten, children start taking more responsibility for there success and failure. They learn to internalize motivation and do not have to rely on rewards and praise to find success.
Compassion- Infants and toddlers can only express there own needs, but by kindergarten children start to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of other people.
Trust- When infants and toddlers have consistent, loving care they develope basic trust. This trust enables children to feel the protection and support of adults. By kindergarten they are comfortable with the rules that keep them safe and they rely on consistency to know what is expected of them.
Creativity- Babies explore objects with there mouths and hands, and toddlers get into everything. By kindergarten children are eager to work on and solve there own problems.
Self-control- Todlers have very little self control, but by kindergarten children understand and accept the need for rules. At this time they can often see an event from someone elses point of veiw.
Perseverance and resilience- For toddlers, determination to succeed often overcomes failure. By kindergarten, children have experience with problem solving, brain storming, and evaluating decisions.

2. Explain how one of the activities that your group choose to share with the class supports all of the attitudes and behaviors from above.
One of the activities that my group chose to share with the class was house. House supports all of the attitudes and behaviors from above. House supports the behavior of independence because if one of the children has to play a role in house where they are alone for a little while, then they have to be able to be independent and find a way to amuse themselves. House also supports the attitude compasion, because when the children take on differnt roles such as the mother, they have to act with compasion towards others like a mother would. They have to be able to trust the others when playing house to. If someone is playing the role of the mother, then they have to trust the person who is playing the role of the father. When playing house, the children need to be able to be creative too. They have to be able to imagine that they are really those people and in the situation that they are playing out. They also have to be able to use things, such as blocks, and pretend that they are other things, such as food. The kids also need to have self control. If they are playing with a group of kids, they cant just decide that they want to play something new or change the rules. They have to have self control and be fair to everyone. Lastly, when playing house, they have to have perseverance and resilience. They have to be able to work out there problems and evaluate the decisions that they make when they are playing house. These are some ways that house supports the attitudes and behavoirs from above.

Jounal #1 Second Semester

List three ways that mature play can be implemented into a classroom. What are the benefits of these?
.Setting up centers in the classroom with different sceneries and props, that the children can all take turns playing at.
.The children can draw pictures and plan what they want to play.
.The kids could act out different animals or themes where they can change roles.

The benefits of having centers implemented into classrooms is that the children get to use there imagination, and they get to interact with others, which can help them gain social skills. Also, the kids have the freedom to be any character they want and can even have multiple roles during there play time, so they get to explore playing different people and having different jobs. An example of one of these centers could be a market. There could be a little fake check out and carts and fake food. One kid could pretend to be a shopper and one can be the cashier. Then if they needed some one to be the bagger, but they only have two people, then the cashier can change roles and pretend to be the bagger. Because they can switch roles they are using empathy. They also increses there vocabulary and verbilization because they have to act out there roles and talk like whom ever they are pretending to be.

The benefits of drawing pictures and planing what they want to play before they actually start playing is that they have to have consentration and a good atention span. The children also have to use impulse control so that they can stay on task while planning and then when they are playing, they follow through with there plans. They cant just start playing a whole new story or game.

The benefits to acting out different amimals or themes and changing roles is that it promotes using imagination and social skills. By letting the children play together and interact with each other it builds good socail skills. An example of this is if they were to do something like what we did in class, where we just used hand movement to describe an animal and other people had to guess what we were pretending to be.This increases there group participation and cooperation. It increases there group participation because they have to work with others and if they dont know how to act an animal out or someone does not understand what they are acting out, then they have to be cooperative and help each other out.

When discussing whether Maddie should be in organized soccer next year (as a five year old), what was your answer? Relate your reasons why to the notes on mature play.

I beleive that Madie should be in organized soccer next year, but only if she truley wants to. Playing soccer will help her make new friends that she has something in common with. Although organized soccer is not mature play, it will still help her to learn how to work with others and and follow the rules of the game. Madie will also have to use impulse control and concentration, becasue when she is at practice or in a game, she wont be allowed to stop playing or start playing a differnt game. She will also have to learn how to communicate with her teammates, which will increase her language development.

Journal Entry #5: Nature vs. Nurture

*What are your beleifs about nature vs. nurture? Which has a greater impact? Why?
My beleif about nature vs. nurture is that a person is impacted by both, but nurture has a greater impact on a person's life than nature. Nature is what you are born with. It is the DNA/ genes that you get from your parents. For example, eye and hair color, facial features, and hieght. Nurture is what you are taught or what you gain by the people and enviornment around you. For example, manners, eating habbitts, and the way you act/treat others. I beleive that nurture has a greater impact on a person's life because it affects the persons health, how they act and what they do with their life. For example, a child who is surrounded by people who have good work ethics, will probably have good work ethics and grow up to be successful. A child who is surrounded by happy, loving people, will most likely become a happy, loving person. Nature defines you, but nurture makes you.

*Which one - nature or nurture - impacts a prenatal to one year old child more?
Once again, I beleive that nature and nurture both have an impact on a prenatal to one year old child, but nurture defanitely has a greater impact than nature. One reason why nurture has a huge impact is because a prenatal baby's health and development depends on how the mother treats her own body. For example, if a mother does not eat right or get the nutriants that she needs it could hurt the baby. Also, if a mother smokes, drinks or does drugs, it could not only hurt the baby, but also the baby could become addicted the substance. One reason why nurture has a very big impact on a one year old is because it can affect there personality/mood and how they act when they get older. For example, if a baby's parents/ family are always yelling and fighting, or presenting themselves with a negative attitude toward the baby, the child will most likely start to act like them and could possibly have behavioral issues when they get older.

*Give examples of how "nurture" has influenced the way you have developed.
Nurture has influenced the way that I have developed in many ways. For example, my parents have always used good manners and from a very young age, they have taught me to use good manners, such as saying thankyou. Also, my parents have always tried to be nice to others and have taught me that I should be nice and always treat others how I would like to be treated. My parents have always had good work ethics, and that has taught me to have good work ethics. Most of my whole extended family is religous and so I have been surrounded by a community of religous people in my family, church, sunday school, and bible study. Being surrounded by these communitys has made me a very religous person and has influenced the way that I act and that actions that I take. These are just some of the ways that nurture has influenced the way that I have developed.

Journal Entry #4: Students With MR

1. What was your reaction to Mr Orsini's talk?
I found a lot the things that Mr Orsini talked about very interesting. I was very surprised to
learn some of the things that he told us about students with MR. Such as they have to repeat
things hundreds of times and sometimes they still cannot remember a simple task like tying a
shoe lace. Also, I was surprised when Mr Orsini said that the best thing you can do for a
student with MR is break there arm.

2. Do you have any interest in teaching special education?
Although I think teaching special education would be a very rewarding job, it does not
interest me very much. I am more interested in teaching young children, such as first or
second grade.

3. What are the major topics that students with MR will be taught in the public school system?
Students with MR are taught basic material that they will needto know to live an independent
life, such as how to count and use money. They might also be taught a certain skill so that
they can get a job. A student with MR is also taught how to act. For example, they are
taught that it is inapropriate to always give everyone hugs when you see them.

Developing High-Quality Family Involvment Programs in Early Childhood Setting

1. Headstart is a national,federally funded, community based program for children from families with low incomes and thier parents.

2. One of the most accurate predictors of acheivement in school is the extent to which parents beleive they can be key resources in their children's education and become involved at school and in the community.

3. An early childhood program is a community of families, teachers, and neighborhood residents acepting mutual responsibility for sustaining and enhancing relationships that promote children's success.

4. Some of the road blocks to establishing parent involvement in early childhood programs are teacher's concerns over the ability of parents to maintain confidentiality, to not knowing how to effectively recruit, use or supervise volunteers. Also, parents often feel they do not have the time to volunteer or do not know what they can do to help. Last, teachers often feel they do not have the time to prepare activities for volunteers.

5. Some ways to establish parent involvement are to develop a short survey or meet with other staff to determine where, besides the classrooms (office, kitchen, bus, playground, at home) parents can make contributions and in what ways.

6. The difference between culture at home and the one at school can be promoted by having parents and teachers talk often and get to know and understand each other's perspectives, behaviors, and interactions. Also, the school can show respect by asking parents to help create signs that hang on each entrance of the school and each classroom that say "welcome" in all the languages spoken by families in the program. The written materials for families should also be translated into languages spoken in their homes. Last, holiday celebrations should be respectful and inclusive of the cultures of all families.

7. The benefit of having a good orientation is that it eases anxiety and confusion, alleviates fears, and increases the chances of parents maintaining a long-term relationship with the program. A good orientation sets the tone and helps create the environment in which families will participate.

8. An effective orientation familiarizes the parent or community member with the school's facilities and staff, the program's philosophy and curriculum, and relevant policies, and procedures on confidentiality, discipline and attendance as outlined in a family handbook. Orientation should focus on volunteer job descriptions and expectations, how volunteers are supervised, and how volunteers should check in and record their hours, as required by Head Start.

9. Parents who cannot come in to the classroom can design and update the centers web page if they have access to a computer, or they can create a newsletter, or design forms and stationary. Other things families can do while at home include creating home made learning games and toys for the classroom, reading and tape-recording stories or music, sewing costumes and uniforms for the dramatic play area, or making curtains for puppet theater.

10. Teachers can support the children and their families at home by preparing exploration kits for use at home. These kits can contain videos, books, learning toys or games, and index cards or parent-child activity ideas that focus on a particular topic.