Foundations: Early Childhood~ Week 4

Deborah Leong, PhD: on the important connection between dramatic play and literacy "That is why I think what is most important, what best prepares preschool children and kindergartners for reading, is play." "Through play, children actively turn their environments into anything and everything-weddings, schoolrooms, castles. Through this rich dramatic play, imaginations develop. And when children enter these fantasy worlds, they are practicing entering the fantasy worlds of the author, who uses words alone to create scenes and people and entire worlds." Marcy Whitebook, PhD: when addressing the issue of high staff turn-over rates and low pay in the child care field "If our field does not value the contributions of teachers and providers, it is highly unlikely that the rest of society will." "The question is, how do we make our child-care system better, rather than how do we make parents feel terrible that they have their children in child care?" Louise Derman-Sparks: explains why she became a teacher “I always wanted to be a teacher. But as I grew up I think I wanted to be- continued to be a teacher because I had just a built-in passion that it was important to make a real contribution in the world and to fix all the injustices that existed in the world and I wanted to do that through teaching.” Raymond Hernandez: describes what drives him to work in the early childhood field

"I think my passion comes from wanting to make a difference. I think, like I’ve said before, and I truly believe, that I’m not here to save the world. I’m here just to make a difference in the community that I’m working. And to me, making a difference may sometimes mean helping one child be able to be successful in the classroom."

Foundations: Early Childhood~ Week 2

This is my beautiful family, with me on the left, my husband Justin, and our 3 kids. I'm holding our newest member, our son Colton who is 8 months, in the middle is our daughter Payton who is 4 and a half and Justin's holding our oldest son, Grant who is 2. God has blessed us for sure! *~*~*~*~* I have SO many favorite children's books that it is hard to narrow it down to one! So I'll share 3 with you! One of my favorite children's book is Tedd Arnold's, "Parts". This book is about a little boy who finds lint in his belly button, skin falling off his toes, and wax coming out of his ears and he is convinced he is falling apart, until his parents (after reading through the book "Parenting for Dummies" which is shown in the illustration) tell him it's all normal! Tedd Arnold happens to be a local author from my town! :) I love this book because it's so true that children are mesmerized by the silly things like belly button lint and ear wax! Two other favorites are written by my favorite Christian author, Max Lucado. Although all of his books are fabulous, one favorite is titled, "You are Special". This books tells the story of the Wemmicks, who are little wooden people made my Eli, the woodcarver. The Wemmicks go around town all day sticking stickers on other Wemmicks, either stars for good behaviors or dots for bad things. If you're talented, you get lots of stars, but if you're not good at things you get lots of dots. One particular Wemmick named Punchinello only gets dots, but when he starts to spend time with the woodcarver, Eli, he begins to see how important he is to Eli and the dots no longer stick! The other favorite book by Max Lucado is called, "Because I Love You". This book tells the story of a village built by a man called Shadai where the children he loved could live in safety. He loved them, cared for them, and gave them everything they needed inside the village. One day Paladin, a curious boy, discovers a hole in the wall surrounding the village and Shadai warns him that it is not safe outside of the village walls. But Paladin's curiosity sends him looking and then venturing through the hole in the wall where he discovers that he can not return to the inside of the village. But just when he thinks he's lost forever in the scary, dark forest, Shadai rescues him and returns him to the safety of the village. Both of these books are mirror images to the love the God has for us and are told in a way that even children can understand. *~*~*~*~* My favorite "quote" about children is actually taken from the Bible and is a particularly meaningful verse to me. It is found in Psalms 127:3 and says, "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." This verse is so meaningful to me, especially after we found out that we were expecting our third child and our world was turned upside down. During this time, I found comfort in knowing that the little one inside me was a GIFT from God and he was rewarding me with this new life. There is no greater gift than to be a mommy! *~*~*~*~* I think the one thing that fuels my passion for working with children is the fact that they just want you to love them and have fun with them. They don't care if your hair looks bad, or your outfit doesn't match, or if you forgot to brush your teeth. If you greet them with a smile, ask about something in their life, give them a hug, or make them laugh, you are the coolest thing since legos! :) That was the best feeling when I was teaching kindergarten is the love that I had and the FUN that I had everyday with my students. There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't love my students and my job! (And although I love being home with my kids, there are some days where I really miss my classroom!) ;)

Welcome!

Good Afternoon~ Welcome to my Early Childhood blog, as required by Walden University. I am looking forward to this new journey. I never expected to be back in the "college classroom" so soon, as I just graduated from Walden in April of 2010. God had different plans for me, though, so here I am. I am currently a stay at home mom for our three children, our daughter Payton who is 4 and heading to Pre-K in a week, our son Grant who just turned 2, and our special blessing son who is 8 months! Up until July of 2010, I worked as the kindergarten teacher at Corning Christian Academy and I loved everyday. I had completed my Master's degree, had a wonderful husband and kids, and LOVED my job. Everything was going perfect... and we found out we were having another baby! I knew that meant giving up the career that I had worked so hard for and walking away from the perfect job. But, with the cost of daycare and trying to manage 3 kids under 4, I knew I had to do it. God knew exactly what he was doing as I sit here now, a stay at home mom of our 3 beautiful children, having been blessed with a financial situation that allowed me to stay home, and enjoying every day with my kiddos! My goal in starting this Early Childhood degree is to stay in touch with the world of education while raising my kids. Hopefully when I am ready to enter the working world in a couple years, this degree will open up some other options and allow me to find a job quickly! In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the fact that afternoon naptime means I get a nap too, and the toughest part of my day is changing dirty diapers! :)