Mod. 5

I feel that my colleagues have been a great support for me because they were there to help me find resources for my plan. I asked about how to get free books for my children in the center and got some great websites to look up. I did not find free books, but did get some new websites with literacy activities which were added to my plan.

I feel that I have supported my colleagues by being a listener of their ideas and giving my feedback to them.

I hope that everyone does well with their advocacy plans and I hope that everyone will continue to be an advocate for the children, their families and their profession. I feel that when you are in early childhood you need to be an advocate because early childhood is never taken seriously.

Good luck to everyone!   Thanks for your support throughout this course.

Mod. 4 blog

I really don't have any questions or concerns at this point in the assignment. I feel that I have everything in place.

I am however, looking for a resource with free stuff such as books or anything else that could be used for early literacy. This is something that I would like to give each child who participates in the family read night.

The resources that I have found that have been insightful has been the family fun website (www.familyfun.com) www.earlymoments.com, www.scholastic.com and www.naccrra.org. These websites had some good articles that I was able to use to prepare for my fact sheet.

What inspires me about being an advocate is that I can change the way parents spend time with their child. My plan may make it more beneficial for them once they see and hear why they should spend time with their child.

The challenges I feel related to engaging in my advocacy effort is, will the parents take this seriously or will they just toss it a side like everything else they read. I have a feeling that half of the parents may take it seriously and half will not. The half that will not are the ones that need to take it seriously. This will be a challenge to get them to see the importance.

I believe the most effective way to overcome my challenge will be in the way my advocacy plan is presented and executed. If I make it eye catching and the parents and the child get something in return, it may make it more interesting or inviting for them.

I can encourage others in their advocacy efforts by telling them to never give up, your voice will eventually be heard.

I liked this quote that I found:
"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth."
William Faulkner

Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

I wanted to say thank you for the advice that you gave me about discipline. You said to tell the children my expectations of them before we start class. Well it has worked and I keep reminding them of the expectations through out the day. Thanks for your advice.

A note of thanks

I just want to say thank you to all of my colleagues for your advice on many things. It has helped me a lot. I really appreciated the advice on discipline. As many of you know this has been a struggle for me this school year. But with your expert advice, I have been able to controll my class again. Thanks again for your advice and I wish everyone the best of luck! I know that I can not wait to graduate, it seems like it has taken me for ever. I would like to keep in touch with my colleagues even after we graduate.

Observing and Interacting with Families | Jacquelyn Watts-Kinchen's Interning Experiences

Observing and Interacting with Families Jacquelyn Watts-Kinchen's Interning Experiences
The teacher did the right thing by advocating now for the child rather than later.
It is good to hear that this went well. I am sure the grandparents really did not know where to start.
I see this a lot, the parent or caregiver really has no idea where to start with help until they ask. Sometimes when they ask it is too late.

NatashaDolanReflectionsonTeaching

NatashaDolanReflectionsonTeaching
It sounds like you have done a great deal of talking to get the interest going. Way to advocate! You have probably been talking to the school about this, but until the school hears it from a group of parents will anything be done about this. What an opportunity for these children. Good job!

Observing and Interacting with Families | Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

Observing and Interacting with Families Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

Yes, I get so mad when we have a parent night and very few parents show up. Every fall we have a parent night. The parents come to school and we explain our curriculum, routines and etc.... Out of 6 students only 2 parents showed up. I was very disappointed, it just goes to show you that parents today just don't care. We also have family functions and it is the same thing, no one comes or just a few show up. I don't know what to do about this, but something needs to be done. Parents need to take a more active roll in their children's lives. One of my teachers suggested that we make these things mandatory, well it will be the same thing no one will come. They just don't care!

jennifer kline

jennifer kline
Boy! the mom did everything for this child. No wounder he can not do anything on his own. I hope the mom puts a stop to that right away. When I look back at my kids at age 4 they were doing everything for themselves. The dad needs to get a clue and see just how his son acts at school also. Parents like this come into your classroom and never say a word and they don't want you to talk to them either, if you do talk to them they turn away and walk away. Parents must hear the good and the bad, it is their job just like it is our job. Parents like this are just in denial and don't want to come to terms with what is really going on with their child. At my center we have a parent with an Autistic child. We knew something was wrong with him since he was 15 months old. Trying to get the mom to see this was another story. Sometimes it is hard to open their eyes, but offering another program may.

Internship 411 Mary Haas

Internship 411 Mary Haas

This past week I spent my time talking with my students parents about their children registering for kindergarten.
Now the parents are wondering if their child is ready for school. I did a progress report on their children in January and no one came to me with questions are concerns.
Everyone of these children that I have, have socialization issues but the parents do not seem so concerned about these. They want to know if their child is ready in other ways such as knowing their letters , numbers, etc.. I also feel that socialization is a big deal.

I had one parent say that she was thinking of holding her child back because he does not listen. I tried to explain to her that he will listen when he wants, he is very immature and wants to be held a lot and likes to bother others to get his way. He also spends a lot of time crying when he is corrected or does not get his way. To mom he does not listen. I also see mom babying him a lot and I feel that he gets babied at home because he has an older brother who is going into the 6Th grade. I did tell mom that it might not be a bad thing to hold him back because he was so immature. She also thought that it might be a good idea. I did suggest that he get screened for kindergarten and let the kindergarten tell her what she or he thought. I do know that this child does struggle in my class with social issues and learning.

I have also talked with another parent about raising funds for a library that my center is starting. We are setting up a library for the children to check out books to take home. We feel that the parents and children need to spend some time reading together. As I am doing my research I am finding that this is true. The parent and child need to spend 30 minutes a day reading and talking with each other. We feel that this is not happening. We feel that the parents are to hurried and have not time. We hope that maybe spending time in our library this may change. We plan on advocating our efforts to the public to see if we can get some sponsors for our event that we are holding to purchase more books and parent info. for our library.

An insight that I gained is that parents do care when it is to late to do anything about it. I have been talking to my parents all year about their children's behavior and now that they are getting ready for kindergarten it is an issue. It seems like we in pre-k don't matter and when they get to school it matters. I don't get it, pre-k is just as important as kindergarten and when will parents realize this.

Another insight that I gained is that parents in my classroom see how hard of time I have with these children, but yet do not offer me any suggestions of discipline that is being used in their homes. They never want to talk in the morning about this issue.

How can I get these parents interested in their children before it is to late! Not only with behavior but also reading together which I feel that these children need, maybe they would not be so hard to deal with.

Interviewing Administration and Others | NatashaDolanReflectionsonTeaching

Interviewing Administration and Others NatashaDolanReflectionsonTeaching
I would like to know more about this stem program. You are right there are a lot of opportunities out there, you just need to know where to look.
I feel finding grant money and time to implement a new program are two very hard pieces to the puzzle.

jennifer kline

jennifer kline

Your class sounds very interesting. It sounds like you did a great job with this child, I hope that the parents appreciate all of the time and things that you have done for them and their child. You know most teachers would not go the extra mile like you did for this child. Do you ever feel like you have failed when you do not get an end result that you were hoping for?

Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

Children First-Thoughts by Libby Canady

I feel the same way about our parents in early childhood. We have parent nights are parent events and they are never attended very good. I understand that parents work, but when it comes to school they should be very involved as much as they can. I feel that the parents today just don't care about their child are school. They are more concerned about putting their child in little gym, tennis, swimming, t-ball, soccer, dance, etc..... They are more concerned about the child competing that school does not matter. It is the same way when I try to talk to parents in the morning about behavior issues, they are doing everything they can to run out the door. Bottom line is that the parents are thinking of themselves and not this child that they are suppose to be raising. The schools are raising these children and when they get home they are allowed to do what ever they want!!!!

Interacting with program directors

In the last 2 weeks I have interacted with the Director of the childcare center that I work at. I am also a Director as well as  the pre-k teacher. The Directors name is Judy Shovlin, she has been a director for about 25 years. Judy and I talked a lot about discipline in the last 2 weeks. I know this has nothing to do with early literacy, but discipline has become very important to me this year, because I have a class of 6 pre-k students who have no social skills what so ever. My job is to teach them some social skills before they go off to kindergarten. Well, let me tell you that I have had a terrible time doing so.

I have had a mental health specialist come to observe me, and while I do a lot of things right I also do a lot of things wrong. Such as not being empathic enough toward these children. Everyday I have a struggle to get them to do anything for me. Today I asked them to clean up for snack and they began to scream no at me and throw toys. I give them a lot of warnings before clean up and that does not help. I tell them to pick up 10 things and that does not help. I play a clean up song and that does not help. The director and I have come to the conclusion that they are like siblings and this is why I am having so much trouble.

I try to make class as fun as possible but this seems to be a disaster. Today, we had computer class, and did some fun valentines projects and they had lots of play time. Their play time consisted of moving all the chairs and taking all the toys off of the shelf. They were playing the 3 little pigs, which was fine until they started to throw toys and jump off of the shelf. I then told them to stop and pick up and directed them to games. Playing games lasted for about 20 min. and then it was time to clean up for lunch and then it was the same old thing of throwing toys and screaming no.

I have told the director all of the things that I have done and nothing has made a difference.
This week I am going to add a good deed and good words marble jar. I hope that this will work a little.
I am ready to pull my hair out. I have never had a class like this before. I honestly can say I can't wait until May when I am working with school age.

The director has told me that it is not me, it is the class and how the parents have not taught them anything at home as for as being social.  I hope that she is right and I am not just getting to old.


I need help!

If I were to be an advocate for something I would be an advocate for discipline. I would create a discipline class for all of the parents to attend which would be mandatory for everyone in the center. While we do have our discipline policy, I feel it is very important for the parents to attend a discipline class. When I try to talk to the parents now about their children, they do not want to hear it they just walk away from me. I guess they will care when their child gets to kindergarten and is in the office because of bad behavior.

Blogs that I follow

http://jacquelynkinchen.blogspot.com/

Interacting with Professionals in childcare

I observed Jenny W. Jenny is a 2 year old teacher, she has 6 hours in early childhood along with 1500 clock hours of experience which makes her teacher qualified. She has worked at the center since 2006.

I observed Jenny welcoming families at the beginning of the day. Jenny talked to each parent and they communicated about the child's night and morning. I observed her washing hands as the children arrived, they washed their hands and sang row, row your boat 2 times. I also observed her having informal conversations with the parents at the welcoming time in the morning. I also observed free exploration for the children before they went into their classroom at 8 a.m. I also observed Jenny singing the ABC song with the children. As they sang she pointed to the letters on the wall. I also observed her reading books at story time. While she read the story she pointed to the title on top of the book, and she began to read and pointed to the words in the book. I also observed the 2 year olds singing color songs and spelling out the color words by clapping their hands. These children are also learning words and there meaning such as door, window, snow, penguin, seal, etc. through everyday conversation and class time.

What did your observations reveal about the needs and efforts of these professionals working with children? It revealed to me that by observing Jenny she was able to have an informal conversation and find out things about the child's night and morning routines. By finding out how the child's night and morning was going, this was a determination to how the day would go in the classroom for these children. She also communicates what the child did the day before in class and what they really liked or did not like. Jenny was making an effort to get to know the child and family and she shows that she cares about them.

The strengths and challenges of these professionals? The strenghts for Jenny is that she is able to communicate informally with the parents and find things out about the child's routines. By doing this, she is creating a  bound with these families and getting to know them better and then she has a better understanding of the child. A challenge for this professional is dealing with children that are out of control. She really does not like to talk to the parent about these situations. She has one child who does throw fits and take toys away, but will never really tell the parent this. I see this as her challenge.Another challenge that I see is keeping the children interested, they are 2 and have a very short attention span.

This obervation broaden my understanding of my research topic and advocacy programs of early literacy and how important it is for these children. In the 2 year old room they are already learning letters, words and their meaning, and that by putting letters together they make words. I found this very interesting that they can do this at a very young age. Jenny is giving these children a very good start with letter recognition and phonics.

Here is a summary of some research that I found on Early Literacy. An early start in learning the letters and sounds enables every child to arrive in kindergarten ready to learn to read. If the children are unprepared then they will lack reading readiness and are more likely to develop reading problems later on in their school career. By third grade children are expected to learn to read, by fourth grade they are expected to read to learn.

"To help all children succeed and to compete as a nation, we must strat early and finish strong; we must ensure that every American child becomes a reader. Families can help by maximizing the benefits of parent-child communication from birth. Caregivers and preschool teachers can be given training and resources to stimulate emergent literacy. Children deserve a well-trained teacher who understands reading development, who can pinpoint problems, and who can address them
effectively. "

http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/startearly/intro.html

Interacting with professionals about early literacy

I spoke with a 2 year old teacher, Jennifer, about early literacy the other day at work. She told me that she thinks early literacy is very important. In the 2 year old room they sing the ABC song and when they sing she points to the letters. So at this early age they are being exposed to the letters by song. This will give them the opportunity to find the letters in their enviornment. They also read lots of books. When they read the teacher points to the title and points to the words, so now the children are being exposed to words as well. The 2 year olds also are singing their color song and spelling out the color words as they sing, so they are also learning that puting together letters makes words. In the 2 year old room they are also learning words and what they mean, such as door, window, etc.

My 3 year old teacher, Janice, also felt that early literacy is very important. In the 3 year old room the teacher introduces 3 letters a month. She reads a story about the letters, the children learn the sound the letter makes, learns words that start with that letter and they also find things in their environment that start with that letter, as well as trace the letter with their finger. The 3 year old teacher will also have the children find the letter of the week in the books at library time. All of these things are building early literacy skills for the child which will be added on in pre-k. Janice will also read to the children and point to the title and the words, so now they see words and how letters together create words.

My quote to share is: Pre-k teachers lay the foundation for all learning, which will be built upon in the child's school career.

BernitaJenkins411

BernitaJenkins411


I think your topic for childcare would be good especially about finding funding. I work in childcare and am trying to get a grant for the center it is not easy work.

Interviewing two professionals in EArly Childhood Care and Education

The insights that I gained from the interviews regarding current advocacy efforts and need in our area of interest within the field of early childhood.
Early Literacy is a current interest in early childhood. I interviewed a 1st grade teacher and a prek teacher. The 1st grade teacher thought that reading is a big issue. The issue is how early should they start reading? What should you use to teach them?
The pre-k teacher said that it helps emergent readers become fimailar with different types of text and print. That's when they begin to notice words and sounds and the shape of the letters. They also pick up on the way print is read from left to right and top to bottom. I feel that both of these things are big issues when it comes to early literacy, because both teachers have concerns about early literacy. I feel that they should start to read by 1st grade, but I know that there are kindergarteners reading by the 2nd month of school. I don't know if every school has their own timeline for this or not?

These interviews have influeced my decision about this interest area becasue it is a very important one.
My interest areas were early literacy, getting help for children with suspected learning disabilities, and how does having a preschool education benefit the child in a K-8 school and life.

What area do you think I should pursue for my paper? I think that they are all good areas.

The first week of class

I feel a little overwhhelmed right now. I am taking Teaching Social Studies and the Arts and Internship 1. On top of working 40 hours a week at the center. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Reflections on teaching

I love teaching and have taught Pre-k for 20 years or so. This year I have 6 Pre-k students and they are very challenging. Their behaviors are very challenging.