Childhood Poverty

After reading The Crisis of Childhood Poverty it lead to think about how poverty can lead to lifelong learning disabilities, can be passed on from generation to generation, and can lead to lifelong emotional and physical health issues, http://www.childhoodpoverty.org. I wanted to learn more about how poverty can lead to these issues and one resource I came across was Theories of Poverty and Anti-Poverty Programs in Community Development http://www.rupri.org/Forms/WP06-05.pdf. This article has some very interesting theories about all of the above consequences of poverty. This paper states that most rural community development efforts is to relieve causes or symptoms of poverty, it makes a difference to which theory of poverty is believed to be responsible for the problem being addressed. This paper explore five competing theories,

1. Individual deficiencies-
2. Cultural belief systems that support subcultures in poverty
3. Political-economical distortions
4. Geographical disparities
5. Cumulative and circumstantial origins

This paper helps to understand the theories and shows how they shape different community development practices that address sources of poverty more effectively than comparing to one single theory. This resource also explores the relationship between individuals and their community in placing people in poverty, keeping them there, and potentially getting them out. This resource seems to support that idea that individuals are shaped by their community, and communities are a consequence shaped by their individual members.

Resources

Bradshaw, T. Rural Poverty Research Center. Theories of Poverty and Anti-Poverty Programs in Community Development, retrieved from, http://www.rupri.org/Forms/WP06-05.pdf, September 18, 2012.

CHIP-Knowledge of Tackeling Childhood Poverty. The Crisis of Childhood Poverty, Retrived from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/, on September 18, 2012.

A Great Resource

   ZERO TO THREE is a national non-prophet organization in Washington D.C. Their mission is to promote the health and development of young children. The website gives specific information about early experiences in childhood development that helps all people involved in the lives of children. The website has tools and resources for adults who influence the lives of young children. ZERO TO THREE has three main goals:

1. Train professionals and build networks of leaders
2. Raise public awareness of early childhood issues
3. Influence policies and practices

   Navigating the ZERO TO THREE website is very simple and user friendly. The main page has such topics as, Featured Resources, What’s new, and Downloads of the week. At the top of the Home Page it has six tabs to click on for information. The tabs consist of Home, Behavior and Development, Maltreatment, Care and Education, Public Policy, and About Us. There is also a search tool in the same row at the top of the home page to help you find anything that might not be mentioned. The left-hand side of the home page has the ZERO TO THREE mission statement. At the bottom of the home page there are three tabs to click on, Military Family Projects, National Training Institute and Early Head Start. Below these tabs is the contact information for the ZERO TO THREE Organization. You simply need to click on http://www.zerotothree.org/, and just get started. It will take some time to absorb the information this website has to offer, but time will pass by very quickly because you will never get bored with all the things the ZERO TO THREE website has to offer.

   ZERO TO THREE has been a very useful website to help promote understanding about critical issues affecting young children and their families. It has a large networks to distribute its work to many originations such as, child care centers, home visiting programs, clinics and hospitals. ZERO TO THREE has provided reliable, science based resources on how to promote young children’s health and development. It seems ZERO TO THREE has become the go-to source for professionals and parents alike.

Resource

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
http://www.zerotothree.org/. Retrieved on September 13, 2012.

Exchanging Thoughts and Ideas

I have decided to communicate through other Blogs, it was very hard getting someone to respond to me from other countries and it seems everyone has a blog. I can communicate with many people via Blog, and from many different countries. We all have a common goal and that is the children.

Contact 1. http://blogs.worldbank.org/education/blogs/emiliana-vegas

Emiliana Vegas's blog

Should developing countries shift from focusing on improving schools to improving parents?

Submitted by Emiliana Vegas on Thu, 2011-12-08 19:34

I travel to many developing countries in the context of my work for The World Bank. I visit schools that receive financial support and technical assistance from the Bank to improve the learning experiences and outcomes of students. Each time, I ask teachers in these schools what they think would make the biggest difference in the learning outcomes of their students. The most common answer is “better parents.” I often wonder if this response is, in some conscious or unconscious way, an excuse to help teachers explain the poor outcomes of their students (especially those from the poorest households) and their low expectations of what their students can achieve. However, both common sense and solid research indicate that parents matter.

Reply: I also think that if education was more accessible and affordable to adults it might make a difference in their children’s lives. I am 43 years of age, the youngest of ten and the only girl. I am the youngest of all my cousins too. I am the only one in my family that had graduated from college; this is a very sad situation. I am currently working on my Master’s in Early Childhood Studies, this is a topic that is very important to me, and we are educating the future of our existence. Education has not been easy and I have many student loans, however, I will continue to be a positive role model in a world full of negatives. It is very easy to blame parents, but we have to take into consideration the community as a whole.

Support

My support system is my family. We support each other and I could not imagine what life would be without each other. We not only work together we play, laugh, cry, and live with each other. I don’t think I could face any difficult decisions or challenges without the help and support of my family. I feel sorry for all the people in the world that do not have family. Who they turn to when they have a crisis? Who do they share when they have a success in their life?

Family is the reason why it is so important to keep the culture and traditions alive, so we can pass it on from generation to generation.

My Connections to Play

Quotes about Play

“Culture arises and unfolds in and as play”.

Johan Huizinga
Dutch historian

“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
Contemporary American psychiatrist

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

Diane Ackerman
Contemporary American author

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning”.

Fred Rogers
American television personality

BENEFITS OF PLAY

1. Play enables children to find out about themselves and the world. It allows them to:

 

A discover
B experiment
C create
D concentrate
E express ideas
F develop speech
G develop muscles
H invent
I · learn new skills
J· learn how other people behave
K role-play (pretend to be someone else)
L· share possessions
M use the imagination
·N co-operate with others
O show off (children like to let others know what they can do)
P act protectively towards someone less powerful than themselves.

   

2. Play helps towards happiness. A child who is absorbed in play is likely to be a happy child, as play produces feelings of satisfaction and achievement. 

3. Play helps prevent boredom. Preventing a child from being bored is very important, as boredom can quickly lead to bad temper, irritability and destructiveness.
4. Play can help reduce stress. The acting out of stressful situations can help them to seem more familiar and therefore less frightening. For example, by playing 'schools' a child becomes familiar with the idea of going to school.  This will help to reduce any nervousness about school which the child might have. In the same way. playing 'doctors and nurses' can help prepare a child for a stay in hospital. 
5. Play can help divert aggressive instincts. Using a hammer to nail pieces of wood together to make a 'boat' is preferable to using the hammer to hurt someone or destroy property.

My Play

   In my childhood my play was supported by all of my friends. We would play baseball in the street out in front of our homes and have a great time. Most of the time we spent outside, I grew up in sunny Southern California and the weather was always great. This is totally different from the kids today where they spend most of their time playing with electronics and digital toys. This is why we have so many obese children in the USA, because they spend most of their time sitting and playing instead of physical play like riding a bike or playing sports.

   Today play is still an important part of my life as well as all my families’ lives too. We spend much time on the lake waterskiing, fishing or swimming. When we are at home we are swimming or playing “corn hole” outside enjoying the weather. We all have jeeps and we hit the trails whenever possible through the “The Land between the Lakes”, here in Kentucky where we currently live. When it is cold we are inside shooting pool. We all enjoy doing things together. My husband and I have always said, “We work hard all week to play harder on the weekends”.

Relationship Reflection

   Relationships are a very important part of my life. Some relationships have developed over time and others are just starting. There are many different types of relationships such as family, professional, and acquaintances and friends. Family relationships are very important to nurture and maintain.

   The people in your family you cannot choose, it just happens and sometimes it can be difficult to maintain, but nonetheless, very important.

   Professional relationships might take a little less maintenance. You do not have to become best friends with the people you work with, but you do have to keep it at a professional level. However, many times I have developed long lasting relationships’ with co workers that have turned into life long friends.

   Acquaintances are people you develop a sometime relationship with, they are what I like to call hi and bye friends. You know them, but you do not get to know them, maybe because of a busy life, who knows why? They are just people you know in passing. 

   You chose friends and people you want to spend time with, as they do you.

   All of the above take time to nurture, empathize, listen, trust, and evolve and much hard work. Relationships are not one sided, it takes two willing participants’ and develop over your whole life. There are many ingredients to a positive, strong and lasting relationship and all a person has to do is give it time to grow.

To My Colleagues

To My Colleagues

Don't ever be afraid to seek help when you truly need it. We don't enter college as geniuses, and we don't leave college as geniuses. We leave as learners, who are determined to succeed. “Keep on teaching”.

Erich Fromm: Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?