Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

         For this assignment I have found two colleagues who are a part of the military community, yet are in different parts of the world in different organizations. My First contact is with a colleague in Aviano, Italy Sayako who is originally from South Korea and now is a Director of an early learning facility. Sarah is my other point of contact who is in England and travels working with a variety of nursery schools. Both of these ladies will be able to supply me with a wealth of knowledge on the issues and trends they face overseas.

            I have emailed both ladies and corresponded back and forth discussing good days and times as well as set up times lines of how quickly they will be able to respond. Both ladies are excited to correspond and learn what we each have to share.

            When choosing a website to follow and immerse myself in I choose one I am not familiar with, but that I would be able to highly benefit from professionally as well as personally. I chose National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. I have used the website here and there for other courses as well as some research and would like to better familiarize myself with what the agency has to offer and the resources it has.

            I am excited to learn from everyone’s different contacts and see what they offer in our field of early learning. I would like feedback on the questions people are most wanting to know about the different countries. I would love to hear about the different environments of classrooms as well as the playgrounds and outside environments. I would also be interested to see what we can find out about the child-centered learning that takes place.  

Daily Supports

My daily environment contains many supports that allow for me to be successful each and every day these are the most important to me. First, my policies and regulations giving me the guidance and support to maintain a positive program. Being able to have the knowledge of what is seen as important in running a program where fun, safety and inclusion are emphasized. Secondly, my facility is set up for success. The materials within are in good repair and are plentiful for all children within the program to have choices of proper developmentally appropriate materials to utilize. Finally, the families within my program. The communication had between the parents as well as the children allow for feedback on what is going well and what can be improved.

            These three supports allow for me to be able to function in a positive manor each day. Without the rules and guidelines there would not be policies and procedures to train other educators on or to ensure families are aware of the expectations. Without the facility I would not have a safe place for the children and families to come to each day. The materials in the facility allow for children to learn through play and exploration without the materials the children would not have tools to manipulate. The communication had and the families and children as a whole would mean there would be no one to serve and learn from. Gaining the feedback and experiences shared allows for me to grow as an educator each day.

            A challenge would be ensuring the safety and inclusion of the children and families in the program with those in the community. To be able to overcome any obstacles that this challenge faces I would need my three supports I utilize most to succeed. Being able to rely on the policies and regulations, my facility and the communication from those within would guide me to learn what I need to know to make the inclusion and safety possible. The information I have from the community allows for me to be able to create an environment in the facility to allow for the cultures and community to be best served. While creating the positive environment referring back to my policies and regulations ensures the safety of all in the facility staff, families and children.

Without these supports the safety would be questionable and the communication would be difficult without clean guidelines. The improper facility would possibly cause danger to those within the building or on the playground. These three supports are the only way I am guarantying myself for success for myself and all those involved in the program it gives a strong framework to build off of.

Connections to Play

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

Diane Ackerman

“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.”

Fred Rogers

When I was younger these items were always around:

When I was younger my parents always encouraged us to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. We were supplied with plenty of balls, bats, bikes and other items to occupy our time outside the home. Our parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents along with other adults in the neighborhood would come out and engage in the activities with us. It was more than just playing it was the ability and time to spend engaging with one another.

Today our lives are more technology focused and far more dangers and lack of community in the neighborhoods that impede children from being able to go out and play. Technology is far more affordable and easy to use although it is a good way to “check out” and unwind however time spent on devices should be limited. The world is also a different place than it was when I was growing up. There was more of a sense of community of those around you a safety net for the children and parents, now it seems as though the communities are not as tight knit as they use to be and people tend to keep more to themselves, which could be due to people spending more time at work to make ends meet or a job that has high demand and hours.

My hope for children is to be able to play and explore as much as they can. Get messy, ask questions and build memories as much as you can with those around you. The saying about the neighborhood kids you grew up with is true that you truly never do forget them and the memories made. I constantly encourage my parents to join in play and to explore as much as they can. Experiences are important to children and the play they engage in allows for children to learn through what they are experiencing. Play teaches so many life lessons without it we wouldn’t know how to function when it comes to relationships or engaging in our creative side.  

References

The Strong Museum of Play. Quotes on Play. Retrieved from http://www.museumofplay.org/education/education-and-play-resources/play-quotes