Changing Lives

     It is no surprise that teachers change lives through actions that encourage learning in and outside the classroom. They also change lives because of who they are as human beings; how well they listen, encourage, and inspire. Dictionary.com's definition of a role model is, "A person who serves as an example of the values, attitudes, and behaviors associated with a role. Role models can also be persons who distinguish themselves in such a way that others admire and want to emulate them". A role model can be anybody in our lives such as a parent, a sibling, a friend etc..but some of our most influential and life-changing role models are educators. At six to eight hours a day, five days a week,  teachers become one of the most influential people in a students’ life.

     After their parents, children will first learn from their educators. Students who are inspired by their teachers can accomplish amazing things, and that motivation almost always stays with them. Inspiration can also take many forms, from helping a student through the academic year and their short-term goals, to guiding them towards their future career. Years after graduation, many working individuals will still remember and talk about a particular educator who fostered their love of what they currently do and talk about their accomplishments because of their learning experience with that teacher.

     Back in the day, teachers were told what, when, and how to teach. They were required to educate every student in exactly the same way and were not held responsible when students failed to learn. They were expected to teach using the same methods as past generations, and any change from traditional practices was discouraged by supervisors or prohibited education laws and regulations. Moreover, many teachers just stood in front of the class and delivered the same lessons year after year not being allowed to change what they were doing. The relationships built between educator and student were almost non-existent.  However today, teachers are encouraged to adapt and adopt new practices that acknowledge both the art and science of learning. They understand that the most important factor of education is a close relationship between a knowledgeable, caring adult and a secure, motivated child. They grasp that their most important role is to get to know each student as an individual in order to adapt his or her teaching style to meet the child's unique needs, learning style, social and cultural background, interests, and abilities.

      Reinventing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in much better schools and better-educated students. The rest of us must also be willing to rethink our roles in education to give teachers the support, freedom, and trust they need to do the essential job of educating our children. As educators, they have this immense role in a child's life. For they are not only the educator, they are a role model, a confident, a friend, a caregiver, a provider and so much more. The ability they have as individuals capable for providing change a child's life through what they can offer through a learning experience is far beyond amazing.


     The video below is what an individual named Jeremy Anderson does to inspire teachers and individuals and reach out to them. " Jeremy has made it his mission to reach out to today's youth that are caught up in the temptations, frustrations and expectations of the world. Jeremy has an ability to connect with with them on a level that they can relate to. He is hailed as the best youth motivational speaker of his generation". - J. Anderson Ministries

" There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning".

 

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Links:

www.dictionary.com

 http://www.jeremyanderson.org/ministry.html

  jeremyanderson.org

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gylC7ihqUzU

 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_inspirational.html

Child Care! You're doing it right!

       Back in the day, when parents  went to work, grandparents were often nearby to help take care and watch the children. Today, this is less common. Grandparents and other close family members often live far away, furthermore even if they do live close by, they are not available during working hours.
If you do have a relative that is available for child care, this seems like a perfect situation to save time and money..with only a few downfalls. Any complaints often result in bitterness and hurt feelings, where as if things don´t work out at all, non-relatives are easier to fire. Some families choose child care because of family circumstances. Others want the benefits of high quality early childhood education programs for their children. Whatever the motivation for choosing child care may b, the results are that just as high quality child care is good for children, poor quality child care can be harmful.

  
      It is important for parents to be informed when making decisions about child care.Child care should be an enriching and satisfying experience for your child. You should always feel confident that your child is in a healthy, safe and happy environment. It can be hard to know exactly what happens with your baby all day at day care so this may make parents uncomfortable when making this big decision and trying to find the perfect childcare center. Good-quality child care provides a safe, healthy environment and supports the physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of children.  Parents sometimes choose unlicensed child care such as relatives or friends of the family,  because it may be less expensive, more convenient and probably more flexible. Others choose licensed child care because due to the fact that it is licensed, it is monitored by the Early Learning and Child Care Branch and must meet certain standards. Choosing a child care service can be confusing to a parent and they may be unsure of what to look for or what types of questions to ask. All types of child care services must meet standards regarding the number of children in their care.


         Stop by unannounced to check up on the environment and on your child. Also looking for a facility that has video camera monitoring services. Many larger day cares are equipped with camera hookups so you can peek in at any given moment through the web. Not only will you get a little baby fix whenever you’re missing your kid, knowing they’re being watched may be extra motivation for day care workers to do everything by the book. Another tip would be to stay involved  by calling during the day to check in on your child, and also take time to get to know the people who care for him. in being involved you will be able to find out what your child did on a specific date, and the plans going forward in the curriculum. If teachers have a hard time answering these types of questions, that can be concerning for the reason being child care facilities  should record baby’s activities, feeding times and naps throughout the day and make notes about their behaviors. If you are receiving reports make sure that they are detailed and clear. Don’t worry about being too pushy about finding out about your child’s day, or asking questions about any concerns. A good day care will be eager and more than willing to be your partner in caring for your child and that's an important aspect to expect to see.



Links:
www.indusladies.com
www.guardianearlylearning.edu.au

Baby Talk..We all Start Somewhere!

       Learning to talk is so much fun and finally getting to hear you precious baby say her first few words, or even attempt at saying them honestly bring parents the greatest joy and excitement...it's getting there that may not turn out to be the easiest. Learning to talk takes quite a long time. That being said your child won't be able to form two-word or three-word sentences until she's well into her second year of life or sometimes even later.Your baby will respond to you from birth due to the fact that she can recognize your voice and speech rhythm she's able to tune in to you. Your newborn also has an inbuilt ability to draw attention to herself by responding to you. The baby engages more readily with you if you put your face close to your baby's furthermore, your newborn will look more interested if the pitch of your voice is high. All of this helps her early understanding of talking. Soon your baby will move her lips as if she is trying to speak, squirm and make it out to seem as if she is trying to have a conversation with you.

     Parents often see huge gains in their child's speech. Your toddler's vocabulary should increase and he or she should routinely combine three or more words into sentences. some children develop in their own way and at their own pace, observing that your child is talking a little later than his/ her peers is nothing to drastically worry about or stress over. as long as they are in their age groups respective milestones and reaching goals slowly as they come, everything is normal. it is when these particular milestones aren't met that you should be observing further and consult your child's pediatrician.

        To encourage your child's speech there are various things to take into account such as the way you approach your child regarding speaking, the environment in which they are learning and getting stimulated by etc. It helps to keep the environment and atmosphere as calm and non-hurried as possible to better stimulate your child's learning. Modelling talking skills is important and it is also important that in your own speech, you strive for a slower rate. The child will feel that you are calm and anticipate trying to mimic this notion  when practicing speech. Telling the child to "slow down and take your time" will do little to nothing if the rest of the people are talking rapidly, interrupting, contradicting and always verbally competing with each other. that creates negativity n the environment in which your child is feeding off of, therefore you would want that to be as calm and welcoming in the warmest of ways.

      Another particularity that is important to look at when dealing with a child's speech development is to look at some red flags going up signaling a problem and correlating them back  to family traits and dynamics. Some of these traits include: tendencies toward perfectionism , compulsiveness and impatience,  low tolerance for frustration, hypersensitivity, unrealistic self-expectations and finally, low self concept and self esteem. Parents need to carefully consider the extent to which any one, or several of these factors, might be serving as a source of actual or potential stress to the family life and environment and particularly to their child. Keep things as simple as reasonably possible. For example, while it may be beneficial to make things available to a child and encourage participation, there is a find line between encouraging and pushing. Awareness of this can make a difference and you will notice a change as your child begins to feel the change. Young children do not need to talk like, read like, or behave like miniature adults they're just children and they need to be stimulated in the right way so they can experience learning in a genuine and fun way, that's easier on you as a parent and more enjoyable for them.

'' Five effective speech therapy for tips for toddlers from Kimberly Scanlon, licensed speech pathologist and author of My Toddler Talks (available at Amazon.com). This video is perfect for parents of late talkers or language delayed children. Visit http://www.MyToddlerTalks.com to learn more about how to stimulate speech and language in toddlers. Sign up for Kim's newsletter to receive a free Speech Therapy for Toddlers Cheat Sheet plus additional tips and resources.''

Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdzlTyknaH8

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Parent-Stim-Activities.htm

http://www.chicagospeechtherapy.com/5-ways-to-stimulate-speech-development-and-learning-in-your-toddler/

Just Play?

     Play is essential for the expansion of learning and the developmental growth for your child. Is it commonly misunderstood that when a child plays, he or she is not gaining anything beneficial from it. What people are not informed about is the importance of play throughout a child's life and all of the domains it targets. It enables children to make sense of their world, develops social and cultural understandings, allows children to express their thoughts and feelings, fosters flexible and divergent thinking, provides opportunities to meet and solve real problems and develops language and literacy skills and concepts. There are many developmental domains included in play which are, fine and gross motor skills, self- help and adaptive skills, spiritual and moral, social and emotional domains and language and cognitive developmental domains. When a child is engaged in play they are constantly developing these domains and skills.

 
    

Gross Motor development involves the larger, stronger muscle groups of the body. In early childhood, it is the development of these muscles that enable the baby to hold his/her head up, sit, crawl and eventually walk, run and skip. - See more at: http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/gross-motor-skills-milestones-toddler#sthash.dZGBWJj8.dpuf

     Gross Motor development involves the larger muscles in a child's body as well as larger movements a child makes with his arms, legs, feet, or his entire body. So crawling, running and jumping are gross motor. Gross Motor skills are also important for major body movement such as walking, maintaining balance, coordination, jumping, and reaching. Fine motor skills are smaller actions and focus on using the smaller muscles in the body. When a child picks things up, or wriggles his toes in the sand, he's using his fine motor skills. When a baby uses his lips and tongue to taste and feel objects he's using fine motor skills, too


     Motor skills usually develop together since many activities depend on the coordination of gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills develop over a relatively short period of time also promoting the development of gross motor abilities is considerably less complicated than developing fine motor skills. Helping a child succeed in gross motor tasks requires patience and opportunities for a child to practice desired skills. Parents need to understand the child's level of development before helping that child master gross motor or fine motor skills.

     As for cognitive development through play, a child practices understanding "cause-and-effect", reasoning, as well as early-math skills.  An example would be a baby who continually drops a spoon from his high-chair is exercising his cognitive ability. This is fun for him due to the noise it makes and the impact he experiences when he sees it hitting the floor but he also learns that when he drops it, you will pick it up (cause-and-effect). Counting and patterning are also included in this domain for preschoolers.



     
     Self- Help skills are easily learned through play  and activities in this domain include learning to dress oneself, feed oneself, using the toilet, brushing teeth, bathing, trying shoes on etc. Everything that a child needs to know to start being more independent could be included in this domain and as a parent or caregiver this factor in their developmental growth is easier to nurture. It requires simplicity in doing every day actions and routines and practicing them during the day or through activities targeting them in the same way.

                                                           
      Regarding the spiritual and moral factor of  a child's development, recognizing the difference between right and wrong will fall in place if you are simultaneously teaching and modeling love. Through play they are learning to respectfully balance playing and understanding their peers while enjoying themselves and seeing that by behaving a certain way towards people the repercussions are very rewarding for everyone. In my opinion, this is the area that is most lacking in our culture today. And if parents and caregivers don’t teach it by modeling it, who will? If we neglect educating the children about being compassionate and caring, we are not giving them all they really need to fulfill their potential and receiving a sense of joy in their young lives.
 

Playful experiences are learning experiences

     Playful experiences are learning experiences! Each of these domains are also interrelated.  When your baby starts crawling which is a gross motor milestone, he will also be enhancing his cognitive abilities by learning about the world around him.  Learning new words will encourage him to participate more in social situations. Over the years its been tested, observed and defined that children reach developmental milestones at different rates and by taking that into consideration developmental growth becomes less of a task for the child and more of a learning experience.

Image Links:

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Positive Relationships with a Side of Happiness

      Positive relationships with children and children are important as you are a role model to this person and you are effectively teaching the child how to have positive relationships with other people as well. Over the years there is said to have been an overwhelming sense of laziness in our generation and the generations that follow, due to how we are adapting the the evolving world around us. Moreover this is affecting even our means of building relationships with peers and young individuals. Its essential to practice face to face communication and interaction between people so insure that even though our world is changing and communication across a text message or a computer screen may seem easier at time, we wont loose our humanity and the ability to hold a conversation evetually creating a relationship. with children especially the need of this practice is becoming more and more evident. It's definitely a good thing children adapt easily and are very innocent, so to speak, when dealing with this concept of our "world in revolution".
 
          In schools they are faced with many kinds of interactions and build a wide range of relationships with their peers and educators. At home its just as important to keep positivity in relationships and working on building them.

      In order for adults to build meaningful positive relationships with children, it is essential to gain a thorough understanding of children’s preferences, interests, background, and culture. For young children, observing what the children do and say when they express themselves give you so much information that normally we just let slide by due to the lack of attention provided. We don't really realize that we can use this information to our benefit when trying to encourage a healthy relationship with them. With this information, adults see to it that their play with children is fun and that the conversations are more  relevant to support the child's interests.Whenever possible, this kind of information exchange should be as reciprocal as possible. That is, adults should be sharing their own interests, likes, backgrounds, and origins with children as well.

     For many children, developing positive relationships with adults is a difficult task. Adults should consider that they will need to devote extensive effort to relationship building. There is no such thing as laziness in this domain. While there is no magic number that we know of, we have seen teachers who can easily provide several dozen positive, affirming statements to children each day. For children who have mostly heard criticism, it takes a lot of positivity and consistency in positive discipline. Its important that at home parent ask about their child's day, that they are interested and involved, getting down to their level. spending quality time with the child in little ways will mean more to him/her then you can imagine. Little ways such as reading a story before bed, having them tell you a story before bed, watch a movie together, ask them for their help in doing daily tasks because with their help everything gets done better. Simplicity is key. It will encourage the child and help the child feel motivated in doing better and really encourage the parent child relationship to a greater extent. Its a lot of work and to consistently do this may seem overwhelming at times but knowing that as a parent you can provide a strong base for the child future in building relationships  in a huge reward in itself.

    Now as for educators, building a positive, healthy relation is just as important as what the child is learning at home from their parents. Educators spend a lot of time during the day with the children in their classrooms, often times more than the parents. Just as it is essential to work on building positive relationships at home, it is crucial for them to continue on in school. Educators and the adults at home will begin to see the “ripple effect” of relationship building. As children learn in the context of caring relationships with adults, they will become more skilled at building positive relationships with other children. Finally, providing a child with the opportunity to have a warm and responsive relationship with you means that you have the pleasure of getting to know the child as well. Everything mentioned applies to an educators role as well for maximum results in the child's life and future.





Practical Strategies for Building Positive Relationships

• Distribute interest surveys that parents fill out about their child
• Greet every child at the door by name
• Follow a child’s lead during play
• Have a conversation over snack
• Listen to a child’s ideas and stories and be an appreciative audience
• Send positive notes home
• Provide praise and encouragement
• Share information about yourself and find something in common with the child
• Ask children to bring in family photos and give them an opportunity to share it with you and their peers
• Post children’s work
• Have a “Star” of the week who brings in special things from home and gets to share them during circle time
• Acknowledge a child’s effort
• Give compliments liberally
• Call a child’s parents to say what a great day she or he having in front of the child
• Find out what a child’s favorite book is and read it to the whole class
• Have sharing days
• Make “all about me” books and share them at circle time
• Write all of the special things about a child on a T-shirt and let him or her wear it
• Learn a child’s home language
• Give hugs, high fives, and thumbs up for accomplishing tasks
• Hold a child’s hand
• Call a child after a bad day and say “I’m sorry we had a bad day today – I know tomorrow is going to be better!”
• Tell a child how much he or she was missed when the child misses a day of school

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An article written on www.parentfurther.com explains : "Kids will meet new people, join new groups, change friends, and develop new relationships many times before they truly find the group that they “fit” with. And although you can’t choose your children’s friends, you can have a positive influence on the relationships they make throughout their formative years"

They go on to explain a few steps that will encourage positive relationships with children:
  
Encourage Diversity- Challenge your children to get to know kids from many different backgrounds and perspectives. In addition to exposing your kids to more diversity, it will also help them learn more about themselves.
 
Avoid Criticism- Avoid criticizing friendships, but be honest with your kids when you’re concerned. Don’t: Condemn your child’s friends. This may make them defensive and less receptive to what you have to say. Do: Be open and willing to listen to what she has to say, and talk about what makes you nervous.
 
Get Involved- If you feel that one of your child’s friends is having a negative influence on him, invite that friend to spend time with you and your child together so that you can have a positive influence on the relationship.
 
Offer Advice- When talking about a friend who has a negative influence on your child, focus your comments on that friend’s behaviors, not on her personality. For example, instead of calling your child’s friend irresponsible for smoking, you could point out that the behavior has a negative effect on her health and recommend ways for your child to help her quit.
 
Set Limits- Set limits on how much time your child spends with her friends—it’s important to develop positive relationships with family members as well.
 
Engage in Community Service- Engage your family in service and volunteering (or join a social group) through a local congregation, school, or other nonprofit organization—these events can be great places to meet new friends, and often result in new positive relationships.

 <<http://www.parentfurther.com/parenting/friends/encouraging-positive-relationships>>
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links for images:

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Effective Communication with Parents on Parenting Styles

Parenting is one of the most challenging and admirable responsibilities that people can experience. It is a time to nurture, instruct, and correct to develop fundamental skills children will need to be mature, responsible, and contributing adults to a society. As parents use techniques to raise their children, they also shape their value and personality. It is important to become educated on the topic and aware that parenting doesn't have to be as difficult as it may seem. Parents have a major role in the lives of their children because of how they decided to raise their children. Some parents are, unfortunately, not interested in what happens with their children. Other parents are not pleased with what is happening at home with their children but do not know what to do to create effective change. Still other parents are unaware that there is another way, a better way, of parenting.

There have been four styles noted and each may have differing outcomes for the children in later life: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and unengaged/uninvolved. 

The authoritarian approach to parenting provides children with a clear set of rules which have to be followed without question or reason. If children challenge the rules or ask why, they are usually told, “Because I said so.” Children are not usually given the reasons for the rules and there is little room for any negotiation. Authoritarian parents may use punishments instead of consequences therefore children tend to follow rules much of the time however they may develop self-esteem problems. Sometimes children become hostile or aggressive and focus more on being angry at their parents for the punishment rather than learning how to make decisions and solve-problems.
 

Permissive parents constantly are giving into their child’s every wish. They tend to be lenient and may only step in when there is a serious problem. There may be few consequences for misbehavior because parents have an attitude of "kids will be kids." Permissive parents may take on more of a friend role than a parent role. Children who grow up with permissive parents tend to struggle academically. They learn that they have the control and that what they say goes. They may exhibit more behavioral problems as they will likely not appreciate authority and rules.
 

The authoritative parenting style gives children rules along with explanations for those rules, and reinforces good behavior.  They often tell children the reasons for the rules and they are more willing to consider a child’s feelings when setting limits. Authoritative parents tend to use consequences instead of punishments. They also use more positive consequences to reinforce good behaviors and may be more willing than authoritarian parents to use reward systems and praise. These children tend to be happy and successful. They are often good at making decisions and evaluating risks on their own. They often grow up to be responsible adults who feel comfortable expressing their opinions.


The unengaged/ uninvolved title speaks for itself, providing no security or reinforcement to the children and their behaviors. They often do not meet their children’s basic needs and may expect children to raise themselves. Sometimes this is due to a parent’s mental health issues or substance abuse problems. They may also lack knowledge about parenting and child development or may feel overwhelmed by life’s other problems. Children tend to lack self esteem and they perform poorly academically. They also show frequent behavior problems affecting them later on in life.
 

"Treat a child as though he already is the person he is capable of becoming." - Hiam Ginott


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