Saturday, January 28, 2012

Early Childhood Education Contributors' Quotes

"Advancing each young child's potential includes much more than teaching teachers how to promote development and learning. Among the important questions children are asking when they come into early childhood classrooms are: Who am I and where do I belong? Who are my people, and do they fit in with these others? These are issues of identity formation."  
-Janet Gonzalez-Mena

"I think the biggest thing a parent can give a child today is resilience-helping them see they have the inner resources to overcome whatever they have to."
-T. Berry Brazelton

"We, as professionals in the early childhood field , have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better, and so that's what makes me passionate about this field."
-Sandy Escobido

"I always wanted to be a teacher. I had, I think, a built-in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world, to fix all the injustices that existed in the world. And I wanted to do that through teaching."
-Louise Derman-Sparks

"So, the passion to create a safer, more just world for all kids is there. And I suppose will be there till I die, and maybe even after, I don't know!"
-Louise Derman-Sparks

Saturday, January 21, 2012

My Personal Childhood Web

Paula - My Sister
My big sister, my mentor, my friend. Paula filled many roles during my childhood, filling in the role of mother, sister and many others.She cooked my meals, cleaned my house, and taught me all about life. She was always there for me. Always. Even when she went away to college, she kept in close touch with me. Letters flowed freely and often. She always cared about what I was involved in, even though she was trying to get her own adult life together. We remain close even now as we watch our own children grow and mature.We celebrate our relationship with our annual "Sisters" weekend, with our other sister, D.J.

D. J. - My Sister
My sister D.J. has been a mentor and friend also. Closer in age, we spent many years together at home acting out plays, singing and dancing together. D.J. would help with my homework and let me talk to her boyfriends on the phone! Silly things, but what fun we had just goofing off. We shared chores, but we really grew up together and took care of each other, too. Our annual get-together is important to us both, and we see each other as often as we can.

Dorothy Mae
Dorothy Mae is my mother's cousin. She has a daughter that is my age and lived just down the road from me, so I was at her house several times a week. She really was an important influence in my life. She always watched over me and made sure to talk with me when I was at their house. She was a nurse, and also baked and decorated wedding cakes part-time. She was a real role model-raising a large family and working 2 part-time jobs. Not many women worked that much in those days. I was included on family outings with her family, and she made sure I went to church, too. When I think of family styles, hers was different from ours. I'd say they were a lot more engaged or enmeshed than we were, but it was a good feeling to be there. I always felt loved and cared for there.

Gram - My Grandmother
Gram was a little overwhelmed with us when my mother passed away. She was my father's mother, and lived close by, so she became very involved with us quickly. She would do our laundry and bake bread for us. She still lived on the farm she grew up on, so she taught us a lot about animals and gardening, and hard work! She cooked for us often, and almost always on Sundays. From her I gained my love of gardening and cooking. We always drank tea at her house, and she always had home-made cookies or cakes. She would tell stories of life on the farm and about all the relatives that had grown up and lived there. I always felt special and  loved at Gram's house.

Aunt Jaye
Aunt Jaye is my mother's sister. Even though she lived far away and I saw her only about once a year, she was very special to me. I don't remember how it started, but somewhere along the way we started writing letters to each other. I think it was a way for me to feel somehow close to my mother. Aunt Jaye was great, though, and always wrote back. She was always interested in me and made me feel important.We still keep in touch now, at least through holiday cards, and she still makes me feel loved.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Quote

"Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards- the things we live by and teach our children- are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings."

Walt Disney

I like this quote because it shows that Walt Disney really did understand how important it is to communicate well with children. It became obvious through his TV show and, of course through the development of his fantastic amusement parks and other entertainment venues. I can remember being a child, watching TV every Sunday evening, just waiting to see what showed up on The Wonderful World of Disney. It might have been a show about nature, or maybe something more fun like Ludwig Von Drake! Either way, the whole family gathered around in anticipation each week!

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

This book tells the story of a family and their visit from relatives one summer. It talks of the strange closeness of having people sleeping at your house and the simple way the families shared their time together for a few weeks. It takes you  to a time when life seemed to be at a slow pace, and families shared the basics of life together. Ahhh.