Co-Sleeping as a Public Health Topic

Co-sleeping is a common public health topic that is important to consider. At this time I am a firm believer in not co-sleeping. Co-sleeping is when a baby sleeps alongside their parents in the same bed.  “A North American Internet survey found that 20 percent of the youngest babies were put to sleep in the parents’ bed; as were 18 percent of toddlers (Berger, 2012, 131).”

This is a sensitive topic and can cause tension among parenting groups. There are many points for both sides of the controversy. For example, one of the negative points of co-sleeping for me is the amount of time an infant will wake during the evening; studies have shown that infant that co-sleep wake twice as often as those who sleep in their own cribs. Solo-sleeping allows children to become more independent and transition into their own rooms in much easier. The other concern that I have with co-sleeping is the possible harm to the infant if a parent accidentally rolls over.

While my concerns are normal in the United States, in Asian, African and Latin American mothers traditional sleep beside their infants. Asian and African mothers worry about separation (Berger, 2012, 131).

Although this does not directly affect my work with children, I will discuss with parents their sleeping habits and how their children will nap. If our ideas are different I will need to provide valid information regarding my policies on napping and procedures.

Berger, K.S.(2012). The Developing Person through Childhood (6th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Child Birth

As you may know from following my blog or as a colleague in my previous class, I am a new mom. My daughter was born on August 4, 2013 at 12:57pm. This experience is something that I will never forget (I am sure all mother's feel that way). I was in early labor with her for over a week and begin to have painful contractions on Friday. That was three days before she was born. I remember thinking this will all be over soon and then it was three days. 

Charlotte's arrival ended with her being "sunny side up" and getting stuck for over an hour. This is just my experience in child birth. I enjoy hearing stories of other children's entry into the world because every woman's experience is different. 

When it comes to a child's birth and their development, I believe that even the worst birthing experience can result in positive development if the parents/parent is willing to fight for the child. This holds true with my cousins' daughter. She was born at 29 weeks, and has several developmental disabilities and delays. At this time, the doctor's do not believe she will ever walk and she has a severe brain hemorrhage that will cause other disabilities in the future. Her parents fight for her and work towards helping her achieve her goals. 

I took some time during my pregnancy and looked at birth in other parts of the world. With all the buzz around William and Kate, I looked at what was normal for those woman getting ready to give birth in England. One news segment/article from Good Morning America discussed the fact that most women in England use midwives instead of doctors and this results in less c-sections. During my experience, I kept the on-call midwife instead of switching to the on-call doctor in the hospital. It was a positive experience and she encouraged me more than I believe a doctor would have in my experience.

Thank you to my colleagues

I want to thank all of my group members/colleagues for a wonderful course this semester. I enjoyed sharing our goals and experiences with each other. I will continue to follow you all throughout this program and look forward to growing as a professional with you all.


Angela @ http://www.footstepstoearlychildhood.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth @ http://toddlerslearning.blogspot.com/Liz @ http://earlychildhoodvisionary.blogspot.com/

Darcie @ http://somalearningcenter.blogspot.com/

Hear from you all soon!

My Ideals on Ethics within the Field of Education

Every educator must have a code of ethics to hold them to high standards. There are several ideals that I hold close to my career and my professional development.

1. We shall continually be aware of issues challenging the field of early childhood special education
and advocate for changes in laws, regulations, and policies leading to improved outcomes and
services for young children with disabilities and their families. (DEC, 2009).

2. Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect. (NAEYC, 2005).

3. To promote knowledge and understanding of young children and their needs. To work toward
greater societal acknowledgment of children’s rights and greater social acceptance of responsibility for the well-being of all children. (NAEYC, 2005).

These are just a few of the ideals and principles that I believe in for my career and for my colleagues.

One last thing that I remind all of my colleagues: Always remember that children are young and will make mistakes. Our job is to help them and teach them how to be self-sufficient in the world. Our job is to teach them confidence and encourage exploration in their play.

Just a few words from professionals in the field

As I look through references for some academic assignments this week. I read a quote from Dr. T. Berry Brazelton.

"Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested." ~ Dr. Brazelton.

This quote seems funnier to me in my current state (39 week and 3 days pregnant), we have gotten some extremely unwanted "advice" from not only family but friends and acquaintances.
The second statement from Brazelton that means a lot to me is:

"Parents don't make mistake because they don't care, but because they care so deeply." ~Dr. Brazelton.

This statement weighs heavy with me, as I am becoming a new parent, I expect to make mistakes and hope to learn from those mistakes and use my education to help ensure a great upbringing for my daughter.

Passion is such a major portion of our careers and the field of early childhood education. "Passion is professional in the sense that people pursuing their passion are deeply committed to the domain that has engaged them."

Effective, developmentally appropriate curriculum is based on what is known about the interrelationships and sequences of ideas, so that children’s later abilities and understandings can be built on those already acquired. At the same time, the rate and pattern of each child’s learning is unique. An effective teacher must account for all these factors, maintaining high expectations while setting challenging, achievable goals and providing the right amount and type of scaffolding for each child (Copple & Bredekamp 2009, p. 2).

Effective teachers are found with passion and an understanding for early childhood development. I hope to show that within my work and throughout my career.

An Inspiring Tale

Thinking back over the last ten years of working with children, I have many stories from my career. It is hard to pick just one tale to pass along some wisdom (but I am sure I will be sharing more over time). As I reminisced about my former clients and students, one student stuck out the most. It was the most challenging situation I have dealt with and it was difficult to keep in my that she was just a child.

For the purpose of confidentiality students names are changed in this story.

A mother arrived at our center looking to enroll her child in our care. She had just been rejected out of another program. After speaking with her and showing her around the facility, we filed paperwork for her daughter to attend our program.

The first couple weeks were wonderful, I didn't understand how or why she was rejected from her previous program. About a month passed and this little girl, Anne*, was a pleasure to have in the center. She liked all the teachers and her classmates. After another month we started to see some behavioral challenges, mostly kicking or hitting. We handled the behavior with redirection, at first. It only seemed to escalate over time. After six months, she was physically abusive to other classmates, teachers and staff members. Not only was she physically abusive, she began using verbal abuse (things a four year old should not even hear) towards students and teachers.

It began a pattern of behavioral problems, so much so, that communication throughout the day with her parents was a normal process. After another month of abuse, I was forced to ask for some action on the parents part. We helped with evaluations and whatever the therapists needed to help her. After she left our program, I struggled with the thought, "Did I do everything I could?"

After some time and many talks with colleagues, I came to the realization that unfortunately you can't care for every child. Some times children need to be placed someplace else. This story is just a small facet of my career and why my passion is so great for helping children. Every child needs a teacher who cares.

My advice to other colleagues is to always try every different options but know that some children are better in a different place.

~Miss Megan

* name changed for confidentiality.

What Inspires Me as an Educator

As the birth of my first child approaches I have spent a large amount of time compiling books and projects that I wish for her to complete over the upcoming years. This has forced me to think about what inspires me as an educator and what keeps my passion going. 

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

This quote is from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. This reminds me of how each child takes up a special space in your heart. As a teacher I find that they tend to never leave, even after time students always stay in your heart and for me this is where my passion grows. For me personally I see this with the children I have watched, I still think about them and what they are up to even after I have moved on to new family and students.

This picture is from my other passion, hiking and the outdoors. 

I lean towards using nature and the outdoors in my lesson plans, as well. I find that children learn from objects they can physically touch and manipulate.