Relationship Reflection

This photo is included in this post as an example of the nurturing relationships I have in my life.

Relationships have always been a very important aspect in my life for as long as I can remember. It began with my parents, siblings and pets. This has expanded to friendships and professional relationships. Currently I have very positive relationships with my family, my many pets (cat, dog, goats, and chickens), my friends, and I have recently created a new professional relationship with a classmate at Walden University.

I would like to begin by discussing why I included my pets as part of my relationships. My many pets that I have had over the years have taught me compassion, the importance of building trust, observation skills, and how to understand a feeling without words. As a caretaker of animals there is no true verbal communication one needs to care for an animal with the use of non-verbal communication. In order for one to meet the needs of an animal they need to know how to identify the signs of the needs to be met. I feel these relationships that I built with animals at a very young age have taught me how to communicate with compassion through non-verbal communication. Animals have taught me the importance of nurturing a relationship; which in many circumstances is showing affection and meeting basic nutritional needs of the animal.

Family and friends over the years have taught me about the work that goes into a relationship. My family and friends have always been there for me no matter what and I have always found I can count on them. They have taught me how to maintain a relationship. Positive relationships with friends and family means being an active part of a person’s life, staying up to date on recent events, effectively communicating with one another, and expressing to that person why their relationship means something to you.

My professional relationships have taught me the importance of having a professional network. By creating a professional network I have been able to use these people as a resource to expand my knowledge and grow as a professional. For example, if I were to have a question about how to handle a new situation that I had not encountered before I could talk to the people in my professional network. By talking to the people in my professional network I would be able to appropriately assess the best way to handle the situation that I had encountered based on their experiences, knowledge, and expertise.

I am most excited about my new professional relationship with a student at Walden University. The relationship has been formed based on the common ground of both being new to a leadership role in the early childhood field. Together we will share ideas, questions, and concerns. We will then collaborate with one another and build upon our leadership skills. I am very excited to see where this new relationship will take me.

As you can see each of the relationships I have discussed has helped me to become the early childhood professional I am today. I believe these relationships have made me a valued professional in the early childhood field, because I have learned how to effectively communicate, understand the importance of diversity, and show compassion towards others. It is not to go without saying that any relationship can be challenging to maintain. There will always be circumstances that make it difficult for one to continue a relationship, but if you truly want a relationship to work out no distance, time, or circumstance can get in the way. 

A note of special thanks to Sherria and Kara

Sherria Green and Kara Cashwell,
I would like to take this time to thank you for your feedback and support during our time spent in the course Early Childhood Development. Your blogs and discussions each week have helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the materials we have studied throughout this course. Thank you for helping me to expand my knowledge and grow as a professional in the field. I know you will both go on to do great things.
Sincerely,
Lisa Brownell

Quote by Dr. Seuss

A person is a person no matter how small.

~Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is someone who I have always believed to be a very wise and to speak the truth in such simplistic ways. In this quote I believe Dr. Seuss is pointing out that even at a very young age a person or child has feelings, ideas, and knowledge to share with the world around them. It is important for one to acknowledge this for children and to inspire them to expand upon there current feelings, ideas and knowledge.

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Holistic Development Assessment

Having been a part of assessing children for the past six years, whether it be through my undergraduate work or employment, I have found two main advantages. First, when looking at the holistic development of a child one can assess and see how the child is doing developmentally. Are there areas that a child needs to improve on? Is there an area that a child excels in? Assessing a child’s holistic development gives the teacher assistance with creating lesson plans. A teacher can individualize lesson plans for an individual child or for the whole class. Secondly, assessing a child’s holistic development at a young age can help one to find developmental delays or disabilities. When this is identified at a young age the child can begin receiving the necessary supports and services to possibly decrease the severity of the delay.

In Sweden when looking at a child’s holistic development and assessing it they look at language, literacy, numeracy, and personal and social development (David, 1998). They use the assessment for diagnostic purposes and to assess a school’s value (David, 1998). This assessment begins at the primary school age (David, 1998).  

In comparison American holistic assessment and Sweden holistic development have a few things in common. When looking at a child’s holistic development in America one is evaluating social, physical, cognitive, language, literacy, math, science, social studies, and the arts. The criteria for these areas are varied by age. Both American and Swedish assessment focus on language, literacy, social development, and mathematics. It appears based on my research that American assessment looks at all spectrums whereas Sweden development is more specific.

I believe that there are many different ways in which a child can be assessed for development, but it is more of a matter of what is done with that assessment. It is important to make sure the assessment is to benefit the child and not label the child. For example one might do an assessment and say a child is below average, average, or above average. By placing this label I do not believe there is an advantage. The data should be used to benefit a child’s learning experience as described above.

References

David, T. (1998). Researching Early Childhood Education: A European Perspective. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc.

Childhood stressors

For this assignment I spoke with my close family. I started with my parents and I went through the list of stressors. They said they did not feel they grew up during a time where they experienced any of these. I then went on to ask my grandparents (both maternal and paternal). They responded very similarly. They said they did not feel they grew up during a time of poverty, but they may have been classified as poverty. My maternal grandmother said that she grew up on a farm and even though they were considered to be poor she never went without a meal. They always had just enough. She always had enough food to eat and had clothes on her back (even if they were hand me down clothes). My paternal grandfather said something very similar. He said again that he would not have considered himself poor his parents made enough to put food on the table and provide them with necessities. Both of my grandparents said that they did not feel they had to cope/survive during these times, because family was there for them and they may not have had everything they wanted, but they had everything they needed. It was a time where a neighbor lent a helping hand and family was always there for one another. Therefore, as adults looking back, there were no ramifications for them growing up.

            As I researched poverty for children in a foreign country I came upon a book called Mandela’s Children Growing up in Post-Apartheid South Africa. As I read on I came upon their definition of poverty “the poor are those whose income comes below what is required to meet basic needs such as food and shelter” (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). The book goes on to discuss what the ramifications are for children who grow up in poverty and the ramifications (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). There was a study done on children ages between two and six who suffered from poverty, based on five principal poverty indicators (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). The study was done to see what the effects were of psychosocial development on the children (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). The results of this study were as follows:

·         Age two feeding and speech problems

·         Ages four and five bladder, feeding, speech, and behavioral problems.

·         Age six feeding, motor and speech, behavioral problems, emotional disorders, and social competence

(Barbarin & Richter, 2001).

As a result of this study research is being conducted to figure out what the direct impact is for the specific problems and what can be done to help minimize the above named problems (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). For example the research showed that the feeding problems were associated with material well-being (Barbarin & Richter, 2001). Therefore further research is being done to figure out the direct cause and triggers of poverty that impacts the children’s psychosocial development (Barbarin & Richter, 2001).

References

Barbarin, O. A., & Richter, L. M. (2001). Mandela's Children Growing up in Post-Apartheid South Africa. New York, NY: Routledge.

Nutrition/Malnutrition: American Society vs. India

As a Center Director/ Family Worker at the Head Start program I work for, Nutrition/Malnutrition is a common topic I work with my families on. For the families I work with the most common difficulty is buying healthy meals while on a budget. The more healthy foods out there are typically a lot more expensive than the frozen or canned items one might find at the store. We have had guest speakers come in and attend our parent groups to speak about ways to eat healthy while on a budget. I have found these programs to be very effective. I was interested in learning this week to see if this is a common trend or something that is seen more within American Society.

As I furthered my research I discovered some interesting insights about India from the book, Wasting Away: The Crisis of Malnutrition in India (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999). In India more than half of the children under four years old are moderately or severely malnourished (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999). About 30 percent of newborns are significantly underweight and 60 percent of women are anemic (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999). These numbers were taken right after India claimed their independence in 1947 (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999). Since then India has set new goals and programs to decrease the amount of malnutrition in India. Some of these programs are “Integrated child Development Services Program”, “National Mid-Day Meal Programs”, and a “Health Sector” (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999).  

As I read about the details of these programs they reminded me of some of the programs we offer in the United States such as WIC, Planned Parenthood, Public Health, and Head Start. There was many more details about the programs that India offers and there were more detailed statistics about how India has progressed since 1947 in the area of malnutrition. I was surprised by the statement that the programs provided did not make drastic changes in the numbers for those who suffer from malnutrition (Measham & Chatterjee, 1999).

As a Family Worker/ Center Director I have always valued the helpful programs we have to offer for families. Part of my job is to make sure the families are receiving as many services as they need and qualify for to sustain their quality of life or support them during a critical time of need. After learning about the impact of the services India offered and the changes it made for their society, I am more aware of the importance of measuring the true outcomes of the services we provide in America. I will continue offering these services to my families, because I believe they are helpful, but I would be interested to know the effectiveness of each individual program, which is research I may conduct in the future.

References

Measham, A. R., & Chatterjee, M. (1999). Wasting Away: The Crisis of Malnutrition in India. Washington, D.C.: The International Bank for Reconstruction.

 

 

 

Comparing and Contrasting a Birth in the United States and Sweden

Abstract

For this blog posting I will be comparing and contrasting the birthing process in Sweden and my own birth. I was born in 1989 and the book I used for my research on Sweden births was written in 1993.

Sweden Birthing Process

I had a little trouble researching a story about a specific birthing experience in another country, but I did find a book titled “Birth in Four Cultures: A Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden and the United States”. I chose this book, because it was written in 1993 and I will be comparing this birthing experience to my own in 1989. In Sweden all births take place in hospitals and are managed by midwives (Jordan, 1993). It is commonly found in Sweden that sedatives, medications for induction, and artifical stimulation are used (Jordan, 1993). The birthing experience  in Sweden is described as an “intensely personal and fulfilling achievement” (Jordan, 1993).

My Birth

Personally I have not had any personal birthing experiences nor have I witnessed one. I thought for this assignment I would get a little bit creative and interview my Mom, Heidi Brownell, about what she remembers about carrying me in the womb, when she gave birth to me, and what happened immediately after birth.  

My mom said she was very nauseous during the first four and a half months of pregnancy. Her OBGYN offered her to take the anti-nausea drug emitrol, but this did not help with the nausea, she took it for about a week during the first trimester. She said the emitrol did not help, so instead she ate small meals. She began her days eating saltine crackers and ginger ale or diet Pepsi, eventually working her way up to a full meal by dinner time. The one food she did crave were subs at any time of day. During the second trimester she developed varicose veins in her legs and vaginal area. These were so bad her OBGYN prescribed compression stockings. During the second trimester my parents moved from an apartment to a house. This was a stressful period as my mother describes it, because she was still suffering from morning sickness. She then went on to explain at five months she began to engage in daily physical activities such as biking and walking until about 8 months. During the third trimester my mother said she experienced a lot of movement that would begin at about 10pm each night (this remains true to this day). During the 8 month of pregnancy my mother said she cut back on the exercise, because she felt a lot of pressure and was extremely fatigued. At 8 months and two weeks my mother said she was five centimeters dilated. She carried me like that for two and a half more weeks.

During the prenatal period my mother had a midwife and had two ultrasounds. One ultrasound was during the first trimester and the other was during the third trimester. She was extremely fatigued during the entire pregnancy. As my mother describes she had a very “normal” pregnancy and carried to full term. She said having a midwife was like having a good friend deliver your baby.

On November 7^th around 4am my mother woke up to what she describes as “very hard labor”. She woke up my father and called grandparents to stay with my older brother. Once my grandparents arrived my mother said she remembers walking out the door doubled over saying “I can’t do this”. Once in the car my father was running red lights and doing everything he possibly could to get my mother to the hospital in time. They entered the emergency room and a woman approached my father asking “what was wrong with her” (During pregnancy my Mom only gained 18lbs so she did not look like she was in her third trimester). My father got a wheelchair and brought my Mom to the maternity ward, but my mother was dry heaving at this time as well. There were no nurses or doctor’s attending to my mother at this time. By the time they reached the snuggery the nurses took one look at my mother and quickly set up, because my mother was ten centimeters dilated and ready to push. The midwife assisted with the birth and massaged the perineum to prevent the need of an episiotomy. Just a few minutes later in the prep room at 6:34am I was born.

Immediately after birth I was placed on my mother’s stomach. My father cut the cord as I was laying on my mother’s belly and then my mother nursed me. The nurses then took me to clean me up and do all the procedural testing. I then nursed again and this time I turned blue in the face, because I was choking. The nurses took me immediately, tipped me upside down and ran out of the room with me. My mother describes feeling very panicky at this time, because she did not know what was going on. A few minutes later the nurses brought me back and I was fine. They did not know what had happened. Following the birth both of my grandmothers came with my brother to see me. During the first night the nurses had trouble settling me down, they brought me to my mother and “as soon as she spoke and coddled me I settled down.”

What I learned

After learning about these two birthing experiences I was intrigued by the fact that both experiences included midwives as a part of the birthing experience. Both birthing experiences were described to be a positive experience for the mothers. I learned both cultures, value childbirth and the importance for care during the birth. Both cultures provide quality care for the mothers during the delivery process. I would be interested to learn more about the options my mother would have had in regards to helping along the birthing process. From what I could tell the use of induction was not explored for my mother’s birthing experience, but it is common amongst births in Sweden. This study showed me that the birth of a child on two separate continents can share similarities and truly value the miracle of giving birth.

 

 

 

References

Brownell, H. (2014, May 06). My Own Birth. (L. Brownell, Interviewer)

Jordan, B. (1993). Birth in Four Cultures: A Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden and the United States. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press Inc.