Reflecting on Learning

I am excited that I have come this far with only eight weeks left before I will be graduating with my Masters. I am determined to stay focus with the Lord's help because I tend to get distracted, lazy, and procrastinate. In the future as an early childhood professional, my most passionate hope for the children and families with whom I work or will work is to apply what I have learned and put it into practice what I have been taught throughout this course of study to my personal and professional life. I am aware that all the books and resources in the world cannot teach me everything that I need to know about children and their families when working with them because some things will come from experiments, hands-on activities, observation/observing, persona dolls, personal stories, teachable moments, and etc.

To All My Colleagues:
First of all, I would like to say thank you all for being helpful and supportive of me throughout this program through your blogs and group discussions. Secondly, I am please to say that it was interesting and wonderful working with you all. Thirdly, I hope to see you all in our last course as we prepare to graduate together. Fourthly, I wish all of you the best in this educational and life journey! Lastly, but not least, I would like to thank Dr. Kien for all of her feedback on my papers which will help me in the future and for grading and responding to all of my questions in a timely manner. I enjoyed working with you as well.

PS: ALWAYS REMEMBER TO KEEP GOD FIRST IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

To my colleagues, I chose France as the area of the world because I have always dreamed of visiting it. I have seen in books, magazines, movies, and on television how they show France as being beautiful to me. The language of the people is spoken in French in which I know a little of it because I took classes in high school. It has been a  many years ago since I have spoken French. I will have to refresh  my mind by getting a tutor to help me or by listening to cds that can teach me as well.

One challenge that children in this region of the world are confronting would be a series of workshops on the conditions of vulnerable children. It is estimated that more than 2 million French children are living below the European poverty line. Another challenge was to stop the recruitment of children in armed conflict. A third challenge is when 2 million children are trafficked worldwide and more than 100,000 websites use pornographic pictures or videos of children. The last challenge was when a boy orphaned by AIDS demand action for children. These experiences might have an effect on children's emotional well-being and development because "AIDS related illness killed more than half a million children worldwide and 540,00 children under the age of 15 became infected with HIV" (UNICEF).

My personal and professional reflection is when "UNICEF France Chairman Jacques Hintzy states that millions of children in the country, especially those from diverse backgrounds were living in poverty and exclusion in which tens of thousands of teenagers have expressed their anxiety about the future" (UNICEF). The insights that I gained is how France has to depend on other people and partner with organizations and nations to help children with AIDS/HIV, child exploitation, children in armed conflict, and promotion of children's rights. These influences they may have on me as a person and as an early childhood professional is to ensure the children, parents, and teachers that there are interventions and resources that will help them to face challenges and illnesses whenever they do occur.

Reference:
UNICEF. (22005). At a glance: France.  Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/france.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

My reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood would be that children learn from their environment whether it is negative or positive through others,music,siblings,television,and etc.The first part of this topic was shocking , but as I began to read on,it was very informative, insightful, and interesting. It was nice to know that help is on the way even though "today's sexualized childhood is very distressing and there's no way around that "(Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.7).From my personal experience, I have seen a bunch of bullying, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment.

One implication that this may have on children's healthy development is that it can affect children s brain development even if they are are not the victim and it will lead to problems with the emotions and behavior which makes it complicated for them to learn .Another implication is when children are affected by the stress of violence which affects their growing brain and might delay normal childhood milestones. A third implication is when children are being harmed as a very way of getting at the other adult and child's needs might be neglected.The last implication is that the children who are being bullied are more than likely to be prone to depression and suicidal tendencies even when they grow up and they are most likely to be sick with headaches and stomach troubles.As an early childhood professional,to the best of my response to these concern and to reduce the negative impact on children i would change attitudes,support the victims,teach children to have acceptable behavior towards each others,supervise aggressive behavior into acceptable activities. The way in which my awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and/or modified by studying the topic this week is that children are more knowledgeable and wiser about learning and paying close attention to their surroundings.

Reference:
Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practices

I feel like there are consequences that you should expect for the children and their families with whom you work while you experience specific "-ism(s)".For example, if a child sees an interracial couple or parents at school and tells another student that the mommy and daddy is different colors, but they suppose to be the same color. Another example would be a child who has a Black father and a white mother, but when he/she see some Black woman at school and says "I did not know women are Black " which also represents sexism because it was a discrimination against women. The examples of "-ism(s)" that I provide could be happening in my personal life.

I had a personal experience with religionism when I use to work for The Boys & Girls Club of the Miss-Lou and it was two Jehovah Witness's boy who would come majority of the time, but this particular day we where having a Christian Religious Choir that was made of teenagers from different areas of cities/towns who were coming to perform for our children, so when the oldest boy found out that it was a religious group, he then pulled me to the side and said my little brother and I cannot participate. I asked him why and he said that our parents will not allow us because they were a different religion. I had to take both of the boys and put them into another room.