My Support

My daily environment factors that provide support are my faith in God, my daily walk, and my family personal relationships. My faith in God  is the foundation of my life. There is no situation that I can not overcome through my faith. My morning two miles walk gives me time to reflect on my day and what changes that are needed to be made.  This walk is beneficial to my health. Next is my relationship with my parents. My father passed in 1995 but is wisdom and words of guidance is still with me today. My mother is the one opinion now that means the most to me. Her advice and knowledge about life is golden. She can read people and their intentions including mines and she speaks her mind when she thinks that you are heading down the wrong path and hanging out with the wrong people.
It would be very difficult to exist without these supports. My faith is everything to me and when I have strayed from my faith there  have been bad things or situations that have happen. Without my daily walk my health would not be well and I would not be able to reflect on my up coming day and relieve my stress. My mother's guidance is so important to me because without it I probably would make bad decisions that I know that I should not take and keep company with people who are out for their best interest and not mines.
If these support systems are not there my life would be in chaos. My faith is the corner stone of my life and I live by the rules of the Bible and I am not ashamed to say that I am a Christian even if it may cost me my life.  The daily walks give me the chance to reflect on what changes that I need to make in my life including the people that I surround my self with. My mother can read people well and their intentions and without her advice I am sure that I would have been with people that I should not have been with including family members and I would have put myself in situations that I should not have put my self in.

"My Connections to Play"

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” -Diane Ackerman
“Play is the beginning of knowledge.” -George Dorsey

 Play was very important in my childhood. There riding the bikes through the wood trails of my grandfather's farm. Then we would ride our bikes 2 to 4 miles a day through country roads with no worries because everybody knew everyone and they would watch out for each other's children. Family time on the weekends with brothers, sisters and cousins where we would play tag, dodge ball, basketball, and hopscotch and other family activities. In school during recess, we would see who could swing on the swings the highest, who could ride the merry go round the longest, or who could run the fastest, and who was the strongest. Some of my cousins and friends would watch wrestling and imitate the moves on each other once we were outside playing however I was smart enough not to do that.

Play today is so much different. Children have these I Phones that limits their physical activity. Preschools and schools have totally eliminated play for children. Children's after school time is dominated by after school activities like little league, or recreational sports that they do not have anytime for play. Parents are forcing children to take on more adult roles at such a younger age. The computer, video games, and texting have made children become so sedinetary that obesity is becoming an epidemic amoung them.

Play is essential from childhood through adulthood. Play is a way a learning throughout our lives. As children we learn who we are through play and how to confirm to society and family rules. Play teaches us to be creative and through this play as adults we learn how to make the right decisions that will better our lives, and we we make the wrong decisions, then we learn from them and move on. Play is the beginning time of what we learn about ourselves and others.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are important to me because of the foundations of trust, guidance, and friendship. My mother is my most important relationship now since my father's passing twenty one years ago. I can go to her and share anything with her and I know what I  tell her will stay only between us. The guidance she has given me since childhood has been indispensable. The christian faith instilled in me by my parents and grandparents has given me the foundation that I need to guide me in my life. My mother has taught me not to say what you want to become in life, but she has taught me to go out and achieve my goals through actions and results. My father showed me to not to trust everyone because everyone is not out for your best interest and that include your own family members. Friendship, to me, is akin to true love. Love given freely, yet held back. Passion without touch. Trust, without limit. Communication, without fear. As different as they may be, they are reflections of each other, as the friends themselves are, and both are a burning need to make the other smile (Eric Nickel).

My parents has showed me what a loving relationship can be between two people. How they worked with each other to raise eight children by nurturing, disciplining, and guiding them when needed. My parents and grandparents were parents and grandparents and not your friends as some people try to be to their children today. My parents taught me to treat people with respect even though they may dis respect you. My father taught me to learn how to walk away from a fight which was very hard for me to do in my younger days. All of my relationship new and old relationship are built on trust and honesty but once those or broken if I have to work with you I will but there will only be a business relationship and never a personal one. In a personal relationship once trust and honesty is broken there will no longer be a relationship with you at all.

Children Quotes on Play and Resilience

Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation.

Stuart Brown, MD

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.

Fred Rogers

Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.

Abraham Maslow

Culture arises and unfolds in and as play.

Johan Huizinga

Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.

Diane Ackerman

Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.
   
Rosaleen Dickson quotes

Nov 19, 2013-- "If children are given the chance to believe they're worth something-- if they truly believe that-- they will insist upon it. That is in Rome, Italy, or Rome, Arkansas; in Paris, France, or Paris, Texas. Children don't have to be born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but if they can be convinced they're the best, they become resilient. They themselves will resist any attempts to belittle them. But it's also a bouncing forward, going beyond what the naysayers said, saying, 'No, it's not true that I'm nobody. I know that not only is that not true, but I'm more than you can imagine!'" Read more from Maya Angelou

Resilient children tend to have parents who are concerned with their children’s education, who participate in that education, who direct their children everyday task, and who are aware of their children interests and goals. Another important characteristic of resilient children is having at least one significant adult in their lives.
~ Linda F. Winfield

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: one is roots, the other is wings.
~ Hodding Carter

Self-esteem is the real magic wand that can form a child’s future. A child’s self-esteem affects every area of her existence, from friends she chooses, to how well she does academically in school, to what kind of job she gets, to even the person she chooses to marry.
~ Stephanie Martson

Access the Whole Child

Today early childhood professionals are using methods which emphasize behavior occuring in natural settings and assessments which studies the whole set of circumstances surrounding the child. These techniques are thought to be more holistic and developmentally appropriate one area in which innovative methods have been emerging in the assessment of children at-risk, including children at-risk because of poverty (Dunbar & Reed, 1999). and/or disabilities (Lee & Kahn. J. 1997). At-risk children may be assessed to screen for (or to evaluate the effect of) fine and gross motor delays, speech and hearing difficulties, and atypical behavior. One example of an innovative method is play-based assessment, which evaluates children's developmental skills and their social interactions, learning styles and behaviors through play (Lowenthal, 1997. p1).

Finland school children don't start school until age 7 but Finland students beats the U.S. in math, reading, and science. The vast majority of students have solid reading and math skills. Finland success is called the "Finish Way." Every child in Finland under age 7 has the right to quality child care and preschool by law regardless of their family income. Day care teachers are of high quality with Bachelor degrees. Political consensus and support help Kiuru says. Kids are in day care working in the same curriculum that aligned with what they are going to learn in school. If you invest in early childhood education, in preschool and day care, that will led (to) better results (Krista Kiuru, 2014).

In the U.S. we need to have a coherent system with quality teachers in every classroom. Early childhood education in the U.S. is fragmented, and the U.S. must come to a national consensus on standards of quality preschool. Finland preschool and day care are free because the they pay a lot more taxes. In Finland, children from poor families have access to high quality preschool. In the U.S. most poor children get poor quality preschool, if they get any at all. Sixty percent of 4 year old in the U.S. get no preschool and because of this most start school 18 months behind. We must now pay more taxes so that our preschoolers can have access to quality teachers and quality education.

Stressor Black on Black Racism

As a child you look at everyone the same and you learn to like or dislike a person because of the way they treat you and not by the color of their skin. I recall the first time as a child that I was called the N word. My mother and I was at a local store shopping and this little white child said mommy mommy look at that N. Our parents just looked at one another and we quietly went our merry ways. My parents never taught us to dislike someone because of their color. What I learned about racism as a child came from television and peers. I copied by not reacting negative to the comment or starting a fight with the other child. Today I tell my neices and nephews not to give power to the N word even though it is common in the African American community to call each other the N word.

Black on Black racism is a topic that has intrigued me the most as I become older here in America. I am considered a dark skinned person in the African American community and it has baffled my all my life how some blacks who skin color is lighter than mine think that they are better than me. What is ironic about it is that people would say that I acted white. In elementary school thru high school most of my classes were 80% white. Most of my experiences in school were with my white classmates. At home my friends and even today my family and friends say that I talk white. I have learned that my skin color were different but not my character and attitude toward other people and I think this is my cognitive way of dealing with racism both in the black community and the world.

Nutrition/Malnutrition

I have chosen to speak on nutrition/malnutrition. This was very interesting to me because you can eat foods but if you are not eating the right foods then you are malnourished. My grandfather farmed on the weekends and we had fruits and vegetables throughout the year so we always had a well balanced diet. Carbohydrates and proteins were always in our diet. Junk foods were present but our parents taught us to eat junk foods with moderation and not to over indulge. 

Did you know malnutrition cripple child development in South Africa?  One in four children faces hunger in South Africa. Severe stunting has increased in the number of children over the years, yet South Africa is self-sufficient in food production. There are two main causes for hunger in South Africa which are access to affordable balance food and education. High price inflation  and high unemployment prevent access to food and quality food. Stunting and malnutrition starts in the womb.

Mother's have little money so they buy starches, potatoes, rice or corn. The author Mille quotes these foods fill you up but they have little nutrition value. Howevero malnutrition is being curtailed by teaching adults how to grow their own food such as carbohydrates and proteins. South African women are being taught what to grow and how to eat a balance diet. These women are no longer feeding their children junk food or porridge.

I have learned to take a better look at my own diet because there are a lot of fast foods and junk foods in my diet. I was wondering because of my diet do I eat a well balance diet. Here in America we can greatly reduce malnutrition. Companies are now giving their access fod to charities and food banks.We need to teach more families in America if they can to plant their own gardens of fruits and vegetables.