"A person's a person no matter how small"-Dr. Seuss

Video Clip: My little ladybug           This is my favorite personal video of a curious 7 month old child ready to learn about the world.  She explores her voice while she wiggles her body, and feels the various natural textures around her.  And of course, she's a ladybug, doesn't get cuter than that!  I entered the early childhood field with a passion to make a difference in lives of our future generation, and moments like this video clip reinforces the precious gift we are trusted with.          "Children develop strength when they have daily opportunities to activate and use big muscle groups in a variety of ways.  For instance, when babies have plenty of time to be on the ground day after day, they build strength simply by interacting with the environment around them.  They reach for objects, attempt to kick things, push up for a better view, and roll over for a new perspective.  The...

How children are assessed throughout childhood is a controversial topic in our field.   This controversy can become emotional because most required assessments conducted are tied to funding for programs.   This funding comes in various forms: government issued monies, scholarships/grants, or school tuition paid personally by families.   Early childhood professionals are trained to use all sorts of assessments to qualify students and families into categories of need or benefits.   The challenge is to use our knowledge in assessments to support the families we are working with positively, and receive the funding we need to do so.   The problem with required standardized assessments being linked to funding, means the “whole child” is lost in the process.               Research has shown across the decades that children learn through experiencing the process concretely.   Abstract thinking is a ...

Poverty My childhood and adolescent years were not very predictable financially.   My mother had substance issues that haunted her throughout my developing years.   When she was clean, which could be a couple years or a couple of days at a time, we were stable and predictable.   At her worst times, we experienced poverty, unpredictable living conditions, and high levels of stress.   I have memories of grocery shopping at the dollar store and helping my mother clean out repossessed manufactured homes as a teenager to get by.   At times, I was highly impacted, unable to focus in school and maintain social relationships.   Often, I lost myself in fantasy literature and began to distance myself from my home as I got older.   I rarely invited friends to my house, with fear of what state my house or mother was in.   I learned how to develop a life that existed outside of the physical home and state I was in. I was fortunate enough to have famil...

         The topic of breastfeeding is personal.   I nursed both of my children past their first year of life.   It was always interesting to me, how people felt the need to tell me their opinion on whether I should be feeding my baby from my breast or not throughout their infancy into toddlerhood.   The culture of breastfeeding has evolved over time.   Throughout history, babies have been fed from the breast.   In the mid-twentieth century, formula became preferred by mothers and were even led to believe it was better for the baby.   Recently, breastfeeding is beginning to make a comeback and mothers are being encouraged to nurse their babies to at least the first birthday or longer.   However, in the United States, only 25 percent are still breastfeeding at one year old (Berger, 2016).   According to Berger, worldwide statistics show “about half of all two-year olds are still nursing, usually at night...