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

Forming positive relationships is essential to personal and professional growth and success.   Developing a partnership with another requires reciprocity in a respectful and compassionate manner.   Both individuals need to be bought into the relationship and put forth equal effort to maintaining and supporting their relationship with each other.   Usually, a relationship is long-lasting when there is a shared interest or common goal set to accomplish as partners.   If any of these characteristics are missing, the relationship can be one-sided and result in dissatisfaction, and even termination.   Nurturing a partnership is hard work, yet it is rewarding to have meaningful shared experiences with the important ones around you. When considering the most valued positive relationships I have, three individuals come to mind.   The first is my husband, who has been a part of my life for over fifteen years.   He is my best friend, my number one chee...

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...