"When we strengthen families, we ultimately strengthen the community. Our goal is that parents everywhere work with supportive providers, feel confident in their parenting role, and form strong, resilient attachments with their children. To help achieve this, providers must be responsive to parents, knowledgeable about child development, and eager to see every parent succeed."
T. Berry Brazelton, MD
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"And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher's task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child."
Maria Montessori on The Role of the Teacher
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"It was the most joyful experience where I felt that everything in me was being called on to teach and also it was very rewarding....It just made me feel whole, it made me feel whole , it made me feel creative and so it became my lifelong work with early childhood education...to make sure that all children were taught in environments and in ways that truly nurtured their ability to grow and develop to their fullest ability...."
Louise Derman-Sparks Professor Emeritus Pacific Oaks College California
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"I think my passion comes from wanting to make a difference, like I said before and I truly believe that I'm not here to save the world, I'm here just to make a difference in the community that I am working in and to me making a difference sometimes means helping one child to be successful in the classroom. You know for me, that one little sparkle will make a difference for me throughout the whole day...."
Raymond Hernandez MS Ed Executive Director School of Early Childhood Education, University of Southern California
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Personal Childhood Web
I grew up in a very small town in Maine on a farm with both my parents, three sisters and one brother. I am the middle child. I have a very large extended family. My dad was the youngest of seven children and my mom was the youngest of six. We spent a good portion of our time at my paternal grandparent's at family gatherings. I can remember celebrating every family members birthday on my dad's side at his parents house with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a huge loss when first my grandmother and shortly after my grandfather passed away. Not long after each of my dad's siblings and him seemed to become the head of the family for each of their own immediate family circles. The huge gatherings stopped except for probably weddings or Christmas.
If I have to pick just a few of the people in my life who have had the largest impact, it would certainly be my mom, my dad, and my dad's parents.
My mom was a stay at home mom who ran her household, raised her five children and helped my dad with the farm. She is a very quiet, private person until she felt the need to protect or defend her children. She could do so with a very fierce passion.
My dad was a farmer, so even though he worked very hard and long days, we had the luxury of him being at home also throughout our childhoods. He only had to walk out the front door and across the yard to go to work each day. My dad is also a quiet, private person but loves to talk with people. He is also very easy-going, light hearted person. My dad would do almost anything to help someone in need. He is very protective of his family.
Together they raised five children of their own and had foster children at times throughout our childhood. I remember my parents as having what seemed a wonderful marriage and family life. I have never to this day heard either of them raise their voice to the other. They are both very honest and trustworthy people. We were raised to do what we could to help others, not to be quick to judge and to be appreciative of what we had. They had unlimited love for children.
My grandparents on my dad's side were very big influences also. I remember my dad would go to visit them every day either after he finished milking the cows to have morning coffee with them or for lunch. Then every evening we went as a family to visit and check on them after dinner.
My grandmother was a midwife, a school teacher, the mother of seven and helped her husband with the farm also. My grandfather had a dairy farm when he was younger and able. They were married for fifty plus years before my grandmother passed away. I can remember the hole that left inside the family. Shortly after we lost our grandfather also.
I was very fortunate to have the childhood that I had. I felt very loved, protected and nurtured. We did not have a lot of money, but it didn't seem to matter. What we had was much more important. I feel we probably had a very sheltered childhood growing up in the area that we did.
Each of these people had very distinct roles in our family but often their duties and responsibilities overlapped; they worked very hard but together to raise their families to be kind, respectful, and nurturing people. They showed us through example what is important in life and how to achieve it.
They gave us great examples of how to give to and care for others with love and respect for each person as an individual. I think each of them has had an impact on how I have grown and turned out as an adult. My love for and the desire to protect and advocate for children came from a very long line of those who did the same.
If I have to pick just a few of the people in my life who have had the largest impact, it would certainly be my mom, my dad, and my dad's parents.
My mom was a stay at home mom who ran her household, raised her five children and helped my dad with the farm. She is a very quiet, private person until she felt the need to protect or defend her children. She could do so with a very fierce passion.
My dad was a farmer, so even though he worked very hard and long days, we had the luxury of him being at home also throughout our childhoods. He only had to walk out the front door and across the yard to go to work each day. My dad is also a quiet, private person but loves to talk with people. He is also very easy-going, light hearted person. My dad would do almost anything to help someone in need. He is very protective of his family.
Together they raised five children of their own and had foster children at times throughout our childhood. I remember my parents as having what seemed a wonderful marriage and family life. I have never to this day heard either of them raise their voice to the other. They are both very honest and trustworthy people. We were raised to do what we could to help others, not to be quick to judge and to be appreciative of what we had. They had unlimited love for children.
My grandparents on my dad's side were very big influences also. I remember my dad would go to visit them every day either after he finished milking the cows to have morning coffee with them or for lunch. Then every evening we went as a family to visit and check on them after dinner.
My grandmother was a midwife, a school teacher, the mother of seven and helped her husband with the farm also. My grandfather had a dairy farm when he was younger and able. They were married for fifty plus years before my grandmother passed away. I can remember the hole that left inside the family. Shortly after we lost our grandfather also.
I was very fortunate to have the childhood that I had. I felt very loved, protected and nurtured. We did not have a lot of money, but it didn't seem to matter. What we had was much more important. I feel we probably had a very sheltered childhood growing up in the area that we did.
Each of these people had very distinct roles in our family but often their duties and responsibilities overlapped; they worked very hard but together to raise their families to be kind, respectful, and nurturing people. They showed us through example what is important in life and how to achieve it.
They gave us great examples of how to give to and care for others with love and respect for each person as an individual. I think each of them has had an impact on how I have grown and turned out as an adult. My love for and the desire to protect and advocate for children came from a very long line of those who did the same.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Fuel for My Passion for The Field of Early Childhood
My passion for the field of early childhood has grown over the past twenty years while working with children and their families. It stems from the desire to want to do more. There have been many advances made in the area of research but we are not keeping up as well as we could and should be doing when putting research into practice on a larger scale. Children are our future and what is most important in many of our lives. We owe it to them to provide the opportunity and an environment in which to grow, thrive, and excel.
Favorite Children's Book
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
This book celebrates the birth of a child. Throughout it points out the uniqueness of the child and refers to many of the other miracles brought to us in nature. It is very simply, but beautifully written. It is full of very eye-catching illustrations. This book to me, points out just how special life is and what a miraculous gift each new life is.
This book celebrates the birth of a child. Throughout it points out the uniqueness of the child and refers to many of the other miracles brought to us in nature. It is very simply, but beautifully written. It is full of very eye-catching illustrations. This book to me, points out just how special life is and what a miraculous gift each new life is.
Inspirational Quotes
"When you hold an infant, hold him not just with your body, but with your mind and heart."-Magda Gerber
"In order to feel good about himself, a child must be successful in his own eyes, not just in your eyes. Self-esteem is an inner feeling: Sometimes it corresponds with outer reality, and sometimes it doesn't."-Stanley Greenspan
"Attachment to a baby is a long-term process, not a single, magical moment. The opportunity for bonding at birth may be compared to falling in love--staying in love takes longer and demands more work."-T. Berry Brazelton
"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?"-Maria Montessori
"In order to feel good about himself, a child must be successful in his own eyes, not just in your eyes. Self-esteem is an inner feeling: Sometimes it corresponds with outer reality, and sometimes it doesn't."-Stanley Greenspan
"Attachment to a baby is a long-term process, not a single, magical moment. The opportunity for bonding at birth may be compared to falling in love--staying in love takes longer and demands more work."-T. Berry Brazelton
"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?"-Maria Montessori
Introduction
My name is Cindy Ferguson and this blog is part of a running assignment throughout the Master's Program I have enrolled in. It is to be used by students to reflect, share information, and track our growth as we progress through Walden University's Masters in Early Childhood Education program. My specialization is Teaching Adults in the Field of Early Childhood.
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