Sharing Web Resources

I chose the international Canadian Association for Early Childhood Education website (www.cayc.ca/indexjournal.html). After doing more research on this site I was struck by one of their main missions which is, "Young children have the right to learn through play".

Obviously, if you look at the title of my blog I have a huge interest in this topic. They share several articles and research quotes to support this mission. The organization seems to have similar objectives as programs in our country like: policies and programs that effect the development of children, ECH community support, professional development, opportunities for effective collaboration, and recognition of outstanding contributions to the well-being of children.

They also have an interest in promoting family literacy. I have tried to contact someone in regards to their literacy program but have not gotten a response yet. Another thing that I learned while researching this website was that there is a big issue with environmental hazards and the affects on mothers breastmilk. The statement only referred to the over use of plastic and metal products which was starting to show up in mothers milk. They talked about the need for better regulation of these products.

Establishing Professional Contacts

Part 1

I was initially nervous about contacting someone from another country but then I was excited! I think it will be interesting and a great learning experience. The two contacts I chose to e-mail were:
www.ulrike.konrad-ristau@agj.de
www.siobhanf@nippa.org

Part 2
The Resource that I chose to explore is the International Step by Step Association at www.issa.nl/. I am interested in this area because my heritage is from the Netherlands. I hope to learn about their ECH practices, issues and trends.

"My Supports"

To me, the term support  is anything that gives me help in completing a task in the least amount of time, or just help to complete a task at all.  It also means getting emotional support such as affirmation and validation from someone who knows and accepts my good and bad qualities.  I have many supports that would make my life easier but I don't really need them to complete a task.  Some of my support needs are having a car, computer, and monetary support.  My support wants include others to help move heavy items, help with yard work, an alarm clock, calendar, microwave, dishwasher and running water to name a few.  I could not get to work without a car and could not work full time and keep up the daily duties of running a home or taking the children to their extra curricular activities without a car.  Furthermore, without a computer I could not take this class or pay my bills without monetary support.  Without these supports I would have to be at home full time, and the children would not be able to attend their activities.  They would all have to work to help out like children did years ago.      

If I were all of the sudden in an accident that left me paralyzed and in a wheelchair I would need many different kinds of supports depending on whether or not I had the use of my hands.  I would no longer be independent and would need someone who could feed me, change me, bathe me, dress me and take me everywhere I needed to go, like an infant.  Not many of the supports that were important to me before would be helpful now.  The emotional support would still be needed but the practical supports would not be as helpful because I couldn't reach most of them, or have access to them with a wheelchair.  The physical supports would become the greatest help to me because it is the physical mobility that I would have lost.  These supports would include: a wheelchair, ramps, elevators, lifts, and people who could help me with personal needs.  With these supports I would at the very least be able to live, but without them I could not survive (feeding).  These kinds of support would become very critical to my success as opposed to just enhancing my current life.