Early Childhood Programs and African American Educators:  Experiences about Father Involvement

The title of the dissertation

The title of the dissertation is “Early Childhood Programs and African American Educators:  Experiences about Father Involvement

The early childhood problem researched in the dissertation along with a brief explanation of the study—study purpose, population/participants, methodology, data sources, and conclusions

Author Alfunsia L. Merriwether’s primary focus was to “identify and articulate the attitudes toward father involvement in early childhood programs” (Merriwether, 2015).    By utilizing a qualitative method of interviews with 15 African American female Head Start educators in a major city found in the Southern United States, the author’s findings indicated that educators at Head Start programs had positive attitudes toward fathers in early childhood programs.  Furthermore, the educators believed that father involvement fostered positive academic success and healthy social and emotional development for their children.  Sources used throughout this dissertation were more recent than many other dissertations I read through.  Perhaps, it is because this dissertation was completed just a year ago in 2015.  Nonetheless, the most recent and oldest cited sources were 2014 and 1980.    

3 resources used by the author, and why each was relevant to the study

Bouchard, G. (2012).  Intergenerational transmission and transition to

fatherhood:  A mediated-moderation model of paternal engagement.  Journal of

Family Psychology, 26(5), 747-755.  doi:10.1037/a0029391

**This reference was relevant to the study since it spoke to the intergenerational patterns of parenting, which may have affected the educators’ beliefs, attitudes, and teaching styles. 

Head Start, An Office of the Administration for Children and Family-Early

Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center.  (2014). About Head Start.  Retrieved

from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs

**This reference was relevant to the study because it is governing office of the program where all interviewees are employed. 

Krampe, E.M., & Newton, R.R. (2012).  Reflecting on the father:  Childhood family

structure and the women’s paternal relationships.  Journal of Family Issues,

33)6, 773-800.  doi:10.1177/0192513X11425778

**This reference was relevant to the study since a couple of the interview questions asked about the interviewees’ experiences with her father. 

How the information gleaned from this dissertation may further your work related to fostering supportive learning environments through positive classroom cultures and classroom communities

            Several reasons attracted me to this dissertation.  First, it focused on African American educators.  I reside in Oakland, where, according to the 2010 Bay Area Census, the African American population makes up 28% of the population.  In other words, the probability of my work including African American children is large.  Secondly, I have had a positive work experience for the Head Start Program.  I admire the commitment of these educators to the Head Start philosophy but more importantly to the children and families we serve.  The findings of this study can be contributory to my work since it can be incorporated into my present work, shared with colleagues, and stimulate possible future studies. 

Reference

Merriwether, A. L. (2015). Early childhood programs and african american educators:

Experiences about father involvement (Order No. 3742822). Available from

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1756675497). Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/docview/1756675497?accountid=1482

**When previewed, this reference is not aligning correctly though when typing it up in the blog, it appears aligned perfect.  Thank you for your understanding of this reference's unintended misalignment.

Language and Literacy Development Journey

     This assignment has been an exciting yet challenging journey for several reasons.  First of all, it is my own personal journey (story) of my family.  In other words, this story tells of the journey I am embarking on with my own daughter, who is thirty-six months old.  Some of the information has been altered for privacy reasons, but the story is reflective of our journey with my three year old and her development from birth to the present.  Secondly, it is exciting because I get to share my own personal experiences.  I am able to apply what I am learning to influence my own child's development.  Lastly, there is irony in knowing and learning about language development and having my three year old about to start speech therapy.  That irony represents my challenges about what the future will be for my daughter. I believe we have done everything right.  I did everything and anything during my pregnancy that would constitute being healthy.  Since the day she was born we have been reading to her.  As a matter of fact, she LOVES being read to AND "reading" to us.  We had her assessed approximately six months prior to her third birthday when we believed she may have some sound production difficulty, and she tested age appropriate.  Yet, she will begin speech therapy in two weeks since she tested below average at the assessment we asked for when she turned three about a month ago.  I feel as if I failed my daughter, especially since I am an infant development specialist and I am "suppose" to know how to help a child develop on target.  
     With all of that being said, the question(s) I have for all of you are questions related to school age speech/language development.  Since I have years of experience with the 0-3 population and very little with school age children, 
(1)  Have any of you worked with school age children with reading difficulties which stemmed from speech/language challenges or disorders as a toddler?
(2)  If yes to question 1, what kind(s) of intervention(s) was put in place?  And, what was the outcome(s)?
     I am attaching my introduction to the blog.  Professor has asked to attach a second section, but the section I want to attach is this week's assignment.  At this point, I do not have any of that yet finished.  This week is the most difficult for me to complete, because (1)  I have the least experience with this age and, more importantly (2)  I am hoping that with your answers to my questions above, I will be able to formulate a more appropriate journey influenced by all of your experiences and by what is available in the readings and other available resources.  
     Thank you so very much for your time and feedback.  This journey is real for me, and I am grateful for your thoughts and time.  

Resiliency

Resilience

      Resilience is defined by dictionary.com as the ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.  How often do we view ourselves as being resilient?  Can we truly bounce back from major setbacks as adversity or depression or illness?  What about our children?  Can they bounce back from traumatic events?  Well, according to Petty (2014), when children receive support and are surrounded by protective factors, such as having someone to talk to or someone to hear (not just listen to) their words, they are more opt to building resiliency.  In fact, anxiety and stress negatively affects brain chemicals, basically reducing people’s experiences with happiness and resilience (Music, 2011).  Therefore, it is imperative that we take all necessary accommodations to promote healthy parenting, happy environments and holistic teaching.
      Healthy parenting to promote resiliency in our children stems from our own health.  As parents, it is easy to neglect ourselves to encompass the different roles we play as parent, employee, and partner (sometimes we must be both mom and dad).  Since becoming a mom, I have truly learned what my mom meant when she told me, “You will never sleep well ever again.”  My daughter is only two.  Boy, do I have a long road to go.  Snacking throughout the day has turned into my meal times.  On good days, those meal times do not consist of my two year old’s left overs (the half eaten chicken nugget, the apple that looks as if a little mouse nibbled around it, or the cup of juice she decided to practice blowing bubbles with rather than drinking it).  Showers are luxuries.  Shaving my legs happen sometimes.  Wearing a hat has become part of my daily wardrobe for those many days I do not get to stay in the shower long enough to wash my hair.  Nonetheless, I push through my days to give my beautiful daughter as much time, love, praise, guidance, and toys/activities that my busy brain and tired body will allow.  I consider this healthy parenting. Why?  I am present and involved.  I am aware that every action I do will be an imprint in her brain to determine her actions in the future.  I know that the words I say, she will one day repeat.  It is her right to receive healthy parenting.  More importantly, it is my responsibility to provide that for her. 
      Happy environments are predictable environments.  When children are able to predict the events of their day, they are less stressed.  As stated in Music (2011), research indicates resilience suggests better outcomes when one can actively participate in events and influence their environments, that their world is predictable.  Unfortunately, trauma, neglect, and/or unresponsiveness parenting gives way to unstable environments and decreases the aptitude for resiliency.  Our children have the right to happy environments.  More importantly, it is our responsibility as parents to provide that for them. 
      Holistic teaching involves incorporating the whole child when teaching.  As parents, we are our children’s first teachers.  They imitate the words we say and perform the behaviors they observe we do.  However, our children are born with a set of in-born traits that help them approach the world (Temperament and Your Child’s Personality, n.d.).  To approach our children from a holistic stance includes embracing our children’s temperament.  Fostering positive development includes taking their temperament into consideration when parenting.  My daughter is a slow to warm up child (my personality is more quick to adapt) with definitive answers (I can be “wishy washy” at times) and a very strong will (I have a strong will, as well).  I find myself having to take a “step back” many times to take deep breaths before addressing her.  In those moments, I take the opportunity to remind myself of her temperament.  After all, she has the right to be the whole child that she is.  More importantly, it is my responsibility to be her mom ad teacher who accommodates her temperament. 
      Resiliency is fostered by consistency, responsiveness, and reliability.  As parents, we are called to provide health, happy environments, and to be effective teachers to our children as a way to develop resiliency.  As resilient children and adults, people are more susceptible to productive lives with a better ability to manage stressful events.  A part of my focus is to grow a daughter with high resiliency and a strong ability to build healthy relationships for herself and with others.  My hope is that you, too, have the same desire for your child.   
                                                                   References

Petty, K. (2014). Ten Ways to Foster Resilience in Young Children – Teaching Kids to “ Bounce 

Back,” 35–40.   

Resilience.  (n.d.).  In Dictionary.com.  Retrieved from

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resilience?s=t

Temperament and Your Child's Personality.  (n.d.).  In Child Development Institute.  Retrieved

from

            http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/temperament_and_your_child/  

 

Let's Build Strong Children

Science has shown that the human brain is malleable, and plasticity continues throughout life.  However, the period between the last trimester of pregnancy through the first two years of life is the most critical point of development as it produces 250,000 cells every minute at its peak (Music, 2011).  So, why are we NOT focused on this prime time to influence healthy development?  Let’s say yes to educating pregnant parents about keeping stress levels down and good nutrition up.  After all, stress, neglect, and traumatic events can lead to atrophy in parts of the brain (Music, 2011).  As early childhood professionals, we are teachers in the classrooms, parent partners to our students’ primary caregivers, and early childhood development educators to our community partners/leaders (in this case, policy makers).  Research is suggestive of the importance of children and their relationships with caregivers (Lindsey, 2000).  Relationships with responsive, caring, and warm caregivers give way to children with better abilities to deal with stress and trauma later in life.  Therefore, it is vital that we early childhood educators are warm, patient and responsive to positively impact the children of our tomorrow.  To move this forward, let’s educate our colleagues, parents, and community leaders of this important fact.  It is in the best interest of our country that we start advocating to support the development of our children today so that they will be appropriately equipped as adults to manage our world tomorrow.  After all, “It is easier to raise strong children than to repair broken men” (Frederick Douglass). 

References

Lindsey, G. (2000). Brain Research And Implications For Early Childhood Education, 2(Winter

      1998).
Music, G.  (2011).  Nurtuing Natures.  New York, NY:  Psychology Press.

 

As an early childhood professional, I focus on advocating for healthy outcomes (developmentally, medically, educationally) for pregnant women and very young children.  In other words, I am doing my part at producing children who will become mentally competent, emotionally stable and cognitively stimulating adults.  First of all, a pregnant woman’s state of mind can affect a baby’s emotional attachment beyond infancy (Music, 2011).  Less stress and trauma during pregnancy provides for a healthy neonatal experience, delivery, and baby.  Therefore, it is ideal to provide pregnant females (all races, all socio-economic levels, and all ages) with access to as many resources as possible at building a strong pregnancy (essentially a strong baby, child, and eventually an adult).  Secondly, the first three years of a human’s life is the most formative years.  According to Halfon, Shulman, & Hochstein (2001), in the first three years of life, the number of synaptic connections doubles.  Experiences shape this development.  At the age of three, the process of synaptic elimination begins.  Clearly, any person involved in the life of an infant/toddler, including early childhood educators, is shaping “the future” of this child.  Lastly, building strong babies contribute to strengthening our communities.  How do we produce a stronger community?  Investing in our babies.  How do we invest?  The first step is knowing.  Second step is understanding.  Third step is taking action by providing better quality care for our pregnant women, infants, and toddlers to increase high school graduation rates and decrease the amount of money and time spent on restoring issues such as paying for remedial education and services (Committee for Economic Development, 2012).  In summary, our focus should be on our future.  Our future is our children.  Let’s start while we can make the most different.  Let’s start when they are in production, in early childhood. 

References

Committee for Economic Development (2012).  Unfinished Business:  Continued Investment in
     Care and Early Education is Critical to Business and America's Future.  Committee for Economic
     Development. 
Halfon, N., Shulman, E., Hochstein, M., & California Univ., L.C. (2001).  Brain Development in
     Early Childhood.  Building Community Systems for Young Children. 
Music, G. (2011).  Nurturing natures:  Attachment and children's emotionally, sociocultural and
     brain development.  New York, NY:  Psychology Press.