My Connections To Play

“Everything I needed to learn, I learned in Kindergarten.” “When I was child I spoke as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things.”

My play was supported by my family and friends. When I got my rocking horse on Christmas I rocked on it every day for months. And I remember having a doll in which I kept it until my late teens. My doll was essential to my childhood because I was an only child so I played by myself and with neighborhood friends. Childhood play is much different today. Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors, watching television, playing video games and working the Internet. When children do go outside, it tends to be for scheduled events - soccer camp or a fishing derby - held under the watch of adults. The shift to an indoor childhood has accelerated in the past decade, with huge declines in spontaneous outdoor activities such as bike riding, swimming and touch football, according to separate studies by the A child is six times more likely to play a video game on a typical day than to ride a bike. The change can be seen in children's bodies. More kids are overweight. It can be seen in their brains. Studies indicate that children who spend lots of time outdoors have longer attention spans than kids who watch lots of television and play video games. "New research indicates that our intuition is right: Kids are spending way too much time with media and not enough time outside. The lure of television and video games isn't the only thing keeping kids indoors. Parents are more afraid of letting kids roam in a world of heavy traffic and reports of pedophiles and missing children. Smaller packs of kids roam neighborhoods. Air-conditioning means kids don't need the local pool or swimming hole to cool off. "Boundaries for kids used to be measured by blocks or miles. Now, the boundary for most kids is the front yard. My childhood was somewhat different than the children today. I used my imagination more and I actually interacted with other children on the street in which I lived. Play was indeed a very important part of my childhood and I am glad I grew up in the time I did.

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

Relationships are important because we all need to be needed and relationship fulfill that inate sense of being needed. Positive relationships provide an outlet to everyone. We have many important relationships through our lives and they include relationships with you, someone else, co-workers, family or friends. The relationships you encounter throughout your life will definitely affect the outcome of your life. A positive relationship means to surround yourself with the right people. Relationships are important because they build your emotions and assist on how to relate with others especially people of the opposite gender. People with healthy relationships respond better to stress and also have a stronger immune system. Relationships are vital to humans as good nutrition and exercise. I have positive relationships with my spouse, children, mother, aunts, uncles, co-workers, and friends. Barriers to Positive Relationships There are numerous of issues that need to be addressed so a family-teacher partnership can be formed. Some things needed to build a better relationship include: Differences in backgrounds. The family and teacher come from different cultures, languages, and socio-economic statuses. Stress. There is stress for both families and teachers. For example, long hours and little flexibility at work reduce the time available for teachers to work on family communication and for parents/caregivers to relate to school. Differing Values. The family and teacher lack a mutual set of values. Differences in viewing roles. Differing views of the role of the school for the child between the teacher and the parent or caregiver. Types of experiences. Prior experiences with families/teachers have set up differing expectations. Notions of openness. Lack of openness to outsiders entering their territory (home or school). Differences in experiences. A parent’s experience in school (positive or negative) sets up some expectations for their own interactions with school/teacher for their own child. Communication abilities. Teachers or families lack the ability to identify and communicate key experiences, ideas, or issues. Communication discomfort. Families or teachers are uncomfortable about communicating their needs, or do not have enough fluency in the language. Need to feel valued. Parents and teachers perceive that their perspective and opinions are not valued. Differences in viewing child’s needs. The school views the child (her learning and development) differently than the family does. The school’s philosophy differs from the family’s view of appropriate child rearing. For example: The family equates teaching with telling, and the teacher equates learning with doing. Or, behavior issues are handled one way at home and another at school (spanking at home, explaining at school). When the school clearly explains philosophy, families get a better sense of the match between home/school expectations.