Daily Supports

By being a mother of three wonderful children , having a full time job, and trying to pursue my masters degree in the field of Early Childhood Education relaying on a support system is necessary. In order to function and meet the day to day demands of all the deferent jobs I have during the day I need to count with not one but many supports that will help me meet the needs of each as well as my own.

Among the many factors that provide me with the support I need in order to exist and function my husband is the far and most important person in my life for the past 20 years. He has been more than a husband, he has been my friend, my advisor and my partner in the good and in the bad times. We both started this path of Early Childhood Education going to school for the last 10 years, it seemed that we have gone school for ever. In many occasions I just have wanted to give up, and he has been there motivating me and encouraging me to continue what I started. My husband is also my primary support when it comes to educating our children, considering that all of our family lives in Mexico we don't count with the support of any relative that can guide or mentor us in the difficult task wonderful yet challenging task of being a parent.

I can also say that I have been fortunate to have the support of a very special college professor that over the years has become a very important person in my life.She has been like a second mother to me. She was and still is a wonderful support and resource in the field of Early Childhood. She was also present in the delivery of two of my children as my Dula, and I can say that having her support and encouragement made a tremendous impact.

Apart of these wonderful people that have and still form part of my support system, I would like to mention that being able to count with quality childcare has also been an important support system in my carrier. Being able to go to work every day and attend school has been a team effort for both my husband and myself , an effort t that without the accessibility of a reliable daycare system it would not be possible.

If I would see myself with an extreme challenge it would be not having the support of my husband, without him everything would be not impossible , but twice as hard to accomplish. Being able to balance my work, school and parenting would be very difficult, considering that we work as a team when it comes to taking care of all our needs. If one is missing everyone and everything would suffer a great impact. If didn't count with proper childcare I wouldn't be able to continue working and our income would be reduced to half of what is now and that would impact our current economic stability.

What I have learned over the years is that in order for a person or a family to succeed we all need the support and mentoring of others around us, it becomes more difficult to do things on your own and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

My Connections to Play

Play Quotes:
"It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for
learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connections between them"

By Leo F. Busca Glia

"Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives the child a safe space
where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and
social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject.... Play allows the
child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens around her".

By Alicia F. Lieberman

 

How play was supported by people during my childhood, was basically by teachers and extended family. I was an only child for 7 years and my parents spent most of the day working, by the time we all got home it was to late and we were all to tired to play. The memories of play that I have are playing in the yard of my house with  a little sand box that was left from the family that lived before us, as well as playing in the water table in preschool classroom. I loved my preschool teacher she always had something new for us to explore in the classroom. The water table was my favorite, the teacher would take it out to our school playground with different things to use with it. Sometimes we had soap, paint, measuring cups, or sea animals. My mom would need to send extra change of cloths almost everyday.I also remember playing outside with my cousins during the winter or summer vacations that I would get to visit them in Mexico. We would round in the streets, play tag, hide-and-seek or play ball. For me being able to be outside was and still is more exiting then being inside a classroom. Thanks to these opportunities of play I was able to obtain various developmental skills that would have been harder to gain without it.

As a preschool teacher for many years, I have been able to observe how children also enjoy as much as I did when I was a child form the outside activities. Many of these children also had parents that spent most of their day working, and by the time they got home it is to late to take their children out to play. Technology today has a strong influence on children, because other varieties of play have not been encouraged. Children need to be exposed to play experiences that will encourage their imagination, language and cognitive skills just to mention some, skills that cannot be develop with the use of many electronic devises. As educators our role is to provide those opportunities to explore while having fun. Toy and other props are helpful to enhance play, but encouraging imagination and creativity is even more.