Thank you...

Thank you to all of you who have helped me along the way with my research. I am proud to say that my research paper is done and submitted and I feel great. I am confident in my research and hope that my grade will portray that. To the FEW that responded to my blogs, thank you. You played a role in my research as well. I wish you all the best of luck while you put the final touches on you research paper. I am sure it will be excellent. I also wish you all the best of lick while you finish up the few courses left at Kendall College.

Thank you, good luck, and I will talk to you soon!!

This Week in Child Care...

This week, I walked away with quite a few new insights. I have learned that a lot of my coworkers are in it for the paycheck. They do not seem to care about advocacy and standing up for children's rights. They are there strictly for the paycheck and that seems to be all. I have also learned that there are a few people who are in this for the love of children. My director, whom I paid close attention to this week, is advocating for a lot of things. She is a huge advocate for government funding. We have been going through budget cuts, so a lot of what we are used to having and using isn't there any more. The children are not suffering, but they lose out on those special experiences. She just cannot seem to understand why we keep losing our government funding. You would think that since these children are our future that they would care. My director also advocates for child trafficking and child abuse as well as many more issues that pertain to child care. With all of this on her plate, she still goes to school because she feels that you are never done learning. She is a woman who does it all. She is my inspiration to do more and not give in to stress.

After talking with a few parents, I have learned that a lot of parents are not necessarily called an advocate, but a lot of them are against T.V. There aren't a lot of children who watch television. So, when I read stories about Spongebob Squarepants, I never understood why they had a hard time with it.  I now know that they do not know who he is. The most they do is watch movies and that usually happens on weekends. Even the educational programming is not viewed at home. They know that maybe one day their child(ren) will watch T.V., but for now they will stick to movies which are closely monitored and whose rating is taken into consideration before viewing.

After the last two weeks, I have realized that maybe television is not a good choice for children. Even if it is educational, what good are they getting out of it? Children who watch T.V. regularly are more apt to rely on it later in life. As a way to unwind, that is where they would run to. They learn bad habits, such as sitting on the couch and snacking, by watching T.V. There are much more developmentally appropriate things children can be doing, such as exploring the outdoors or reading. What do you think?