My Connections to Play

I grew up Michigan were the winters are long and very cold, so I very seldomly went to the beach. This is part of the reason that I moved to Florida. Therefore, if  I could go back to the age of 5, I would place myself at the beach. I would have five of my friends with me and we would have a good time in and with the sand. We would have buckets, shovels, and baggies (for collecting things like shells). One thing that we would do is work together to build sand castles and/or a sandman. We would also bury each other in the sand. We may also play frisbee, race, and chase each other around. Last, I would have my mom there to make sure no one gets hurts.

        

My mom, aunt, and grandfather totally understood the importance of play because I had any and every toy (kitchens, dishes, dolls, swing sets, etc.) imaginable. I played dress-up, house (mommy), teacher, doctor, etc. Also, because I was an only child for the first 10 years, I played mostly with my aunt or by myself. However, on some weekends I was either taken to other family member's houses to play with other children or children would spend the weekend at my house playing.

It's unfortunate that many of the children today are missing out on play. Play today is very different from the way that I played. It does not seem to be very physical or socialable due to technology. I remember how all the children on my block would be outside and we would play tag, hopscotch, kickball, race on foot or big wheels all kinds of physical activities. Now, a lot of children are in their houses playing alone with video games or on the computer. Even though I love technology, I sometime wish that some of it did not exsist.

Play has a lot to do with the person that I am today. I am friendly and I am able to interact and get along very well with others. I'm also a pretty good problem solver and thinker. I believe play is a contributing factor to all of this characteristics.

Whoever wants to understand much must play much. (Gottfried Benn)

Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn. (O. Fred Donaldson)

Child Development and Public Health

Malnutrition is the topic that I chose to research. Malnutrition is when a person does not consume enough food or enough of the right foods in order for the body to receive an adequate of amount of nutrients. Some of the causes of malnutrition consist of poverty and uneducated parents and some of the symptoms are respiratory problems, depression, immune problems, fatigue, irritability, and many more.

As an educator, nutrition and malnutrition is very important to me because I know that in order for students to develop properly and be successful in class, they need to have a balance diet and some of them are not receiving a well balanced diet. Additionally, many of these children do not consume fruit or vegetables unless they are at school. They are consuming too many sweets and processed foods. They are also drinking too many soft drinks and not enough water. As a result, students are not getting the nutrients that they need to grow and develop adequately. Furthermore, school-aged children are unable to think quickly or critically, pay attention, or concentrate in class.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, over 4 million children die annually and over half of the deaths are due to malnutrition. Malnutrition is not only a major issue for Africa, but for many third world countries and it does not have to be. Some of the causes of malnutrition come from poverty and a lack of some of the basic necessities. Malnutrition can be resolved if countries, families, and communities would work together.

All of the information that I learned was very informative. This information will be valuable to me when I open my own childcare facility. I will be more conscious of the types of foods that I will offer the children that are in my care. Lastly, I plan to educate my children's parents on benefits of a good nutriental diet in addition to the negative effects of a poor diet.

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/subjindx/113hung.htm

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1405