My Connection to Play

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning”

                                       Fred Rogers (1928-2003)

“Children need the freedom and time to play.  Play is not luxury.  Play is a necessity.”

                                     Kay Redfield Jamison

 My earliest memories as a child playing was swinging on a tire that was tied to an old oak tree in my parents’ back yard.  I remember swinging on the tire for hours at a time.  My parents live on an Island, located 40 miles outside of Charleston, SC called Edisto Island, so as you can imagine my siblings and I spent endless hours at the beach especially during the summer months.  I also enjoyed playing football with my brothers and cousins who lived nearby.

During the summer months, my aunt who watched my siblings and I, while my mom was at work literally put us outside right after breakfast in the morning and were only allowed to go inside to use the restroom or to have lunch.  We stayed outside and played all day until it was time for dinner at which time we were called in to wash up and have dinner, afterwards maybe watch TV together as a family and then bedtime.  Play played an important role in as a child, it taught me how to share, and it helped me develop emotionally and physically as well as mentally. I pretended to fly away to far imaginary places and as an adult I love to travel to different parts of the world.
Children today, don’t play outside like they use too; due to the wave of new technology they don’t get the benefits of the fresh outdoors or physical activity.  Instead they prefer to stay indoors and play games on their computers or iPad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relationship Reflection

Having a close relationship with my family and friends has helped make me the person I am today.  Being a part of a supportive group of people who you know will be there for you no matter what is a blessing in itself.  When it’s all done and over the one thing that matters most is your family and love ones.  Having healthy relationships I believe is vital to our health and happiness.  We all desire happiness in our life and close relationships with our families and friends helps fulfil that desire.

I am blessed to have a loving relationship with my husband, his continue support over the years has been needle that holds everything together for me and my family.  My older two children are also very supportive, they encouraged me to go back to school to pursue my degree.  They told me that it’s my turn now, and that they appreciated all support that I given them over the years, especially when it came to them continue their education beyond undergraduate school. When I completed my Bachelors last year, they encouraged me continue on to pursue my MS in Early Childhood Studies.  It’s because of their continued support and encouragement that I decided to go back to school.   I’ve been blessed with two wonderful parents who I love dearly.  My dad and mom, have supported me, and continue to encourage me with my current center and my dreams of opening at five more centers over the next 7 to 10 years.  My mother was an early childhood educators for 32 years, I think it’s in my DNA.   She’s always had a love for all children and I’ve always admired for that.  When I was younger, I can remember my friends always wanting to come over to my house after school, because my mom always had homemade cookies and spaghetti, which was a favorite dish among my friends.

However, developing and maintaining close friendships today in the world of media, such as Facebook, twitter and texting, I think we miss out on the personal one on one contact with our friends.  We know longer have time to spend hours just walking on the beach or at the park, or going to the movies with friends because of the busy lifestyles we live. 

Human beings are born to be with other people; to some people their entire identity, self-image, respect and literally everything about them are determined by the reactions of other people as early as childhood.  My relationships with my family and friends remind me about what’s important in life.

Notable Quote About Children

“I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams!”  David Vitter, U.S. Senator

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with me. It has helped me immensely.  Being able to hear about what others in the field are doing has been a valuable resource of information that I will be able to utilize in the classroom.