Week 8

I can not believe we are at the end of our class. This journey has been a wonderful experience. I feel like I have grown as a professional and can not wait to continue on this journey. I want to thank everyone who has stopped by my blog and posted comments of support. I really enjoyed reading not only your comment on here but also reading your blogs. Good luck to everyone and hopefully we will see each other on the next journey!

Quotes

Children are like sponges

Children are like sponges.
They absorb your knowledge,
they sap your strength,
they soak up your resources
and drain your energy -
but with one big squeeze,
they give it all back.

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments: tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become. Louis Pasteur

A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark. Chinese Proverb

If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand up for much. Marian Wright Edelman

Testing for Intelligence?

I feel that every child show be assessed keeping the whole child in mind. Currently Standardized testing only assesses the “Academic” intelligence of a child. Every child has their own learning style and also a testing style. For example my brother cannot take a written test but if he was allowed to take the test verbally he would pass with flying colors.

I have always agreed the Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple-intelligence. He has broken down the different intelligences into nine different categories. They are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential (Berger, 2009).  

Thailand has been trying to improve their educational system since 1999. In their reform they addressed the reform of assessment and evaluation of learning (International Bureau of Education [IBE], 2010). They want to move away from the multiple choice assessments and move towards an authentic assessment (IBE, 2010). National standards will be set up to evaluate students’ academic achievement (IBE, 2010). Academic assessments will be done in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12(IBE, 2010). Everything that I read was basically what is going on in the United States. Thailand is focusing on the academic intelligence and not assessing the child as a whole.

I love this quote from the Berger text; “If intelligence is a multifaceted jewel, then schools need to expand their curricula and tests, so that every child can shine (Berger, 2009). I feel that this quote really sums up how I feel. I know that every child learns differently and tests differently. I can look at myself and know that I am very logical-mathematical intelligent but not very naturalistic intelligent. My brother is very spatial intelligent but not logical-mathematical intelligent. I truly feel that we need to assess children as a whole.

In the Early Head Start program that I work for we assess/screen the children using multiple tools so that we can get a well-rounded assessment of the child. We use Ages and Stages 3 which assesses the communication domain, gross & fine motor domain, social domain, and also the cognitive domain. We also use the Ages and Stages Social-Emotional screening which strictly focuses on social-emotional. Finally the home visitors take their own observations and the parents observations then they look at everything all together to really get a picture of the whole child.

References

Berger, K.S. (2009). The developing person through childhood. (5^th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

International Bureau of Education, UNESCO (2010). Development of Education in Thailand. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/ICE/natrap/Thailand.pdf

Stressors in childhood

One stressor that I can think of about my childhood was poverty. My family was poor not that I knew it at the time. We weren’t as poor as some people are but my parents had to watch what they spent. I never really knew that we were poor. My parents made sure we had what we needed. For most of my early childhood my mother was the only provider, she was an elementary school teacher. My father was laid off from his job. He worked odd jobs to make money. They made sure that we had new clothes for school but back then I never really realized that they weren’t the “label” names that everyone else was wearing. I still never considered us poor because we were rich in love and family. Our family took care of each other and was there when we needed something. I don’t know how my parents really did it but I’m happy that they did. They raised me to understand that money isn’t what it’s all about. You just need enough to survive and be able to provide for your family. I know that my husband and I are a little better off than our parents were but I am still instilling the same values that my parents instilled in me. They know that they are loved and that they get want they need. They also know that sometimes we just can’t get something just because we want something.

In Thailand the one main stressor is something I talked about in my last blog. It is disease that is causes stress on the child. Some of the diseases that are affecting Thailand are HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and even Polio. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have been working in Thailand (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010). They have been planning and working systematically on the building of the disease immunity since 1977 in order to lower the illness and deaths due to the diseases that could be prevented by vaccination (WHO, 2010). The last survey of the primary vaccine coverage in 2003 found 95 percent coverage of children less than one year of age, who had received BCG and 3 doses of DPT, Polio and hepatitis B (WHO, 2010). The coverage of pregnant women with TT was 90 percent (WHO, 2010).

World Health Organization [WHO]. (2010) Thailand: National Health System Profile. Retrieved from http://searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Thailand_Thailand_final_031005_WT.pdf

Immnizations

The public health topic I choose to talk about is immunizations. This is a very important topic where I work. At Early Head Start, we work with families and educate them on why immunizations are important. We have had some families chose not to get the immunizations for their child. Being a Federal program we have to document that all children in the program are up-to-date with their immunizations, and if the family chooses not to get the immunizations we have to have them fill out a paper stating that.

Currently this past week here in my hometown there is an outbreak of Pertussis (whooping cough). Now everyone is concerned about getting their child to the doctor and getting a vaccination. My children are all up-to-date on their immunizations but I am still worried because I know that there are children that are in contact with my children that are not up-to-date. This is something that not only affects the child that doesn’t receive immunizations but it also affects the children they come in contact with.

The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have been working in Thailand (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010). They have been planning and working systematically on the building of the disease immunity since 1977 in order to lower the illness and deaths due to the diseases that could be prevented by vaccination (WHO, 2010). With the passage of time, the work on expanding immunity cover has been increasing the varieties of vaccines and the target groups, and from time to time adjusting the schedule of vaccinations, according to the changing epidemiological conditions (WHO, 2010).

There are some accomplishments from the past efforts (WHO, 2010). The last survey of the primary vaccine coverage in 2003 found 95 percent coverage of children less than one year of age, who had received BCG and 3 doses of DPT, Polio and hepatitis B (WHO, 2010). The coverage of pregnant women with TT was 90 percent (WHO, 2010).

I thought it was great that they were working on getting all the children immunized in Thailand. I know in the United States immunizations is a hot topic of discussions. Some people think that immunizations have side effects or cause medical issues. I think the research that I have been doing about Thailand will help me find different ways to work with families here in the United States.
I have included a link to the United States' Immunization schedule and also Thailand's Immunizations schedule to compare.

United States      Thailand

 References:

World Health Organization [WHO]. (2010) Thailand: National Health System Profile. Retrieved from http://searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Thailand_Thailand_final_031005_WT.pdf

Childbirth - in My life and around the world!

The birthing experience I have decided to talk about is the birth of my oldest child. The reason I think her birth sticks out more than the other two is because she was my first child. I remember going to Lamaze classes with my husband, he was the only male in the class so of course he had to be the class clown. Needless to say he really didn’t pay attention so when the time came when I went into labor he didn’t have a clue what to do. It was a Sunday morning, and I wasn’t feeling good so I decided to stay home from church. He decided that was the perfect excuse to go to Erie, PA. We live two hours from Erie. I told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea and that I was having contractions. He decided since they weren’t that close together we could make it up and back before the contractions got too bad. We got half way there when I screamed “I REALLY DON’T THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA!” He finally asked how close they were. The contractions were 5 minutes apart. We made it to the hospital in record time. By the time they checked me I was at 3 centimeters and it was 3:00pm. At 4pm I was 4 centimeters, 5pm I was 5 centimeters and so on. Throughout this wonderful time of being in labor, it took 3 times and an hour to get finally get my epidural in my back, my husband almost passing out while they tried to get the epidural in me. The next thing that happened was my daughter’s heart rate went down so I had to lay on my side facing the wall. I started getting feeling back in my legs and told the nurse that I thought something was wrong with my epidural and she told me it was fine. My husband spent most of his time with his family and ignored me, his wife who was the reason we were at the hospital to begin with. At 9:00pm when they came to check me, my husband decided I would probably only be at 9 centimeters so he left the room and went outside to get fresh air. Needless to say, I was 10 centimeters and it was time to push, a nurse had to go find him. The nurses finally realized that what I was saying about my epidural was correct, it had been leaking onto the floor so I had some feeling back when it was time to push. In the process of pushing my daughter decided to show that she really didn’t want to come out. She had turned just a little bit but just enough I couldn’t push her out without help. The doctor tried the vacuum/suction and every time it came off her head I felt it and she would shake her head in the birth canal. It was a very strange feeling. Next he had to use the forceps, this worked and my beautiful baby girl was born. She had a cone-shaped head for awhile because of the vacuum/suction and bruises on both of her cheeks from the forceps. I knew from the first time I saw her that she was going to be a handful. She had a mind of her own even before she was born and six years later nothing has changed.

I researched how childbirth is similar and different in Thailand. It was interesting because I assumed that it would still be a lot of home births but in the example I found on the UNICEF website, it is 90% hospital births. I found it interesting that registering the child’s birth was a very important issue. Here in the United States the hospitals make sure each family get the paperwork and gets it filled out after birth. That was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

Among the many things on the “to do” list of 30-year-old Namaoy Satrom, who the day before had given birth to a healthy baby girl at Udon Thani Provincial Hospital, was something she had never realized the importance of before: registering her child’s birth (UNICEF, 2010).
“The nurse kept reminding me to register my baby at birth,” said Namaoy, an Udon Thani farmer. “I didn’t understand before that my child could miss out on many important things in life if she doesn’t have a birth certificate (UNICEF, 2010).”
Namaoy was one of thousands of parents in Thailand who are still unaware of the need to officially register the birth of their children with local authorities.  Some parents confuse the delivery certificate they receive from the hospital when their children are born with the official birth certificate issued by the civil registrar office.   In order to receive a birth certificate, the parents or relatives of a newborn must bring the delivery certificate to the local civil registrar’s office so that the birth can be officially recorded (UNICEF, 2010).
A reproductive health survey carried out last year by the National Statistical Office found that more than 90 per cent of children in Thailand are born at hospitals.  However, an estimated 5 per cent of children born each year, about 40,000 children, are not registered at birth.  These births are not being registered even though the law states that any child born in Thailand, including to non-Thai parents or parents who have no legal status, has the right to be registered and to obtain a birth certificate (UNICEF, 2010).  

UNICEF (2010). Ensuring the 'first right' online. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/thailand/reallives_14441.html

Hello Everyone!

Hello to the familiar "faces" from EDUC 6005 and to the new "faces' of EDUC 6160.

Thought I would introduce myself again.

My name is Alison Carson. I am a proud mother of three children ages 6 years old, 3 years old, and 2 years old. I also have been married for 6 1/2 years and yes if you can read between the lines, I was 7 months pregnant when I got married. The past 6 1/2 years have been full of adventures and it's never been a dull moment in the Carson household.

In October of 2007 I started working for Community Services of Venango County in their Early Head Start Program as a Home Visitor. As a Home Visitor, I had a caseload of nine to twelve families. My goal was to teach the parents/caregivers that they were their child’s first and best teacher. In April of 2010, our agency expanded into another county and I became the Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator for the new county. I supervise six home visitors who serve seventy-two slots. Slots are either pregnant women or children birth to three years. As a Home Visitor and as a Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator we need to be careful about how we treat our families. We have to learn about their cultures and their beliefs so we can better serve them.

Week 8

I can not believe we are at the end of our first class. This journey has been a wonderful experience. I feel like I have grown as a professional and can not wait to see where this journey has planned for me next. I want to thank everyone who has stopped by my blog and posted comments of support. I really enjoyed reading not only your comment on here but also reading your blogs. Good luck to everyone and hopefully we will see each other on the next journey!

NAEYC's and DEC's Code of Ethics

This assignment was very difficult for me to complete. I say that only because both codes of ethics were wonderfully written and I could relate to almost all of them. I can relate to both codes of ethics to the Early Head Start Program that I work for and also they relate strongly to my passions and beliefs about working with children and families.

NAEYC Code of Ethics

Section I: Ethical Responsibilities to children:

As a home visitor we had to take into consideration the individual child and that each child has different abilities and qualities. This ideal really reinforces that we need to always remember each child is unique and is not like any other child. This is the  reason I picked this ideal is because, it is significant to my job. 

I-1.3 – to recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.

Section II: Ethical Responsibilities to Families:

I chose a couple of the ideals in this section because they are about families. I feel that the families we serve have the right and responsibility to be informed and have the chance to be involved in their child’s education. All the ideals that I chose really reinforced my beliefs.

I-2.2 – to develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.

I-2.3 – to welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program,

I-2.4 – to listen to families, acknowledge and build upon their strengths and competencies, and learn from families as we support them in their task of nurturing children.

I-2.7 – to share information about each child’s education and development with families and to help them understand and appreciate the current knowledge base of the early childhood profession.

I-2.8 – to help family members enhance their understanding of their children and support the continuing development of their skills as parents.

I-2.9 – to participate in building support networks for families by providing them with opportunities to interact with program staff, other families, community resources, and professional services.

Section IV: Ethical Responsibilities to Community and Society

The last two ideals are about the community and how it is important to provide high-quality programs in the communities.  I feel that the program I work for provides a high-quality program and we are always striving to do more. We are always trying to be involved and collaborate with different agencies in the community to help support the families and to provide better services for the families.

I-4.1 – to provide the community with high-quality early childhood care and education programs and services.

I-4.2 – to promote cooperation among professionals and agencies and interdisciplinary collaboration among professionals concerned with addressing issues in the health, education, and well-being of young children, their families, and their early childhood educators.

DEC – Code of Ethics

I chose four ideals from the DEC code of ethics because I felt that they are the ones that I can really relate to in my profession. We encourage all family members to be involved and participate in home visits in Early Head Start. We are always building on relationships not only with the children but also with the families whom we are serving. We know that making the opportunity for all family members to be involved will better the chances for the child to get the services and support they need.

I. Professional and Interpersonal Behavior:

4. We shall serve as advocates for children with disabilities and their families and for the professionals who serve them by supporting both policy and programmatic decisions that enhance the quality of their lives.

6. We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curricula and learning environments to facilitate young children’s development and learning.

III. Responsive Family Centered Practices

3. We shall respect, value, promote, and encourage the active participation of ALL families by engaging families in meaningful ways in the assessment and intervention processes.

IV. Ethical and Evidence Based Practice

2. We shall use every resource, including referral when appropriate, to ensure high quality services are accessible and are provided to children and families.

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC). (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.dec-sped.org/

My Growing Collection of Resources

I have added a list of resources on the right-hand side of the page. Most are from the resources from this week, but I have added four new resources that I use in my job.
I felt that I needed to share these because they are a wonderful source for information and ideas for anyone in the early childhood field. I have also listed them below for easier access to them:

Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center - ECLKC

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc

ECLKC is a wonderful website. It is not only for early childhood professionals but for parents also. I use this website almost everyday. It is where I can find news about Early Head Start and what is going on in the field. Currently I am using it to get ready for the Federal Review that my agency is getting ready for.

Early Childhood Today

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/ect/

One of my home visitors gave me this website. It is has ideas for professionals, articles and news that are relative for the early childhood field. It is a wealth of information.

Stanley Greenspan

http://stanleygreenspan.com/

I included the website for Stanley Greenspan. This site gives you information about him and his research.

The Floortime Center

http://www.dirss.com/

This website is in connection with Stanley Greenspan. His son Jake Greenspan and Tim Bleecker are Co-Directors of this center. They are implementing Stanley Greenspan's DIR model.

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

Stanley Greenspan, the author of "The Challenging Child" (1995) has an insightful analogy to help us understand what people experience when they can not effectively process, or interpret, sensory input. He describes it this way:

"Imagine driving a car that isn't working well. When you step on the gas the car sometimes lurches forward and sometimes doesn't respond. When you blow the horn it sounds blaring. The brakes sometimes slow the car, but not always. The blinkers work occasionally, the steering is erratic, and the speedometer is inaccurate. You are engaged in a constant struggle to keep the car on the road, and it is difficult to concentrate on anything else. Needless to say, you would probably be irritable! That's how some challenging children feel much of the time. Because their bodies may no work the way they're supposed to, they are constantly striving to keep their "car" on the road. They may feel out of control, frustrated." (p. 4)

President Lyndon B. Johnson's Remarks at the University of Michigan May 22, 1964:

“The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where leisure is a welcome chance to build and reflect, not a feared cause of boredom and restlessness. It is a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community.”(Johnson, 1964)

After reviewing the multimedia presentation "The Passion for Early Childhood" (Walden,2010). I have chosen a couple of quotes to share.

Raymond Hernandez, MSEd stated:

“My passion comes from – a lot of it is intrinsic motivation that I have for the work that I do. Everyday I go to work and look forward to it because I know the services that I’m providing for children, it’s to their benefit. It’s not anything that’s going to benefit me.” (Walden,2010)

“I think my passion comes from wanting to make a difference. I think, like I’ve said before, and I truly believe, that I’m not here to save the world. I’m here just to make a difference in the community that I’m working.” (Walden, 2010)

Renatta M. Cooper, MA stated:

“…I learned it’s not all about you. You got to take your ego out of it and think about what’s best for this child.” (Walden,2010)

References

Greenspan, S.I., Salmon, J. (1995) The Challenging Child. United States of America: Da Capo Press.

Johnson, L.B. (1964, May 22). [Commencement address]. Speech presented at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Walden University (2010). “The Passion for Early Childhood” (Laureate Education Inc., CD-ROM, 2010 release).

My Personal Childhood Web

The people listed below were very special to me in my childhood and they are still influencing me today. I will talk about how they influenced my life as a child, how they nurtured me, cared about me, and how they made me feel special. I will also discuss how their influence still affects my life today.

Christine

Christine is my mother. She is also one of my role models. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be just like her. I loved watching her teach her students and seeing her passion when she was teaching. Seeing how she cared for them as much as she cared for me, my sister, and my brother. She encouraged me to persue my goal as an educator. She still to this day encourages me to do my best and reach for my goals even when I feel like giving up. She has always been there when I needed her and has really taught me a lot about being a caring and loving mother to my own children. She taught me that as a mother you could still have hopes and dreams and still raise a family while achieving those dreams. If I had to use one word to describe her, it would be "Encourager".

George

George is my father. Most of my younger childhood, my father was a stay at home dad. He was laid off work so he was the one who took care of us when my mother was at work. He loved to cook and shared that passion with us. He encouraged my siblings and me to use our imagination and encouraged us to figure things out for ourselves. He was in a sense for me, my protector. I always felt when I had a problem I could go to him with it. He would not solve the problem for me all the times, but he would help me come up with a solution. I knew that he would do anything for his children and he still would. I feel blessed to have a father that I can count on and know that he will always be there for me. If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be "Protector".

Donald

Donald was my grandfather. I was very lucky growing up to know all my grandparents. Grandpa Hart was the one I was closest to. In his eyes, I could do no wrong. He was a Marine and you could tell in his eyes that he had seen many things in his life. I loved going over to his house and spending the day with him. We would take walks in the woods and go fishing. He was an outdoorsman. I got my love of nature from him. When I think about him, I get this picture of him sitting at the picnic table under the big tree at his house. As he would call it, he was "holding down the fort". He would always have a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. I never thought anything of it, because that was typical for him. I remember when, in school we learned that smoking and drinking were bad for your health. I remember going to him and telling him that he needed to stop drinking and smoking. I made posters, wrote letters to him, and even told him that I would stop talking to him. I was too young to realize that I could not make him stop but I tried my hardest. He just laughed and told me it was ok he was allowed to do those things. This was a big influence in my life. I vowed that I would never smoke. The hardest part of this story is that during my senior year of high school he was diagnosed with tongue cancer. The doctors could not operate; they gave him only months to live. I remember the anger I felt, and the pain I felt. He tried to joke and laugh about the situation. Throughout that year, I watched this strong man waste away to nothing. He passed away three days after I graduated high school. I still think about what he would say or think when I do things in my life. Even though he is gone, he is still influencing my life. I talk to my children about the importance of not smoking. The one word that I would use to describe him would have to be "Jokester".

Bev

Bev was my babysitter. Her family lived on a farm. She also lives right beside the fire hall where my father was a volunteer firefighter. So when there was a call, we would all get in the car and go with him to the fire hall then walk across the yard to her house. I spent half my childhood on that farm. I remember sitting on the bench in the barn watching them milk cows. I remember learning different things on the farm and how it was very hard work. She was like a second mother to me. She is still a big part of my life. She comes to my children's birthday parties. She talks about how my oldest daughter looks just like me. The main thing I think about when I think about her is the farm and her crafts. She was always making something while I was there. There are times that I think about what would Bev think about this decision, or what would she say? The one word I think of when I think of her is "hard-worker".

Clay

Clay was one of my Sunday school teachers. He was and still is a huge member of the church. He was like a father to me growing up. He was a Marine and a jokester just like my grandfather. I think that is why I have a connection to him. He always reminded me of my grandfather. He was always there at church and always making sure, I was doing ok. Today he still does the same thing. The first thing he does when he see me is gives me a huge hug and asks me how I am doing. In church today, he is the "grandfather" figure to all the young ones that come. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that my children get to know a wonderful loving and caring man. My youngest calls him "Papa K" since she cannot say Clay yet. Her face lights up when she sees him and she runs to him and gives him a hug and kiss. It is a wonderful feeling seeing not only my children but also all the young ones go to him and feel comfortable with him. The one word that comes to mind when I think of him is "Hugger" because that is the first thing he does when he sees my children or me.

The title of a children’s book I love and what I love about it

Over and Over by Charlotte Zolotow.  I loved this book as a child and now as a parent. My mother used to read it to me over and over, now I am doing the reading over and over to my children. This book follows a young girl through the seasons and all the different holidays that happen throughout the year. She is so young she cannot remember what comes next but does remember some things but they are all jumbled up in her head. Throughout this book the little girl keeps asking her mother “What comes next?” and the mother always tells her. As a mother I know all too well that question, my own children ask me this question at least once a day. This is a wonderful book that illustrates how children think and how their imagination works.

Zolotow, C. (1957). Over and Over. New York: Harper & Row Publishers

A story about a child that touched your heart

I have many stories of children that have touched my heart. The one that really stands out is about one of my cousins. She is victim of shaken baby syndrome. She was just a few weeks of age, her mother was at work and her father was at home taking care of her. One thing led to another and he did the unthinkable without realizing it. The mother was called at work and came home. They took the young girl to the hospital. She was Life-Flighted to Pittsburgh Hospital. The diagnosis was grim. They were told she might not even make it and if she did she would never walk, talk or do anything. The mother never gave up hope. She believed that God would take care of everything and that they would get through this and her child would make the impossible happen. After many years of therapy, doctor appointments and prayers this little girl walked her mother down the aisle without any aide, to begin a new life with a supportive stepfather. Every time my family sees this “Miracle Child” walking, talking and succeeding in school, we are reminded how we almost lost her but she was strong enough to endure the worst. I remind myself; this little girl who was given no chance to survive has survived and proves everyone wrong every day. She gives everyone who knows her or hears her story hope, that if she has gone through all of this and still succeeds so can we.

Introduction

This is the first my first attempt at a blog.

Thought I would introduce myself again.

My name is Alison Carson. I am a proud mother of three children ages 6 years old, 3 years old, and almost 2 years old.

In October of 2007 I started working for Community Services of Venango County in their Early Head Start Program as a Home Visitor. As a Home Visitor, I had a caseload of nine to twelve families. My goal was to teach the parents/caregivers that they were their child’s first and best teacher. In April of 2010, our agency expanded into another county and I became the Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator for the new county. I supervise six home visitors who serve seventy-two slots. Slots are either pregnant women or children birth to three years. As a Home Visitor and as a Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator we need to be careful about how we treat our families. We have to learn about their cultures and their beliefs so we can better serve them.

I feel that being part of an online program will let me fulfill my duties as a student, a working professional and as a mother of three young children. I can work it into my schedule so I can still work and take care of my family while I am earning my Master’s degree.