My Supports

There are many supports in my daily life that help me to be successful.

• My family is a huge support system for me. My family helps me by providing resources, encouraging words, and trust. I know that I can go to my family with anything and I can trust that they will help me through it and share their opinion if needed. There are many benefits to having my family as a support in my life. My family provides joy in my life, my family can show me love, and can provide a comfortable environment. If I did not have my family, it could be challenging to make important decisions in my life. My life would be very different without my family as a support if they did not exist. I would feel lost without my family.  

• My job supports me financially, allowing me to have money to buy food, clothing, housing and many other important things. Having a job is a huge benefit in order to be successful because the money I earn from working contributes to many things I can do in my life. Without my job, I could not afford many things and would feel a sense of stress. It would be very challenging to exist comfortably without a job. 

• Technology is a huge support for me. Today, technology plays a role in almost everything that I do. My cell phone allows me to communicate with may individuals, my computer helps me learn, pay bills, and explore. Without technology, life would be more challenging, however, I believe I could exist without technology after getting used to it. 

• Colleagues help provide support within my job. Colleagues provide support when it comes to students, ideas, and even emotional support. I have established trust with my of my colleagues and I know I can count on them to help provide resources and ideas as well as a person to talk to. Without this support, it would be more challenging to be an effective teacher without the collaboration from colleagues. 

Challenge: Unemployed

Supports I would need include:

• Family to help provide basic needs. For example: housing, food, emotional support. I would need to rely heavily on my family to provide the resources I could not afford. Without my family as a support it could be challenging to find housing and would add more day to day stress. 
• Technology to help search for a job and create necessary resources to apply for jobs. Without technology as a support, it would make finding a job more challenging as many companies post online positions that are open. In addition to this, technology helps keep me informed, without technology it could be challenging to an active participate in the community. 
• Support from the state. This support would provide money each month to ensure I could afford to buy food, clothing and housing while looking for a job. Without this support an individual could easily become homeless. 

My Connections to Play

Throughout my childhood my parents would present different opportunities for my siblings and I to participate in. For example, we were enrolled in different organized sports, we would go to the park, take vacations, and play with friends. In each situation, we were presented with different activities and had to learn what to do. Throughout this time, we also learned to explore and create our own games as we played.   I think this taught me to become more independent in my life and gave me more knowledge and exposure on different experiences.





This quote could not be more true! As I teach third grade students, I see a huge difference in their life compared to mine. When I talk with my students about what they like to do for fun, they often discuss something that involves technology. Throughout my childhood, I did not have a phone or access to the internet like we do today. I remember playing outside with my friends and neighbors inventing our own games, playing on a playground, and playing sports. Social media can have a negative impact on children and I believe children are exposed to inappropriate things because of their access. I would not consider myself to be a sheltered child, but I definitely did not know everything my parents knew and was not overwhelmed                                                                  by media and all things internet.

Essential Play Items from my childhood:

My siblings and I would always play with these cardboard blocks building different structures, knocking the blocks down and creating different obstacle courses. My parents would help create these structures with us and always supported my play. 

  
I had many Barbies, Baby Dolls, and Beanie Babies that I would play with often. This was a great chance for me to create different scenarios and have an opportunity for fantasy play. My sister and I would often play "house" where we would act like my Mom. My parents were very supportive of this play and would allow us to bring our dolls out of the house to continue the play. 

Throughout my childhood I had many opportunities for arts and crafts. My parents were supportive in this play and would often draw, color, or build with me. When we had Playdoh out, my parents would get all the accessories out and would help us create different pieces with the Playdoh. Throughout my house my artwork was displayed showing me that my parents were proud of what I created. 

Play Today:

Play today is very different from my childhood. While children still play with some of the items I shared, more of their play is focused on using technology and on the internet. I feel play is different because children are not spending as much time outside playing with peers. In addition to this, children today have access to technology that I did not have in the past. I hope that children today get to experience more of the play I experienced at home and their parents reflect on what their child is doing after school. In addition this, I hope that in Early Childhood Education programs are beginning to add more play into the curriculum allowing children a chance to develop the important skills that can be learned from play.

Role of Play: 

When thinking about my childhood, I believe that I was exposed to different opportunities to play. My parents enrolled me in different programs, I experienced different play opportunities in school and I spent a lot of time out doors. Opportunities for play in my childhood allowed me to explore and learn things on my own preparing me for different experiences in adulthood. Thinking about the opportunities children are presented with today when it comes to play, I am grateful for what I experienced in my childhood, and I believe I was able to develop important skills to be successful that some children today may not exposed to today because their "play" looks different. My friends and family played a huge role in the play I was exposed to as a child. My parents were always trying to present new opportunities to my siblings and I and we were always encouraged to play with friends.