Quality Early Childhood Education Essay Example for Free

Quality Early Childhood Education Essay This essay will identity three of quality indicators which related to early childhood education [ECE]: trained staff, small group size, and partnership with parents and families, then discuss about why they are important for children, parents and society. Firstly, young children should be cared by trained staff. Rouse and Tarrant (2001) stated staff should have high qualification, training, experience, and positive attitudes working with young children. Educators with high acknowledge are able to provide appropriate care and learning activities. Therefore, not only will children improve their social skills, but their parents will also get valued support and information (Rouse Tarrant, 2001). In addition, small group size plays an important role in quality ECE. This means â€Å"the children learn more, get on better with others, express themselves better and feel good about themselves† (Rouse Tarrant, 2001, p.13). For example, if children are well organized to watch how a butterfly to begin hatching from the chrysalis, they can observe more carefully by asking interesting questions. During this play, children can take advantage on making good relationships and intensive conversations. Without doubt, children will feel more valued and secure (Rouse Tarrant, 2001). Finally, it is vital for centres to have good partnership with parents and families. Both staff and parents should recognize children’s education is consistent learning which based on their families’ customs, values and beliefs (Grey, 1999). This means they need to respect and trust each other. This can be achieved by working together with decision-making (Ministry of Education, 1998). Obviously, they will get more opportunities to discuss how to improve children’s development more efficiently. Consequently, both parenting skills and children’s self-confidence will be enhanced, and the society will be the real winner as children are a previous resource for future society (Rouse Tarrant, 2001). To conclude, children will get long-term benefits, if they play in a small group, and be educated by high quality staffs who work with parents.  And these benefits will extend to their family and the whole society as well. (332 words)

The World Of The Infant And Toddler Children And Young People Essay

The World Of The Infant And Toddler Children And Young People Essay Early childhood educators have long recognized the importance of play in infants and toddlers lives. Play is a strong feature which has meaningful learning practices. Play is embedded in and threaded throughout the New Zealand early childhood curriculum called. Te WhÄ riki: He whÄ riki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa Early Childhood Curriculum. This report will be discussing quality play as curriculum for infants and toddlers and will show the importance of play which supports childrens learning and development and will examine the value of play and how play promotes infants and toddlers to learn and develop. This report will also explain how Te WhÄ riki supports play as indicators of meaningful learning and together what is my role in facilitating a play-based curriculum with my beliefs and philosophy of play. Rationale Piaget describes three cognitive stages of play. He explains that in the first sensorimotor practice play, Infants and toddlers experiment with bodily sensation and motor movements with objects and people. My personal philosophy is making things interesting for the infants and toddlers I believe that pushing and grasping happens during their play times and through doing this over and over again the children learn that for example balls roll away and through this they experience the sensation and pleasures of movement and my philosophy is that play is natural and important for children. Vygotsky stated that the value of play is to promote childrens physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional development(Gonzalez-Mena, 2009, p.72). By playing with blocks and boxes children gain to master object permanence. Piaget states that retrieving hidden objects reveals that infants have begun to master object permanence, the understanding that objects continues to exist when out of sight. (B erk, 2010). According to Gonzalez-Mena (2009) a main ingredient of any infant or toddler program should be play(p.72). Play is natural for infants and toddlers and it should be an important use of their time. Piaget indicates play as the nature, built- in way to contribute children to accumulate learning experiences for their development (Dockeet Fleer, 1999). My own belief for play is giving infants and toddlers the freedom to play and extend on their interests while providing them with interesting resources to play with. Children develop eye-hand co-ordination from manipulation with toys. Vygotsky describes play is always a social experience even when they are engaged in solitary play as the children draw on themes, experiences and roles that have social originality (Berk Winsler, 1995). Play also provides rich experiences for children to develop their language, social and emotional skills (Berk Winsler, 1995). For example, when children pretend to be mothers, they become sensi tive to others needs and feelings because they get the knowledge about how their mothers care for them. Therefore they need to control their emotions to show their love and kindness to accomplish their roles. During play, all children need to use language, gestures, and symbolic objects to express their interests and feelings, like I am tired, or sit nicely on your highchair, Children may also pretend to use blocks as imaginary cakes to feed their babies. Through his play experience children learn their own capabilities and the way to understand themselves by social behavior such as sharing and taking turns, co-operating, using manners and language, emotional management, the nature of social rules and the way of making friends and feel part of a group and learn how to live and work in groups. Therefore, children improve their language communication and negotiation skills, as well as gaining the development of imagination and creation (Jalongo, 2004). I believe that even when the chi ldren disagree on who gets to be the baby, they are honing their social skills. Play is extremely beneficial and children have many opportunities to expand their own world and through play children are learning all the time. Aspect One: Group Sizing and age span during play for infants and toddlers. Larger groups tend to be over stimulating According to Gonzalez -Mena (2009), As larger groups are overly stimulating the quiet children usually get ignored and it is harder for the children to really get into their play, So a strategy that will be useful is to make sure that all children get to have their turn to play and teachers can encourage children to turn take and scaffold them during their play. Arthur, Beecher, Docket , Farmer, and Death (2007) states through scaffolding, those with expertise in a particular area ,such as parents or teachers, provide the framework of support that enables the children to try out new ideas, so as to lead them to greater understanding (p.95). Mixture of Ages As some play programs work well with a mix of ages others work well with the same age group. In this case with a mix of infants and toddlers it is best to protect the ones who cannot move around to the ones that can move. I can do this by fencing a portion of the room for the children that are immobile. It is best to not keep the children in playpens or cribs. Space for preschoolers and toddlers Children need space to move around as they need room to stretch. They need the space to interact with adults who share the floor space. Arthur et al. (2007) discusses that recent research exploring childrens social play has encompassed not only how children play with each other but also the nature and quality of social interactions, interactions among adults and children, the influence of childrens social and cultural context, and the role of popular culture in play (p.100). White, OMalley, Toso, Rockel , Stover, Ellis (2007) explains that The position of a child within a powerful social vision is articulated within Te WhÄ rikis goals: all children will grow up as confident and competent learners, healthy in mind and body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the sense that they make a valued contribution to society (Ministry of Education,1996,p.9). As sometimes the mixture is toddlers and preschools. It is important to make sure that the toddlers are protected from the equipment they arent mature enough to play with. Aspect Two: Environments for infants and toddlers to play. Environmental factors that influence play Careful considerations need to happen when giving space for children to play as the age span and group size matters. Educators need to think about how the room is appropriate for infants and toddler for this to happen be to set the environment up and what the space needs. There should be choices that need to be encouraged. Choice depends on the philosophy of the centre and the age of the children .Culture also has an influence to the environment of play. Rogoff (2003) notes that participation and play for children is how the children change some of these routines and rituals through their participation. Through participating in play children learn the structure and cultural expectations of events. For example, participating in play conversations facilitates an awareness of the nature of conversations (such as turn taking, speaking and listening) (p.102). Setting up environments for play It is best for a caregiver to provide structure by doing this the environment gets structured to a play environment. Caregivers must set up an environment that has a good deal of undesirable behavior. For example if a child is not allowed to play in the kitchen it is a good idea to put a gate across the access. For infants and toddlers educators must make sure that everything that is in the environment to be touchable and mouth able which means that the play object is clean and safe to put in their mouths as infants and toddlers learn through mouthing. Te WhÄ riki (1996) states toddlers have access to an increasing range of playthings that can enhance both gross and fine motor skills (p.87). It is good to set up the right number of toys with providing the right number of choices and let the children find special ways to combine their toys and material. Which are soft and hard that will develop their fine and gross motor activity. Hygiene and gross motor activity for infants and toddlers. Making sure that the toys are sanitized time to time is important .Children should not be getting restricted to their natural inclinations. Ailwood (2003) describes such play as a natural, intrinsic and free, and progressivisms version of free-play. Providing gross motor activity is important inside as much as outside play. Infants and toddlers should be in an environment where they get to roll and slide and climb and also run. The area should be like a gym that is set up for active play. Aspect Three: Caregivers creating curriculum out of play for infants and toddlers. Safety as an overarching theme Setting up an environment that put safety a primary considerate is good so that the children are free to explore and discover. Te WhÄ riki (1996)states that safe things are provided to assist infants to move, for example, something to hold on to, to balance against, or to pull them up on (p.87). Caregivers encouraging interactions and then stepping back It is important to make sure that the caregivers interactions are encouraging for facilitating play for infants and toddlers. It is also important to support problem solving between children so they get to see themselves as capable children. Observing is a way to understand each individual child and each situation to promote the childrens learning. Ailwood (2003) states the process of play is characterized by play as learning which maintains is the result of the legacy of developmental psychology with its associated truths. Adult Roles in Infant-Toddler Play Caregivers can create curriculum out of play by giving the children their own freedom to play and also by helping them pursue their own special interests and adults should extend on their interests .Adults should also provide fun and colourful play resources. While children are playing it is important to encourage child to child interactions and encourage youngsters to come and learn such valuable skills and how the children can resolve conflicts. It is important to step back until needed too. A caregiver should always know when to intervene and become sensitive. Te WhÄ riki (1996) discusses toddlers are encouraged to develop skills at their own rate and to know and understand their abilities and limitations. Adults wait to let toddlers indicate that they need assistance rather than assuming that they will (p.87). Timing is crucial for infants and toddlers play .When adults step in too soon. Te WhÄ riki (1996) states that toddlers have opportunities for active exploration with the support, but not the interference e, of adults. Valuable learning can be lost but if an adult steps in soon but if it is too late there is a possibility that children can hurt each other (p.87) It is good to remember to encourage children to solve their own problems as it is a very important part of their education. But steeping back and not intervening is another adult skill that is important to practice. We should not interrupt a child who is really absorbed into their play as absorption is a quality that educators should value. Conclusion: In conclusion, play as a curriculum is the highest form of learning in early childhood education. Infants and toddlers are able to reach their deepest, wide range level of learning best through play. Play has an important function and infants and toddlers are learning all the time through their interactions with others, as well as working through the rules and values of their cultural groups. Three aspects of the above will finally draw a conclusion of the importance of play in the learning and development of supporting infants and toddlers. Play is a professionalized process and play is a freedom of expression as well as a game for life.

Strategies to Improve Personal Skills

Strategies to Improve Personal Skills POSITIVE ATTITUDE Whatever I want to achieve in this world one thing is very important to understand that before I reach my goal, before I set my goal or before I desire for something, it is very important to have a positive attitude, I have to get rid of the pessimist streak in me which will cause hinder the progress every time if things doesnt go my way. The positive attitude is also applicable when I am dealing with others as most of them are just like me trying to do their best. My attitude will motivate them as well, and will help me too. When I am applying for a work position, I have to research what that employer needs. Then tailor my Attitude and Approach to fit that employer. When I practice this Attitude and Approach, more often than Ill find that by helping them first, theyll be more willing to help me in return. In other words when I present myself to an employer as a person who cares about their needs, an employer is more likely to present me with what I need a job offer. TIME MANAGEMENT A time management skill is my ability to recognize and solve personal time management problems. With good time management skills I am in control of my time and my life, of my stress and energy levels. My make progress at work. I am able to maintain balance between my work, personal, and family lives. Ill have enough flexibility to respond to surprises or new opportunities. AVOID PROCRASTINATION AND LAZINESS A basic definition of procrastination is putting off the things that you should be doing now. This happens with all of us time after time. Yet, what makes a big difference for your success is your ability to recognize procrastination reasons and expressions in their different forms, and to promptly take them under control, before this bad habit steals your opportunities, damages your career and pride, or destroys your relationships. So why do not you do it now? Causes of procrastination Waiting for the right mood Waiting for the right time Lack of clear goals Underestimating the difficulty of the tasks Underestimating the time required to complete the tasks Unclear standards for the task outcomes Feeling as the tasks are imposed on you from outside Too ambiguous task METHODS TO IMPROVE PROFESSIONAL SKILL MULTITASKING I should concentrate on multitasking. Multitasking basically means where i can handle more than one task at the same time efficiently and effectively NETWORKING Networking is an intentional process of developing relationship between individual in order to exchange information, advice, resources, and support. It is a long-term investment conscious, ongoing and reciprocal. Networking is not spontaneous, unplanned or manipulative. DECISION MAKING SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES I should use my decision making skills to solve problems by selecting one course of action from several possible alternatives. Decision making skills are also a key component of time management skills. Decision Making can be hard, almost any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction. The difficult part is to pick one solution where the positive outcome can outweigh possible losses. Avoiding decisions often seems easier. Yet, making my own decisions and accepting the consequences is the only way to stay in control of my time, my success, and my life, if i want to learn more on how to make a decision. TEAM WORK AND TEAM BUILDING ESSENTIALS Team building skills are critical for my effectiveness as a manager or entrepreneur. And even if I am not in a management or leadership role yet, better understanding of team work can make me a more effective employee and give me an extra edge in my corporate office. The other critical element of team work success is that all the team efforts are directed towards the same clear goals, the team goals. This relies heavily on good communication in the team and the harmony in member relationships. Some additional team building ideas, techniques, and tips I can use when managing teams in certain situation. I should make sure that the team goals are totally clear and completely understood and accepted by each team member. Make sure there is complete clarity in who is responsible for what and avoid overlapping authority. Build trust with my team members by spending one-on-one time in an atmosphere of honesty and openness. Allow my office team members build trust and openness between each other in team building activities and events. Give them some opportunities of extra social time with each other in an atmosphere that encourages open communication. Remedies to improve One at a Time: Set aside blocks of time each day to work exclusively on one specific task. With a little practice and organization, I have found that Ill be able to accomplish a lot more during these concentrated time blocks. Prioritize: To avoid procrastination and to make sure that the most important tasks get completed in a timely manner, make a list each day of which tasks need to be addressed. By working on the most important tasks in the priority order I have determine, I have a work list that will help me avoid hopping from task to task. Set Aside Time: If there are tasks i find consistently interrupting my main priorities, put limits on them. For example, break my habit of checking my email throughout the day and set aside a specific time for it in the morning, afternoon and evening. Cut out Interruptions: Reduce the likelihood of any interruptions that can get me sidetracked. If I am at my desk, working on my computer, turn off my instant messenger, lock out my email alerts and let co workers know I am busy. Divide and Conquer

Tragedy in Sophocles Oedipus The King and Antigone Essay -- Sophocle

Tragedy in Sophocles' Oedipus The King and Antigone The Greeks considered tragedy the greatest form for literature.   However, the tragic ends for the characters were not ordained or set by fate, but rather caused by certain characteristics belonging to that person.   Such is the case with the characters of Sophocles' plays Oedipus the King and Antigone.   Oedipus from King Oedipus, and Antigone and Creon from Antigone posses characteristics, especially pride, that caused their tragic ends.   As the play progress, other characteristics appear and further add to the problem to such a point that it is inevitable that it will end in tragedy.   Therefore the tragedies were not a result of a plot by the fates, but rather a result of the characteristics that the characters possessed. The characters posses a multitude of traits, some of them common to all of them.   Pride is especially prevalent.   This characteristic seems to be the major tragic flaw or hamartia that eventually causes the downfall.   Oedipus exhibits a vast amount of pride, which seems to border on sheer arrogance.   This is demonstrated in the beginning of the play where he states, "I, Oedipus, whose name is known afar."(p. 25).   This is reinforced by the priest's replies of, "Oedipus great and glorious,"(p.26) and, "O greatest of men."(p.26).  Ã‚   Therefore it may be concluded that Oedipus obviously posses a large amount of pride.   Antigone, daughter and sister of Oedipus also posses the same trait.   Creon acknowledges this when he says, "This girl's proud spirit,"(p.139) and Antigone confirms this with her grand speech to Creon, where she states, "I knew that I should have to die... living in daily torment as I do, who would not be glad to die?" (p.138).   Thus the pri... ...in both King Oedipus and Antigone there were characters whose lives ended in tragedy.   However these falls from grace were no the deeds of fate, but rather that of the character themselves.   The characteristics, especially pride, of the people set them on the path.   Therefore the faults of the characters were the cause of their ill-fated end. Works Cited Dodds, E. R. "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael J. O'Brien. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 17-29. Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997. Sophocles. Antigone. Exploring Literature: Writing and thinking About Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions :: Global Warming Climate Change

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Overall, emissions of CO2 increased by 0.3% to 6.8 tons per person in the United States. Emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide, which account for 17% of total greenhouse gas emissions, declined by 0.6%. Emissions from the industrial sector declined 1.3% even though the U.S. economy grew 3.9% in 1998. However, CO2 emissions from transportation grew by 2.4% while CO2 emissions of regulated utilities expanded by 3.2% as a result of a hotter than normal summer. Overall, 1999 U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were about 10.7 percent higher than 1990 emissions, which are estimated at 1,655 million metric tons carbon equivalent. The 1.1-percent average annual growth in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 1999 compares with average growth rates of 1.0 percent for the U.S. population, 1.5 percent for energy consumption, 2.2 percent for electric power generation, and 3.1 percent for real GDP Table ES2. U.S. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases, Based on Global Warming Potential, 1990-1999 (Million Metric Tons Carbon Equivalent) Gas 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 P1999 Carbon Dioxide 1,351 1,338 1,365 1,397 1,422 1,435 1,484 1,505 1,507 1,527 Methane 182 183 183 178 179 179 173 172 168 165 Nitrous Oxide 99 101 103 103 111 106 105 104 103 103 HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 24 22 24 24 25 29 33 35 40 38 Total 1,655 1,644 1,675 1,702 1,737 1,748 1,796 1,816 1,818 1,833 P = preliminary data.Note: Data in this table are revised from the data contained in the previous EIA report, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 1998, DOE/EIA-0573(98) (Washington, DC, October 1999).Sources: Emissions: Estimates presented in this report. Global Warming Potentials: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996). Energy End-Use Sector Sources of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 1990-1999 Sector Million Metric Tons Carbon Equivalent PercentChange 1990 1999 1990-1999 1998-1999 Transportation 431.8 496.1 14.9% 2.9% Industrial 454.8 481.2 5.8% 0.2% Commercial 207.7 243.5 17.2% -0.4% Residential 254.2 290.1 14.1% 0.4% Note: Electric utility emissions are distributed across sectors. Total carbon dioxide emissions from the residential sector increased by 0.4 percent in 1999 (Table 6). Year-to-year, residential sector emissions are heavily influenced by weather. For example, in 1996, a relatively cold year, carbon dioxide emissions from the residential sector grew by 5.9 percent over 1995. In 1997, they declined by 0.

Elementary, Middle and Highschool Boy-Girl Relationship Essay

Is it too soon to talk about boy/girl relationships in elementary school? Of course it is, you say! Well, you may not want to hear about it, or you may choose denial over reality, but the fact remains that children are playing out the cultural role that they are being taught as early as 2nd grade. Therefore, the relationship between boys and girls at every school (Christian and non- Christian) is a topic that needs to be discussed from a Biblical standpoint. Recently I have observed an increase in the level of interaction between some of the boys and girls at the elementary school level with the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship in mind. There have been some phone calls made and notes passed, and yet nothing really serious has happened. Even so, the fallout from this kind of interest and behavior has been clearly seen, as some of the kids are rejecting others, breaking off friendships, and making â€Å"who likes whom† a focus of attention. The pattern becomes more sophisticated as it continues in the middle school years and is in full bloom by the time the children hit high school. I would like to attempt to persuade you that the elementary level of â€Å"who likes whom,† and the middle school level of â€Å"who is going out with whom,† are not simply innocent and cute stages of life through which everyone must go. As informed Christians professing to glorify the Lord in all things, we need to see if any of this behavior brings glory to God and evaluate the effects of it on our kids. A brief look at the teen dating model and its consequences will show that it is the world’s model, not Christ’s, that we are so accustomed to. Dating is more for a boy and a girl than just spending time together. It’s a lifestyle that involves attitudes and values. It’s a heart thing! Matthew 22:37 says, â€Å"And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and wit h all your soul, and with all your mind.’† The first love for our kids is to be Jesus. Our Creator’s plan for our lives is really what we should be directing our kids to focus on; the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever! Romantic male-female relationships are designed by God to be special and singular. The world’s model of dating is one in which you try out many opportunities until you find the one that makes you happy. This type of dating results in a pattern of many broken hearts and bad memories – some of which are detrimental to the intimacy intended for marriage later in life. Interestingly, even the non Christian world is beginning to realize that frequent dating is not healthy. The following are excerpts from an article in the September 8, 2005 Wall Street Journal1 that cites two studies not written from a Christian worldview but nonetheless conclude: * Teens who date a lot don’t have a higher likelihood of developing healthy adult relationships. Instead, their romances in their 20s are likely to be more troubled. * Teens who dated only one or a few people, and formed relationships of more than a few weeks, emerged in their 20s with closer and more-trusting romantic ties than those who had more numerous and fleeting dates. * Unmarried teen girls who settled down with just one partner at 16 or 17- and were still unmarried at 21- are more likely to be eventually married by ages 22-25. Many, including Christians and non Christians, think that dating is just part of the teenage experience. However, putting adolescent boys and girls together leads not only to the emotional experiences that often tear at our children’s hearts but also to sexual experimentation. Think back to your teen years: were you told by a boyfriend or girlfriend in your teen years that he/she loved you? Did he/she eventually marry you? Where did that relationship lead? God wants us to act and think differently. These are matters of the heart. Philippians 1:9-10 says, â€Å"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.† The goal for most kids in boy/girl relationships is that they are primarily interested in what they are going to get out of the relationship. Sometimes popularity, comfort or pleasure is what a teen gains emotionally or physically. That’s not the kind of love that God would have us live out. That’s choosing what feels good for self rather than what is good for others and pleases God. Parents must be honest and Biblically discerning about the real motivation that lies behind the thoughts and actions of our children. Do love and sincerity motivate the boys in these relationships? Matthew 22:39 says, â€Å"And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.† There is a great book on the subject entitled I Kissed Dating Goodbye, written by Joshua Harris. I have little space here, so I will make a few points and urge you to buy the book. The book is about waiting and preparation, and it debunks and rejects the typical idea of dating and applies a Biblical grid to it. You don’t have to agree with all of his points, but it would behoove you to take a good look at them. Josh Harris says, â€Å"Let’s not do what feels good, but instead do what is good.† He encourages us to look at all of the damage caused by typical worldly dating in the lives of teens and to replace that energy and time with a time of focused preparation for all of life, including preparing for the special relationship of marriage. The book challenges our teens to realize they have no business taking another person’s heart if they are not ready to make a lifelong commitment to that person. He says that if you really love someone, you’ll be interested in that special person’s long-term needs rather than your short-term desires. He exhorts the teen to look at the big picture: serving others and glorifying God. That way, the person is positioned to receive God’s best for them. God has something better for a teen than futile worldly dating! I have two lists for you from the Josh Harris book that are without the further explanation that is needed, but due to lack of space, you’ll just have to get the book to learn more. The seven habits of highly defective dating are: 1. Dating leads to intimacy, but not necessarily commitment. 2. Dating tends to skip the â€Å"friendship stage† of the relationship. 3. Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love. 4. Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships. 5. Dating, in many cases, distracts young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future. 6. Dating can cause discontentment with God’s gift of singleness. 7. Dating creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s character. If you are like me, you read those and said amen, I’ve done that before and amen, I see that over and over again. Now here is the refreshing Christian view – five important new attitudes: 1. Every relationship is an opportunity to model Christ’s love. 2. My unmarried years are a gift from God. 3. Intimacy is the reward of commitment; I don’t need to pursue a romantic relationship before I am ready for marriage. 4. I cannot â€Å"own† someone outside of marriage. 5. I will avoid situations that could compromise the purity of my body or mind. Some of you won’t agree. Some of you agree but are saying, â€Å"My child would never go for this.† You are absolutely right. If they have been trained by the world to think like a worldling, they will not want to kiss dating goodbye. But, you are the parent, so†¦.. be the parent! I can’t tell you how often parents tell me what their child will or will not do, so that’s what they (the parents) do. We parents have to take a stand for the Lord and teach the tough things that need to be taught! God will honor that. Some of you are happy that you don’t have teens yet, so you think you don’t have to be concerned. Wrong!!!!!! The reason that we are struggling with our teens and worl dly dating and relationship views isbecause of what they have been taught since Kindergarten. How foolish is it of us parents to allow our child to be taught worldly thinking about male/female relationships and then go to God when our child is 16 years old to beg that He will help our child behave like a Christian when he/she is alone! God will not be mocked! Boys must be taught that they are not to get physical with the girls and that, instead, girls are to be honored and respected. Little things such as holding open a door or helping carry something for a girl are proper and good. The children need to be taught that having an opposite sex relationship is something that is for later in life as you get ready for marriage – something that is also extraordinarily special to people and to God. Boys and girls calling each other on the phone (especially in elementary school) is inappropriate in most cases. We need to teach that people are not possessions that you can trade. Instead, we need to teach them to show real love to one another by helping one another to succeed where they are in life (a student) and to honor God. What are our kids being taught through what they see and hear daily? What are they watching on TV? How about the movies? You and I both know that women are often portrayed as sex objects and trophies. What about at home? Dads, do you treat your wife as the queen of the household? Do your kids see you treating her with great care and affection? Do you realize that everything they see is teaching them how to treat their wives one day? Every year of our lives we are learning and recording permanent records in our minds. I played the worldly relationship and dating game when I was young and things may seem to have worked out OK. My wife and I have been married for 27 years and have a great marriage – but there is more to the story than what you see. Frankly, I am ashamed of many things that I have recorded in my memory regarding male/female relationships from many years ago before I was married. I have prayed that God would remove some of those memories, and He has been gracious, but some remain. In God’s purposes, He often allows us to experience and remember things so we can learn from them and pass the lessons on to others. If you went through the same pattern of worldly dating when you were young, you don’t have to pass it on. You can start afresh with your children. By God’s grace, you have the power to go against the tide of our culture and raise up children who are truly happy and bring glory to God. We have great promises from God that He will be faithful if we will trust and obey Him. I hope that this article has given you some food for thought. Better yet, I hope that you have been convinced that boy/girl relationships in the third, fourth, or fifth grade are yet another battleground for the spiritual struggle for our kids’ hearts. In life, the devil is not kept out of your child’s life by locking a door. We must get after him with all we’ve got and then root out the unbiblical thinking in our kids. 1Shellenbarger, Sue (2005) The Case for Going Steady: Studies Say Teen Dating Habits Affect Marriage Skills. Wall Street Journal, 9/8/2005.

‘Bright and Morning Star’ Richard Wright Essay

The aim of this essay is to discuss the decision that the protagonist from Richard Wright’s ‘Bright and Morning star’, Aunt Sue, a black mother of two sons, has to make in order to chose between her sons’ life and the safety of the Communist members from her community. This story is, among others written by Richard Wright, a ‘dark portrayal of black Communist life’ and it analyses the inner struggle of Aunt Sue as a black woman and ‘mother of Communists’ (1). Wright’s short story follows the dilemma that Sue has to confront with herself during one rainy night, as a mother of Communist sons who were chased by the authorities. Her dilemma starts to grow from the beginning of the story, when she finds out that her son’s communist party was in danger to be discovered by the authorities: ’The sheriff wuz by our house tonight[†¦] He done got word from somewheres bout tha meetin tomorrow’(Wright 412). From that moment she was subjected to two different emotions, the fear that she might lose her son and the duty to the community to save the members of the party that her son had:’ She was feeling that Johnny-Boy was already lost to her; she was feeling the pain that would come when she knew it for certain, and she was feeling that she would have to be brave and bear it’, ‘[†¦] for her to try to stop Johnny-Boy was to admit that all the toil of years meant nothing; and to let him go meant that sometime or other he would be caught. In facing it this way she felt a little stunned, as though she had come suddenly upon a blank wall in the dark.’(Wright 412-413) In spite of Wright’s joining to Communism: ‘â€Å"I Tried to be a Communist’, and of his numerous writings about it, eventually his focus grew more on the development of an individual black consciousness than on advancing the causes of the Communist party as in the case of his t wo stories ‘Fire and Cloud’ and ‘Bright and Morning star’(2). From the beginning of the story we can see Sue divided in two inner parts: a part of her still remembering her past beliefs, in Christianity and Jesus, and a new part of her revealed from the moment of her joining her sons’ beliefs in Communism in order to escape of the past sufferings of the black people. In her search for better, as we can see trough the story, she try to find a refuge first in religion, then in Communism, but when she feels that neither  the Communism is enough to achieve a better living, her last hope is in her pride of the black people: ‘She was consumed with a bitter pride. There was nothing on this earth, she felt then, that they could not do to her but that she could take’ (Wright 422) Also we can see Sue taking two different attitudes along the story. If in the first instance we can see Sue as a regular mother concerned for her family and her love for her son, Johnny-Boy: ‘But how she could forget Johnny-Boy out there on those wet fields rounding up white and black Communists for a meeting tomorrow?’ (Wright 408), also we can see that her doubts about her son’s business among the Communist group of her community made her look in a sort skeptical at the policy of allowing people enter the group and at the new white members she didn’t trust: ‘It wuznt nona our folks . . . Ah knows em all from way back. There ain none of em that coulda! . . . Son, it wuz some of them white folks! (Wright 417), and she is first portrayed as a regular woman who knows her place in the house: ’While shoving the iron a cluster of toiling days returned; days of washing and ironing to feed Johnny-Boy and Sug [†¦] days of carrying a hundred punds of white folks’ clothes upon her head [†¦]’(Wright 409). Her image along with her beliefs changed as the events from that night continued. Her black pride and her commitment to the group emerged when she was brutally questioned about her son and the members from Johnny-Boy’s Communist group, succeeding to resist to their attack on her: ‘yuh didn‟t git whut yuh wanted! N yuh ain gonna nevah git it!’(Wright 423). Though, further in the night, because of weak position she was put into by the beatings of the sheriff and because of the false news that her son was killed, her self-confident fell and she was tricked to say the names of the members. The moment she decides to rectify her mistake is the moment she realizes that she has to fight alone for her cause and to rescue the other members and she ‘would do anything for her sons – except betray others’ (Felgar 29). Also the moment she lost her last faith – her pride- revealing the names of the members is also the moment she decides to put the good of her people, her friends, above her son and her fears. Thus the only way to take it back was by shooting the boy Booker before he could tell the names:’ The sheet! Thas it, the sheet! Her whole being leaped with will; the long years of her life bent toward a moment of focus a point. Ah kin go wid mah sheet! Ahll be doin what he said! Lawd Gawd in Heaven, Ahma go like a nigger  woman wid mah windin sheet and git mah dead son!’(Wright 433). And although she is subjected to the great martyrdom a mother could endure: her son being tortured and killed in front of her, she maintain her strengt h to accomplish her mission: â€Å"She fired, once; then, without pausing, she turned, hearing them yell. She aimed at Johnny-Boy, but they had their arms around her[†¦] She glimpsed Booker lying sprawled in the mud, on his face [†¦] And she was suddenly at peace; they were not a white mountain now; they were not pushing her any longer to the edge of life. Its awright†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Wright 440 ) Main features of the protagonist are coming out in this part of the story: cleverness, the strength of sacrificing her maternal love and her son for the community cause. She becomes thus the strong, self-confident woman, in order to fix her mistakes and takes the faith of her and her son’s life in her hands and she goes to confront the ‘enemy’ by herself. Because of the wisdom of the past generations she possessed, she succeeds to accomplish her well developed plan: she goes to the enemy camp by herself with a gun hidden in a white sheet in order to shoot the traitor of her friends:’ The sheet! Thas it, the sheet! Her whole being leaped with will; the long years of her life bent toward a moment of focus a point. Ah kin go wid mah sheet! Ahll be doin what he said! Lawd Gawd in Heaven, Ahma go like a nigger woman wid mah windin sheet and git mah dead son!’(Wright 433). In conclusion, the struggle the protagonist has to take before she could see what her options are and her decision to give her life and her son’s in favor of the Black community, captures a cruel reality, the author wanted to represent, of black women in particular, and the black community in general, in their effort to escape from the hardships the white men had submitted them to. In this way we can say that Sue succeeded to surpass her condition as a black mother and woman, and became a defender of a community, but with a price: stepping over the love of a mother for her son and sacrificing him for the sake of the rest. Works cited: * Richard Wright, Early Works. NY: Library of America, 1991,’ Bright and Morning Star’; * Felgar, Robert. Student Companions to Classic Writers: Student Companions to Richard Wright. Westport: Greenwood Press, Inc., 2000. * Kilinski, April Conley, Flinging a New Star: â€Å"Fire and Cloud† and â€Å"Bright and Morning Star† as Reflections of Richard Wright’s Changing Relationship with Communism. Epiphany: Vol. 5, No. 1, 2012.