• What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?
  One particular section that I have found on the website is an article called, “ Heifer International's Sarah the Goat Teaches Kids About Giving.” The article talks about poverty and hunger is something that the children can and should learn about. The children select which animal would most benefit the village or community after understanding its dynamics.
• Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways? I read an article called “Hate to Eat and Run, but...” It talks about years ago there was a place called Al's Meat Market where the butcher would cut the meat and hand you a slice in a piece of wax paper and explain to you what the cut was and where it came from. We have moved so far from this in the past years. We now have convenience ( I am guilty of this also), where 80 percent of the profit goes to marketing and packaging and we no longer have this personable relationship with food. We no longer eat as a family. “ Roughly 65 % of sub-Saharan Africa's population relies on subsistence farming. For instance, 86% of Ugandans earn a living through subsistence farming. Most of the economies of Lesotho, Zambia and Rwanda are also based on subsistence farming.” Garcia, M (2012)
• What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field? There is an article from last year that talks about International Literacy Day. The woman speaks about when she married her husband he only had a fifth grade education and worked in the rice fields and only made two dollars a day. The were really grateful for Heifer for talking the time out to believe in them. Teaching children stories like this on a day that was created by politicians promotes literacy that will effect the economy. “To help children grow into successful, productive adults, their parents need good jobs with good incomes, stable housing, affordable childcare and health care, and enough assets to build a more prosperous future.

Here are some other, jaw-dropping statistics straight from the report:

• In this country, children born to parents in the lowest fifth of the income scale are quite likely (42 percent) to end up there as adults.
• At age four, children who live in very low-income families are 18 months behind the developmental norm for their age, and by age 10, the gap is still present.
• 7.7 million children remain uninsured, along with nearly 12 million parents with children under age 18.
• Almost 11 percent of the nation’s children had at least one unemployed parent in 2010, affecting nearly 8 million children. “ ( retrieved from http://www.heifer.org/blog/tag/children/page/2) I do think it is a positive thing that there are more lobbyists for poverty and places like Heifer are not just working overseas but also working with the United States on poverty.

• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter? I learned that poverty has increased in 38 states, 9.1 percent of workers were still unemployed and poverty means so much more than just living in an environment that is unsafe.
  
  reference http://www.heifer.org/
   
  

There are so many things that I learned this week from this class it is unbelievable. I had alot of rumors dispelled about what it means to be in poverty.  "Americans often talk about poor people as if they were a distinct group with uniform characteristics and somehow unlike the rest of us. In fact, there is great diversity among children and families who experience economic hardship. Some people question whether a family that has air conditioning or a dvd player should be considered poor. Most workers need a car to get to work and having access to the internet is crucial for children to keep up with their peers in school." 2008 (NCCP)

To be in poverty in America is very different then to be in poverty in Africa. I have below a letter from the woman I talk to from South Africa. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Dear Jennifer,

We don’t teach languages to young children but we certainly bring them into our daily programme. South Africa has many languages but we work mainly in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa (in the Western Cape).

We bring these languages through movement games and songs and we bring the cultural pictures and traditions through story-telling, food and festivals. We also have some African instruments in our classrooms as well as story books depicting life experiences and situations relevant to the children in the class.

Regarding poverty, this is one of our country’s greatest challenges and requires constant and ongoing work and reviewing. Many structures and programmes are in place to combat poverty

On many levels - it is a complex issue that needs huge amounts of support and funding. It also demands up-skilling and educating of many people who suffer poverty because of a  lack of infrastructure as well basic education and skills.

Robyn Davis

 

http://www.earlychildhoodnyc.org

I chose this newsletter because it based out of New York and I feel that there is so much culture/things to be learned from reading this. I wanted to copy this out of the newsletter, it is how to become a home visitor. This is something that I always wanted to do and maybe oneday I can explore this career option. This newsletter is both in English and in Spanish. I thought that was amazing. The site also has a link to Quality Universally Inclusive Early Responsive Education (QUIERE) This is for people who are looking to pursue a teaching career in a diverse setting. There's a newsletter, research and public policy and a link to a second site I am looking to join called  http://www.acei.org/ This site has a great article on exclusion in education.

"i. Who experiences exclusion in society? Who experiences exclusion in education?
In many countries, patterns of social exclusion often continue to influence the patterns of exclusion
in education while exclusion in education often feeds into social exclusion.
Let us first think about who may be excluded from social development in your country. For example:
• Are any people not allowed to vote in national or local elections? (e.g. immigrants, refugees,
unregistered residents, people under voting age, women, etc.);
• Do any people face discrimination in obtaining loans, credits, or assets? (e.g. poor people, people
without regular incomes, people without stable employment, women, people without citizenship
status, people without a fixed address, etc.);
• Do any people face more challenges to employment than others? (e.g. language minorities,
people with disabilities, women, people living in certain places with social stigma, people of a
certain caste, people living with HIV, people with little or no formal school education, etc.);
• Do any people face more difficulties in accessing basic healthcare than others? (e.g. orphans,
street children, refugees, people living in remote rural areas, people in poverty, etc.)."

(retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002170/217073e.pdf?utm_source=Master+Newsletter+List&utm_campaign=5596a1265e-Newsletter_8_8_128_8_2012&utm_medium=email)


Sheila Farrigan
Albany County Head Start
What they do:Home visitors build relationships with the families of children in early childhood education programs to help strengthen the bond between child and family, as well as extend further support. Home visitors develop lesson plans for families, covering developmental areas, but parents are treated as partners, and are active participants in all activities. In Head Start and Early Head start, each home visitor is assigned to no more than twelve families, so he or she is able to devote a lot of attention to each family. In these programs, home visitors make weekly visits to each home, and hold bimonthly “socializations” for families of children in similar age groups.
Where they work:
While home visitors generally share an office in their agency or program for planning and administrative tasks, most of their work is on site at the homes of the families they are
assigned to. They may also act as a liaison for the family to other agencies or services to support the child’s needs, like housing, healthcare, nutrition, and any special needs.
How to become a Home Visitor:
The requirements to become a home visitor vary depending on the agency or program, but generally the Child Development Associate or college coursework in related areas are
encouraged. Much of the training for home visitors will be done by the agency. However, some qualities that are
important for home visitors are flexibility and comfort in a wide variety of environments, and openness and sensitivity to all cultures, religions, family situations, and differences.
How did you get into the field?
At first I was a classroom teacher, and I always liked working with the parents. When there was an opening in the home base office of the Head Start program, I thought it would be a good opportunity to have the best of working with both children and parents.
What made you want to work with children?
I’ve always enjoyed working with young children. When my children were in school, I started working as an aide in the public school. I enjoy their enthusiasm; they pretty much accept you. If you really get down on their level, they learn to trust and accept you and they can learn a lot.
What would you tell someone who wants to get into this field?
I would say that you have to enjoy being with children, but you also have to enjoy working with the parents. I think it’s important that we have all different kinds of parenting. As a home visitor, you have to be ready to meet parents where they are and not be judgmental. It can be very rewarding. It’s also important to have patience, and to be a good listener. And be non-judgmental, I think that’s the most important thing.

This has been such a journey for me. On Sunday night I read over the directions on how to do this assignment. It is really exciting for me to connect with someone on the other side of the world that is in the same position I am. I started to email and within hours I started to get responses back. People that I never met before were trying to help me. How amazing is this? We can go halfway around the world and speak to people in different lands that we never met to learn and grow. Well with a lot of determination I meet this teacher named Robin and I email her. She write me back and says this.

Dear Jennifer,

I am 49 years old and I am the Head of the Early Childhood Development department at the Centre for Creative Education, in Cape Town. The CCE is a teacher training NGO that runs

Full time and part-time courses for ECD, B.ED and Eurythmy, based on Waldorf-inspired pedagogy.

I have been in this position for 3 years and my role is in training early childhood teachers (ages birth to 7) and overseeing the department as a whole.

We work out of a Waldorf curriculum but as we have an accredited training (government approved) we cover the National Curriculum requirements as well.

Before this I taught for 12 years at Imhoff Waldorf school in Kommetjie, here on the coast.

I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, but grew up in Johannesburg. I lived in England for 7 years where I completed my schooling.

I have lived in Cape Town for 20 years. I have 2 daughters, ages 24 and 18 and live with my 18 year old, near Simon’s Town.

Regards,

Robyn Davis.

I told her I will write her back once a week to correspond with her. I can't imagine she is more excited than myself.

For my organization I chose the Association for Childhood Education International. They were established in 1982 and are focused internationally. Today they are advocates for children, families as well as teachers. They do have global news, blog and radio which I will share throughout the semester.

Dear Jennifer,

I am 49 years old and I am the Head of the Early Childhood Development department at the Centre for Creative Education, in Cape Town. The CCE is a teacher training NGO that runs

Full time and part-time courses for ECD, B.ED and Eurythmy, based on Waldorf-inspired pedagogy.

I have been in this position for 3 years and my role is in training early childhood teachers (ages birth to 7) and overseeing the department as a whole.

We work out of a Waldorf curriculum but as we have an accredited training (government approved) we cover the National Curriculum requirements as well.

Before this I taught for 12 years at Imhoff Waldorf school in Kommetjie, here on the coast.

I was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, but grew up in Johannesburg. I lived in England for 7 years where I completed my schooling.

I have lived in Cape Town for 20 years. I have 2 daughters, ages 24 and 18 and live with my 18 year old, near Simon’s Town.

Regards,

Robyn Davis.

I’m attaching 2 pictures from our recent graduation in July this year.
 What an Amazing journey this class has been so far.

My Supports

In my daily life I am supported throughout the day. My husband supports my every dream. He calls me his little bird that flutters from one idea to the next trying to make sense of this world. I am supported my friends who know me like know one else does. They accept who I am and know when to listen and when to give advice. I am supported by the company that I work for. I am not always the best at following directions or their rules. But they know that every family that leaves their child in my care is going to be elated at the end of the day. I am supported by the kids that I work with. Without the support of these 16 children on a daily basis I would be in big trouble. They are kind, respectful and trust that I have their best interest at heart..
I imagine that I am deaf. I do read lips but it is really hard for me to understand sometimes
 what is being said. My husband supports my every dream telling me that this is not a disability but a beautiful language that is spoken with my hands. He calls me his little bird as I try to teach everyone to speak to me in my language. I am supported by friends who always carry around little note books and pens and listen carefully as I speak to them. I can tell what I say is important to them and they take the time out to try to sign back to me. I am supported by the company that I work for. I teach sign language to the children at the end of the day after I finish teaching my prek class at the School For The Deaf. I am supported by my 16 children without them I would be in trouble. Without these supports life would be hard. I would only be able to communicate with those who had lost their hearing. I would feel sad that I take the time out throughout the day trying to listen and communicate with the hearing but feel disrespected when I am ignored because it is a little harder to communicate with me.
 

My Connections to Play

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce

When I was a small child we went outside and ran through the woods, challenged bridges that are much to scary as an adult for me to cross and was chased by neighbors for pretending we were spies and writing down their license plate numbers. My days of play started out in an apartment complex ventured into living in the woods with box turtles and ending by moving into the city. My play was supported  by neighbors and friends. My mother would let us out of the house and was told to come back before it was dark. There was a man in a truck that stopped off at the park in the middle of the day that would give you a sandwich and a juice. You sat in the grass, peeled the plastic off the Styrofoam plate and squeeze mustard  from a foil pouch. My play involved my friends, enemies and just the streets. We would wander into the local businesses and get free pieces or learn how to lazer writing on the sides of trophies. Play is different now. It is much more organized and there are more adults in charge. We were free to climb trees, hop fences and now everything is alot safer. We learned to work out problems, make freeze pops from juice and toothpicks in an ice cube tray. Now a days you don't see as much creativity. There are more electronics and there are more things bought. I don't think that I ever stopped playing. This is why I have a job as an after school teacher. I tell my kids the stories of when I was a child and we would sneak into these after school programs and watch these children play basketball, make giant tissue flowers. I thought this must be the most incredible job in the world. So I achieved one of my dreams. I remember what it's like to be a kid; sneaky and misunderstood. I try to incorporate as many social based games in my room as I can as well as letting them play the electronic. I don't think I ever gave up on playing. I just got old.

Relationship Reflection

• Relationships are like road maps. You spend time with these people and you develop these really amazing pathways of who you are to who are becoming. They remind you of things that are important in your life and who you are. These relationships grow with you and throughout the years when sometimes you lose contact with these people, they still live in you. This is why they are important to me. I need them just for mere survival.
• Positive relationships in my life right now is my husband. I am 38 and I have been with him since I was 20. This is something else that is truly amazing to me. Not only loving someone for almost half your life but also living with them. I am also in a relationship with my two dogs. Each has a story of where they came from and how we met. Each has a unique personality that sometimes I only understand. Each dog was unwanted at some point in their life.
• My husband is my grounding base. I am kinda a free spirit with to many ideas and plans. Each feels like a really great one until I try to implement it and things fall away. Still he believes in me. He knows when to intervene an when to let the story play out. Our relationship is important because of the growth factor. We have both changed so much through out the years and I get really excited to think about what is in the future
• I believe in relationships that some are permanent and some are fleeting. There are lessons to be learned from everyone that you meet in life. This is what life is about. You create these beautiful experiences and meet these really interesting people, you open yourself up ( sometimes to be hurt) and let yourself go. In relationships you learn to forgive yourself, live in the moment and you take this throughout your journey.
• A partnership of any kind is never 50/50. I think when you love anyone or anything, you are more willing to sacrifice and want to see others achieve their dreams more than you want to achieve your own. If the relationship is right, the other person wants to see you do the same.
• I say every year that I open my heart to these children, love them, care for them knowing that one day they will grow up and move away. I will never forget them though.

What I think about Child Development

Things that should be measured in middle childhood would be cognitive development, physical development,, social development

cognitive developmental- Brain development needs to be measured in order to help children cognitively in middle childhood. The reasons for this would be the child would be able to retain more information, have more control over their actions. The child should also be able to be adaptable to new situations.

“II. INFORMATION PROCESSING .

A. Brain development contributes to two basic changes in information processing.

1. Increase in information-processing capacity. A fairly rapid decline in time needed to

process information occurs during middle childhood.

2. Gains in inhibition. Inhibitory control-the ability to resist interference from irrelevant

information makes great strides during middle childhood.

B. Attention .

1. During middle childhood, attention becomes more controlled, adaptable, and planful.

2. Selectivity and Adaptability . a. Through the elementary years, children become better

at deliberately attending to just those aspects of a situation that are relevant to task goals. b.

Older children can flexibly adjust their attention to the momentary requirements of situations. C.

Attention strategy development follows a predictable, four-step sequence: 1) Production

deficiency-preschoolers fail to produce strategies when they could be helpful. 2). Control

deficiency-young elementary school children fail to control, or execute, strategies effectively. 3).

Utilization deficiency-slightly older children apply strategies consistently, but their performance

does not improve. 4). Effective strategy use-by mid-elementary school years, children use

strategies consistently, and performance improves.

3. Planning. a. School-age children scan detailed pictures and written materials for

similarities and differences more thoroughly than do preschoolers. b. On complex tasks, schoolage children make decisions about what to do first and next in an orderly fashion. C. The

development of planning illustrates how attention becomes coordinated with other cognitive

processes. d. Attentional difficulties are at the heart of the problems of children with attention

deficit hyperactivity disorder , a disorder in which children have great difficulty staying on task,

act impulsively, and may be hyperactive.

C. Memory Strategies .

1. Memory strategies are the deliberate mental activities we use to store and retain

information. “ (http://psych.ku.edu/dennisk/CP333/Cognitive%20Middle.pdf )

Physical development

Physically the child should be gaining weight, have bladder control, should be at their age appropriate weight and have age appropriate small and large motor skills. Without being measured these could be signs of juvenile diabetes, rickets, abuse or neglect. Loss or non-retention of small and large motor skills could be signs of delays.

“Growth slow in middle childhood, and wide differences in height and weight exist.

• Children with retarded growth due to growth hormone deficiency may be given synthetic growth hormone.
• Proper nutrition is essential for normal growth and health.
• The permanent teeth arrive in middle childhood. Dental heath has improved, in part because of use of sealants on chewing surfaces.
• Malnutrition can affect all aspects of development.
• Obesity, which is increasingly common among U.S. children, entails health risks. It is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and can be treated.
• Concern with body image, especially among girls, may lead to eating disorders.
• Because of improved motor development, boys and girls in middle childhood can engage in a wide range of motor activities.
• About 10 percent of schoolchildren's play, especially among boys, is rough-and-tumble play.
• Many children, mostly boys, go into organized, competitive sports. A sound physical education program should aim at skill development and fitness for all children.
• Many children, especially girls, do not meet fitness standards.”(http://psych.ku.edu/dennisk/CP333/Cognitive%20Middle.pdf )

“Children want to do things by and for themselves, yet they need adults who will help when asked or when needed."(http://psych.ku.edu/dennisk/CP333/Cognitive%20Middle.pdf )

• Social Emotional Development - I always say in social emotional that it is better to use this skill than memorize information. In order to succeed in life a person has to have social skills. They need to be able to work out problems and to have autonomy.
• Seven to nine-year-old children of the same age and sex help each other:
  • have fun and excitement by playing together,
  • learn by watching and talking to each other,
  • in time of trouble by banning together,
  • by giving support in time of stress, and
  • understand how they feel about themselves.
• Children need guidance, rules, and limits.
• They need help in solving problems.
• They are beginning to see things from another child's point of view, but they still have trouble understanding the feelings and needs of other people.
• Many children need help to express their feelings in appropriate ways when they are upset or worried.
• They need more love, attention, and approval from parents and you than” criticism.”(http://www.nncc.org/child.dev/mid.dev.html )

In what ways are school-age children assessed in other parts of the world? (Choose a country or region of the world for which you have a personal affinity. I wanted to compare American Middle Childhood to African forager Middle Childhood. The assessments are different because these children are being judged on their productivity instead of their social skills and how much they know.

“ The Aka acknowledges two stages of development corresponding to out notion of middle childhood; mona (weaning-7) and mona bokala and mona ngonda (males and females 8-12 respectively) In the Aka camp. There is nearly always at least one adult present, although this is not dependent upon there being children to look after, where there are few adults around, will they necessarily be a child's parent. Girls spent a mean of 36.8 percent of their time with a same-sex child as one their nearest neighbors, and boys spent about 45.4 percent of the time nearest to one other boy. Aka children performed twice as much work independent of adults than adult-dependent work, excluding childcare and work for villagers. They also spent more time emulating work in play than performing adult-dependent work.” (retrieved from http://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/media/PDF/boyette_hn_draft_6-09.pdf)

Tsunami and children

What I would like to learn more about is the children of the Tsunami. "On December 26, 2004, several areas across the Indian Oceanwere hit by a tsunami that left more than 310,000 people dead
and millions destitute. This catastrophe created concern for mentalhealth (Ashraf, 2005) as well as psychiatric assessments of the survivors,including posttraumatic stress (Chatterjee, 2005; Figueira,
2005; Jarusuraisin & Kesornsukon, 2005) in the aftermath of thetsunami (Maddern, 2005; Stone, 2005). Studies pertaining to theprevalence and epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder" According to the journal article it is the social support, family services, family and other emotional support that is helping these children through these traumatic experiences. I want to read more about this and even maybe take a more active role.  B. Bhushan and J. S. Kumar (EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND POSTTRAUMATIC
STRESS IN CHILDREN SURVIVING
THE 2004 TSUNAMI) I have a special affinity with this because it reminds me so much of 9-11 and the horrible things that happened that day. Post
Traumatic stress is an interest of mine.

When I was a child

When I was a little girl my father was a heroin addict. This is not something that I am proud of or ashamed of. He left when I was 7 and my mother was about 25. My sister was three. We started out to live at my grandmothers house but were soon moved to the city. My mother met someone knew and instead of drugs there was lots of drinking. I grew up listening to my father was a heroin addict and my sister and I were not going to amount to much being children of a junkie. My mother tried but throughout the years things started to get worse. I was hit, kicked and given a certain amount of time to eat my meals before it was taken away. When I 13 I lied on a application to get a job as a bus person but my wages were garnished for my mothers diet pills. These things were the norm to me. I tbecame older still and dropped out of school at 16 and went to night school to get my GED at 17. I had to leave the area but I wasn't sure how. I enrolled in culinary school in RI but left to move to Maryland at 21. These things have hurt me in my present life because I was not allowed to become of a foster parent because of what they said was an abusive childhood but I take anxiety medicine to help me cope. My work  helps me heal. forgiveness and love helps me heal.When you move away from the people who have one perception of you and journey to a place where no one knows you things change. To change as an individual is one of the hardest things a person can do but it can be done.

In my future endeavors in the field of early childhood I want to explore as many outlets or venues in order to support and teach how to raise happy and healthy children. 0-3 are the most important ages to and breast feeding is something that always interested me. I think that in this country there is an uncomfortable atmosphere with the female body and this is not a topic typically explored. When it is in the press this is usually for shock value. "One of the first commercial breastmilk substitutes
was invented in 1867. The product was a mixture of
toasted flour and condensed milk marketed by a
Swiss food company1. At that time, most infants who
were fed breastmilk substitutes did not survive. For
example, in a region of Germany where the majority
of children were fed a mixed gruel of flour and water
to replace breastmilk, fifty percent of infants died; as
a result the infant mortality rate in this region was
four times the infant mortality rate in Norway, where
breastfeeding was the norm2.
When commercial breastmilk substitutes became
more available in Europe and North America, the
practice of breastfeeding began to decline at alarming
rates. As birth rates in industrialized countries
dropped, manufacturers of breastmilk substitutes
sought out new markets; developing countries, with
high birth rates, became an attractive market to baby
food manufacturers. By the end of World War II, many
infant food manufacturing companies were selling
their breastmilk substitutes in countries under colonial
rule in Africa and Asia." (UNICEF: Protecting Breast Feeding in West andd Central Africa)

I  wanted to do my blog this week on breast feeding around the world. I was "lucky enough" to come across the "shocking" picture of the mother on Time magazine and wonder why this bothered everyone so much. Personally, I don't think breast feeding at this age had much value for the child but it would not be the first time that I was wrong. According to the article the mother has 3 boys and has breast fed them all until they were 18 months old. My question is are we so accustomed to our beliefs and ways in this country we are just shocked and appalled that a woman would decide to for her child to take part in a process such as breast feeding at such a late age.

 "Breastfeeding is a universal practice in West and Central
Africa. Breastfeeding initiation rates are above 90
percent in all countries (with the exception of Gabon)
and children are breastfed for a long time as reflected
by the fact that the mean duration of breastfeeding
in West and Central African countries is 20
months. However, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding
is lower than in any other region in the world: in West
and Central Africa, only 20 percent of infants younger
than six months are exclusively breastfed, with rates
of exclusive breastfeeding as low as 2 percent in
Chad, 4 percent in Sierra Leone, and 5 percent in
Côte d’Ivoire. However, some countries in the region
have shown remarkable progress in the proportion
of infants younger than six months who are exclusively
breastfed; between 1990 and 2004, exclusive
breastfeeding rates increased from 3 percent to 19
percent in Burkina Faso, 7 percent to 24 percent in
Cameroon, 4 percent to 53 percent in Ghana, 9 percent
to 25 percent in Mali," (UNICEF: Protecting Breast Feeding in West and Central Africa)
Reference
(UNICEF: Protecting Breast Feeding in West and Central Africa)

• Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child's birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development
• My own birth was breach. I have a bald spot on the top of my head from a blood clot and faint scars on my temples from the forceps. I chose this example because I find it interesting that they do not use this method anymore. After reading the question for this blog I called my mother to ask her some of the details. She told me that half of my body was blue from lack of circulation. I was tangled in the umbilical cords while in the womb.
• Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison? Sweden has the highest rate of birth in Europe. In Sweden they get 13 months of leave. Instead of spending only 6 weeks with their child they can stay home for seven months. In Sweden midwives are used throughout the whole process. The rates of C sections are lower. In Sweden it is at 17 percent compared to 31 percent in the United States. The rate for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is also lower. I think the cultural aspects of the two countries is very interesting and where the importance lies in children and the birthing process. I wanted to add a few things about also traditions in China and conceiving a child that I thought were interesting. Lotus seeds are put in the bed of a  new married couple so that they would be blessed with a child very soon. The mother was to talk very softly, only eat meat that was cut into squares. In the first month after birthing the child the mother cannot wash her hair because of migraines, she cannot wash or drink with cold water and cannot read books.
• Lee W  http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese-pregnancy.htm

• 
  

  B=Boy  G=Girl

                             WOMAN'S CONCEIVING AGE
  MONTH OF
  CONCEPTION    18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31
  
  January        G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B
  February       B   G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   G
  March          G   B   G   G   B   G   B   B   B   G   B   G   G   B
  April          B   G   B   G   G   B   B   G   G   B   G   G   G   G
  May            B   G   B   G   B   B   G   G   G   G   G   B   G   G
  June           B   B   B   G   G   G   B   B   B   G   G   B   G   G
  July           B   B   B   G   G   B   B   G   G   B   B   B   G   G
  August         B   B   B   G   B   G   G   B   B   B   B   B   G   G
  September      B   B   B   G   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   B   G   G
  Gctober        B   B   G   G   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G   G   G
  November       B   G   B   G   G   B   G   B   G   G   G   G   B   G
  December       B   G   B   G   G   G   G   B   G   B   G   G   B   B
  
  
                              WOMAN'S CONCEIVING AGE
  MONTH OF
  CONCEPTION    32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45
  
  January        B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G
  February       G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B
  March          B   B   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B
  April          G   B   G   B   G   B   B   B   B   G   B   G   B   G
  May            G   G   G   G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   B   G
  June           G   G   G   G   G   B   G   G   B   G   B   G   B   G
  July           G   G   G   G   G   G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G   B
  August         G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G   B   G
  September      G   G   G   G   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G   B
  October        G   G   G   G   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G
  November       G   G   B   B   B   G   B   G   B   G   B   B   G   B
  December       B   B   B   B   B   B   G   G   G   B   G   B   G   B

I just wanted to say Thank You

This journey was amazing and couldn't have been done without you