Thursday, April 30, 2009

Final Project



Toys, Toys, Toys! and Maybe Some Education


Toys. That’s what all kids rave about when they go to the department store such as Wal-Mart, Target, or even Toys R’ Us with their parents; but the question that many may ask is: Is it educational and worth the spending? What makes a toy unique or interesting to these kids? As a sales associate working in the world’s most well-known department store and always keeping your prices low, Wal-Mart, I have seen adults barbed their children with toys just so they would not cry, throw tantrums, and make a scene, because that would be embarrassing. When the word “toy” comes out of an adult’s mouth, the word “toy” seems to have some kind of magical power to make the child listen. So, I am going to focus on three main ideas: what makes a kid want to buy toys, the role of toy play, and the importance of toys as a fundamental learning tool in classrooms.

Toys have been around for ages; hence, since the beginning of time. Young adolescents have been known to play with whatever they may find lying outside on the ground or hanging up. Toys and games have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations. They have been written about in some of our oldest literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization (3000-1500 BCE) include small carts. whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which could slide down a string ( Wikipedia, Toy ).

Why do kids like toys?

Toys. They come in all shapes, sizes, styles, and purpose. There’s the puzzle, the action figures, the Barbie, cars, kitchen play, the blocks, and so forth. There’s a million, and maybe a billion of different types of toys out there in the world; and still, more are being created. It’s a children-consuming industry! Some children feel they need to have a particular toy in order to be happy while others feel that they must have a certain toy in order to play ( Walker and White, p. 147 ). However, why do kids like toys in the first place? Here’s a clip from YouTube with some responses from some kids about what toys they like:





Toys just don’t have to be the usual action figures or the dolls, it can be educational toys like those musical books, or building toys, or those put together things. It’s a must have item in everyone’s collection. So, what makes a good toy?

v Appropriate for the child
v Appealing and interesting
v Suitable for all ages or certain age group
v Safe!
v Proper for the child to use
v Be used in multiple ways --- both mentally and physically

Toys are chosen by the kids through interest, the purpose of the toy, and how fun it will be. For instance, cartoon character toys. They are the most widely distributed toys across the market and most produced. One reason why kids like cartoon character toys is because the figures are familiar. Most kids only want the toys that depict the characters on their favorite shows and they may watch these shows multiple times every week. If a child regularly watches a half-hour cartoon show that comes on every weekday, they are being exposed to the characters on that show for over 10 hours every month ( Nutt ).

I have a younger sister who is turning 5 years-old on May 11th. She loves to draw and play make believe with her school toys and kitchen ware toys. Every morning before I head off to class, I always find her pretend school toys laying on the ground and I’d ask her, “What are you playing?” and sometimes she will give me the answer, “I play school. Can I go too?” I notice that toys enhance not only her urge to want to go to school but also the fact that it’s something she can allow herself to use a learning based.

Role of Toy Play

So, how do children benefit from toy play? Of course, one may agree that the importance of toy play enables one child to become creative, both mentally and physically. It allows for the child to use their imagination and perform it using their body language and maybe even use speech for dialogues. Young children can interact and learn how to approach with toys and materials --- in such cases as language learning and social development. The importance of toy play in early infancy and childhood contributes to their learning skills. From the moment that they are born, children face the most difficult task of learning how to crawl, walk, talk, use the potty, and grow up by themselves.

However, toy play serves multiple purposes in both humans and animals. They provide the entertainment and excitement while fulfilling an educational role. As White and Walker stated in their chapter, Toys, Play, and Learning:

“Toys are the tools of children’s play. Toys influence play. Toys of value enhance children’s own ideas. They help the child to engage in imaginative, meaningful play by allowing them to solve the problem. Sometimes the toys they choose are ones they are already familiar with or have played with before. Other times a toy is chosen because it is new and presents lots of challenges ( p. 144 ).”

The role of toy play is very essential since it also enhances the cognitive behavior and stimulate creativity of a child‘s mind. It helps them to develop their reading skills, use of language to talk in communication, and have a clear understand of what language actually is. Pretend play or make believe is highly influence by toy play. The use of tools, dolls, and personalized home-based materials encourages the children to explore the realms of expressing creativity and the use of imagination.

Children with physical disabilities have a more difficult time in locating and tracking objects in their environment due to poor head control, absent or poor locomotor skills preclude to exploration and manipulation of toys and play materials, and the lack of fine motor skills prevents these children from reaching, grasping, and releasing objects ( Unknown, Toy Play ). However, they can also benefit from such toy play as everyone else. The use of toy play can help them learn one step at a time. The role of toy play with children of disabilities allows the children to also build the same needs as the normal children but at a slower rate. However, this does not mean that toy play has no effects on them compared to the normal children. Toy play provides them same things as everything else.

Nonetheless, the role that toy play has on society and humans is essential to everyday life. It is something that is indispensable! Through toys and play, they are able to set themselves apart from reality and escape to their own world. In truth, make believe is the best way to express toy play because it involves the child using toys to build speeches and use dialogue to create a story. I, for one, loved playing make believe when I was in grade school. My sisters and I would loved to play house. We would pretend that our stuff animals were our babies or other siblings. I was always the older one (because I am the oldest of my siblings) and played the motherly figure. My sisters and I would pull out our toys and use them as anything --- because it’s all about using your imagination. You can never go wrong when it comes to pretending because that’s what toy play is all about.

Toys --- A Fundamental Learning Tool

Although toys may have the benefit of doubts, toys have a very special place in all of the children’s lives and perhaps even in adults. Teachers and educators can use toys as a way to help communicate between the student and themselves. There are thousands of ways that an educator can use toys as a fundamental learning tool. Toys can teach a child to:

v Solve problems
v Be creative and use their imagination
v Figure out how things work
v Communicate
v Cooperate with other people
v Build strength
v Encourage new ideas
v Differentiate between shapes and colors and sizes

In a classroom, if a child is more playing with a toy, the more they are most likely to be educated in some way. Educational toys may sometimes sound boring in a person’s mind, but you may never know until you try it out for yourself. Educators can learn to incorporate toys in all subjects, if possible, to teach lessons of the day or illustrate a visual learning system that can help the child to further their education.

Math
During a math lesson involved problem solving of going shopping, the use of fake money (dollars, quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies) can enable a child to compute the total or to help find the difference on how much they will receive back as change. It can also become handy when dealing with arithmetic. For example, using hardwood unit cubes or blocks as a way to show how one can add or take away or double the amount or take half the amount, or they can teach a child about geometry and balance. Math, especially, can use tools to help demonstrate and be a visual aid to those who needs that extra learning step.

Reading
Although much can not be used in reading, teachers want to make sure that their students understand the story and the main idea behind it. The use of toy to illustrate a story also helps develop essential understanding in reading skills. A good example of toy use in reading would be my first grade teacher. She used stuff animals to make the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” become real in our mind.

My teacher brought in her own turtle and rabbit and used them along while she read the story to the entire class. I thought this was a good idea because she wanted us have a good imagination or picture of the story in our mind. Besides acting out a book with doll figures and stuff animals, word puzzles and reading board games can help children to also appreciate words and literature as a fundamental necessity needed in life.

Arts and Crafts, and Hands-On
One of the most fun things about using a toy in class are toys that involve arts and hands-on. Art fosters creativity and build skills that may lead a child to seeing the wonders and beauties of life. Play dough, clay, paint, and all those other art materials allows the child to create from their own ideas a masterpiece like no other. Hands-on toys and items enable the child to figure out how the product works, observe the purpose and attain possible outcomes.

Educational Toys
Blocks. Alphabet magnets. Flash cards. Shape matching boards. Board games. You name it, they’ve got it. Of course, toys can be all play but they also serve a purpose of fulfilling the educational need. Leap Frog provides one of the best educational and learning toys out there for kids from infancy to 18 years of age. For more information about what toys they sell, you can visit their website here: http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop.html.

Educational toys include anything from stickers to books to science kits. These toys are used to inspire children to learn, using a fun, easy process. Most books focus on a particular subject or aspect, such as opposites, the alphabet, or animals. Another popular activity offered at educational toy stores are board games, which usually focus on letters and numbers, as well as teaching the necessities of sharing and taking turns. Electronic games are also popular because they take all of the "work" out of working
( Epand ) .

Putting It All Together
According to White and Walker, children are born consumer-drivers. From the moment of birth, they receive toys as gifts from their friends, family, and relatives as a expression of love and happiness. Toy manufacturers spend millions of dollars on toy advertisements in the media to children ( p. 146 - 147 ).

Parents and educators are highly encouraged to understand the importance of what toys can bring into a child’s life and become a part of their toy play moment as well. As they observe the children play with toys, there is an overcoming whelm of happiness and joy because the parents may see to it that their child is able to find their happiness with the toy and learn to use it as well as gain valuable insights on what interests their child. While the child develops, they too can build a reassurance that their parents respects their imagination and allows them to take charge. Children will always be children; they will buy all sorts of different toys for all sorts of different reasons but many choose a toy based on how interesting it may be or if it’s something that they can cherish for a long period of time.

It seems to be that toys have both the benefits of bringing out a child’s imagination and the benefit of helping them learn. Although many say that a child should not waste his or her time on playing with their toys --- personally, it’s up to those who play with the toy on whether they want to play or not. Toys bring not only fun but essential learning processes they helps them to progress and achieve their development.






WORK CITED
Epand, Victor. "Using Educational Toys Outside the Classroom." Using Educational Toys Outside the Classroom. 21 Oct. 2008. EzineArticles.com. 30 Apr 2009 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Educational-Toys-Outside-the-Classroom&id=1606416>

Nutt, Amy. "Why Kids Like Cartoon Character Toys." Why Kids Like Cartoon Character
Toys. 15 Oct. 2007. EzineArticles.com. 30 Apr 2009 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Kids-Like-Cartoon-Character-Toys&id=784038>

Unknown. "Toy Play in Infancy and Early Childhood: Normal Development and Special Considerations for Children with Disabilities." 30 April 2009 <http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech11-2.html>

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Food, Food, Food....Food as Culture

Food allows us to experience and sample cultures different from our own without leaving our homes; it serves as a means of transporting, transforming, and maintaining cultures (p. 131)

Personal Thoughts...

I agree. The most productive and essential need of all living things that exists; even micro-organisms. Food, food, food, food. That’s everyone’s talk. Without it, can we even exist? Maybe if we can survive on water…but I don’t think so. However, in this chapter with a title “Dark Side of Food” puts me to think more in depth of how it has influenced every culture and its individual. The main thesis of this chapter tends to have a critical focus on "Women and Food". For once, I can actually say, What the F?! This whole chapter makes women look like the victim of all foods out there. What about men?! As I was reading, in my mind I was thinking that this is such a big contradiction. I can understand, that yes, food has affected the female image but this chapter just made women look bad. I am disappointed.


The Connection...

So, White and Walker stated that, "Women have used food as a vehicle to nurture and care for others; they have used food as a symbol of friendship and love" (p. 133). Then further adds, "...refers to food as a metaphor for the emotional lives of women" (p. 133). I can't say that I agree with this from personal experience. This may be true to some people, but not me. I love to cook. I make candy, eggrolls, spring rolls, fried rice, cabbage rolls, stir-fry, and your typical asian food, that includes Hmong food, too. I don't use food as a metaphor for my emotional life. I do use food as a vehicle to nurture and care for others because I feed them, I have to feed them. Basically, I think that everyone uses food as a symbol of friendship and love, that includes men!

For example:
It's your anniversay and you want your women to have the best night of her life to remember. So you decide to cook her favorite meal, and you know she'll love it because it was made by you. The same can go for women. Am I not right?

Girls and Food...

At first, I thought I was going to read about different foods in different cultures and how they relate to being used as a popular culture but I was WRONG! I wasn’t surprised to read about issues of eating disorders and the advertising media --- I see this everyday and I know, you all do too. From my personal experience, I’ve had friends who would always “I’m going on a diet” or “Dude, I’m too fat” or “I wanna be skinny like you.” Sometimes, I think to myself, “Why can’t you be pleased with your body? Maybe it’s not the best, but that’s what makes you look good.” I, myself, am a skinny girl who weighs less than 100 lbs. But this is something that I cannot do because I have high metabolism --- it’s genetic. I even try to gain weight! No matter how much I eat or try to eat, I can’t gain weight fast as everyone else. But I’m not like those girls who always think about their body image. I am satisfied with my body and how I look. And everyone should too because that's what makes you, YOU!

"Popular television glorifies thin as sexy, successful, and happy....young women with perfect bodies and faces who look great in small bathing suits" (p. 134). The media press lots of pressure on the image of the "perfect body". No one has the perfect body, in my opinion. It all depends on what your daily activities. Even supermodels are not perfect even though they seem like it. Think about all the weight lifting, excerising, eating plans that they have to go through just to get that image --- that's a long time. I think all this eating disorder and trying to loose weight and dieting is going way too far into people's brain. I'm not trying to say that you should stop dieitng and get fat, but what I mean is that you have the power to take control of what you eat. For instance, if you want to eat 3 burgers, go a head but you should also at the same time drink water (because it helps flush out all the bacteria in your body) and on the side, have some fruits (I love eating fruits) or green veggies.

Connection to Education...
In relation to education, I do agree that physical education is the harsh ; "they are forced to dress out and reveal their not so small bodies to a critical audience" (p. 139). I’ve seen fat people get picked or teased just because they are fat --- and it’s not a nice thing to see. I think that school should stress out a little bit more information about being healthy at any weight. During lunchtime, school should offer a salad bar or something nutritious such as more fruits besides the usual apple and orange. "Healthy eating habits and nutrition should be presented along with facts about eating disorders. School should food service departments need to plan and offer food that tastes good and market it in such a way to make students want to eat it" (p. 140). Most importantly, I think that teacher's should educate on the benefits of healthy eating and exercising to the body because it not only helps you maintain a healthier lifestyle but it'll make you feel good about yourself as well. I'm starting on my own healthy eating such as cutting back on the fast foods because all that fatty and oily food is not good for the body, and plus, it'll make me hungry another 2 hours later, so it really doesn't fill my stomach that much.

Anyways, before I end my blog, I just want to point out that the use of food and body image has done too much to affect the individual. Personally, you should avoid their message of "If you want to be this thin, then take this or that." All those weight loss pills, are they that effective?! Really, instead of spending $34 plus S & H, why don't you just make up your plan? It's less expensive.

Reality Check: Be proud of your body, be proud of what you eat, and be proud that you're surviving because of food. Don't let those model bodies get to your brain because they are just like you.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Possible Final Project Idea

I'm really clueless about what to do for the final project...basically, haven't thought about it yet but I should now. This course has opened up my mind to think beyond the thinking box and look at society closely on how we use everyday culture to benefit education. I never thought about it before until now. So, I want to just do a plain and simple final project --- I'm thinking about this for me:

A critical analysis (maybe a analysis paper instead) of toys and education. I'm going to focus on three main ideas/targets:

1) what makes toys so raving that it make kids buy them

2) the role toys play in popular education

3) importance of incorporating toys as a fundamental learning tool to be used in teaching

In this course, we've certainly covered several interesting topics of popular culture and examined them critically. However, I want to go depth more on one topic, that's why I decided to choose toys. I believe that there is more to a toy than using it as a demo for lessons or enhancing a child's education or being the child's entertainment. I'll be drawing my resources from Tooning In and the website provided by Professor Thom when he sent us the assignment. I'll probably us other outside sources as well, but I'll list them as I use them. In addition, multimedia and visual aids will be provided.

<3 Mai

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Mee Vang: Peb Haiv Hmoob





This is a response to Kari's request:

Q: I love that you posted the Hmong song! Can you say a bit about what she is singing about and who the people are in the video with her?

A: First of all, I apologize because there is no English translation to this and you probably have no idea of whatsoever she is singing about. Secondly, she is one of my favorite singers in the Hmong culture, and I love this song. Mee (the singer) make travels there to make her music videos and visit her families. This is common among the Hmong culture that we tend to stay in touch with our close families.

So, in this song, Mee is singing about the Hmong people who live in the mountains in Thailand and Laos. They live in poverty among the mountain ranges in poor condition. Many tears of sorrow fill their hearts that they have to live like this everyday(I personally think it's heartbreaking because that's my people). They only have little to eat everyday such as rice, green vegetable with salt and small chili peppers. And then, she repeats the song again. In the last line that she sings: vim tsis muaj leej twg yuav paub txog ; it's translated into: because no one knows about it.

This is the lifestyle that the mountain people have to deal with everyday. They only farm for living and only about a few of the children will actually get a decent education. I felt that this song was more like an awareness that we shouldn't take anything for granted. We, here in the US, have many opened doors to a world of many opportunities while there are still many out there struggling in a dark shadow trying to reach out to the light. ( I hope that made sense. )

Hopefully this help!

<3 mai