Week of the Young Child

Hosts Amber-Rose and Alyssa discuss the Week of the Young Child with special guests Kimberly Kee and Amanda Williams with Navajo Project I-LAUNCH a project at the Navajo Nation Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. In this episode, we discuss the importance of early education programs in order to meet the needs of young children and their families. Navajo Project I-LAUNCH has a week of events that will help honor the Week of the Young Child April 4-8, 2022.  

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This podcast was sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services through federal funding from the Health Resources & Services Administration, with support from the Navajo Native American Research Centers for Health (NARCH) Partnership between Diné College and Northern Arizona University through federal funding from the National Institute of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences, award number S06GM142121. The views expressed are the sole responsibility of the program staff and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arizona Department of Health Services or the United States Government.

Transcript

Intro
Ya'at'eeh. Welcome to the MCH podcast where we discuss maternal and child health topics and provide strategies for improving the health of Navajo families. Amá dóó áłchíní ats’íís baa áháyá baa yadelti (Translation, we will be talking about the health of mothers and children). 

Amber-Rose
I am your host, Amber-Rose Begay. Hashk’ąąhadzohi nishli, Táchii’nii bashichiin and Tábąąhá dashichei and Naakai Dine’é dashinali. Nataani Nez denashaa. I’m originally from Shiprock, NM where I live and work at Diné College as a project coordinator of the Diné College MCH Project. I am a Navajo woman and mother of 2.

Alyssa
Hi, my name is Alyssa, and I'm a senior at Northern Arizona University majoring in public health. I am also a co-host and editor for this internship.  

 Amber-Rose
Today we are going to talk about Navajo Project I=launch in honor of the week of the Young Child. The reason we are discussing this topic is because the week of the young child will be celebrated on April 4th through April 8th, 2022.

Alyssa
We invite special guests Kim Kee and Amanda Williams. Thank you for joining us today. Can you please introduce yourself and your work with Navajo Project I-Launch?  

 Kim
Ya'at'eeh. My name is Kimberly Kee. Kim Kee yinishye. Naakai Dine'e nishli, Todichii'nii bashichiin. Tse nijikini dashicheii. Kinyaa'aanii dashinali. Leeyi'to denashaa.
So I'm Kimberly Kee. I'm the program coordinator or program director for Navajo Project I-Launch. And I'm from Klagetoh, Arizona. And a little bit about Navajo project I-launch before I have Amanda introduce herself. Now we're under the Navajo Nation Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, and we're also within the Department of Dine Education.  

 Amanda
Ya'at'eeh. Shi ei Amanda Williams yinishye. Kinlchii'nii ei dashcheii doo Ta'neeszahnii dashinaili.   I am from Tsaile, Arizona and I am the developmental specialist for Navajo Project I-Launch.  

Kim
And just to give a little bit more about what Navajo project I launched is we're a five year grant under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to promote the social emotional wellness of young children from birth to eight years old, including pregnant women. And so our five core strategies of our grant includes screening and assessment, enhanced home visiting, infant and early childhood mental health consultation, family strengthening and parent training, and lastly, the integration of behavioral health into primary care settings. And so most of our work is promotion and prevention work with some borderline intervention. And through this, we've done outreach drives, we've done positive Dine parenting classes, child/adult screenings, providing professional development to the early childhood workforce and supporting the early childhood system, as well as continuing to build partnership and collaborations with other early childhood programs and providers. So that's a little bit more about I-launch.  

Amber-Rose
Ahe'hee. It's nice to have you both join us and have you part of our series on maternal and child health. Can you tell us what the week of the young child is about?  

Kim
 So the week of the young child, it started in 1971, so it was established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. And it basically the National Association for the Education of Young Children, it's a long name. It's an organization to promote high quality early learning for all young children birth to age eight. And so during this week, the speakers designated as the Week of the Young Child, it's a national annual celebration. And the purpose is to really gain public attention on the needs of young children and their families, as well as recognizing those early childhood programs and services that meet the needs of the young children and families. And so every year, the National Association for Education of Young Children, they establish the week of the young child dates. So it usually starts on a Saturday and ends on a Friday. And it's up to the local communities nationwide to coordinate event and awareness about the importance of early childhood. And so every year, Navajo Nation early childhood programs and organizations try to celebrate this week through community events, proclamation signings, radio forums and more, to spread awareness about the importance of early childhood and highlight programs and organizations in the community that serve young children and their families. And due to the pandemic, this has been difficult these past two years. I believe in the year 2020, there wasn't a celebration last year. We had to be really creative and how we did the events. Most of the events were virtual and drive through events, and this year it's still continuing to be virtual with one in-person event, so slowly making our way back into those community celebrations.  

Alyssa
 Thank you for going into detail with that. So you mentioned that like a lot of community involvement with activities. How do you get moms and families to get involved in the weekend of the young child activities?  

Kim
 They can join the virtual events taking place. So each day of the week is themed Monday through Friday. So with Wednesday being our only in-person event. So this year we have Music Monday, which the intent is to highlight the Dine youth and community members by sharing traditional songs or stories. And this year we have Miss Navajo Nation Niagara Bridge as our emcee, and we have some exciting singers and storytellers. And for a tasty Tuesday, we have the Growing in Beauty Home visiting program, presenting nutritious recipes that families can do at home with their young children and really promoting early childhood nutrition. And Wednesday is our work together Wednesday which is the in-person event. And so we invited early childhood programs and organizations to come out and set up booths to be a part of the proclamation signing, which the Navajo Nation president and vice president will be present to give their address and do the signing along with First Lady Nez and Second Lady Lizer and I really just getting together to celebrate the community. We want to give out raffle prizes, give out information about early childhood programs, do child developmental screenings and more. And then Thursday is our ArtsyThursday and it is virtual and this will be hosted by the Rehoboth Early Childhood Center and they'll be featuring activities that families can do with their young children at home using the University of New Mexico's everyday junk is what it's called, really just recipes on how to make different activities at home with their children. And then Friday is our Family Friday. And and that is the Navajo Nation Early childhood Speaker series. And this series is hosted once a month and for this particular month in April for the week of the young child, we really wanted to hone on the importance of K'e. And so our guest speakers are going to be Kenneth Begay. He's a traditional practitioner with the Division of Behavioral and Mental Health Services and also Ruby Frank from the Navajo Nation Peacemaking Program. So basically, and if families aren't able to attend virtually or in-person, they can make time to reflect and make quality time with their children during this week. Because often times most people think early childhood learning starts when children enter preschool or kindergarten, but it really starts in the womb. And then traditionally speaking in our Dine culture, it even starts with ourselves before we become parents, really ensuring that are healthy and balanced before we decide to have children. And often times we don't get those teachings till later in life. So to continue those teachings, just having some time to really make time for your children, sit down with them, talk with them, share songs, share stories, and doing activities or even just including them in your day. Because often times our days are very hectic and we forget to slow down ourselves.  

 Amber-Rose
So thank you all. It sounds like a fun week of activities. I know my daughter and I participated in Music Monday previously when she was a little bit more excited to sing and do all that kind of like show her talents. Now she's a little bit more shy, so it's kind of hard like telling her, Let's go sing again. And she gets a little shy and thinking about what people might think. But it's awesome. And her school is very active and teaching them. She goes to Dream Dine in Shiprock, and so they learn a lot of stories and the songs and the teachings behind them and it's really awesome. I hope they get to participate this Monday or this coming Monday. So how do you promote the week of the young Child?

Amanda
So we promote Week of the Young Child in a variety of ways. A huge help has been the use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and similar platforms. We've been really fortunate to grow a huge amount of awareness on our Facebook I-Launch page and so just raising awareness through the different collaborations with other early childhood programs that also share our events on their pages has been a great way to get our word out there and sharing even other programs on our page. And so that's been a really big help, especially since we are still in this pandemic and we can't necessarily network the way we used to. And another big way that we have been able to promote Week of the Young Child is sharing at our Navajo Nation early childhood collaborative meetings. And those are held monthly and they are virtual. And so we are really trying to build a healthy system of early childhood education and care on the Navajo Nation. So that's one way that we are able to partner with different programs across the Navajo Nation. And then we also partner with first Things first, and they work with KTNN to provide different ad announcements. And so they share the upcoming events throughout the week and. Yeah. And so just definitely first things first. And so if you're on KTNN and you'll definitely be able to hear a lot of those announcements advertisements for each day. So just like Kim said, Music Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Artsy Thursday and so on.  

Alyssa
Thank you for sharing that. I feel like social media is a big help now because so many people are on it, so it's just such a wide spread, a way to get things out. Do you have any Navajo cultural stories on childhood development that you'd like to share?  

Kim
 I don't have any particular stories, but definitely traditional teachings around early childhood and basically across indigenous cultures. We all view children as sacred beings and they hold special teachings and knowledge, even just starting in the womb or even before that, before when two people get together and think of having children, they're already putting that mindset into those individuals of what they need to change or what how they need to develop before they even become parents and really start to make some of those changes within themselves too as well. And then within our Dine culture, children are celebrated through the first laugh ceremony. I know a lot of people are afraid to make children laugh, make the infants laugh. Often times everyone asks how they laughed yet and then they usually pass them back to their to their caregivers if they haven't laughed yet. But it's really an honor to make a child laugh. I've made two of my nieces laugh and just to see them grow. My niece that I made last recent or couple of years ago and now she had our Kinaalda ceremony. And just to see her growth and seeing her grow as a young lady and as the the First Laugh teachings goes, is that they share a part of you. They take on some of your characteristics, your personality. And so I'm like, I look at her and I'm proud of her and I often dare to encourage her and just to see how she has grown into a nice young lady. And so those are some of the teachings. And same goes for the male. And in our culture, they also have sacred teachings and going through their own puberty ceremonies, some of that is not practiced too much now. But I know that in some areas it's still being practiced. And also, even while mothers are pregnant, they're having the Hozhooji, which is the blessing ceremony, just to really get prepared for a baby with good thoughts, good blessings as you're welcoming baby into the world. And so there's a ton of traditional teachings and stories and some stories that we need to be sure that we always share during the winter time, too, as well. So having reverence for those traditional stories. And one thing I wanted to really emphasize is that children are like seeds and really we want to help those seeds grow. We want them to have strong roots. And how do we do that? It's not just only the family, the nuclear family, like mom, dad, caregivers, sisters, brothers, but it's also the extended families, our aunties and uncles and grandparents, our masani's, our cheii's, our nalis, and then also extends also into the community as well, community raising the children. And because that's our environment that we live in and it can also extend out into mother, Mother Earth as being another teaching to our children and how we grow. And basically as much attention and love and nurturing we give to them. They can grow to be the tallest corn stalks, healthiest corn that we develop and just to see them grow. And then just like all of the plants that grow out there, those things that you have to avoid such as the weeds that are growing beside it, the weather, you have to take care of them during really rocky weather. How do you nurture them back to be healthy? So just thinking of children as a plant and how do you nurture it? How do you protect them? How do you keep them going to be their best selves as they grow into adults as well?  

Amanda
Kim did a really good job covering it. I know that it does take a lot. It takes a whole community to really raise a healthy and successful child. And I feel that we're starting to really regain that knowledge and those teachings as we move forward and kind of getting out of this pandemic. And so really taking that back and really trying to reclaim community and really seeing that it's not just the nuclear family, like Kim said, it's everyone around us. It's our early childhood providers, it's the families, it's the stakeholders, it's the government, and really taking responsibility for that. And so I just really think that just thinking about it and it's not just the child when it comes to early childhood, it is all those different dynamics that go into it as well.

Amber-Rose
Thank you for sharing. So my family wasn't, you know, very traditional growing up. I remember I know I had my first laugh party. My cousin made me laugh. And then also with my two kids, they had their first laugh parties, should I say. And so that was like something that we could like, easily kind of take part in. But, you know, it's nice to see that other families joining in, like when I do hear of stories of other families and how they all participate in getting the ceremony, things together and then getting it done. And it's really awesome to hear. So the next question, where can people learn more about Navajo project I-launch?

Amanda
You can learn more about Navajo project. I launch on our Facebook page. That's where we do a lot of our hosting of events, raising awareness and just letting the community know what's going on. When we have our positive parenting classes, we also post them. There are any trainings or workforce development happenings that are going on. We most often post them on the Project Island Facebook page and also our Instagram. But if you really want to ask those questions or if you have anything that you want to know more about, you can definitely email, at projectlaunch@nndode.org or you can call us at 9288716338. And if you want to get a little bit more specific, we're a mighty small team of four and so you can definitely email any of us and then we'll try to get back to you and get any resources or any information that you're looking for.  

Alyssa
 Thank you for sharing that. So we are all done with our questions. So we want to thank you both for joining us today. We really appreciate your time and all the valuable information you provided.   

Amber-Rose
Yes. Thank you.

Amanda
No problem. And yeah, and if any of you are interested, we do have, like I said, Navajo nation early childhood collaborative meetings that are held monthly. And so those meetings are really focused on creating a healthy early childhood system on the Navajo Nation. And so we have programs, families, providers, stakeholders, parents, caregivers, all joining us once a month, and that is on the second Friday of every month. And so we shared announcements, news about early childhood and really any helpful resources to really bridge those gaps throughout the Navajo Nation when it comes to early childhood resources and programs. And so if you're interested about and learning more about that, you can definitely give us an email, like I said, at projectlaunch@nndode.org and our next one coming up is April 8th at 9 a.m., and they are right now held virtually. So it doesn't matter where you are.

Amber-Rose
Thank you. And I participate in those. I learn so much from them. You know, being a maternal and child health project, it's hard to like know everything that's going on. So that's why I'm so glad you guys have the collaborative that way. I know what's going on in early childhood health and education, so that's really helpful. Thank you.  

Kim
 Thank you. Thank you for having us and thinking of us.  

Amanda
Yes, definitely. Thank you both.

Outro
Ahe’hee. Thanks for listening to the MCH Podcast. For more information about the Diné College MCH project please visit Navajo MCH Project at Diné College on facebook.