Quotes and Thanks

"A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils."
- Ever Garrison
"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
- George Bernard Shaw

Anna and Randee I followed your blogs thoroughly and I plan to continue I really enjoyed your intellectual insights regarding early childhood developmental and the role caregivers and educators play. I wish you both great success in your endeavors.

Assessments

I believe we should measure children as a whole on what is considered normal development. Children should be assessed using a general test specializing in identifying if a child is on pace with the developmental standards, exhibiting any signs of delays. I do not recommend standard test such as an IQ or an ACT test. These test measure beyond the normal standards of normal development. The sole purpose of these test should be personal verses required by government or state. In the state of Ohio in order to gain admission into college you have to take either the ACT or SAT, the focus here is testing in early childhood but not every student excel at test taking. During early childhood the assessments required depends on what type of program the child is placed. If he/she is enrolled into a learning center funded by the Child Care Development Fund they requirements my different from a private funded learning center. All the feral and state funded programs here in the US has a comprehensive assessment across board. The type of assessment and what is measured depending on age begins to specify state to state. And next we can narrow down from learning center to learning center. Although there is a comprehensive assessment on the federal level. The true assessments children are measured on is state level or education center level.

Early childhood education and school age children in Japan are awarded with a great education. Fun, creative thinking, creative teaching and loving teachers all the words describing an excellent education system. Assessment or standardized testing begins in junior high school, at this time school curriculum, teaching styles and parents focus switches to test preparation. This same practice has been repeated for so many years the Japanese culture are remiss on changing. The same assessment is admistred to each student to determine their future.

There are no test available currently in the US to equally measure development. If research lacks the ability to formulate a measure for learning disabilities, how can they formulate a measure to go beyond the normal standards? What do we consider normal? Multiple intelligence addresses no human excels in all areas of intelligence (Berger 2012).

War A Stressor for Children?1?

The common stressor young children experience during early childhood that grasp my focus is war. My interest was sparked by today’s media.  Currently the United States is not at war but they are aiding Ukraine in a possible war. Ukraine is currently in an uproar with Russia. Egypt is another country facing war today, Egypt is feuding with their government.

It may seem as a war would not be a stressor for children as we think children are not aware but if we look deeper into how the war may affect the family and environment we then understand how it becomes a stressor for children. The war in Ukraine against Russia regarding the Crimea territory although Russia has not officially invaded the Ukraine border starting a violent war the stressor of the possibility the Ukraine citizens are under affects their child’s development. “Families under stress produces children under stress”.

The Egyptian government is currently at war with their citizens, Gaza, Egypt to be exact a poverty ridden country where children are already facing common stressors malnutrition and lack of health coverage. These children are faced with the government selfishness regarding religion causing war against the government.  The Muslim Brotherhood illegally and unfairly took over the Egyptian government in 2006 portray a democratic party without the will of the people in mind. No actions since has benefited the people of Egypt. Today the people are attempting to overturn the government replace them with an existent democratic government to end the poverty and corruption in Egypt. All the violence of a war affects child development, even if the child is not directly harmed the brain embeds these violent acts. Children suffer from depression and self – esteem issues.  Anxiety is another major effect from children being exposed to violence. Research has not pinpointed at what age exactly the effects become server it has been identified the gender of the child plays a part in the severity. We know all domains of development biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial overlap at some point children may react in different ways but behavior is the most acknowledged.

References:

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/02/22/egypt-at-war-with-hamas/

http://www.floridahealth.gov/AlternateSites/CMS-Kids/families/child_protection_safety/impact_of_violence.html

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/30/us-russia-to-begin-new-round-talks-over-ukraine-sunday/

Water in Haiti

Throughout the world one death out of every five deaths are children with a water-borne disease caused by unclean water.  The access to clean water around the world has decreased but the crisis still exist in many poverty ridden countries one being Haiti. Today in Haiti only 55.2 percent of people have access to healthy drinking water. The challenge is the population income is equal to or less than 1 US dollar. Haiti faced an even greater challenge developing access to healthy water dating back to 2010. The earthquakes destroyed the water wells and affecting the water system leaving a treacherous process of repairs. Today Haiti have been unsuccessful with repairing the wells which held the majority healthy water supply.

 The Water Project and the Living Water International are organizations that have come to the aid of Haiti assisting with building a clean water supply and the accessibility to healthy water. With Haiti struggling in poverty clean water can aid them to breaking the poverty cycle. The benefits of clean water helps children stay in school to get the education necessary for jobs.  Farmers are able to grow crops to cure the hunger strike from the lack of available sources. Lastly but most important clean water reduces the illness in children and adults.

Sentlinger, Katherine The Water Project Water in Crisis-Haiti Retrieved March 11^th, 2014 from:

http://thewaterproject.org/water-in-crisis-haiti.php

Childbirth Customs

My little sister Jasmine was in labor for the first time in her life. I was anxious, nervous and excited all in one. We had known since the beginning of her pregnancy baby J’Mir was breeched. She was giving birth to a boy, although I already have 3 nephews he is my first from Jazz. The doctor and Jasmine previously decided to attempt to turn him around with an exterior virgin procedure. This procedure is performed by attempting to turn the fetus around by placing one hand on the head of the fetus, the other hand on the buttocks of the fetus forcing him to turn around.  Jasmine describe this as an extremely painful procedure.  I was feeling bias about the procedure as the doctor explain the percentage of effectiveness, I supported my sister choices. I was on edge during the entire labor and delivery because I never experienced a cesarean birth. As to say the exterior virgin was unsuccessful. The doctors prepared everything for the delivery, only one person was allowed in the delivery one while the cesarean took place. Jasmine choose J’Mir father. During the entire procedure I was anxious it felt as though hours had passed in actuality it was thirty minutes. J’Mir was healthy baby boy 6lbs 9oz. Jasmine was extremely exhausted afterwards and in abundance of pain as well. This birth experience holds dear to my heart because I share a special bond with my sister. I was with her the entire pregnancy any issue or concerns she had she confided in me prior to speaking to anyone else.  

In Korea childbirth customs and beliefs are very different than what I would consider the norm. During the labor and delivery the mother is not allowed to show any signs of pain. The actual birth of the child is what is considered to be the normal American way. A Korean belief is boys are special and to be treated as so where birth of all girls would be grounds for divorce. They also believe the post-partum is the most important period. The mother is required to recover for 21 days. The mother should not bathe, rest and eat hot foods. Learning about the Korean customs and beliefs causes me to be open minded. I agree the post-partum period is a crucial part of childbirth. I did learn some beliefs are considered to be “old traditions” Over the years as Korea has developed to more modern beliefs such as the acceptance of medicine.     

My Connection to Play

"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world."
- Maria Montessori

"All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, 'This is when I became myself.'"
- Rita Dove

 “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

When I was a young child I remember plenty of times being at home by myself with my mother while my siblings was off at school. I was play alone or sometimes with my neighbor daughter. I remember my mother saying “go play.” Although at that age I did not understand the growth I was experiencing. My mother encouraged play unknowingly how beneficial play would be to my future education. In the present I view play as regulated by parents and professionals. The word play has a board definition unrelated to education.  Varies research studies shows how play impacts emotional, physical and cognitive development.   

Relationship Reflection

The relationships I have are important to me because they have grown and developed over years of building. The closest relationship I have is my mother, she is my biggest supporter. I am the true definition of a “momma’s girl” I go to my mother for everything just to hear her opinion. My best friend Ember is another relationship that is important to me she is the true definition of a friend. She is also my spiritual sister. I am a very protective person. I am also honest, some may say I am mean but I believe I am direct. When developing relationships it is important for my friends to understand me as a person as well as me understanding them. I Know Ember calls me and ask for my advise only when she needs me to be direct with her, if she does not ask for my opinion I do not give it to her because she is sensitive. The fact I know this about Ember gives our friendship longevity. The greatest challenge I have maintaining the wonderful relationship I have with my mother, she tends to be narrow minded. Since I know she is a narrow minded person I can just allow her to be herself without allowing her to affect me with her words. I also have a great relationship with my daughter’s teacher. My daughter attends a Montessori she has had the same teacher for two years. I communicate with her teacher weekly regarding Da’Nijah learning development, behavior and social interactions. She understands my involvement in Da’Nijah education; I understand her passion as a teacher. All these relationships have a great impact on my life and my success thus far. At this point only relationship I am interested in developing is the ones with mentors to enhance and guide my career as a early childhood professional. 

Me and Ember

 

Me and My mother during the birth of my son