When I Think of Child Development

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.   Frederick Douglass

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. 
Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa 

Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.   Anonymous 

School Age Assessment

          I would like to see observations play a greater role in assessing children’s achievement in all areas during the public school years.  In the preschool years, watching children as they play, interact with one another, problem solve, and develop knowledge about an array of topics is how early childhood educators determine how much children have developed psychosocially, biosocially, and cognitively.  An assessment tool, like Teaching Strategies Gold (the one we use at our center), relies on multiple observations for determining how far on a continuum a child has come for 49 areas of development that are divided between eight headings-physical, mathematical, language, literacy, science/technology, social studies, cognitive and social.  The core topics covered on the standardized tests are observed in addition to other areas important for a child’s success.   If a tool like this exists for preschool age children, why can’t one be developed for school age children, at least for the first three years of public school?  I realize that class size varies greatly between preschool settings and public school rooms, and teachers may feel they don’t have time to observe every child every day, but if classroom teachers are interacting with their students on a meaningful level, they are observing the students skill level all the time.  Adding some objective observations to the scores children receive on standardized tests would give a better view of achievement.   

            In Nova Scotia, Canada, children are assessed in reading and writing in grade three, mathematics in grade four, and all three subject areas in grades six and eight (Nova Scotia, Canada, 2012).  The third grade reading/writing assessment is composed of reading passages in four different genres and answering comprehension questions.  Students write one personal narrative and one procedural task entry (Nova Scotia, Canada, 2012).  The sixth grade reading test is composed of the same four genres as the third grade test and similar comprehension questions.  In the writing portion of the fourth grade assessment, students are asked to write one letter and one story.  The math test is made up of multiple choice (selected response) and problem solving (constructed response) questions that are evaluated for understanding and communication (Nova Scotia, Canada, 2012).  There was no information about the fourth grade math test or the eighth grade tests provided on the website because they have not administered them this year.

            I understand that school assessments need to be fair and equitable across our country, but what bothers me is how much emphasis we place on the results.  Not all children are confident test takers, as my younger sister was not, and the true level of their knowledge is not reflected on a standardized test.  My youngest child did very well on these tests but even though he received high marks, I knew the scores only reflected a small part of his ability.  They did not encompass who he was as a person, nor did it define his intelligences Berger (2009) writes about.  It is my belief that our country would restructure attitudes about our public schools, make kindergarten through third grade class sizes much smaller and put abundant funding into these years,, we could eradicate, or at least minimize, many learning, reading, self-esteem, and bullying problems among others.   

References

Berger, K. S. (2009).  The developing person through childhood.  New York, NY:  Worth Publishers.

Nova Scotia, Canada.  (2012).  Welcome, evaluation services, assessment schedule, minister’s report to parents and guardians.  Retrieved from http://plans.ednet.ns.ca/

           

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

No one I know has had to overcome a childhood with any of the listed stressors for this assignment.  The only incidence I’m aware of that possibly qualifies comes under the violence category, but not in the form of shootings or street violence.   My mother has had to deal with being a victim of incest as a child.  I don’t know many of the details because she hasn’t ever talked about it.  My father told me about it several years ago when my mother was having a trying time in her life.  I do know she compensated by dropping out of high school and marrying when she was 16 in order to leave her home.  I think the experience is responsible for the depression she has experienced in her life and some of the negative feelings she felt toward her mother and brothers.

I researched childhood mental health in Iraq.  I recently heard an Iraqi woman, who along with her husband and children immigrated to Des Moines, Iowa, speak about their escape in the middle of the night from their home in Baghdad to a family member’s house in Israel.  They lived and worked in Israel for a few years and then came to the United States.  They have three small children and I have always wondered what impact the situation in Iraq and the circumstances surrounding their leaving would have on the children.  

The article I found was published in 2010.  The war in that country resulted in malnutrition, child trafficking, kidnapping, poor educational expectations and death of all ages among many other atrocities.  These by-products of war definitely affected the mental health and feeling of security the children in that county have but the researchers speculated that the beginning of these stressing situations began years before.  Public health services for children under five years of age are few and far between, especially in the remote areas of the country.  Child mortality for this age group is the highest in the Middle East. 

The authors of the study stated that help for the mental problems for children and adolescents in Iraq was hard to come by because of inadequate human resources and research facilitators, poor funding, and safety threats to the researchers.  Where past study results do exist, post traumatic stress symptoms were evident in 14% of children in Baghdad and 30% of children living in Mosul in 2005.  Also, in 2005, 22% of children had anxiety disorders, 18% had behavioral problems, 14% stuttered and 13% had depression.  In 2006, 15% of school children in the southern town of Nassiriya were found to have ADHD.   Mental health issues in the Arab countries are misunderstood and are even met with indifference, especially with children.  There are very few psychologists, psychiatrists, or mental health facilities in the country.

The study writers suggested that Iraq develop a policy specifically targeted at improving the mental health of children and adolescents in their country.  The recommendations for the leadership in Iraq were to:

1)      conduct a needs assessment

2)      get evidence of what is already successful

3)      work to get agreement with all agencies to compile a policy

4)      work with other countries to get ideas for the policy

5)      develop a policy that had goals, visions and values for children

6)      decide which agency would be responsible for which action of the policy

Once the policy is in place, education about good mental health equaling good physical health should take place as well as addressing the various stressors in a war region.  Legislation, evaluation, and implementation of the policy would put childrens’and adolescents’ mental health at the top of the priority list.

Reference

Al-Obaidi, A., Budosan, B., & Jeffrey, L.  (2010).  Child and adolescent mental health in Iraq:  current situation and scope for promotion of child and adolescent mental health policy.  Intervention, 8(1), 40-51.  doi: 10.1097/WTF.0b013e3283387adf

Blog Assignment for Week 2

I researched the immunization regulations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region which includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt among others.  I am interested in this topic because I have seen discussions in various publications and heard some parents’ opinions about whether vaccinations are really necessary and may even be potentially dangerous, such as being responsible for autism.  Even though all children need to be vaccinated before entering school in the United States, some children can be exposed to diseases that have a vaccination available.  If the children contract a disease, the possibility of spreading it to the public could have been prevented.   I have a few children in my class from this region and it is interesting to me what protocols are in place in their home country and what requirements are in place should their families move back and the children begin attending school.

I found an interesting article from the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region published in 2011.  The report assessed the vaccinations available in this region and compared it to the deaths of children five years of age and younger.  Statistics for 2008 showed that 1.239 million children died and more than 20% of these deaths were from diseases that have a vaccination.  The Hib virus, rotovirus and streptococcus pneumonial virus which causes pneumonia were primarily responsible for the children dying.  Also in 2008, an estimated 7000 deaths were attributed to measles.  That averages out to 20 deaths per day. The WHO states that 95% of measles deaths happen in poverty stricken countries where the children are more likely to be malnourished. 

To improve these statistics, the WHO recommended in 2010 the development of a public health initiative in this area for one week every April.  The goal is to take on the challenge of reaching every child in every district in an attempt to eradicate diseases by vaccinating all children.  Unfortunately, 1.5 million children failed to get the third dose of DPT in 2010.  The target by 2015 is to reduce the preventable disease death rate by 60-70% in children under five years of age.  Health officials recognize many obstacles to meeting this goal.  Many countries in this region do not offer the Hib vaccine so 31% of infants in this region do not have access to it.  Other countries do not offer rotovirus or the pneumonia vaccines so 88% of infants in this area will not be covered.  Reasons some countries do not offer these vaccines are the high cost, poor government decision-making, poor allocation of resources and minimizing the affect of the diseases.  The WHO has made recommendations to the leaders in this region on ways to improve the percentage of children who receive vaccinations and improve the mortality statistics. 

It is my desire to share this information as well as information about vaccination policies in other countries with my future education students.  It’s important to see how other countries approach various issues, not only to compare and contrast to the United States, but to foster a greater appreciation of what America has to offer.

Reference

World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.  (2011).  Scaling up the expanded programme on immunization to meet global and regional targets.  Retrieved from  http://applications.emro.who.int/docs/RC_technical_papers_2011_4_14220.pdf

A Personal Birthing Experience
The night my first child was born was pretty uneventful until 12:00 am when my water broke.  We drove to the hospital, about 2 hours away, and I was admitted.  The nurses put a fetal heart monitor on me right away.  My contractions lasted until 9:00 the next morning when my doctor said I was ready to push.  I had to walk to the next room where I was put in a birthing chair.  I was reclined back and began to push.  My daughter was born at 9:33.  She was wrapped and put in an incubator to warm while they stitched my episiotomy. It took them over an hour because I had torn internally as well as externally.  I had lost a lot of blood during delivery and was getting very light headed.  I almost passed out during the stitching process.  I was able to hold my daughter after I became steady.  I was sent home in an anemic state with iron pills to build back my blood.  I refused a blood transfusion because my hospitalization occurred when some of the blood supply in the U.S. had been found to have been affected by AIDS.  It took quite a long time to feel energetic enough to resume a normal life style again but I felt it was the safer choice. 
I chose this example because it was my first pregnancy.  The first pregnancy experience is so unique and foreign.  I wasn’t able to understand what other mothers I knew were talking about until I experienced the same thing.  I did all I could to be active and healthy during my pregnancy and after.  I required a lot of rest after getting home but it didn’t affect the care I gave my daughter.    
The variables surrounding a birth are numerous but I think that modern health care can anticipate many of them.  I was fortunate that I was healthy and active during my pregnancies and didn't have any problems during or after the deliveries but I know not everyone's experiences are like that.  If a couple is not healthy both before they conceive and after, the baby can suffer in the way it develops.  Complications during the delivery can also be a source of problems and stress for the family and birth.  Adults have a lot of control over the type of pregnancy they will have.  Prenatal education is very important as is prenatal care.  A normal, healthy birthing experience will enable a normal healthy child to develop.   
I read about childbirth in Italy.  Most births occur in a hospital but unlike here, 2-3 beds are in a room instead of each mother having a private room.  An average stay in the hospital is 3 days.  In Italy, you can deliver in a private clinic but you have to pay for it and those institutions aren’t always prepared with the proper equipment for an emergency.  Otherwise, your care and medical supplies are provided free if you pay into social security under their universal health care system. Mothers have to provide clothing, bedding and supplies for the baby.  Italy has family planning centers that provide services for all stages of pregnancy.  The services are free, also.  According to a woman’s blog who has delivered more than one child in Italy, fathers are not allowed to attend the births, until the very end, and are not allowed to care for the new mother; only other females are.  She also said that epidurals are not given and comforts such as CD’s, candles or being able to get up to use the restroom are not allowed.  Another American woman’s blog who lives in Italy said that doctors and midwives work together to deliver the baby, fetal heart monitoring isn’t used often, women have to lie flat during delivery, episiotomies are usually routine, and having the baby room with the mother is uncommon. 
Differences between my experience and an experience in Italy include the ability of the father to attend the birth and care for the mother, the set-up of the hospital rooms, the cost of the birthing services, the comforts brought from home, the use of fetal heart monitoring, the use of midwives, providing supplies for the baby, and rooming with the baby.  Similarities include the amount of time in the hospital, the use of episiotomies, and being mostly reclined back to deliver. 
I didn’t learn any new information about the affect of childbirth on child development during my research.  It appears that having a child in Italy is as safe as it is in America so if a birth is uneventful in Italy, as it is in the U.S., a child’s development should be normal.

References

Fassio, C.  (2012).  Childbirth.  [Blog message].  Retrieved from http://www.expatsinitaly.com/node/96

Maria.  (2011).   Giving birth in Italy.  [Blog message].  Retrieved from http://bellinisbeerbabybottles.blogspot.com/search/label/Having%20Babies

Code of Ethics

The ideals from NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct that are important to me are:
1)  1.3-To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.
2)  1.5-To create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children's social, emotional, cognitive and
      physical development and that respect their dignity and their contributions.
3)  1.8-To support the right of each child to play and learn in an inclusive environment that meets the needs
      of children with and without disabilities.

    
I also like ideal 2.5-To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language, customs, and beliefs.

These ideals are important to me because they all address the need for children and families to be respected and appreciated for who they are and the special abilities they possess.  We need to remember there is a wide variety of skills among children of the same age.  Educators need to take children from where they are and move them forward.

Reference

NAEYC.  (April, 2005).  Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment.   Retrieved May 26, 2010,   
         from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

Early Childhood Resources

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
  

• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
  
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
  
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
  
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
  
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title.
• • Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
    
  • Websites:
    
  • • World Forum Foundation
      http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
      This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
      
    • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
      http://www.omep-usnc.org/
      Read about OMEP's mission.
      
    • Association for Childhood Education International
      http://acei.org/
      Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.
• • National Association for the Education of Young Children
    http://www.naeyc.org/
    
  • The Division for Early Childhood
    http://www.dec-sped.org/
    
  • Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
    http://www.zerotothree.org/
    
  • WESTED
    http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
    
  • Harvard Education Letter
    http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
    
  • FPG Child Development Institute
    http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
    
  • Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
    http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
    
  • HighScope
    http://www.highscope.org/
    
  • Children's Defense Fund
    http://www.childrensdefense.org/
    
  • Center for Child Care Workforce
    http://www.ccw.org/
    
  • Council for Exceptional Children
    http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
    
  • Institute for Women's Policy Research
    http://www.iwpr.org/
    
  • National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
    http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
    
  • National Child Care Association
    http://www.nccanet.org/
    
  • National Institute for Early Education Research
    http://nieer.org/
    
  • Pre[K]Now
    http://www.preknow.org/
    
  • Voices for America's Children
    http://www.voices.org/
    
  • The Erikson Institute
    http://www.erikson.edu/
    
• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education

 Additional Resources 
Creative Curriculum
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Iowa Area Education Agencies
Kere Hughes-Belding-kereh@iastate.edu, 515-294-8441
The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS)


 

Words of Inspiration and Motivation to me

Lilian Katz, co-founder of Project Approach, said, "Children, all children, are born with the disposition to make sense of their experiences."

Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, said, "A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back-but they are gone.  We are it.  It is up to us.  It is up to you." 

Another quote from Ms. Edelman:  "So much of America's tragic and costly failure to care for all its children stems from our tendency to distinguish between our own children and other people's children--as if justice were divisible."

Louise Derman Sparks, from week 2, said, "I had a built in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world; to fix all the injustices in the world.  The passion to create a safe, more unjust world."

Sandy Escobido:  "We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better."

Personal Childhood Web

People Who Supported Me

1.  My maternal grandmother influenced me as a child by telling me fairy tales as she was putting me to bed when I would stay with her on the weekend.  She was like a second mother to me.  When my mom went back to work when I was in the 7th grade, I would always go to grandma's house after school and mom would pick my 2 sisters and I when she had finished her workday.  I lived with her after my grandfather passed away during my senior year of high school.  She was afraid to stay by herself.  When I grew up and had children, I would often tell them stories like she used to do. Grandma passed away several years ago, but I still have dreams of her and I sometimes I catch myself thinking I need to call grandma and tell her about something that happened to me. 

2.  My third grade teacher is the reason I became a teacher.  Everyone called her Miss Hazel.  She seemed old when I had her as a teacher but she is still living.  We had the typical redbird, bluebird and yellowbird reading groups.  After we would read to her, she would read to us.  For a long time after moving to other grades, I could hear her voice in my head every time I would read silently.  Her love of teaching and of children stayed with me.  I wanted to be like Miss Hazel!

3.  My mom has always been someone I could count on to support me.  She was the one to drive me into town, from where we lived in the country, to my meetings, friends' houses, the movie theater or to athletic events.  My dad worked a lot and wasn't always available to take his turn. Two years ago, I made the decision to get a divorce.  My husband and I were the "perfect couple" but I wasn't happy.  I was scared to death to tell my mom, who I knew would pass it on to my dad.  Instead of berating me about what a stupid decision it was, she said she understood and I needed to do what was right for me.  As a single person now with grown children, my mom and I have gotten even closer than we used to be.  My dad passed away in the fall after I got divorced and I go to visit mom as much as possible.  We have traveled together and I have learned some things about her and her life I didn't know as a child.  We are a lot alike and can talk for hours about anything. 

A memory that I will never forget occurred  when I was teaching in a North Carolina elementary school.  My class was made up of very poor children who came from a high percentage of illiterate homes, children from families who had been transferred to our town from other states and were usually from higher economic households and some children from families somewhere in the middle.  A girl from the lower economic side of the class was struggling with reading.  One day she wanted to stay in from recess.  When I asked her why, she said to me, "Please help me learn to read."  How could I make her go out and play after that?  I worked with her during her recess times for several weeks.  Before the year was over, she moved.  I never knew if she learned to read as well as she wanted to or not.  I hope she did.


One of my favorite books is Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell.  The main character is a child who is short, has bucked teeth, couldn't sing and was clumsy.  Her grandmother's encouragement to embrace her differences and be herself, helped Molly Lou to adjust to a new school and win over the school's bully.  I love that it teaches that our differences are what makes each of  us special!  


Quote-This quote is on a poster in my classroom:  The object of teaching a child is to enable the child to get along without the teacher.  

Getting started

I'm looking forward to getting to know and work with everyone in the next several months.  Good luck!