Note of Thanks to my Colleagues

Just wanted to say thank you for all your support and for the posts that you have shared not only through blogging, but also through discussions.  I am blessed to be able to continue my educational journey and am thankful to have the support of each of you as well as your thoughts and experiences on various issues that we may encounter as we look at early childhood together.  I hope to share again with you in future classes.  Good luck as you continue on your journey and I hope that we will "meet" again!

Amy McCoig
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.."
Collosians 3:23

Childhood Development Quotes

“Play permits the child to resolve in symbolic form unsolved problems of the past and to cope directly or symbolically with present concerns. It is also his most significant tool for preparing himself for the future and its tasks.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

 

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."

~Chinese proverb

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” ~ Dr. Hiam Ginnot

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.

If a child learns to feel shame, he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement he learns confidence

If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.

He a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

- Dorothy Law Neite

Testing for Intelligence

When thinking about children as a “whole child”, and consider what should be measured or assessed, I think first about who the child is and where they come from.  What is their family situation?  What is their home life like?  Do they have siblings?  Are they healthy?  Do they live in a safe environment?  Are they being raised by a parent, parents, grandparents or some other person?  After getting a good glimpse into what their life is like, then I think you need to look at assessing or measuring what they know.  Through carefully observing these children, we can tell a lot about what kind of learners they are.   When children enter school, we need to make sure they are healthy and that they feel safe so they are ready to learn.  When a student feels connected to their school, they are more likely to stay in school. 

One thing that I think we need to look at is each child as their own individual.  Children do not learn the same way and therefore we need to carefully observe and think about how we can best meet their learning style.  Do they learn better through:

Ø  hands on activities

Ø  visual – pictures, graphs, diagrams

Ø  music – turn lessons into lyrics

Ø  interaction with peers

I think that we have to identify our children and include all types of learning styles when we are assessing or measuring the success of our children.  I do think that we over assess our children.  We will soon be testing our kindergarten children with a Brigance test, SAT-10 test, and STAR test.  First and second not only has the SAT-10 test and the STAR test, but also will be taking their nine weeks tests.  Third, fourth, and fifth will be taking TCAP, STAR, a 6^th grade placement test and a Math Common Core (CRA) test.  All these tests begin April 23^rd and will be completed by May 9^th.  I do think that we need to measure and assess our children, but I think that we may over assess our children to some degree.  Children are more than a test score.

School age children in Mexico are assessed by teachers who give examinations five times a year in each grade.  The tests must cover the national curriculum, but are developed locally.  There is a national examination at the end of the school year, and students who score less than 6 out of 10 on the test are retained in the same grade level for the coming year (McLaughlin, 2003).  Many children will drop out after primary grades (1-6) or secondary grades (7-9) as Mexico deals with a high rate of education failure.  Only about one-third of the children in Mexico who start school complete a high school-level education and one-tenth complete a post-secondary university or technical degree (Stein, 2004). 

References

McLaughlin, J. H. (2003). Schooling in mexico: A brief guide for u.s. educators. ERIC Digest,

Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org

Stein, R. (2004). Mexican and u.s. schools: A world apart. The Term Paper, 3(1), Retrieved from http://www.piton.org

Hunger: Stress on Childhood Development

As a teacher in an elementary setting, I have come into contact with many families that are dealing with hunger issues.  I had a student at one time that had been found eating from a dumpster.  I could not imagine what his life must have been like.  You don't think about stuff like this right here in your own community.  It was not long before this child was taken into custody and became a foster child.  That was when he came into my life.  This young boy of 6 years old had several problems.  He was developmentally delayed and was a sickly child.  He had a hard time relating to the other children and often played alone during recess.  He did not communicate well with others.  It hurts me to think that any child would have to go to a dumpster in search of food.  Families fall on hard times all the time, but there are so many resources out there that we need to make sure families like this know about.  I would love to be able to see this child today and see how he is doing and what strides he has made in his life.  I wondered if he was able to go back to his father or if he was adopted by a new family.  I feel that once he left that lifestyle that he would progress in some way, but have always wondered to what degree.  I do feel that hunger played a major role in his biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development.  Through his lack of necessary nutrients, he struggled to fight of illnesses, performed poorly academically, and lacked the social skills when it came to interacting with his peers.

Hunger is also a problem in other countries as well.  Just like right here at home, there are children out there seraching for food in the worst of places.  I visited some sites that shared hunger issues as seen in Somalia.  It was shocking to see what was happening in this area.  So many children are dying due to lack of proper nutrition.  Hunger has displaced people, murdered thousands and has put half the population of Somalia in starvation. In fact, charitywatch.org states, “More than 12 million people are affected, with the malnutrition-related death toll in Somalia already in the tens of thousands before famine was declared" (Komukyeya, 2012).  So what is being done to help?  There are many organizations that are working to help Somalia in their fight for food.  Some of the ones mentioned are: The World Food Programme, Action against Hunger, Unicef, Save the Children and others, but still they are fighting to live due to lack of food.  Stomping out hunger is not something that we can change overnight, but over time, is something that we can strive to minimize through the help of organizations. 

Komukyeya, R. (Producer). (2012). Hunger in somalia. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://prezi.com

Child Development and Public Health

Hunger and Malnutrition

I have always had a heart for children and families that are affected by hunger and malnutrition.  This is not a health topic that is a problem only in certain areas.  Granted, it is worse in some areas than in others.  I come into contact with children each and every day that are affected by hunger.  I have had children share with me that they did not get to eat over the weekend or last evening.  I am very passionate about this topic and will do whatever I can to help with this situation.  No child should have to go to bed without something to eat. 

 When I went to Guatemala, I had the opportunity to be a part of creating a feeding center in one of the villages.  Children ages 2 to 12 would come from all around the village and wait for several hours for the food to be prepared and served.  These children all received a bowl of some sort of chicken either with spaghetti or just in a soup, a tortilla, and a cup of powdered milk.  If they had anything left in their bowls, they would pour it in a type of plastic grocery bag and they would save it for later that evening.  This absolutely melted my heart.  Hunger and malnutrition is very evident in Guatemala.  In Guatemala, the face of poverty and hunger is young, indigenous and rural. Guatemala, with the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world and the highest in Latin America and the Caribbean, faces a serious challenge to reduce chronic undernutrition, currently at 49.8% among children under 5.

In the county where I teach, and through a partnership with Second Harvest food bank, we provide our students in need with a backpack of food.  Each Friday, we send home a backpack that contains enough food to get them through the weekend.  We also provide our students with free and reduced breakfast and lunch as well as share what resources we have regarding food pantries in the area with our families so that they can go and get things that they might need.  I know that we cannot completely eradicate hunger and malnutrition, but with the right people and resources, we can make a difference.

Childbirth in my Life and in Haiti

When I had my oldest son, Stephen, I was 24 years old.  I started out with extreme morning sickness.  The doctor tried everything to try and stop the morning sickness, but this continued throughout my entire pregnancy (can’t believe I had two more children after this).  I remember going to the doctor the day after Labor Day for a visit and my blood pressure was elevated.  The doctor decided to put me on bed rest and bring me in two days later and induce me.  So, I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 on Thursday, September 7^th.  The nurses quickly put me in a room where I changed into a gown.  It wasn’t too long after that the doctor came in and broke my water.  (This was not a pleasant experience at all.)  He then started me on a drug called Pitocin to encourage my labor process.  It was about 12:30 when the contractions got to be so uncomfortable that I called for an epidural.  About 1:00 the anesthesiologist came into the room and proceeded to give me my epidural.  What a relief that was!  I continued to progress and the nurses came by and checked on me periodically.  At about 6:45 the doctor came back by and said that I was seven centimeters dilated, so, he decided to turn up the Pitocin to help speed up the process even more.  My body did not like that at all and that is when things started going haywire!  My contractions started coming so quickly that the baby was showing signs of distress.  The doctor came running back in the room and along with him several nurses.  My husband said he has no idea how he got from standing right beside me to the other side of the room.  They started giving me shots in my legs to try and stop the contractions and even put the head of my bed down where they could get the pressure off of my cervix.  That is when they decided to head for a C-section.  The baby’s heart rate would not come up and there was no other choice.  They rushed me into the operating room where they put me to sleep and took the baby.  When they delivered him at 7:05 p.m., he weighed seven pounds two and a half ounces and he scored a zero and a one on his Apgar test.  He remained in the hospital for 8 days after which we were able to take him home.  He is a very healthy young man today and will be graduating this May from high school.

This experience was one I will never forget.  I chose this example because I was told that my son might possibly have developmental problems due to the lack of oxygen.  He is completely healthy and will graduate this May, ranked 20^th in his class with a 3.919 GPA.  I have come to realize that babies are a lot more resilient than you might think.  But, if it had been for the state of the art doctors, nurses and facilities, my son and I may neither one be here today.

In reading about birthing in Haiti, I am amazed at the high number of babies and mothers that die during childbirth.  Depending on where you are in Haiti, determines the conditions in which you will give birth.  Most babies are delivered in areas that are unclean and a lot of times at home with a midwife, who a lot of times are not necessarily medically trained.  Women are not given any drugs to help them with their pain and the fathers are not a part of this process.  Thus, the women are left to do this on their own for the most part.  Conditions are unsanitary as there is usually not a lot of water so you are left to use some sort of hand sanitizer.  Births in Haiti verse United States is very different.  The mortality rate is much higher in Haiti due to lack of prenatal care and poor facility conditions.    

A Note of Thanks to my Colleagues

Thank you to all my colleagues for your support and encouragement as we embark on this journey together.  Your kind words and support as well as the knowledge you have shared with me has been a blessing.  I look forward to learning more about each of you as we move on to the next phase of this journey.  As I look back to when I began this class, I have come along way.  From my first post, "Struggling with Blogging" to where I am  now.  I have enjoyed reading and posting to you all!  Good luck as you complete this class and move to the next!