When I think of Child Development

v  “Children's reading and children's thinking are the rock-bottom base upon which this country will rise. Or not rise. In these days of tension and confusion, writers are beginning to realize that books for children have a greater potential for good or evil than any other form of literature on earth.” Dr. Seuss

v  You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!”  Dr. Seuss

 v  “Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry.” Dr. Seuss

Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.”
George Bernard Shaw

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
Madeleine L'Engle

 

 

 

To all my colleagues who responded to my post.  I so appreciate all the comments and advise you have given me throughout this course. I am glad I had the opportunity to work with you all. Sophia Marsh

Testing For Intelligence

This week we are talking about children with disability and how it has changed from where children that have challenging capabilities were separate from the capable children. Well children are learning from their environment therefore as an early childhood professional I will need to provide a positive environment to ensure healthy growth such as excellent learning capabilities.   I believe that children are expected to have a learning capability at a young age. For example my 5 year old niece is a kindergarten student that is reading at a first grade level. We will say that she is a smart girl! Well yes, although her mother has been working on her capability to learn new materials as well as how well she process information. She shows great progress and intelligence.

Equally important is education to ensure someone’s success in life. For instance back in 1930s through 1950s parents use to dream of having their son being an educated individual because at that time education was very important to many families and see their children go to the best college. Therefore scientist comes up with assessment to show case children’s ability in school as well as in society and daily communicating ability. It gives them self-worth as well as knowledge. Scientist has been testing children intelligent since the early 1950s at the 4 and 5 grade levels. We still look at how well children handle problem solving on their own. Although it is true that kindergarten level is more like first grade level because children do not just color, sing, and sleep anymore. They are doing basic math, they are learning sight words, and reading short story books. We ask so much of them and for that reason they are growing faster than ever. Children’s roles are changing every day academically, socially, and characteristically.

My finding shows that people all over the world are using assessment test in the school system. For example this is what Skuy, Taylor, O’Carroll, Fridjhon, and Rosenthal (2000) say about performance of black and white South Africa children on the Wechsler intelligence, “The validity of traditional intelligence tests for cultural groups that differ from those for whom the tests were normed has come under scrutiny. This is particularly the case for the previously disadvantaged black majority in South Africa. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is reportedly a relatively nondiscriminatory test of intellectual functioning. This study compared the performance of 21 black and 35 white third-grade South African children on the K-ABC and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale--Revised (WISC-R) at two schools for children with learning problems. While the WISC-R Verbal and Full Scale IQ of black children were significantly lower than that of whites, there was no significant difference between these groups on the K-ABC. Teachers' ratings for white and black pupils were acceptably concordant with students' performance on the K-ABC but not on the WISC-R. Support is provided for the usefulness of the K-ABC as a relatively nondiscriminatory alternative to the WISC-R for South African children.”

     

Consequences of tress on Children's Development

Quote on poverty:

I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing.”
― Neil Gaiman

Poverty

I choose poverty because so many children are living in poverty. We have children living in poverty here in the United Stated because they may have a parent that is on drugs and are unable to provide for them. Third-world countries are most likely to have children in poverty because they do not have enough money or a job. I have never experience poverty, however many children and adult are living in poverty in Haiti, which is where I was born and raised. However there are some families in Haiti that does not have a place or a proper bed to sleep in. according to Wadsworth, M. E. and Rienks, S. L. (2012) when helping children develop skills to cope on their own, we are teaching them to adapt in any environment. Coping with stress can be hard however we can get help to ensure a better environment for the children. I believe poverty will always be around, but we can try to reduce poverty by educating those that in poverty to help them move up to have a job and food to eat on a regular basis.  

Poverty in Haiti

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, most of Haiti’s 10 million people live on less than $2 a day. The severe economic situation, combined with increased fuel and food costs, the effect of natural disasters and chronic unemployment has placed a serious burden on an already vulnerable population.

The the poorest country in the Americas, most of Haiti’s 10 million people live on less than $2 a day. The severe economic situation, combined with increased fuel and food costs, the effect of natural disasters and chronic unemployment has placed a serious burden on an already vulnerable population.

The maternal mortality rate is 630 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and child mortality is similarly high at 54 child deaths per 1,000.

On 12 January 2010 a powerful earthquake struck Haiti, leaving as many as 250,000 people dead and affecting millions more.

The earthquake exacerbated an already inadequate health situation, with the collapse of at least eight hospitals and healths in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

A year and a half after the earthquake, more than 670,000 people are still living in temporary camps in spontaneous settlements across the earthquake-affected areas of Haiti.

Where does Merlin work?

Merlin has three project sites in Haiti: Two in the Ouest Department (Port-au-Prince and Petit Goave) and one in the Nord Est (Ounaminthe).

What work are you doing?

Merlin is working to make sure that vulnerable communities receive the vital health care they need, and to strengthen Haiti’s shattered health system.

In particular Merlin’s clinics and mobile teams work on health education, treating and preventing cholera outbreaks, maintaining sustainable health care and strengthening the local capacity.

How many people are you treating?

Merlin has treated 47,986 patients in clinics in Port-au-Prince, 31,658 patients in clinics in Petit Goave and over 5000 cholera patients across Haiti.

Article links:

 http://www.merlinusa.org/where-we-work/haiti/?gclid=COCjp9_QlbUCFcFxOgodZTsACQ

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6151435/k.B1C9/Haiti.htm

http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2012/07/stress-mechanism.aspx