To test or not to test that is the question. Society says testing is important, but personally I think we would focus on the whole child and meeting the needs of children we would need to test far less. Standardized tests focuses just one aspect of the child it does not test all aspects of the child. All children have different strengths and a standardized test is not going to tell the entire story about a child. My daughter Lauren is not a good standardized test taker, but she is an amazing creative writer. Unfortunately, there is not a standardized test available that would have ever discovered that quality.
The country I chose to write about is Venezuela and their school system basically two tracks they have a college bound or vocation bound education track and it begins in middle school. My husband reported that he remembers going into fifth grade and making the decision that he was going the college bound track so from fifth grade on he took primarily math and science coursework with a limited number of humanities. That was so surprising to me that as young as fifth grade you are making decisions about your future. I would guess that probably is truly based on the your parents goals for your future instead of the child.
I think that instead of getting children ready for tests it is more important for schools to get ready for children. I also think that schools need to be focusing on meeting the individual needs of the child no matter the age. If teachers focused on meeting the individual needs of children our children would be accomplishing amazing things.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Consequences of Stress on Child Development
Early in our marriage my husband went back to college to change careers and at the time we had our oldest daughter Jordan, but shortly after moving back to Stillwater for him to return to school I found out I was pregnant with our second children daughter Lauren. We were extremely poor at the time and we survived on the food items we received from the Women, Infants and Child (WIC) food program. Our daughters were so young they don't remember that time in our lives so I don't think it effected their development. My parents provided a strong support system for us. They provided so many things that our children that our girls never knew that we were poor. We were so poor at the time we did not even have a telephone so if my parents needed to get in touch with us they called the family that lived a couple door down and they would come get us. That almost does not seem real now. I have worked in Head Start for many years so I have seen first hand where poverty impacts children and sometimes their development if they don't have proper nutrition or adequate housing. We were poor, but we were fortunate that we did not experience life changing poverty.
I was reading in the Kids Count Oklahoma website and almost 16% of Oklahoma's children live in poverty according to 2010 data collection (The Anne E. Casey Foundation, 2012). This percentage has grown every year for the last four years. This is a continual problem for children in child care in the state of Oklahoma.
I think some of the resources available to children and families in poverty include WIC, Food Stamps, Head Start, Early Head Start and Medicaid. We were able to access part of these programs for our family and they made a big difference in our children's lives. My middle child Lauren had lost of medical issues as a child and has continued to have medical issues throughout her life, but having Medicaid so that we could take care her to the doctor when we needed to was such a relief. We are very fortunate now we both have great jobs and are not in need of these services, but because of our past it has made me a true advocate for children and families in poverty. Most of them are not living in poverty because that is the life they want they are there because of an unfortunate circumstance. Many people are just one chronic medical issue away from poverty.
I chose to look again to Venezuela since that is the country of origin for my husband. He still has most of his family still living there so we are well aware that the country is struggling with poverty. I was able to find an article about a music program that they have implemented to bring the joy of playing musical instruments to children in poverty. The article even stated that the government has put 64 million dollars into the program and that Chavez, the President is a supporter of the program (Walkin, 2012). These programs are operated in the schools after school so it is a way of protecting the children by keeping them off of the streets. The program serves pre-K through sixth grade.
Poverty is everywhere and it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that we have programs and support families in poverty. I think that programs like Head Start and Early Head Start are amazing because they provide a quality environment for the children grow and development so that their economic situation does not impact their development. Additionally, they also provide a parent component so that parents can learn how to better themselves as well.
References:
The Anne E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Data center kids count. Retrieved from: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/stateprofile.aspx?state=OK&loc=38
Walkin, D. J. (2012, February 15). Fighting Poverty, Armed with Violins. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/arts/music/el-sistema-venezuelas-plan-to-help-children-through-music.html?pagewanted=all
I was reading in the Kids Count Oklahoma website and almost 16% of Oklahoma's children live in poverty according to 2010 data collection (The Anne E. Casey Foundation, 2012). This percentage has grown every year for the last four years. This is a continual problem for children in child care in the state of Oklahoma.
I think some of the resources available to children and families in poverty include WIC, Food Stamps, Head Start, Early Head Start and Medicaid. We were able to access part of these programs for our family and they made a big difference in our children's lives. My middle child Lauren had lost of medical issues as a child and has continued to have medical issues throughout her life, but having Medicaid so that we could take care her to the doctor when we needed to was such a relief. We are very fortunate now we both have great jobs and are not in need of these services, but because of our past it has made me a true advocate for children and families in poverty. Most of them are not living in poverty because that is the life they want they are there because of an unfortunate circumstance. Many people are just one chronic medical issue away from poverty.
I chose to look again to Venezuela since that is the country of origin for my husband. He still has most of his family still living there so we are well aware that the country is struggling with poverty. I was able to find an article about a music program that they have implemented to bring the joy of playing musical instruments to children in poverty. The article even stated that the government has put 64 million dollars into the program and that Chavez, the President is a supporter of the program (Walkin, 2012). These programs are operated in the schools after school so it is a way of protecting the children by keeping them off of the streets. The program serves pre-K through sixth grade.
Poverty is everywhere and it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that we have programs and support families in poverty. I think that programs like Head Start and Early Head Start are amazing because they provide a quality environment for the children grow and development so that their economic situation does not impact their development. Additionally, they also provide a parent component so that parents can learn how to better themselves as well.
References:
The Anne E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Data center kids count. Retrieved from: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/stateprofile.aspx?state=OK&loc=38
Walkin, D. J. (2012, February 15). Fighting Poverty, Armed with Violins. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/arts/music/el-sistema-venezuelas-plan-to-help-children-through-music.html?pagewanted=all
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Child Development and Public Health
The public health topic I chose is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) because it amazes me with all the research there is out there about SIDS that parents are still buying bumper pads for infant cribs. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics parents should keep soft objects, loose bedding, or any objects that could increase the risk of entrapment, suffocation, or strangulation out of a crib (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2011). If parents are not going to stop purchasing bumper pads I do think that it is critical and ethical for manufactures to stop making bumper pads because if they are a part of the "bedding set" parents are going to keep purchasing them. This one of my personal pet peeves that by saving money and purchasing the bumper pad you may in fact be saving your babies life. Additionally, putting the baby on their back to go to sleep for the first year of life again is a potential life saving measure for your baby. Even with all the public awareness these two simple tasks are still not being taken by a great number of people and unfortunately we are still seeing many infants die due to SIDS.
In Australia there is new research that states by breastfeeding for the first six months exclusively and then continue to breastfeed until age one reduces the risk of SIDS by nearly half (Hofman, 2012). This is just another way of protecting our babies with breastfeeding reducing their risk of SIDS as well as many other potential illnesses.
I think for me finding a way to educate new parents about the risk of SIDS should become a task for all early childhood professionals because we have access to the most current research to share with parents. I also provide printout about the bedding, back to sleep and now I will also include information about breastfeeding as well in all of the baby shower gifts I give so it is my own little attempt to change the world one new parent at a time.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, December 28). Reducing the risk of SIDS. Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/sleep/pages/Preventing-SIDS.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token
Hofman, H. (2012, May 16). Global Post. Breastfeeding halves risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120516/breastfeeding-halves-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-sydrome-s
In Australia there is new research that states by breastfeeding for the first six months exclusively and then continue to breastfeed until age one reduces the risk of SIDS by nearly half (Hofman, 2012). This is just another way of protecting our babies with breastfeeding reducing their risk of SIDS as well as many other potential illnesses.
I think for me finding a way to educate new parents about the risk of SIDS should become a task for all early childhood professionals because we have access to the most current research to share with parents. I also provide printout about the bedding, back to sleep and now I will also include information about breastfeeding as well in all of the baby shower gifts I give so it is my own little attempt to change the world one new parent at a time.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2011, December 28). Reducing the risk of SIDS. Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/sleep/pages/Preventing-SIDS.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token
Hofman, H. (2012, May 16). Global Post. Breastfeeding halves risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120516/breastfeeding-halves-risk-of-sudden-infant-death-sydrome-s
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Childbirth in My Life and Around the World
Personal Childbirth Experience
The childbirth experience I am going to share is that of my daughter Lauren primarily because it was so scary. The reason it was scary was because when they broke my water the doctor informed us that she had a bowel movement and that it would cause complications at the time of delivery. They wanted to make sure that she did not inhale the meconium into her lungs. There were pediatricians on hand to take care of her once I delivered. My husband had removed the tape from our video recorder and put it in the trash can because he thought she was dead, but fortunately she was not we joke now that she was to stubbon to let a little meconium aspiration come between her and experiencing life. If you are wondering she is still stubborn today as a 20 year old. I was fortunate to have many doctors available that morning to make sure that I we were both taken care of and everyone survived. We were lucky because she did not have any long term impact from this, but in some cases there is brain damage and permanent lung damage.
One of the reasons meconium apiration syndrom occurs is because the placenta is drying up because the mother has gone to far past her due date. I wanted to have a my daughter naturally so we held off another week before scheduling a cesarean. The cesaren was scheduled for 6:30 January 24 and she was born naturally at 6:35 January 24.
Child birth is a very tramatic process for both the child and the mother, it amazes me that child birth does not impact child development more often. I wanted to ensure that my baby was fully developed and having a cesarean early caused me concern that what if the baby is not ready. Cesarens are becoming very common in the United States and if they are medically necessary then I think that they are fine, but so many people are choosing to do them because they can schedule it to fit into thier own schedule with disregard for is the baby really ready and fully developed.
Childbirth in Venezuela
I chose to learn more about child birth in Venezuela because my husband is orginally form Venezula and the majority of his family still reside there. When I first asked him where he was born he looked at me like I was crazy and responded a hospital of course. I said, "well I was just wondering I don't think we ever talked about it before." He responded that even his mother was born in a hospital, but his dad was born at home. He dad is 71 year old. So from my peronal interview I thought well Venezula and the United States seem very similar, but I wanted to learn more.
In one article I read it mentioned that cesarean rate had increased by 22% from 2002 to 2009 (Devereux, 2010). The article went on to share that many doctors were encouraging cesarean's because they are quicker and they can schedule them during office hours and make more money (Devereux, 2010). I thought is was interesting that in Venezuela just like in the United States there is a movement toward cesaren delivery and I think they are for similar reasons. While the health care in Venezuela is very behind the United States generally in regards to child birth they have a lot of similarity. I also talked with my neice because she just had a baby about six months ago and he doctor wanted her to have a cesarean, but she chose to do have a natural delivery.
While I don't think doctors in either country are disregarding the baby's development when scheduling cesarean births I do think that development can be compromised if the baby is not ready and the delivery takes place.
This was a very interesting comparison and great to reflect on my own person birthing expereinces. I have three children and all three experiences were extremely different. It was hard to chose, but near death experience of the baby won out.
Devereux, C. (2010, June 17). Why so many c-sections in Venezuela? Retrieved from Globalpost website: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/venezuela/100615/childbirth-cesarean
The childbirth experience I am going to share is that of my daughter Lauren primarily because it was so scary. The reason it was scary was because when they broke my water the doctor informed us that she had a bowel movement and that it would cause complications at the time of delivery. They wanted to make sure that she did not inhale the meconium into her lungs. There were pediatricians on hand to take care of her once I delivered. My husband had removed the tape from our video recorder and put it in the trash can because he thought she was dead, but fortunately she was not we joke now that she was to stubbon to let a little meconium aspiration come between her and experiencing life. If you are wondering she is still stubborn today as a 20 year old. I was fortunate to have many doctors available that morning to make sure that I we were both taken care of and everyone survived. We were lucky because she did not have any long term impact from this, but in some cases there is brain damage and permanent lung damage.
One of the reasons meconium apiration syndrom occurs is because the placenta is drying up because the mother has gone to far past her due date. I wanted to have a my daughter naturally so we held off another week before scheduling a cesarean. The cesaren was scheduled for 6:30 January 24 and she was born naturally at 6:35 January 24.
Child birth is a very tramatic process for both the child and the mother, it amazes me that child birth does not impact child development more often. I wanted to ensure that my baby was fully developed and having a cesarean early caused me concern that what if the baby is not ready. Cesarens are becoming very common in the United States and if they are medically necessary then I think that they are fine, but so many people are choosing to do them because they can schedule it to fit into thier own schedule with disregard for is the baby really ready and fully developed.
Childbirth in Venezuela
I chose to learn more about child birth in Venezuela because my husband is orginally form Venezula and the majority of his family still reside there. When I first asked him where he was born he looked at me like I was crazy and responded a hospital of course. I said, "well I was just wondering I don't think we ever talked about it before." He responded that even his mother was born in a hospital, but his dad was born at home. He dad is 71 year old. So from my peronal interview I thought well Venezula and the United States seem very similar, but I wanted to learn more.
In one article I read it mentioned that cesarean rate had increased by 22% from 2002 to 2009 (Devereux, 2010). The article went on to share that many doctors were encouraging cesarean's because they are quicker and they can schedule them during office hours and make more money (Devereux, 2010). I thought is was interesting that in Venezuela just like in the United States there is a movement toward cesaren delivery and I think they are for similar reasons. While the health care in Venezuela is very behind the United States generally in regards to child birth they have a lot of similarity. I also talked with my neice because she just had a baby about six months ago and he doctor wanted her to have a cesarean, but she chose to do have a natural delivery.
While I don't think doctors in either country are disregarding the baby's development when scheduling cesarean births I do think that development can be compromised if the baby is not ready and the delivery takes place.
This was a very interesting comparison and great to reflect on my own person birthing expereinces. I have three children and all three experiences were extremely different. It was hard to chose, but near death experience of the baby won out.
Devereux, C. (2010, June 17). Why so many c-sections in Venezuela? Retrieved from Globalpost website: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/venezuela/100615/childbirth-cesarean
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
A Note of Thanks and Support
Dear Colleagues,
I has been a wonderful experience getting to know you all over our blogging. I was very nervous about blogging and you all made it very fun and easy. I appreciate your support and wish you all continued support with your blog. I am hopeful that we will be in additional classes together, but I will stay connected to your blogs because you all will always have a special place in my professional journey as my group that helped me get started. Getting started with anything is always the hardest and I thank you all for your support of me during this class.
Sincerely,
Jill
I has been a wonderful experience getting to know you all over our blogging. I was very nervous about blogging and you all made it very fun and easy. I appreciate your support and wish you all continued support with your blog. I am hopeful that we will be in additional classes together, but I will stay connected to your blogs because you all will always have a special place in my professional journey as my group that helped me get started. Getting started with anything is always the hardest and I thank you all for your support of me during this class.
Sincerely,
Jill
Friday, June 15, 2012
NAEYC Code of Ethics
NAEYC Code of Ethics--As a person that does presentations on the Code of Ethics at first thought I was immediately thought well of course P1.1--Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, phyiscally harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children. This prinicple has precedence over all others in this Code (NAEYC, 2005) means the most to me and has the most impact because as an early childhod professional we have to be committed and passionate that first and formost we believe in protecting young children.
The next thought was I-1.1--To be familiar witht he knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training (NAEYC, 2005). Every week we have reflected in some what the valued of staying informed and seeking more education. We are living this ideal simply because we are on this quest for more education.
The third and final ideal that I will share in this posting is I-3B.1--To assist the program in providing the highest quality of service (NAEYC, 2005). This ideal is why I am in the early childhood field and why I am seeking more education and why I want to be a strong early childhood advocate because I believe all children should have the opportunity to attend a program that is providing the highest quality of service. I have dedicated my lifes work to assisting centers and homes in seeking the ultimate in quality for the children and families that they serve.
NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PESETH05.pdf
The next thought was I-1.1--To be familiar witht he knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training (NAEYC, 2005). Every week we have reflected in some what the valued of staying informed and seeking more education. We are living this ideal simply because we are on this quest for more education.
The third and final ideal that I will share in this posting is I-3B.1--To assist the program in providing the highest quality of service (NAEYC, 2005). This ideal is why I am in the early childhood field and why I am seeking more education and why I want to be a strong early childhood advocate because I believe all children should have the opportunity to attend a program that is providing the highest quality of service. I have dedicated my lifes work to assisting centers and homes in seeking the ultimate in quality for the children and families that they serve.
NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PESETH05.pdf
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Early Childhood Resources
Position Statements and Influential Practices
Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being
Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations
Additional Website Resources for Early Childhood Professionals
National Women's Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org
National Family Child Care Home Association
http://www.nafcc.org
National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
http://www.naccrra.org
Position Statements and Influential Practices
- 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
Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being
- 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.
- World Forum Foundation
Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations
- 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/
Additional Website Resources for Early Childhood Professionals
National Women's Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org
National Family Child Care Home Association
http://www.nafcc.org
National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
http://www.naccrra.org
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