When I think of Child Development

I love this quote, it makes me stop, think, and often change how I handle a difficult behavior. 

This is so true, I see this in myself, my kids, and I think of this as I am teaching.  

Relationships are so important for all of us.  I try to have a positive relationship with all of the kids in my class, the better the relationship, the better the learning and the outcome. 

Thank you to all my classmates for your help and support, 2 classes down, we got this.

Testing for Intelligence

This is a topic  with a lot of debate.  Truthfully, I hate standardized test, I hate seeing what it does to my kids.  My daughter Evie is in third grade, and her class took the Air test last week.  The kids have to pass it to pass third grade in Ohio, and the teachers told them this!  She already has anxiety issues, and of course this put it in overdrive.  She cried and had panic attacks over what happens if she doesn't pass.  The stress was too much for an eight year old, and probably made her do poorly. We prayed about it and asked God to calm her and help her to do her best, we talked about how I would love her no matter what, and for her to just do her best.
What will this test show? It doesn't show how big her hear is, how she likes to volunteer at the community center and serve dinner to homeless on Friday nights. It does not show what a great dancer she is, or how her smile can light up a room.
My first grader reads on a third grade level, his DRA score is actually higher than his sister's, however, he has ADHD and cannot sit for two hours to take a test. His test scores are usually low because of this. Standardized test do  not show us anything but whether or not a child is a good test taker.
 What way should children be assessed? I believe in an holistic approach to education, this is one of the reason why I love teaching for Head Start. Would it be possible for elementary schools to take this approach? Instead of test to prove a child can do grade level work, a portfolio for a selection of what they have done.  For example, book reports, art projects, pictures of a music performance, DRA scores, etc.
What if there were some type of assessment that we could see what type of intelligent they had. ( I am thinking along the lines of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence.)  For example, children who test high in body kenistic are grouped together, that is used as the base for teaching them, and their assessments are given with this in mind.  This takes a lot more planning and time than standardize test, but aren't children worth it?
For the international piece I decided to research Belize. In Belize, most public schools are ran by the Catholic church.  Most of  the schools do not go by grades like we do (k-12th), instead they have forms that go up to 6th form which is jr. college.   Education is free up to age 14, however families are expected to pay for uniforms and books which can cost $3,000 US dollars. High school cost ranges from $20 US dollars to $1,000 a month plus the cost of books and uniforms. Most of Belize families cannot afford this, and many children never finish primary school. There are government programs to help needy families, but it is unavailable to most families unless they have connections. Belize City has good schools with educated teachers, however in the south, most teachers are uneducated and have very limited supplies. one  out of two children in the south will finish primary school, (Belize.com, n.d.).
Resources
https://www.belize.com/education-in-belize
http://www.mybelize.net/education-in-belize/

Stress on Children's Development

For this topic I picked poverty.  I grew up dirt poor, up a holler in Appalachia. My days were filled with frog giggin', shooting squirrels with a bb gun, fetching water from the crick, and spending sun up to sun down in roaming the forest behind our trailer.  The only time I put shoes on was for church on Sun., until I started school.
I do remember being hungry a few times when my dad used our food stamps to buy beer and my mom refused to ask for help. I started hiding little Debbie cakes that my papaw would give me for these occasions. I would also make up some reason to walk down the road to my grandparents house knowing that they would ask me to stay for dinner.  When I left the holler at the age of 18, I swore I would not be back and my kids would not endure life like this.  Funny how I look back with fond memories and hearing Country Roads on the radio often makes me cry.  Any ways, back to the topic.
I now stock up cans, clip coupons, and have money put back just in case. I also struggle with my weight as I cannot stand to see food wasted and eat more than I should with the excuse you never know when something bad is going to happen. Our church operates the main food bank in our small town and I try to volunteer there when I can, and teach me kids to help other as much as they can.  I also teach for Head Start and I am the teacher with the list of all the food banks/ pantries with their contact info and criteria in our county and the surrounding counties.  I cannot stand to hear of a child being hungry.

The country that I picked is Haiti, again.  I know that clean water is an issue, so I am assuming that poverty is as well.
Before the earthquake of 2010, Haiti had  1.9 million people in need of food assistance.  Since 2010, Haiti is now the poorest country in the world with a poverty rate of 77%. Only 50% of the country has access to clean water. "Only fifty percent of children living in Haiti are able to go to school, while 30 percent of those only progress to the fifth grade. As a result, half of Haitians are illiterate. Without a proper education, the people are unable to break free of the cycle of poverty," (The Borgen Project, 2015). This is extremely heartbreaking to me, and I wonder what is being done to help these children?
The Borgen Project list 30 ways to help with the top 3 being email congress, call congress, and donate. They list several ways that ordinary people can get involved and help which I think is awesome.
World Bank gives advice on  what should be done. "To combat poverty and inequality in a sustainable way, policies should focus, alongside strong economic growth and better governance, on investing in people; boosting incomes and opportunities; and protecting the poor and vulnerable from shocks," (World Bank, n.d.).  I was unable to find proof that this is being done. What I can find are small organizations usually affiliated with a church are doing what they can, but  the government is not doing anything.  I hope this changes soon for these children.
References
The Borgen Project. (2015). The Top 5 Facts about Poverty in Haiti. Retrieved fromhttps://borgenproject.org/top-five-facts-about-poverty-in-haiti/
The World Bank. (n.d). Investing in People to Fight Poverty in Haiti.

The Importance of Clean Water

 Clean water is a pretty big deal for everyone. I remember growing up and going the the creek to fetch water, watching my mom boil it, and waiting for it to cool to get a drink, (and this was in the 1980's in America).  We used that water to drink, take a bath, and then used the dirty water to flush the toilet.  I can remember how great it was when we were able to get public water up our "holler."  I remember thinking "oh, that's what that is for," referring to the faucet. What would have happened had my mom not have boiled it?
  Picking a country to talk about was an easy for me. My church donates to an organization that main mission is to provide clean water to the people of  Haiti.  According to Wells for Haiti (n.d), Haiti has the poorest quality of water in the world. The people of Haiti are constantly battling illnesses that are caused by contaminated water. According to Charity Water (n.d), diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.  43% of those deaths are children under five years old. However, access to clean water and basic sanitation can save around 16,000 lives every week world wide. 
How does  this affect us as early childhood educators in the United States?  You never know when you might get a new student who's family moved from a country with poor water quality.  Or, you might end up teaching in Appalachian where there are still remote places without running water and electricity.  Third, we can educate the children and families we work with about the need and have them help.  In Girl Scout terms, make it a take action project.  

References
http://cleanwaterforhaiti.org/
http://wellsforhaiti.com/
http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/

Birthing experience

I would like to talk about the birth of my son, since that is the one I know the best. He was born in 2010.  I wanted a midwife, and most people thought I was crazy for wanting that.  research midwifes in the area, thankfully I lived close to Cleveland, OH at this time so  I had options.  I remember filling out my birthing plan and chose to have him at the hospital because my mother was terrified of complications.  I chose natural child birth, and the nurses thought I was crazy  that I refused an epidural.  The plus side of not having the epidural was that I was free to move around, and not confined to the bed during labor.  I also was able to get a shower just a few hours after giving birth, which was the best shower ever!  Nathaniel also scored a 9.9 on his first APGAR screening.  He was very alert, and not drowsy like he would have been if I had taken the epidural.  I have no regrets on not taking the epidural.  He did have his first BM in utero, so I am glad that I opted for the hospital instead of at home.  His mouth had to be suction before he took his first cry to prevent him from swallowing it.
I am glad  that the USA is starting to make different birthing options available. I know when I was born cesareans was the norm, and  one was scheduled weeks early with no real reason for the it other than it was convenient.
I decided to see how my birthing experience compares to that of Japan.  Most women in Japan opt to not take any painkillers, but they do deliver at a hospital or birthing center, (Schalken, n.d.).  I was surprise that the average hospital stay is 5-10 day after giving birth.  I think I was only in the hospital for 2 days after giving birth. Another interesting fact, fathers are only allowed in the delivering room if they took a prenatal class with the mom to be, and  have to be in the waiting room for a cesarean. I like this idea, my ex-husband was freaking out and made things worse for me. Last fact,Japan has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, and the USA is #27th  according to Child Health USA (2013).  I wonder if the extended post natal stay has anything to do with this.

References
Schalke, Lara (n.d.). Birth Customs Around the World. retrived from
http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/

International Mortality Rate retrieved from
https://mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa13/perinatal-health-status-indicators/p/international-infant-mortality.html

Thanks and Support

Thanks to all of my classmates for a wonderful first class at Walden.  I wish all of you the best and I hope we have more classes together in the future.

I would also like to thank my family for their support and patience during all of this as I added more one thing to juggle.

Ethics in Early Childhood

I had difficulty trying to narrow it down to just three for this post. All three come from The Division of Early Childhood. The first one is from the professional practice section. "We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulness, and honesty in all our professional activities in order to inspire the trust and confidence of the children and families and of those with whom we work," (DEC,2000, p1).  Integrity is extremely important  to me. If you have integrity, then truthfulness and honesty will follow as they are components of integrity. Integrity is important to have the trust of the child, families, co workers, etc.  Integrity means that you can be trusted to follow through with what you say, trusted to not talk about a child or family to another child or family.  Building trust is how you can start a connection with a child or family.  I try to have integrity in all aspects of my life.

The second one I chose is from the same section. " We shall serve as advocates for children with disabilities and their families and for the professionals who serve them by supporting both policy and programmatic decisions that enhance the quality of their lives," (DEC,2000, p1).   As a mother of two special needs boys, I believe heavily in being an advocate for them and other children with special needs. I have found that families of children with disabilities often do not know what their options are and accept whatever the school district offers, which is usually the bare minimum.   Every child deserves the chance to live to their full potential.

The last one is from the personal development and preparedness section. " We shall continually be aware of issues challenging the field of early childhood special education and advocate for changes in laws, regulations, and policies leading to improved outcomes and services for young children with disabilities and their families," (DEC, 2000, p2).  Part of being a  good advocate/leader/teacher is know what is going on.  What are  the new trends, issues, possible laws, etc. and using this info on how does it impact the children in your classroom, and how can you communicate it to the families.  I try to stay current, this is part of why I am finishing my masters degree.

References
 The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved  from
http://www.dec-sped.org/