Famous Children Quotes that I like.

"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Mohandes Ghandi

"No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure." - Emma Goldman

I would like to thank all my colleagues who made posting to my blog, and who I post comments too. I enjoyed reading your blogs because they gave me new insight to things I didn't know. They were personal and inspiring. I wish you all the best in achieving your goals. Live, Laugh, & Love!  :-)

Testng for Intelligence

I believe that young children holistic should be assessed because the ongoing research program in which instruments are developed to assess development through standardized situations, cover a wide array: (1) emotional health, (2) exploratory drive, (3) understanding of the physical world, (4) social competence, (5) communication and expression, (6) creativity, (7) musical perception, (8) self-organization and entrepreneurs (Bennett, J., & Leonarduzzi, S., 2004). All these area play a vital role in early childhood development because they will help young children to grow up to be adults who are self-confident and mentally healthy, curious and exploratory, expressive and communicative, imaginative and creative, well organized and entrepreneurial (Bennett, J., & Leonarduzzi, S., 2004). These areas will help children with developing intuitions about the social and physical world and feeling belonging and connections to the world around them.

European Assessment

Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia are three progressive approaches to early childhood education that appear to be growing in influence in North America and to have many points in common (ECRP, 2004). In all three approaches, children are assessed by means other than traditional tests and grades. Instead, parents receive extensive descriptive information about their children's daily life and progress and share in culminating productions or performances (ECRP, 2004). Portfolios or other products of children's individual and group work may be displayed and sent home at key intervals and transitions (ECRP, 2004). Yet as the three approaches increasingly interact with the world of public school education, dialogue is leading to greater focus on authentic and valid ways of conducting assessment and evaluation (ECRP, 2004). The American Montessori Association issued a position paper on "Learning and Assessment" that recommends that assessment procedures in American classrooms move toward formats (such as portfolios, presentations, multimedia projects) that more authentically gauge children's ability to interrelate ideas, think critically, and use information meaningfully (ECRP, 2004).

I believe that although we try to measure and assess our children, we still provide our parents with crucial information about their children’s progression and performances. Well at least I do with my parents. I send news letter home every week to inform my parents on how their children are doing in the classroom. I also let them know what we are working on for the week and how they can extend it at home. Although, I send news letters home every week, I also talk to my parents every day when they drop their children off for school. So, I am communicating daily and weekly with my parents. I do think our children should be assessed, but I don’t want it to affect the children in a way where high test scores matter most, and in which they will be pressured to produce these scores.

References:

Bennett, J., & Leonarduzzi, S. (2004). Starting Strong Curriculum and Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education and Care: Five Curriculum Outlines. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/36/31672150.pdf

Edwards, C. P. (2002). Three Approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia. European Psychologist, 4(1), 1524-5039. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/edwards.html

Common Stressors

·         War

·         Poverty

·         Racism

·         Natural disaster

·         Isolation

·         Hunger

·         Noise

·         Chaos

·         Disease

·         Environmental pollution

·         Violence

As a child growing up, all I knew about cancer was that people died from it. When I was around 11 years old, my step dad sat me and my sister down on the couch, and told us that he had prostate cancer. I didn’t know what prostate cancer was at the time, but what I did know about cancer, is that it killed people. I was so scared that I was going to lose my dad that I pulled myself away from him. I didn’t want to lose my dad, and if he were to die, I wouldn’t know what to do without him. I thought that if I pulled myself away from my dad, it wouldn’t hurt as much when he died. For instance, I stop going around my dad, I stop talking to him, and I wouldn’t go to him when he called me. At the time, I didn’t know that those things had hurt my dad. I was just a young child who was scared of losing her father. Although, my dad suffered through several chemotherapy sessions, he eventually, became cancer free. So, now that I am older, I know more about the disease that they call cancer, and it’s many other diseases. A few years ago, my dad sat down with and talked to me about the way I acted as a child when he was sick. He told me how he was hurt that I wasn’t around when he was sick. He said he had needed me to be there for him because me and sister was the reason he was fighting for his life. As a child, I didn’t know that grownups needed us but now I do. I apologize to my dad for not being there for him, but I also told him that I was scared of losing him, and at that age, the only way I could keep from hurting was to forget about him. I know that sounds selfish and thoughtless, but that was the only way I knew how to deal with death. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad to death, and I am glad that he is still here with me. Just like adults, children deal with life issues differently, and you can’t blame them for the way, they express themselves because that is just how they cope with things in order to survive. I have learned, as we grow, we will find new ways to deal with our issues. Till this day, I still don’t like the feeling of losing a person close to me, but I have grown so much in my faith that I have learned that it is God’s will and he makes no mistakes. I have learned not to leave people when they need you the most because one day you will need them. Now, when someone who is close to me is sick, the first thing I do is pray for them and then I go and see about them. I don’t run away from them anymore I am always there for them.

South Africa is one of the countries that I want to know more about when it comes to the link between HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, poverty, and children’s vulnerability now and in the future. Research has shown that

Several countries in Southern Africa now see large numbers of their population barely subsisting at poverty levels in years without shocks, and highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, the economy and government policy. The combination of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and a weakened capacity for governments to deliver basic social services has led to the region experiencing an acute phase of a long-term emergency. Vulnerability is a term commonly used by scientists and practitioners to describe these deteriorating conditions. There is particular concern about the vulnerability of children in this context and implications for children's future security. Through a review of literature and recent case studies, and using a widely accepted conceptualization of vulnerability as a lens, we reflect on what the regional livelihoods crisis could mean for children's future wellbeing. We argue that an increase in factors determining the vulnerability of households both through greater intensity and frequency of shocks and stresses (external vulnerability) and undermined resilience or ability to cope (internal vulnerability) are threatening not only current welfare of children, but also their longer-term security. The two specific pathways we explore are (1) erosive coping strategies employed by families and individuals; and (2) their inability to plan for the future. We conclude that understanding and responding to this crisis requires looking at the complexity of these multiple stressors, to try to comprehend their interconnections and causal links. Policy and programmer responses have, to date, largely failed to take into account the complex and multi-dimensional nature of this crisis. There is a misfit between the problem and the institutional response, as responses from national and international players have remained relatively static. Decisive, well-informed and holistic interventions are needed to break the potential negative cycle that threatens the future security of Southern Africa's children.

Reference

Drimie, S., Casale, M. (2009). Multiple stressors in Southern Africa: the link between HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, poverty and children's vulnerability now and in the future. American Psychologist, 21, 28-33. doi: 10.1080/09540120902942931