Quote about Children

Train your child in the way in which you know you should have gone yourself. Charles H. Spurgeon

Wouldn't we all like to start over but since we can't, we have children or teach children to give them the knowledge about life that we missed out on because we didn't listen to our parents or the adults in our lives.  We all learn no matter what age and to make a difference in a child's life is wonderful. 

A big "Thank You" to all of my colleagues that I have met during this course for all your encouraging words and for sharing your heart for children in your blogs.

Testing for Intelligence

I am a firm believer that young children are being tested/pressured too much.  There should be a method to assess what children have learn but schools that focus on preparing children for the "test" and not preparing them for knowledge is not in the best interest of the child.  Education should be about preparing the whole child - cognitively, physically, and socially.  Because of the No Child Left Behind mandate, there is too much emphasis placed on performance and standardized testing. School systems and principals are pressuring teachers to make the children pass the standardized test to keep their jobs.  With this pressure on the elementary teachers, they are putting pressure on the preschool teachers to make sure that children can pass the test when they enter kindergarten.  Whereas most preschool curriculum are set up for children to learn at their developmental level (hands on), they philosophy does not work when they enter kindergarten.  All children must learn and pass the test at the same level and if they don't, they will be labeled with a disability.  In essence, I believe children should be measured on their developmental level and teachers should plan their lesson based on where a child is and set goals for them to achieve to the next level.  Teachers should get back to teaching and not production.

In Wales, Great Britain, they have decided to stop most standardized testing through age 14 and to replace testing 11 and 14 year old with teacher evaluations.  Wales is considered a high-stake-testing country. The Education Minister Jane Davidson, feels that "each student was just a statistic" and she "wanted to get teachers back to actually talking about how to acknowledge and recognize the talents of people and to support those talents".  Along with government guidance, teachers come up with their own assessments and report the results to parents, local education authorities, and the Welsh government each year.  I think this is something that the United States Secretary of Education need to watch closely to see the long term effects.

Reference:
Retrieved from the internet 12/10/10 Standardized Testing in England.  The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Wales Drops Most Standardized Testing. Jan. 2007

Childhood Stressors

I don't feel that the stressors in my life as a child can compare to the stressors that I saw in children who were af fected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  My future husband's grandchildren (ages 5 & 6) were affected by the storm and I saw how this catastrophic event caused them to be afraid of a heavy rain and very apprehensive as to when they would be able to return home to New Orleans.  It was an adjustment to be in a different city and especially without their mom for most of the time.  They had to adjust to new friends and new school. When they did return to the New Orleans region several months later, they lived in a trailer with their mother and grandparents.  The  schools were not functioning at full capacity but at least they had somewhere to go during the day.  When we talked with them on the weekend, they sounded content but we knew they sounded different than they had a year ago. 

Although New Orleans is coming back strong again and the children are in their home again, the effects of the storm is still there.  The now 10 year old still does not like storms and they talk about the items they don't have in their school like access to working computers in their classrooms but they do have afterschool programs they attend.  When we visited this past September, the city is vibrant again and we saw children that are happy to be in familiar surroundings which help in their growth because children do need stability.  New Orleans and the gulf coast region have gone through a lot of stressful events lately (e.g. oil spill) but they are strong people that keep pushing forward.

Nutrition and Malnutrition in Children

Good nutrition in the early years of a child is crucial for human growth and development.  Malnutrition affect millions of children and a third of children under the age of 5 die in underdeveloped countries due to the lack of adequate nutrients.  This topic is important to me because if children do not receive meals that are nutrition and have adequate water supply, it will affect how their cognitive and physical being develops.

Since the earthquake in Haiti back in January of this year, the people of Haiti especially the children, had to be very concern about food and water. Organizations like UNICEF and the Haiti Nutrition Project have aided the country in providing food and also teaching the people of Haiti about good health practices.  Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their infants and young children instead of using powdered formula.  They are also being educated on inappropriate breastmilk subsititute. With the outbreak of cholera, a bigger concern for good health and nutrition is present. 

In my future work with children, I will continue to promote healthy foods for young children and work with organizations to help in the prevention of malnurtition in our country and other parts of the world.

Childbirth - My Life and Around the World

I have experienced 3 vaginal childbirths but my second child delivery was the shortest but also the hardest.  I arrived at the hospital around 12:50pm and by 2:50pm was told to start pushing.  I thought I would deliver my baby before "Days of Our Lives" would go off but I was wrong.  I pushed from 2:50pm until 5pm when finally my doctor stated to me that the baby had turned around and she would have to turn the baby back around.  I pleaded for a ceaseran birth but my doctor said no this would be the best thing. So with the doctor, the nurse, and my husband all in the room, my doctor had to reach into my womb and turn my baby's head around to push into the birth canal.  I thought I was dying but thankfully it worked and at 6:02pm I delivered a healthy 7lb, 10oz baby girl.
As I read about childbirths in India, I was thankful that I was in a hospital with a trained doctor who knew what to do in an unusual delivery.  In India, 43% of births had a skilled attendant at delivery and most are done at home.  They have limited drugs, blood pressure machines, and gloves during delivery.  As I compare my experience to what takes place in India during delivery, I also think about the outcome of child development.  Whereas my child was able to receive additional care after a tramatic delivery, if a child had went through the same delivery in India and survived the delivery, they may not have been able to get additional care during infancy if there was additional complications.  Those complications could affect the biosocial or cognitive skills of the child.  Thankfully my daughter is now 23 years old and never had any affects from the delivery but I did learn that the baby who decided to turn another way during delivery was a very stubborn and head strong child and adult.

Singh, A. (2006). Childbirth in the US and India.

Examining Codes of Ethics

The 3 ideals from the NAECY Code of Ethical Conduct that is meaniful for me:
1-1.1 - to be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.  This is signficant for my professional life because it is why I am pursuing my education to gain as much knowledge in the field so that I may be an effective instructor to other aspiring early childhood eductors.
1-2.8 - To help family members enhance their understanding of their children and support the continuing development of their skills as parents.  I want to be able to train families on early childhood development and how they can be of support to their child during the early years.
1-3C.4 - To encourage and support continual development of employees in becoming more skilled and knowledgeable practitioners.  I am passionate about having early childhood teachers who are trained in the field and have the knowledge of child development that will make them effective educators.

The 3 ideals from the DEC Code of Ethics that is meaniful to me is:
We shall demonstrate the highest standards of personal integrity, truthfulnes, 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.  This is very important because the children admire their teachers and the parents trust that the teachers will be an example to their child, so EC teachers must have integrity and be professional at all times.  You never know who is watching you.
We shall strive for the highest level of personal and professional competence by seeking and using new evidence based information to improve our practices while also responding openly to the suggestions of others.  An early childhood teacher should always be searching for new ideas to help in their teaching skills.  I always want to know more and always seeking new information.
We shall empower families with information and resources so that they are informed consumers of services for their children.  Early childhood educators should empower the families in wanting to know more about young children and what services are available for them especially those with a disability.  I want to be a resource for the families.

Collection of Resources

This week's resources that were helpful to me are:
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. (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
Association for Childhood Education International
http://acei.org/about/
World Forum Foundation
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
National Association for Mulicultural Education. (1997).  Multicultural Education the magazine of the National Association for mulicultural education

YC Young Children (Sept. 2009) The journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children Vol. 64, No 5

Dimensions of Early Childhood (Fall 2009). Southern Early Childhood Association Vol.37, Number 3

Herr, J. (2004).  Working with Young Children.  The Goodheart-Wilcox Company, Inc.

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

"If our field does not value the contributions of teachers and providers, it is highly unlikely that the rest of society will".  Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D

"Every early learning program should be staffed by teachers and providers who can and do establish warm and caring relationships with children, tend the fires of children's curiosity and love of learning, and foster their development and readiness of school".  Marcy Whitebook, PhD

"Each of us must come to care about everone else's children.  We must recognize that the welfare of our children is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people's children.  After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else's child will perform it.  If one of our children is harmed by violence, someone else's child will be responsible for the violent act.  The good life of our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people's children". 
Lilian Katz, PhD

"I always wanted to be a teacher".  Louise Derman-Sparks
"I have the passion to create a just world for the children".  Louise Derman-Sparks

"I know the service I provide is for the children and not for me".  Raymond Hernandez, MS ED
"I want to make a difference in the community I work in".  Raymond Hernandez, MS ED

Personal Childhood Web

My first dedication goes to my mom, Daisy Farmer who taught me to have common sense values first and then all else will follow.  She was very supportive in my education and although she only had an 8th grade education, she made sure that my brother and myself did our best in school.  I remember her attending PTA meetings and whenever I was in a school play, she would make sure that I had my costume and new my lines.  A lot of times she could not help me with my homework but she would make sure that my brother did or I stayed on my work until I figured it out.  She always boast about my achievments to others and that gave me a great sense of achievment.

Second, goes to my dad, William Farmer, who is deceased now but he believed in the education system.  He was a custodian for 32 years with the school system and he always spoke highly of the teachers and always wanted me to be a teacher so I guess I grew up with the teacher mentality in me due to him.

Third, my brother, Walter Farmer, who was 8 years older than me and I felt always smarter than me (because he got skipped in 2nd grade).  He always helped me with my homework and challenge me in my studies.  My favorite lesson he taught me was the Months of the Year Song.  In that song I learned what months have 31 days and what months have 30 days and also the one that has "28 and each leap year 29".

Fourth, my best friend, Diedre.  She is 2 years older than me and she taught me what real friendship is.  She was overweight and I was underweight but we balanced each othe out.  When I wanted to go out for cheerleader, she helped me learn how to turn a cartwheel and roundoff and how to do a good split.  We enjoyed riding our bikes together and whatever I was involved in, she was right there to support me.

Finally, my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Cook.  I remember wanting to be just like her.  Wear the shift dresses, the black cat-eyed glasses, and black pointed-toe shoes.  I knew I was her special student because she always let me read out loud and she chose me to play Santa Claus in the school play (although I was the skinnest child in 2nd grade and I was a girl) because I was the best reader.  Because she labeled me as being the best reader, I did not want to let her down so I behaved in class and helped her with any assignment.  I am a teacher because of her influence on me.  By the way, she was a GREAT TEACHER!

Story about a child that touched my heart

The company I work for is called The Sunshine House.  3yr old Kyeli's mother told me that every night before she goes to bed she reads a story from her children's Bible.  One night while reading Genesis and the story of creation, when mom read "and on the 1st day God made ..." Kyeli spoke up and said "God made The Sunshine House".  Mom said she really loves going to The Sunshine House.

Book Title

My favorite children book is "The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper.  It reminds you to stay positive an push forward.  When a child think that they can't, I'm there to say "Yes You Can"

Favorite Quote

"It is easy for a child to pick up a bad habit, but harder to put it down".  Educators must remember this when discipline a child.