Childhood Development - Week 8

When I think about child development, I find these quotes worthwhile:- 

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
- Frederick Douglass

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."
- Stacia Tauscher

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."
- Chinese proverb

"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.
- Dr. Hiam Ginnot

Every experience counts, every relationship has effect, either positive or negative. Every child is unique, whatever the encounter, its effect is long term. Development is seen as holistic, continuous and cumulative. Experiences in early years are vital to later years, so caregivers’ role is crucial to healthy emotional, psychosocial, and cognitive development of children. 

It has been eight weeks of professional development and for me, gaining new understanding in early childhood development. A big thank you to my dear colleagues for their contributions, support and encouragement throughout the course.

How do I appreciate Dr Janet Kien for her support, timely corrections and contributions? Thank you very much for your understanding. You have made me better and have created a passion that cannot be quenched for early childhood in me. Hope to meet you again sometime. Thanks.

Intelligence and Testing - Week 6

Intelligence involves the ability to think, solve problems, analyze situations, and understand social values, customs, and norms. Intelligence is sometimes referred to as intelligence quotient (IQ), cognitive functioning, intellectual ability, aptitude, thinking skills and general ability of a student. Tests of intelligence and assessments are common in middle childhood because most schools still need to present their students for these tests to clear for certification. Tests are used to measure the current potential or capability of the person being tested and to predict some things.

Tests of intelligence must therefore take into consideration the other areas of the child’s development. The issue of culture, language and environment. Thinking abilities are important when taking a decision about their intelligence and other capabilities. Virtually every child grows up in some culture or other, and his intelligence score must reflect his sensitivity to it. Children who reside outside the U.S. cannot sensibly be tested on a Western intelligence test, they would do poorly. Educators and Researchers are checking which test will be manageable with the criteria of measuring intelligence correctly.

References

Comer, J. P. & Poussaint, A. F. (1992) Raising African American Children. New York: Penguin Books.

Gall, M.D., Borg, W. R., & Gall, J. P. (1996). Educational Research. New York: Longman Publishers

Coping with Stress in Early Childhood. - Week 4

Stress is a condition in which an individual experiences challenges to physical or emotional well-being that overwhelm their coping capacity. Some stress is normal and can be healthy, while some experience with manageable stress is important for healthy development, prolonged, uninterrupted, overwhelming stress can have toxic effects and affect normal development of the child. This type of toxic stress is often associated with childhood abuse and neglect, parental style of discipline, poverty, noise, pollution, isolation or even hunger.
As a child, growing up was fun and loving but quite stressful because of always wanting to live up to expectation of my parents. My father was a disciplined and high handed man. He had expectations of the type of behavior expected of his first daughter and was always talking about it. His expectations put pressure on me and it became stressful. I always wanted to behave well and be in daddy’s good book. How did I cope? My English teacher in school told me one day to be myself. “You are a good girl, just do what you know is right, don’t try to impress anyone, then you will get approval of all,” she said to me. That statement immediately removed the pressure of wanting to “perform” from me and gave me confidence to do what I know to be right.
Working with children to become healthy individual is a big task. All the domains must be developing at the right time and so anything that could impede the proper development must be removed because of longer term effect it has on the formed adult.
I chose to find out if there is any possible cause of stress that can impact the development of children in United States of America, given the high level of development there. I was shocked to discover that there is a high level of poverty which is affecting children at an alarming rate.
NOTE THIS:

Nearly 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $20,000 a year for a family of four. The number of children living in poverty increased by more than 11 percent between 2000 and 2005. There are 1.3 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000, despite indications of economic recovery and growth.

Poverty is especially prevalent among black, Latino, and American Indian children.

·         35% of black children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among black children range from 20% in New Jersey to 43% in Ohio.

·         28% of Latino children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among Latino children range from 20% in New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois to 35% in Texas.

·         29% of American Indian and 11% of Asian children live in poor families (comparable state comparisons are not possible due to small sample sizes).

·         10% of white children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among white children range from 4% in New Jersey to 12% in Georgia.

Having immigrant parents increases a child’s chances of being poor.

·         26% of children of immigrants are poor; 16% of children of native-born parents are poor. (Children living with one immigrant parent and one native-born parent are not included.)

·         In the six states with the largest populations of immigrants—California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas—the poverty rate among children of immigrant parents ranges from 14% to 40%.

·         In all six states, children living with immigrant parents are more likely to be poor than children of native-born parents.

Official poverty rates are highest for young children.

·         20% of children under age 6—1 in 5—live in poor families; 16% of children age 6 or older live in poor families.

·         In half the states, more than 20% of children under age 6 are growing up in poverty, whereas only 13 states have a child poverty rate (that is, for children up to age 18) that is as high.

·         Researchers believe that parents of young children do not earn as much as parents of older children because they tend to be younger and have less work experience.

Effect of poverty on the children are seen in high mortality rate evidenced by low birth weight and medical complications arising from poor nutrition, poor housing  and increased risk of accidental deaths.

U.S government is working hard to reduce the effect of poverty in the recognized areas by developing policies that work and can make the difference.

1. Make paychecks worthwhile -   Since research is clear that poverty is the greatest threat to children’s well being, strategies that help parents succeed in the labor force can help children. Policies such as earned income tax credits and regular increases in the minimum wage are critical to supporting income growth for low-wage workers. These workers also need access to benefits that higher-wage earners take for granted, such as health insurance and paid sick leave.

2. Support families and young children - To thrive, children need nurturing families and quality early learning experiences. Programs that target families with infants and toddlers, such as Early Head Start, have been shown to improve children’s cognitive development and their behavior, as well as parenting skills. Investments in preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds are just as critical. High-quality early childhood experiences can go a long way toward closing the achievement gap between poor children and their more well-off peers.