Quotes About Children

Blog Assignment

When I Think of Child Development

I have found the following quotes to be very profound as I think of Child Development:

Oscar Wilde said: “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”

Rosaleen Dickson quotes: “Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.”

Marva Collins quotes: “Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.”

George Santayana: “A child educated only at a school is an uneducated child.”

Richard L. Evans quotes: “Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy said: “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”

Professional Thanks to Dr. Myers & My Colleagues:

I wish to thank Dr. Myers & all my colleagues from the bottom of my heart for all that I have learned from this course on Child Development.  When I embarked on this journey, I was so timid about the different observations that I had to do. However, with the guidance of Dr. Myers and the immersion in the research and relevant course readings coupled with the insightful discussions from my colleagues, I saw everything unfolding. I know that there is a lot more to learn as the days go by and I am submitting to this new knowledge with an enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Joanne Lynch:

 I am personally grateful for your contribution to my success in this course. Your blog posts and discussions have been very insightful and analytical. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope that as we continue on this professional journey we will continue to impact as many lives as possible.

Sharon Munroe.

Robin Miller:

I also wish to thank you for your insights and your discussions that you brought to this course.  It is my sincere desire that as you continue to teach, you will indeed be the “compass” in the lives of your children to “activate” them to want to be “lifelong learners.”

Sharon Munroe.

Testing for Intelligence?

Testing for Intelligence?
Taking a holistic approach to assess children is the wisest thing to do. This approach will help us to understand the uniqueness of each child and the way they learn. There are some children who will excel at learning mathematics while others are excellent at literacy, liberal arts and science among other things.
At the early childhood level, the administrators and teachers are responsible for finding out too which intelligences are most incorporated by students to make learning more meaningful. Therefore, they will need to be cognizant of and be able to evaluate each child’s growth over a period of time according to their biosocial development, cognitive development and their psychosocial development.
If all these areas of developments are to be tested, then all persons involved in these developmental stages of the child will need the necessary resources, facilities, time and personnel to help the student to learn so that when they are tested no child will be lost. This idea is clearly supported by (Berger, 2009 p.325) who states that “like any other psychological test, an IQ test is a snapshot, providing a static, framed view of a dynamic, ever-developing brain at work” (Berger, 2009). She (Berger, 2009 p.326) also stresses from (Williams et al, 2006) that “if intelligence is a multifaceted jewel, then schools need to expand their curricula and tests, so that every child can shine”(Berger,2009).
In Jamaica, a child’s intelligence is measured throughout the first six years after they have started the 1^st grade via a series of tests that are done in order to assess the children’s skills and abilities.
The grader 6 Achievement Test, more popularly known as GSAT, is highly important because children are placed in High Schools depending on their performance on those examinations. Please click on the following link provided to read more on the Jamaican early childhood education/testing policy. http://www.my-island-jamaica.com/education_in_jamaica.html

References
Berger, K. (2009). The developing person through childhood. New York NY: Worth Publishers
Simmons. D(2007-2012). An overview of education in Jamaica. http://www.my-island-jamaica.com/education_in_jamaica.html

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Poverty
One of the stressors that I can relate to is that of poverty. Living in the Caribbean for most of my life has helped me to understand that we were poor. As a child, my parents struggled to raise six children-four boys and two girls. (I am the eldest of the six children). My father was the sole bread winner. But, although my mother stayed at home, she was the stabilizing matriarch who kept the family together. Her diligence, resilience, faith in God and her hope became the bulwark that stave off starvation from us because my father became an addict to gambling. He dreamed of beating poverty through winning large sums of money from horse racing. So while my father worked long hours (sometimes as long as eighteen hours doing overtime) to make sufficient money for maintaining the family and his gambling habits, my mother would also work in the home –creating a balance by keeping the home healthy, saving what she could to ensure that our school fees were paid and that we were fed.

Looking back on my childhood days, I realized that our main support or resource that kept us was faith in God’s words. We were constantly taught everyday to believe and pray that God would see us through. As a little girl from as early as eight years old, I understood that God was my Heavenly Father, and anything I needed I could ask Him for and I would get it. My mother also taught us to be industrious and diligent in our school work (she helped me up to the third grade in high school) because she inculcated in us that education was the only way out of poverty. I believed in her words and in her faith. I was securely and emotionally attached to her. At this point I must say that I loved my father too, but I could not believe his words when he said that he was buying these horses every week and I could not see them coming home. In my concrete operational mind/stage of development, I remembered telling my father that it did not make sense for him to be buying horses that he could not take home. I remembered his laughter at my silliness but in my childlike innocent heart, I knew at the time I was right.

Dreaming and hoping too were important mechanisms that kept us going strong during the 1960’s; & 1970’s as children. We were avid consumers of the Hardy Boys’, Nancy Drew’s series as well as Enid Blython books. We hoped and dreamed that we would have some type of adventure someday like those story book children who seemed to have had a wonderful, beautiful life.
Growing up in poverty was not easy as a child. You knew you were deprived of many things-lots of clothes, shoes, plenty of toys and even food sometimes. But we learned to celebrate our one-pot meals of (for example) stewed red peas and rice, or cornmeal porridge with bread and sardines. We also learned to celebrate the coming of our grandparents and uncles and aunts who would on many occasions bring along a box of yams, sugar cane, mangoes, and ackee and bread fruit from the country to help us. These celebrated occasions have now turned into sacred moments of thankfulness as I continue to journey into mature adulthood. This is so because we knew that nothing could keep us back as children from achieving our goals except ourselves. It would have to be poverty of the mind and soul and not poverty because we were deprived of external things.

The region or country that I am interested in is situated in Asia and I have always been interested in the work of “Asian Aid USA” in India. (They also work in Nepal and Bangladesh). For over forty years Asian Aid has been working tirelessly to give hope and a future to the “disadvantaged, poor, and needy in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.” In these regions the stressors that impact the development of children are similar. They include poverty, the death of parents (especially mothers) which leave children as orphans, abandonment; diseases such as leprosy, blindness, deafness, abuse are among some of the stressors that affect the children of Asia.

“Asian Aid USA” is a nonprofit organization that is committed to making a difference in the lives of children and people in poverty in India,Bangladesh and Nepal. This ministry is one of the many means that through which a great deal is being done to minimize some of the stressors affecting the development of children. They serve by providing education to the needy, orphans, the blind and deaf, feeding the hungry, protecting girls from human trafficking and improving lives through village development and also by offering vocational training to children and young adults through sponsorship programs.

Please read the following story entitled “Anjali's New Life” from the following link: http://www.asianaid.org/newsroom/anjali

This is one of the many stories that will help to get you started too in helping to minimize the harmful effects of some of these stressors in the lives of children in other parts of the world like India,Nepal and Bangladesh.

Reference

http://www.asianaid.org/

 

Child Development and Public Health-- Breastfeeding

Child Development and Public Health
Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is one of the most important public health measures designed to contribute to children’s health and development in many countries all over the world. This topic is meaningful to me because breast milk has been described as the perfect food for the baby. Breastfeeding also provides many nutritional and health benefits for the continued development of the baby’s brain and to strengthen the baby’s immune system to fight off diseases and sicknesses. Breast feeding may reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

The American Academy of Pediatrics supports breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months and supports continued breastfeeding along with complimentary foods for the first year and beyond as long as it is reciprocally desired by mother and child.

Although breastfeeding is natural, it is a learned skill for both mother and baby and as mother and baby enjoy this special bonding experience, it causes her uterus  to contract and return to its normal size. Mom may also lower the risk of osteoporosis and some breast and ovarian cancers.

This information will certainly impact my future work as I am interested in enlightening mothers, families, caregivers and other professionals on the importance of nutrition to early childhood development. It is also my intention to become more involved in community work to advocate awareness on nutrition for early childhood development.

(Baby News: Caring for, 2012).

I also wish to post information about Breastfeeding from the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands is a part of the Caribbean and they were celebrating their annual Breastfeeding Awareness Week from Wednesday August 1- Tuesday, August 7, 2012. This information is also representative of what is taking place in the Caribbean as it relates to the promotion of  Breastfeeding in early childhood.

 

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman (GIS) -- The Cayman Islands will join the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) in celebrating their annual Breastfeeding Awareness Week from Wednesday August 1- Tuesday, August 7, 2012.

World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2012.In 1992 the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) launched the World Breastfeeding Week campaign to focus and facilitate action to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Since then, each year, WBW has put the spotlight on various breastfeeding issues.
The 2012 Theme is “Understanding the Past- Planning for the Future”. It focuses on the progress that has been made on the implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding (GSIYCF) which was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) ten years ago. Implementing the Global Strategy effectively is essential to increase breastfeeding rates: in particular exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.
According to a UNICEF report in January 2012, “In the developing world, progress in exclusive breastfeeding has been modest, improving from 32 percent around 1995 to 39 percent around 2010, a relative increase of about 17 percent. Prevalence has increased in all regions with available trend data except the Middle East and North Africa, and many countries have achieved substantial improvements. The Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) region has made particularly noteworthy progress”.
In the Cayman Islands, the Health Services Authority’s (HSA’s) Nutritionist Simone Sheehan notes that staff supports the message of early and exclusive breastfeeding with the introduction of appropriate complimentary feeding at around six months of age. “We are consistently stepping up our efforts in relating this message to mothers of new born infants”. She added that while breastfeeding is a learned behavior, it is important to remember that the journey to successful breastfeeding begins with the support of families, healthcare providers, employers, and by and large the community.
The Cayman Islands has many resources to support breastfeeding families. Each new mother is given an information packet which includes helpful tips and resources for their journey ahead. They also receive a contact list of group members whom they are encouraged to call with questions or concerns. These volunteers are experienced mothers or health care professionals.
Expectant mothers are also sensitized about breast feeding and its importance to both mother and baby, as well as other issues relating to pregnancy and lactation, through Parent Craft classes held at the Cayman Islands Hospital Mondays at 5:30 pm.
The Breast Feeding Support group will be on duty on Thursday, August 2 at 10am -12 noon at the Cayman Islands Hospital Women’s Health Clinic to answer any questions regarding breast feeding. Support will also be offered to mothers who are having any difficulty or concerns in breast feeding.
For more information on Breast Feeding Week, Parent Craft classes and other activities planned for new mothers during the month of August, call Simone Sheehan on 244-2655.

References:

(2012). Baby News: Caring for Yourself and Your Newborn. Marietta, GA: Life Events Inc.

http://news.caribseek.com/index.php/caribbean/cayman-islands-news/item/20333-breast-feeding-awareness-week