When I Think of Child Development

Wow, these 8weeks sure went fast!!! We expressed our knowledge about early child development, global awareness & even some of our personal stories. Now look how we have grown. This was not an easy term for me, but I did the best I could to make it work.  I want to thank all of you for the support and for the great information that was shared.  I can't wait to read someone new blogs from you guys in our next course.

 Thanks again,

 Alisha

Testing for Intelligence?

I use to work at an elementary school, where we administrate assessment test on our kindergartners called the Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). DIBELS progress monitors our student’s development in early Literacy and reading skills. In DIBELS we test our kindergartner’s students on letter naming fluency, initial sounds fluency, word use fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, and nonsense word fluency. Once we receive our results from DIBELS we can start placing our students in different literacy groups. We divide our students into groups of four, which would be our high, medium (average), low, and lower (Below average) groups. The content that my kindergarten students are learning is early literacy and reading skills. For example, letter naming fluency, initial sounds fluency, word use fluency, phoneme segmentation fluency, and nonsense word fluency. The students may obtain skills through flashcards, board games, picture-books, auditory books, video, and etc. By using my content, students will be able to process or make sense of what early literacy and reading skills that was learned. For my kindergartner students, the product would be any assignment or task I give to extend what they have learned. For example, having the students recite any initial sounds that they hear or ask them to recite what sounds to the hearing the name or spelling words. By the end of kindergarten, my student was be ready readers and that will help them for the rest of their lives.

Here is a video that shows how children learn and how they are assessed in Singapore, South Africa, and in rural Colombia:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn2I90km_-8

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/EXTREAD/0,,contentMDK:22890488~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:7526432,00.html

 

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

At the age of 4 paternal grandmother died of colon cancer. I was really close to her because she was one of my caregivers at the time. I dealt with my stress if her death by sleeping. During the awake and funeral I slept. My mother tried to wake me but she couldn't, so she had carried me the whole time. I finally woken after everything was over with at the repast.

Here is a video that shows how children is affected by typhoon haiyan.

 

 



 

 

http://www.euronews.com/2013/11/23/typhoon-haiyan-leaves-children-most-at-risk/

 

Child Development and Public Health (Nutrition/Malnutrition)

 (Nutrition/Malnutrition)

 

 

The public health topic that I chose is (Nutrition/Malnutrition). I chose this topic because it has a major impact on children and how they develop mentally, physically, and emotionally. We need food and water for our body to function. Children who are malnourished have problems with their weight and height. Their weight is known for their age and their height is shorter for their age. Malnourished children are more than likely to contract some kind of illnesses and diseases due to their poor immune system as a result of malnourishment. Also, by being malnourished these children might have some learning problem which will affect their academic performance. Here are some children in the families affected by malnourishment due to the drought crisis in Wajir, Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.unicefusa.org/work/nutrition/

https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/africa/rwanda/beneficiary-story/improving-childhood-malnutrition



Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

Childbirth In My Life

 

I've never been pregnant, nor have I ever been apart of any birthing processes. So I'm going to tell you about my birth. According to my mother, she arrived at St. Francis Hospital, in Blue Island, IL on June 21, 1986 at 10:00 a.m. because she was beginning to have some cramping and contractions. She said that  my birth was a easy one. She had me naturally and I was born by 12:15p.m. She was in labor for only 3 hours. I was 6 pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches long. I was born with jaundice, but it wasn't that severe. The doctor told her to just make sure to give me some sunlight when she got home to cure the jaundice. She said when she got home that first week she would place me in my chair and sit me in front of the window so I could receive some sunlight. Also, she told me that when I was 5months old she had me tested for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) because my father had it and she wanted to find out if I had it, which I didn't.

Childbirth Around the World

http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Childbirth+the+age+old+way/-/957860/1509258/-/fwi2sn/-/index.html

A Note of Thanks and Support

Wow, these 8weeks sure went fast!!! We expressed are professional goals, our strength, our weaknesses, & even some of our personal stories. Now look how we have grown. I want to thank all of you for the support en for the great information that was shared. Can't wait to read someone new blogs from you guys in our next course.
Thanks again,
Alisha

Examining Codes of Ethics

I-1.5—To create and maintain safe and healthy settings

that foster children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and

physical development and that respect their dignity
and their contributions (NAEYC, 2005).

We shall collaborate with families and colleagues in setting meaningful and relevant goals and

priorities throughout the intervention process including the full disclosure of the nature, risk, and
potential outcomes of any interventions (Code of ethics, 2010).

 

I-1.3—To recognize and respect the unique qualities,

abilities, and potential of each child (NAEYC, 2005).

 

These are meaning for me because this is what I deal with everyday on a day-to-day basis in my head start program that I work for. I develop and keep a safe environment for my students, I connect with families everyday to discus the progression of the child, and I support and honor the capabilities of every child.

 
Reference:
NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment.
  Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf from Walden University Portal 
The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics
Retrieved from http://www.dec-sped.org/ from Walden University Portal
 

My Personal Growing Collection of Resources

Effective Teaching

This book is a great book for first time teacher. It helps teachers to become more effective in their teachings.

The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry K. Wong

https://www.effectiveteaching.com/

 

 http://teachers.net/gazette/wong.html


School Readiness

http://www.illinoiskids.org/

Teaching Diversity

http://www.diversitycouncil.org/index.shtml

Growing Collection of Resources

• Course Media: "The Resources for Early Childhood"
  Five early childhood professionals discuss their preferred and trusted resources.

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• 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. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• 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
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title.

Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
• Websites:
• • World Forum Foundation
    http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
    This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
  • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
    http://www.omep-usnc.org/
    Read about OMEP's mission.
  • Association for Childhood Education International
    http://acei.org/
    Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.

Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/
• Children's Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org/
• Institute for Women's Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
• Voices for America's Children
  http://www.voices.org/
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education

More words of Inspiration and Motivation

"As you consider whether to move a child into formal academic training, remember that we want our children to do more than just learn how to read and write; we want them to learn is such a way that they become lifelong readers and writers. If we push our children to start learning the skills too far ahead of their own spontaneous interest in their capacity, we may sacrifice the long range-goal of having them enjoy such pursuits". - Lilian G. Katz

Lilian G. Katz (20th century), U.S. Early Childhood Specialist. " Should Preschoolers Learn the Three R's? " Parents Magazine (October 1990).

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

"We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better". - Sandy Escobido

Course Media: "The Passion for Early Childhood"
Five early childhood professionals share passion, motivation, and commitment to the early childhood field.

Laureate Education,  Inc. (2010). "The Passion for Early Childhood". ( Video Webcast). In Foundations: Early Childhood Studies: Retrieved from http://www.courseurl.com

My Personal Childhood Web

"My friends and family are my support system.  They tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear and they are there for me in the good and bad times. Without them I have no idea where I would be and I know that their love for me is what's keeping my head above the water" - Kelly Clarkson

This is my family support system who made me who I am today. Starting from left to right:

1. My mom- My mom is the shy type, but strong. I am her only child. My father was killed before I was born and my mom never got the chance to tell him that she was pregnant. So my mom had to be strong to raise me as a single mother. Like me she had a great family support system as well. I think my mom motivates me because I want to make her proud.

2. My Grandparents- I am the only grandchild to my grandparents. My grandma a.k.a. my second mom, is a very strong & loving woman,  she is the type of person who always argues her case even if sometimes she's wrong. She's always there for advice. My grandpa a.k.a Paw Paw,  is my father figure,  anything I want or need he'll get it for me. I guess I'm granddaddy's little girl! I am the only person to get him to do something that he doesn't want to do.

3. My Uncle- Uncle Anthony a.k.a Ant, is a very outgoing & fun person. He's like an older brother to me. We have some of the same interest in music, sports, video games,  & cartoons. We also enjoy going to amusement parks & water parks. He is a straight forward type of person, he tells it like it is.

My Favorite Children's Book

My favorite children's book is Swimmy by Leo Lionni. I think this is one of my favorite book because this is one of the first book I receive from my teacher while I was in kindergarten. Also I still have the book today. It's a great book that shows lots of diversity. It covers topics such as bravery,  courage,  loneliness,  friendships,  problem solving, and diversity. Also it has beautiful illustration of the oceans and sea life.

Educational Quote

"An education isn't how much you committed to memory,  or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't"- Anatole France

The Transformation of Alisha

Then and Now pictures of me!