When I Think of Child Development

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBgYjpXTD_I

A Wonderful Place to Grow

Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom. Erik Erikson

Children deserve to be in a loving non-judgmental environment, where everything a child does is an accomplishments and failure does not exist.  Children are naturally beautiful and innocent inside; we should not place the results of negative childhood development on the child.  Our job is to start the developmental healing process.
   
Thank you all for being there with your kind words and comments.  I truly looked forward to our weekly discussion.  I wish you well.   Thank you again!

Test for Intelligence?

Finding a Solution for Intelligence Testing

I believe human beings have multifaceted talents social, cognitive, physical, and more.  To test only one aspect of a child’s genus is absolutely asinine.  In my opinion the test should address the whole person in order to get a true snap shot of who that person is, and what his/her potentials are.  

I agree with (Sternberg and Goleman , and Gardner) when they said ” humans have multiple intelligence, standard IQ test measure only part of brain potential.”  If intelligence is a jewel, then school needs to expand their curricula and tests, so that every child can shine (Williams et, al., 2006)

 Developing countries are my areas of interest, and African is one of the regions that interest me the most.  In rural Zambia  (Serpell) found the countries where Western schooling had not yet become common to the concept of testing intelligence was more extensive, and cultural friendly.  In rural Zambia, the concept of (nzelu) includes both cleverness (chenjela) and responsibility (tumikila). 

“When rural parents in Africa talk about intelligence of children, they prefer not to separate the cognitive speed aspect of intelligence from the social responsibility s.” says Serpell.

Sternberg and Grigorenko have investigated the African concepts of intelligence for the past several years.  They studied the Luo people of rural Kenya; Grigorenko and collaborators have found that ideas about intelligence consist of four broad concepts:  rieko which largely corresponds to the Western idea of academic intelligence, but also includes specific skills; luoro, which includes social qualities like respect responsibility and consideration; paro or practical thinking; and winjo, or comprehension,  Only one of rthe four –rieko- is correlated with traditional Western measures of intelligence. 

In another study in the same community, Sternberg and his collaborators found that children who score highly on a test of knowledge about medicinal herbs--a measure of practical intelligence--tend to score poorly on tests of academic intelligence.

The results, published in the journal Intelligence (Vol. 29, No. 5), suggest that practical and academic intelligence can develop independently or even in conflict with each other, and that the values of a culture may shape the direction in which a child develops.

They also agree with studies in a number of countries, both industrialized and non-industrialized, that suggests that people who are unable to solve complex problems in the abstract can often solve them when they are presented in a familiar context.

The end result of this research is twofold. As Sternberg has pointed out, lay theories of intelligence often lack the precision of scientific theories, but they can suggest new avenues of research, shed light on how people use intelligence in everyday life and highlight aspects of intelligence that scientific theories have ignored. Studying intelligence in different cultures can thus be a way of challenging conventional Western ideas about intelligence.

The humans have so many aspects to their being, how can we just focus on one of the as.  I have a child in my classes that find difficulties sitting down listening to story time, so he is allowed to roam quietly.  Later during the day that child will repeat the story almost verbatim.  Another four year old boy does not seem to recall colors and numbers, but in the block area his constructions are so detailed and elaborate they equal the level of a seven year old.   Just imagine if everyone in American was a doctor, lawyer, teacher i.e. professional, who would fix you plumbing, electrical program, deliver the mail, remove the rubbish, tailor your garments, and build your homes?  There is much more to our lives than what’s wrapped up in a single test score.  We have to find a way to service the whole child, and not limit their possibilities.
 

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Racism 

In 1957 I started first grade in Brooklyn, New York.  I remember being very afraid the first day of school. I had never been away from my family. And to top it off, it was on that first frightful day I discovered my first name.  My name was called several times and I just sat there not knowing that they were calling me, you see all of my young life I was called by my middle name because I was named after my aunt, and we lived in same the house my family did not want to confuse us .  They forgot to tell me before I went to school, but I survived the ordeal.  It all came together; I learned my name and everything else that was presented to me in school.   I was doing so well in second grade; I was top student in the Black and Hispanic neighborhood school, so I was one of the first to be bused to another school in an Italian and Irish area.  

My mother and father worked very hard to send us to school well groomed, and my grandmother kept our clothes starched and ironed.  My father worked at an upscale department store in Manhattan called Orbachs.  He was an elevator operator, and he was well liked and his co-workers always looked out for his daughters.  Orbachs supplied all of the soap operas’ wardrobes, and at the end of the season if the studio or actor didn’t want the clothes they went into the store’s thrift shop.  My father’s co-workers knew our sizes and would alert him of the item that would fit my sister and me.  As always we were well dressed and groomed first day of school Vaseline face and all.  We started this new school with a large group of white parents and children with signs, and yelling words as our school bus pulled up to the new school.  Now when I look back at that day I can’t remember hearing the angry words or the seeing the words on the signs.  I guess I blocked it out.  We were rushed from the bus to the classroom.   This is a nice school I remember thinking, but why is everyone so angry I said to myself?  I was raised in a strict southern Christian home, we had to be respectful to adults, that is all I knew and that’s why I was respectful no matter how mean they were to me. I had to struggle to keep up with my work. I was an A student in my old school, and my family was so very proud of me, I did not want to lose face.  This was a difficult task because this teacher did not look at me, or acknowledge my hand when it was raised- I was invisible to her.  When I came to school with dresses that my father bought from his job, Ms. Spellman my teacher would take me out of the classroom, and go and get other teachers in nearby classes, pull on my clothes and say “how do you think she got this”.  I felt so bad, but I just held my head high and cried inside.  I finally told my mother and grandmother, and my mother went to the school and spoke to the principal. In those days children were not a part of adult conversation, I never knew what was said, but I noticed the principal would visit my class every day.  I completed third grade with a B average, and continued to struggle through my elementary school life.  I graduated with honors thanks to my cousins and uncles who filled in the academic gaps for me.  I believe I can attribute my success to my well-grounded home life, and a big serving of self-esteem that were given to me in abundance by my family.

Racism still exists in Alabama, Mississippi, Boston, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island, NY where I live now.  Racism is like an invisible cloud that covers the world with fear.    People are too afraid to get to know each other because racism is grounded in lies and Pre-judged attitudes that have been passed down generationally.  We don’t have to travel too far, just look to your right and your left it’s there.  

My prayers go out to the children and the people of Rwanda.  The racism that killed over 500,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu countrymen by the militias Hutu known in Rwanda as interhamwe was unexplainable, unreasonable, unconscionable, and inhumane.   In early April of 1994, groups of ethnic Hutu, armed mostly with machetes, began a campaign of terror and bloodshed which embroiled the Central African country of Rwanda.  For approximately 100 days these Hutu attempted to exterminate their Central American brethren the Tutsi and moderate Hutu.  I cannot imagine the horror those children felt watching their families being murdered in front of their faces knowing the enemy could have been a neighbor.  Many of the children had to hide in fields to avoid their own death.  There were groups of children surviving alone because the adults were slaughtered. Once the 100 days passed, there was mass devastation the crops were destroyed, schools were leveled, and families no longer existed. Children wondered aimlessly wanted to make sense out of what was left of their lives.   “These children were faced with having to deal with feeding themselves, clothing themselves, whether they went to school or not and just determining their own future” said Lizanne McBride, the deputy director of programs for the international Rescue Committee in Rwanda.

Nshimyumkiza was nine years old during the 100 days of slaughter in which an estimated 800,00  of his Tutsi and moderate Hutu countrymen were butchered by militias-known as- interahamwe-as well as ordinary Rwandan  who had been whipped into a killing frenzy by the Rwanda’s hard-line Hutu administration.  Now he is twenty one unemployed out of school and admits that prospects for the future are grim. (Noel E. King ipcnews.net)

Some children were placed in orphan homes, but these homes could not afford to send them to school.  The Tutsi children lost their identity.   “Unicef reports estimate that 700,000 children – 18 percent of Rwanda’s 4.2 million children – still live in difficult circumstances.  “The family structure that used to support the child no longer exist” a 1998 report release by the group World Vision said.  Even after the killings began, many western governments sought to downplay the scope of the bloodshed.  “The level of trauma among children is unprecedented,” Chauvin said (www.nytimes.com) Children lost whole families, some boys put cloths over their head to be viewed as girls as not to be pulled out and killed.

Humanitarian organizations working in the region now report the Rwanda’s children have been the vulnerable to the poverty exploitation which followed the ethnic conflict.  The massacres have left several hundred thousand children either orphaned or separated from their parents.  “It is important to build schools and rehabilitate health centers and train people,” Chauvin said.  “Obviously that’s a very important- part of what we’ve done.  But I think that by keeping an eye on the importance of the trauma level of the children, one better understands what has happened to this country.

Racism exists on multiple levels around the world, but we should not be satisfied in accepting racism on any level here in the United States of America.

Child Development and Public Health

Immunizations

I personally have questions about the rate that immunizations (shots) are being issued.  Between 0 and two years old in 1969 children were getting one oral and one injection at six weeks old, but now a three week old baby is getting seven shots.  The mother’s colostrum (the liquid the new mother produces) has the God given ability to immunize the new born baby, and this form of immunization is not being promoted.  Money is the evil at the base of the immunization craze.  Case and point the drug companies are no longer pandering to the doctors they are now using mass media to do their pandering directly to the consumer. 

In 1983 my friend’s 3 month old daughter started having seizures after falling down the stairs in her mother’s arms.  Around that time I was watching 20/20 featuring pertussis seizures, and autism.  Shortly after viewing this segment my friend had an appointment for Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus shot with her baby’s pediatrician not a clinic a doctor who was aware of her seizures. I told her to ask her doctor in-Lou of the fact her daughter was having seizures, and pertussis is known to sometimes cause autism or seizures, should she get the shot.  After my friend reminded him of this information the doctor said “oh no I’ll give her the Diphtheria Tetanus and exclude the Pertussis” What if the mom was not armed with this information.  Yes I had a waiver for my children for the immunization, and my youngest child who is now in college still has a waiver there is just too much controversy surrounding them, but I neither encourage nor speak negatively to my parents about the shots, but what I do say is investigate whatever you give your children.

   

By Neil Z. Miller
http://www.thinktwice.com/xpeditions/autism.htm

 Autism and the pertussis vaccine:
 The first cases of autism in the United States occurred at a time shortly after the pertussis vaccine became available. When the  pertussis vaccine was initially introduced (during the late 1930s), only the rich and educated parents who sought the very best  for their children, and who could afford a private doctor, were in a position to request the newest medical advancements.  (Remember how researchers were puzzled by the high incidence of autistic children being born into well-educated and "upper class" families.) However, by the 1960s and 1970s parents all over the country, within every educational and income level, were seeking help for their autistic children. Socioeconomic disparities began to disappear during this period. Today, autism is evenly distributed among all social classes and ethnic groups. (13) Once again this puzzled the researchers. Many simply concluded that earlier studies were flawed. But there is an explanation. Free vaccinations at public health clinics didn't yet exist in the 1940s and 1950s. Compulsory vaccination programs were still on the horizon. And as vaccine programs grew, parents from across the socioeconomic spectrum gained equal access to them. The growing number of children suffering from this new illness directly coincided with the growing popularity of the mandated vaccination programs during these same years. Autistic children were now being discovered within every kind of family, and in dreadfully greater numbers than ever before imagined. (14)

 The same correlations between autism and childhood vaccination programs may be found in other countries as well. In Japan, the first autistic child was diagnosed in 1945. (15) When the United States ended the war and occupied Japan, a mandatory vaccination program was established. Hundreds of new cases of autism were being diagnosed annually in Japanese children shortly thereafter.

As for the vaccines going to underdeveloped countries, well the drug companies that send them these drugs are charging the countries that are aiding the people of the world, these drugs are not free of charge, big money bigger business.  Yes because of unclean water, and unsanitary conditions we need to help, but let caution be our guide.

Smallpox vaccine 'triggered Aids virus'

London Times | MAY 11, 1987
PEARCE WRIGHT, SCIENCE EDITOR

The Aids epidemic may have been triggered by the mass vaccination campaign which eradicated smallpox. The World Health Organization, which masterminded the 13-year campaign, is studying new scientific evidence suggesting that immunization with the smallpox vaccine awakened the unsuspected, dormant human immune defense virus infection (HIV).

Some experts fear that in obliterating one disease, another disease was transformed from a minor endemic illness of the Third World into the current pandemic.

Childbirth--In Your Life and Around the World

The birth of my first son was in 1969 on Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, S.C.  This was my first experience away from my very loving grandmother.  I found myself in a very cold and masculine military world, and I tried my best to cope with it.  My first husband actually gave me these instructions, “be strong and don’t embarrass me by making noise or screaming.”  In other words, the showing of my pain would make him look like less than a man.  My first and second trimesters were mild; it wasn’t until the 34^th week when I started clotting.  I was rushed to the hospital 6 times only to be told there was nothing wrong, because when I was examined they couldn’t find anything.  I told this southern general that I was dropping clots that looked like large pieces of liver, he said, "impossible".  My husband didn’t pick up the samples and take them in, and I was too afraid to pick them up.  Finally, in my 36^th week it happened again, but this time when Dr. Stafford examined me, a look of astonishment covered his face as he frantically tore the gloves off  and called for emergency surgery. As they were putting me under the anesthesia, I heard the words placenta previa.   When I finally came to, I asked what I had delivered, and the nurse said a boy As I felt bandages on my stomach. I asked if I had a c section, the answer was yes.   I felt less than a person, I was just a non-commissioned military wife and I felt expendable.   That experience left me feeling less than human. I was trapped between a husband and the military.  With all of the physical pain I was in, I was expected to show some type of strength by being quiet.  I chose this example because the mother is an important factor in the birthing process, and I was left out of this process. My baby and I could have died due to my exclusion in the process of giving birth. I believe that bonding between the mother and child starts at the  prenatal stage.  Talking, and playing music to the baby in utero, as well as eating well play a significant role in the bonding process.  The love that a mother gives to her new born helps the development of the baby.    Because of the lack of support I received at the time of my son’s birth, I give my son the attention I was missing from his father and the doctor.  My son and I to date are very close, and believe it was the bond that was created at birth.

According to Carroll Dunham,  author  of Mamatoto: A Celebration of Birth in many countries in Africa, and Asia,  at the last stages of pregnancy the expected mother is taken to her family to be pampered and cared for.  This was a surprise because that is exactly what my grandmother did for her daughters.  They came to our house about a week before delivery, and they were treated royally.  After the baby was born they came to our house, and their husbands visited them and sometimes stayed there, but my aunts didn’t have to do anything except hold and feed her baby.  This was a wonderful two week experience for all.  After those two weeks she was given back to her husband, but when he went to work we went over to their home to continue to assist her every week.    

My grandmother was born in 1900, and her grandmother was a slave I do believe that many of my family’s practices were passed down from our mother country Africa through verbal translation.

Examining Codes of Ethics

NAEYC Code of Ethics: Ideal 1-1.4 – To appreciate the vulnerability of children and their dependence on adult

I am very conscious about how vulnerable children are to adults. I grow up in a large family, and I was one of the youngest children in the household.  When my grandmother went shopping my youngest uncle was left to care for me, I was a very scary person I was afraid of everything.  He chased me around the house with a brillo pad that he shaped in to monster like form. I was tortured for two or more hours.  I told my grandmother, she yelled at him, but when she went out, and left me with him it would happen again.  Children are like chattels in respect to the power they have over adults because of personal experience I work diligently in behalf of the children to ensure that their rights are upheld.  My staff is trained in respects to the rights of the child.  The rule is “This is their safe haven, and when they enter the building you are here to guide them through a productive happy wonderful day.”

NAEYC Code of Ethics: Ideal 1-1.10 – To ensure that that each child’s culture, language ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and valued in the program:   I know this to be a paramount feature in the daily life of a child in a daily program and I have multiple approaches to meet the needs of our children.   I have a family tree in each room, and children bring pictures of their families and also their baby pictures.  Our children love this corner when they get homesick or mom-sick they go to their tree and find a level of comfort.  We celebrate the cultural holidays especially the ones that represent our population.  Music is a large part of our program, so we have CDs, dances, and dramatic play dress up to represent our population.  Our library’s also represents our population with culturally diverse materials. I have found respecting the culture of our staff and families allows closer relationship between center, staff, and families.

 Ideal 1-2.3—To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program:  Having involved families is so important to the program especially important to the children. I have monthly parenting classes, and we have a PTA where parents can voice their concern, and assist with polices. I have an open campus, once a parent signs in he or she can quietly visit the class.  Verbal visits must be by appointment so that the teacher is not distracted from her children.  I have found this to be comforting for both parents and child.  Parents can also call and be piped into classroom if parent has a concern i.e. child was crying when she was dropped off at center, and parent wants to inquire about child current disposition.   

DEC Code of Ethics: Professional and Interpersonal Behavior 1. We shall demonstrate in our behavior and language respect and appreciation for the unique value and human potential for each child:  It is indeed a challenge to individualize the approach to each child, most parent have a problem treating their own children in such an unique manner however we must make each child feel special.  We do our daily observations on each child, and try our best to meet the special needs of each child. We have inculcated different languages in our cognitive program, to make all of the participants in our program feel good about themselves and who they are.  Our overall language and behavior towards the children is that of a caring and respectful nature.

DEC Code of Ethics: Professional and Interpersonal Behavior; 4. We shall serve as advocates for children with disabilities and their families and for the professionals who serve them by supporting both policy ad programmatic decisions that enhance the quality of their lives.  I consider myself an advocate for children and their families. We have identified and recommended several children for observation and testing to early intervention for children under 3 years of age, and the local school district for observation and testing for children over 3 years old.  We have found parents to be in denial when acknowledging a cognitive or physical program.  We counsel with parents to help them understand and accept the assistance their child should receive, and inform them of the importance of the early intervention special services available to their child. When therapists are sent in for the children we take an active role in scheduling, so the children will not miss the socialization in their classroom.  I am also on top of the hours that therapist put in and the relationship between my children and the therapist, therapists unfortunately are not always in the profession for the children.  I am the eyes and ears of the parents who can’t be there.

DEC Code of Ethics: Professional Development and Preparation; 4.We shall support professionals new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services.  I welcome new professional to the field.  What I am looking for is coachable- people who love children this is a formula for a highly successful early childhood professionals.  Because of our budget we can’t offer salaries that attract seasoned professionals, so when a good prospect is hired I immediately schedule them for NAEYC based classes, and New York Daycare Regulation classes, and place them under a season lead teacher.  The new professional has the ingredients for success, and the potentially to be a dynamic employee.

Cource Resouces Section

Center for Child Care Workforce
Council for Exceptional Children
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
National Child Care Association
National Institute for Early Education Research
Pre[K]Now
Voices for America’s Children
The Erikson Institute http://www.childrensdefense.org/
http://www.ccw.org/
http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
http://www.nccanet.org/
http://nieer.org/
http://www.preknow.org/
http://www.voices.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=22807
http://www.erikson.edu/

hand-drawn graphics obtained from many different talented artists.All about child brain development and early child development
Get latest updates on child brain development, early child development, early brain ... This book in an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, ...
Is your child gifted? - Brain Food - Articles - Librarywww.brainy-child.com/Cached - Similar - Early Childhood Links is a directory of web sites for educating, entertaining, furnishing, outfitting, and parenting children. Enjoy viewing our pages, which are uniquely decorated with Early childhood NEWS is the online resource for teachers and parents of young children, infants to age 8. You will find articles about developmentally ...
www.earlychildhood.com/ - Cached - Similar

Words of Inspiration

Word of Inspirations

Alumnus Edward Zigler...
Know
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010

by Kathleen Mabley
Published: May 18

Alumnus Edward Zigler has become psychology pioneer
by Kathleen Mabley
Published: May 18

DR. Edward Zigler
“From the son of two immigrants growing up in poverty, I’m a Sterling Professor at Yale and fairly well known,” he said. “That help I got as a child in those important years was critical. And the new brain research tells us that what you experience in those early years is the foundation for brain development in later years. I valued very early supporting poor children because that was like my life. When you’ve been discriminated against yourself you hate discrimination against others. It’s that simple.”


“The story of Head Start is one of impact“,” he said. “Twenty-five million poor children and their families have now been through this program. I am the only member of the planning committee that stayed with Head Start through its entire 45-year life. But perhaps the bigger impact over the long haul was the change in our thinking about preschool education.”



Speech by Marcy Whitebook: Workforce and Professional Development
Marcy Whitebook, Ph.D. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. University of California at Berkeley. Early Learning Tour, Denver, Colorado

“We need to promote a vision that rests on the understanding that adults engaged in learning themselves are key to helping children learn”

“No single ingredient -- preparation, support or reward -- stands on its own and reform is needed across all three -- the very areas where we shortchange the early learning workforce and thus the children they serve.”

Marian Wright Edelman: Marian Wright Edelman, the founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund, was the first African American woman admitted to the Mississippi state bar. Marian Wright Edelman has published her ideas in several books. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours was a surprising success.




Video Experts

Robert Hermandez MS ED
“My passion comes from wanting to make a difference”


Sandy Escobjdo
“ We in the child field have an opportunity to shape a child’s world, and so that what makes me passionate about the field”

Personal Childhood Web

Eva Parks: Eva Parks was my grandma, she was my primary caregiver. She cared for me as I was her own daughter. Grandma had 13 children and lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I was the second oldest grandchild that lived with her. I was also by her side watching her do everything; it was fascinating to see her turn flour into bread, and a whole meal appear from next to nothing. Grandma was kind to me and my friends there was always enough for everyone; she used to say “if you can feed one you can feed two”. Everyone who entered her house was made to feel at home. She always encouraged me to reach high, and never give up. The love that I felt for her is too great to explain therefore I share the love that she gave to me with other children, this is why my day care center’s name is All My Children, and I treat them as I treat my children, with love.

Aunt Sarah: Sarah is my oldest aunt. She was the church’s music director, and she also cared for the elderly minister at the parsonage. Aunt Sarah was and still is an excellent cook and food presenter. I spent part of the summer with her that was equivalent to a vacation for me. I did not have to take care of my younger cousins, cook, and clean, or wash dishes. She set a formal table for each meal, and served me. She took me to formal luncheons and dinners, I loved it and I loved her as well. My aunt gave me piano lessons over the summer eventually my mother hired a piano teacher to give me lessons year round. She was my inspiration to open a catering business/restaurant, and the reason why I cater to my daycare children home made nutritious food and present it to them in a fine way. She is one of my most loved people in my life.

Mrs. Shauwande: Mrs. Shauwande was my junior high school music teacher. She was a tall strong black woman of strong Indian heritage. She was a former opera singer and a concert pianist, she was good and she knew it and we knew it. She delivered our school to three consecutive choral championships. We were the first NYC Junior High to preform Madam Butterfly. It was a wonderful three year experience. “Practice! Practice! Practice! Reach for the stars and never give up” were the words she bellowed over and over until graduation day. This has now become my mantra and because of the people in My Personal Childhood Web I continue to meet the challenge.

waldenu

A quote about children, childhood, families, early childhood, etc. that is especially meaningful to you
“Children are Just Little People”
The title of a children’s book you love and what you love about itA story about a child that touched your heart
In my center a grandmother enrolled her three year old grandson for her seventeen year old daughter. Everyday this little boy would hit another child or a teacher, and every time this occurred we reminded him that hitting is not playing, and his friends did not want to be hit.
He would respond while crying loudly “I just want to love you “. We would hold him and give him kind and reinforcing words of encouragement.
　 When milk is spilled for an adult it is just an accident, but a child might be admonished for the same spill.
We must understand that what ever we as adults experience emotional children have the same emotional experience as well.
“The Little Engine that Could”
Is one of my all time favorite books, it demonstrates to a child that nothing to unattainable when you try.