When I think of Child Development...

I think this quote explains the development of a child. In order for children to be successful, parents need to create the foundation of how to be successful (the roots); the roots would be the development of a young child. I interpret the wings to be a child's ability to take what they have learned and become independent.  

The Whole Child

When thinking about the whole child, it is important to be aware of what a child can do in all aspects of life. I believe when assessing a child, we need to look at each part of their life. As I was researching this topic, I came across the website www.educatethewholechild.org. This site broke down the different components that should be looked at to consider the whole child. This ranged from cognitive intellectual activity, creative- intuitive activity, structured physical movement, handwork- making things that are useful and engagement with nature and community (Educated the Whole Child). I think this idea shows that each child develops differently and when assessing a child, we need to determine which area is their strength. By determining this strength, information could be presented in that particular way, and could help a child succeed.

Throughout my research on this topic, I found many articles discussing the success Finland is finding recently. I looked further into this, and I was able to learn many differences from schools in Finland compared to schools in the United States. In Finland, you will not see a lot of standardized testing. Teachers are prepared for many different situations and are provided with the resources and strategies to help all students be successful. Hendricks explains that teachers in Finland are able to have more freedom and flexibility in what they are teaching. There are many formative assessments where the teacher looks at students’ performance and adjust their needs based on observation. Finland looks at all aspects of the child and does not use a numerical grading system. There is a lot of communication with parents and the students about their success. Finland exposes children to “art, music, cooking, carpentry as well as history, math, science, and language arts” (Hendricks, Assessment in Finland). An exposure to these subjects prepares a child for all aspects of life, and allows the teacher to see which areas of development a child needs support with. In Finland, students are not separated based on ability level. If a student is gifted, or needs more support, there are after or before school programs to place these children. ln all cases, it is the teacher’s responsibility to complete formative assessments and place the children accordingly.

Throughout my research I have learned that the United States is focused on summative testing, which results in a focus on performing well on standardized testing. This focus takes attention away from what a child’s strengths are. I do not feel that all testing should be taken away, but I believe that children should be exposed to more opportunities and should be able to learn through experiences.

References

Educate the Whole Child. A Different Way to Think about Education. (2017) Retrieved from: http://www.educatethewholechild.org

Hendricks, K. Mid- Western Educational Researcher. Volume 25, issues ½. Retrieved from: www.mwera.org

Stress of Hunger and Poverty on a Young Child

A student of mine this year has experienced many of these stressors. Some of the stressors this student experiences are poverty, hunger, and chaos. This student came to school 2 weeks after school had begun. I soon learned that I would have my hands full with this student as he was very active, very low academically and his basic needs at home were not being met. He had been to 6 different schools the previous year, and was currently living out of his car. His mother was a single mother with five other children. At one point, his mother shared they had twenty dollars left for the month. They were in the process of finding a shelter and were able to get one room in a hotel. This mother shared that they were all sleeping in one bed in a one room hotel. It was obvious that when this student came to school he was hungry and tired. The school was able to provide breakfast to this student, and as much support as we could. This mother had a lot of stress on herself trying to find a place to sleep each night and that her children were not receiving the attention they needed. This student would often come to school late and would miss several days in a week/month. Unfortunately, this student moved about 2 months into school. Hopefully this student and his family were able to find a more stable environment.

Puerto Rico just experienced a major natural disaster, being hit with a hurricane that destroyed much of their environment. However, even before this disaster, Puerto Rico experiences much poverty that greatly impacts young children. “The effects of poverty, combined with the trauma of living through a natural disaster, will not fade away easily: The experiences that Puerto Rico’s young children have now directly influence their long-term physical, cognitive, and emotional development” (Novoa, 2017).  

            For example, Puerto Rico imports most food, in recent years, they have made many efforts to increase the production of their own food, but hurricane Maria destroyed many of these crops. Since Puerto Rico does not have a lot of agriculture, and importing food causes many possible problems, as there is concern this food is not “safe” based on how the food is handled once arriving. This problem results in lack of food and a longer process of receiving food which results in hunger (Novoa, 2017).

            In response to the hurricane, USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) is making food assistance by sending food packages that address the immediate need of food. This program is also providing a special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children in order to get the nutritional support they need (Novoa, 2017). With these supports, there are still many areas of need in Puerto Rico, and it will take a large amount of time to get them back to where they were.

References

Novoa, C., (2017). Center for American Progress. Hurricane Maria’s Effects on Young Children in Puerto Rico. Retrieved from: americanprogress.org

Public Health: Immunizations

The public health topic I chose to study this week is immunization. This topic is meaningful to me because as a child and even as an adult I never had to think about whether there was supplies available for me in order to get the latest immunization allowing me to grow up without any complications. In developing countries, prior to the “expanded program on immunization” the children in developing countries were not as fortunate as me (Chan, 2014).  The purpose of this program was to deliver multiple vaccines to multiple children through a schedule (Chan, 2014). This was a challenging process because of where these children are located, there are many difficulties like a financial burden of who is paying for these immunizations. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) as well as The World Health Organization are pushing for more vaccines in the developing countries. Still with all of this support, 6.6 million children still die each year. About half of that number could have been prevented by vaccination (Greenwood, 2014).

This information may impact my future work because the population in the United States is becoming very diverse. Due to this diversity, children from other countries may be coming to the United States, and these children may not have received immunizations.  This could impact other children within the community by potentially spreading disease. In addition to this, there is the possibility that I could have a child from another county in my classroom who may have a complication from a prior illness that could have been prevented if that child was immunized.

References

Chan. M. (2014) The Contribution of Immunization: Saving Millions of Lives, and More. Public Health Reports, 129 (Suppl 3). 7-8

Greenwood. B. (2014). The contribution of vaccination to global health: past, present and future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: http:// doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0433