is like a bird without wings.
~~~ Tibetan Proverb~~~
Friday, June 24, 2016
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Testing
I have no problem with testing but I believe that so
many test make children stressed and nervous. I feel if the child is passing
all of their classes that’s measurement enough because they are retaining
information and using that information. There are so many different test that
are required for assessing and measuring children. I can remember my oldest
daughter would be sweating bullets before she went to school on test day. I
would try everything to calm her down and nothing worked, she got butterflies
and would feel nauseous. I think the test measures the child’s mind but the
whole child has to be looked at. All children are different and should be
treated as such. A child can be a straight A student but clam up on test day
and does not do well on the test at all. Does this mean the child is a failure
because they did poorly on standardized test? Most schools use standardized
test to see what the child has learned academically.
International comparisons as well as disparities
within the United States led to passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
of 2001, a federal law promoting high national standards for public schools
(Berger, 2016). On December 10, 2015 the NCLB Act was replaced with Every
Student Succeed Act (ESSA) this was to help reduce the amount of standardized
testing. Earlier this year my daughters
school had a parent meeting for parents of 3rd, 4th, and
5th grade students. In the past when my oldest daughter was in 4th
grade students had to pass the test with a certain percentage as well as pass
all classes or they would not be promoted to 5th grade. Fast forward
to now in the meeting we were told that the test is not a pass or fail test
anymore so as long as your child pass their classes they will not be required
to pass test in order to be promoted to the next grade. This took the stress
level down for so many parents and I was one of those parents. The standardized
test children are taking now in 4the grade is to assess the student, and the
teacher who is teaching the student. They want to know what is the child
learning by being taught by that particular teacher and the school receives a
score as well. Before we got out for summer break my center manager told the
staff that now for the upcoming school year when the classroom is being
observed instead of receiving a number grade we will get a letter grade from A
to F and the center will receive a grade instead of stars.
In Germany they don’t penalize children for poor performance and they do not make school level test scores public like the United States does. Germany’s reform efforts included the creation of national standards and standard based test for students in grades 3-8, which sounds like the U.S. approach (www.theatlantic). Germany have test called OECD and since 2000 the test scores have increased dramatically. Germany ranks 20th for math proficiency, the U.S. ranks 49th behind Turkey. Are these test really needed if the child pass all classes and the teachers knows the child understands all information that was discussed in class the entire school year? If a teacher knows the child can do the work, and can actually do it with little or no help then why test children on standardized test.
References
Berger, K.S. (2016). The Developing Person through
Childhood (7th ed.) New York, NY: Worth Publishers
Friday, May 27, 2016
Consequences Of Stress on Children's Development
RACISM
Growing up in a all black community I was always faced with this stressor and so was my other relatives. When I grew up in the 70's my dad had been in the Military, went to college and taught school. What I remember like it was yesterday is something he told all of us regularly "Always go above and beyond because people will only see your skin color nothing else, because you were born with people thinking you are less than because of the color of your skin." When I went to middle school for the 6th grade we couldn't go to the school that we thought we would go to because that year they started a program to bring minorities to a then all white school. A bus came to get us and I was stressed out to the point I couldn't focus or do my work. After all I had always been with only one race since starting school. The children wasn't so friendly, they looked at us and frowned on us and called some names. I hated it and I never wanted to go to school. My grades went down to a C average and I had never received a C on anything. This is just something I had to deal with. After I made friends my grades went by up because these kids was just like us and I stopped stressing.
The United States is at the top of the list as the most racist country in the world. Minorities are always targeted for racism. No child regardless of race should be forced to deal with so many issues dealing with racism before he or she graduates from high school. Black parents have to teach their children how to deal with police officers. I know me personally I have taught my children what to do when stopped by a police and what not to do. It's very important now because everyday a young black boy or girl is killed by the police. This can cause not only stress but depression because black children are much more likely than white children to be suspended and expelled from school. Even as young as 5 years old black children are suspended. The U.S. Department of Education report in 2014 that blacks make up around 18% of preschoolers throughout the nation and nearly half of them receive out of school suspensions (www.alternet.org). Stress will cause children to have many developmental issues in life and racism causes stress. Extreme stress can cause cortisol to flood the brain and destroy the hippocampus; too much of that hormone early in life may lead to permanent deficits in learning, health, causing major depression, post traumatic stress disorder and attentions deficit/hyperactivity disorder in childhood and adolescence (Berger, 2016). Since racism is a serious stressor in a young child's life it can cause all of these along with developmental delays. We think because we are adults that children can't get stressed as well. Racism exist and regardless of how we deal with it, things may never fully change. My daughter has always been the only African American child in the many activities she does such as her ballet class, swim class and strings class in school. I have always talked to her about the color of her skin, I've told her it doesn't define who she is and no one is better because of skin color. Everyone bleeds the same color, we all want what's best for our children. This is a problem and will always be one so their are many work shops, educational books, videos and seminars about racism that can help some people understand it better.
As I was reading things about racism I came across Germany. Although it's regarded as one of the best tourism destinations. It is known for it's racism and how they treat people whose not from Germany. Black people are treated the worst of all races who visit. Germany is the best example of the saying "If you sow hate, you will only reap hate, " even today Germans has a hatred feeling toward foreigners who visit their country for work and living (www.msn.com). Just imagine children having to deal with racism and how it is on us if we have ever faced it so imagine how they feel. Children are innocent and to be faced with racism will cause a great deal of stress and issues they will have when they're older. I can't imagine my daughter having to deal with this and she's only 10 years old. She suppose to be living a worry and stress free childhood. A 10 year old boy doesn't have the right to a childhood as a white boy that age does, in the eyes of many people according to a study published in the American Psychological Association Journal of Personality & Social Psychology: In fact a 10 year old black boy is not even considered to be a child (www.alternet.org). When I read this I could have cried because a 10 year old is a child and it shouldn't matter what color his skin is to anyone. Racism happens when it's taught because children have no clue but then when it's taught they join in as well and generation after generation this problem still exist.
***I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.***
References
Berger, K.S. (2016). The Developing Person Through Childhood (7th ed.) New York, NY: Worth Publishers
Retrieved from: www.alternet.org/civil-liberties
Retrieved from: www. msn.com/en-za/lifestyles/experiences
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Child Development and Public Health
The reason I
chose Immunization because I always wondered do we really need all of those
vaccines. The textbook tells us that immunization primes the body immune system
to resist particular diseases while the definition said it is the process a
person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease by giving a
vaccine. Immunizations can protect us from short term sickness and
complications. I’ve always noticed when I took my daughters for their
vaccinations they would have a fever after some of them. Studies show that in
the United States of America infants and children are recommended to receive 14
different vaccines which is 49 doses by age six. In Japan children receive 6
vaccines in twelve doses by age 5, what a big difference is what I thought. Japan
has two categories for vaccines, one is routine vaccination designated by a
vaccination law and the other is voluntary. For the routine vaccinations, they
are all free if you get a coupon mailed to you from Municipal Health Center.
Once you receive coupons you make an appointment. The other in Japan is
voluntary which is not free, the cost depends on what type of shot your
getting.
It had been
researched that some vaccines such as Hepatitis B which is given hours after
birth is primarily transmitted through sexual contact or by using dirty
needles. So ask yourself if this is given to a baby and obviously a healthy
mother, why? During prenatal care a mother get all kinds of test ran to make
sure she and the baby are alright. When babies are 2 months they receive
Diphtheria and Tetanus which is a problem in developing countries. One case for
every one million people had Diphtheria in the United States. While having a
tetanus vaccine for lockjaw which isn’t contagious was a waste of time.
Normally when an object is contaminated that’s when a tetanus vaccine is
needed. There is a vaccine for chicken pox and now shingles for those people
over 60 who has had chicken pox before. Chicken pox use to be very common,
Center for Disease Control says that there is only 2 doses needed and is 90%
effective and prevents people from getting chicken pox. What happens to the
other 10% of people? Fast forward to
now, daily I see commercials about shingles on television. In 2006 is when they
started vaccinating for people with shingles, the United States only have one
vaccine called Zostavax that has been approved by the food and drug administration.
It’s also been approved that people over 50 can get the vaccine.
Autism is something that is on the rise now. There
have been many movie stars speaking out about it because they have children who
has been diagnosed with Autism. Some people think that having your children
vaccinated is the reason children develop Autism. Studies show that there is no
link between receiving vaccines and developing Autism. There is an ingredient called
thimerosal which is mercury based that people feel is the cause of Autism. Nine
studies were done in 2003 and those studies found no links with Autism and
thimerosal containing vaccines.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
My Peronal Birthing Experience
I was 16 weeks pregnant with twins in 2005, I lost one
twin (my son). I was told by the doctors that I needed to make it to at least
24 weeks because the other baby would have a better chance of survival. I was
hospitalized numerous times that I lost count. My specialist for high risk pregnancies
did a procedure where they sewed my cervix up called a cervical cerclage. The
reason was to hold the remaining baby inside because I was threatening another
miscarriage, I had previously had one the year before. I had to go to 2
different doctors every week. I was on bed rest since I lost the first twin and
remained on bed rest until I had the other baby. There were so many things
happening to my body, I developed gestational diabetes while pregnant in which
I had to stick myself 3 times daily to check my numbers after each meal. After many hospital visits my husband and I
were exhausted but I made it to 30 weeks. I was still too early and there were
risk involved. When I had my daughter by caesarean she weighed 3 pounds 5
ounces. As soon as I had her, they let me hold her very briefly; she was rushed
to another local hospital that has a NICU facility she needed. I remember this
event because I had never experienced something so amazing and sad at the same
time. I was an emotional roller coaster and didn’t know what to do but pray. I
knew when I saw her that she would be alright because I prayed many prayers
that my baby would be ok. I still had her 10 weeks early and so many things
could have been wrong with her such as birth defects, limbs not formed, or
organ failure of some kind. Nothing was wrong with her but she did have to stay
in the NICU unit for over a month until she gained some weight. I am thankful
that the hospital here was able to accommodate us for her low birth rate. My
daughter’s name is Morgan and although I was told she would always be behind
because of her being born early, she’s far from it. She is a very active 10
year old who loves everyone. I am very busy with her, she has many activities
she enjoys some of her activities are: She’s a Girl Scout (3 years), plays the
violin, goes to tutoring every Tuesday (2 years), she wanted to take a break
from swim and ballet this year in which she has done both consistently for the
last 5 years and now she is going to be a cheerleader.
In Denmark people spend way less money for health
care. Although I had insurance I was still billed for various things and I will
never forget they accidently sent me a bill for $98,000 for my daughter’s hospital
stay for that month. In the United States we have our babies in hospitals.
Women in Denmark can choose to have their baby at home or in the hospital where
a doctor isn’t needed unless they think a problem or some sort of complication will
arise. While pregnant a midwife attends to you regularly and is their when you
give birth. After you have the baby a home nurse contacts you and start making home
visits to check on you and monitor the babies health during the first year of
the child’s life. A mother can stay home after having a baby for a total of 310
days.
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