The Importance of Love

"Every child walks into existence through the golden gate of love."--Beecher

We have learned that the successful development of children depends on a variety of things. One of the most important of these is the love of the people who surround them on a day to day basis. As we continue on our journey with Walden, let us not forget the importance of love as we strive to make a difference in the lives of children all over the world.

"Be the change that you want to see in the world."--Mohandas Ghandi

ASSESSMENTS

Giving an assessment is a way to record a child's progess overtime and provide feedback to a child's parent. Assessments can also be utilized to detect disabilities, measure readiness, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson or program. Standardized tests are given state wide and nationally to school age children. These tests results can be used to compare children based on developmental norms. A disadvantage of a standarized test is how to interpret the information or data that is gathered. Many believe that the test is considered to have a cultural bias to a particular group of children which makes the accuracy of the results difficult to achieve. Other informal tests and techniques may be used for assessments such as teacher observations, teacher made checklists, portfolios, or open-ended questions. As stated earlier, research indicats that assessments both standardized and informal can be used to screen for disabilities, assess readiness, and to help develop curriculum and daily activities along with providing feedback to parents which makes them useful tools.

Students in Singapore and other Asian Countries continue to score higher in than students in the United States in both Math and Science. According to the Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS), which is a national test given to 4th and 8th graders, an average ten year old is 5% ahead of US Students in Math. Fourth graders in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan also do better than students in the US. This trend usually continues through high school. It is suggested that the US focuses heavily on literacy and reading and not enough on the sciences. Education in Asian Cultures is considered to be the single most important means for social mobility. Access to quality education is very competitve and many families spend approximately 20% of their monthly income on their children's education.
If the United States plans to compete with Global America,than the educational system must better prepare students in all areas of learning.

References:
Berger, K. (2009). The developing person through childhood. (5th ed). New York,NY: Worth Publishers.

Retrieved from www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychild/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=210.

Retrieved from www.usnews.com/education/blogs/on-education/2008/12/09/study-us-trials-asian-countries-in-math-and-science.

Natural Disasters and Children

The children of both Haiti and Japan have been devasted by natural disasters. An earthquake in Haiti and an earthquake and tsunami in Japan have left thousands of children homeless and in need of basic items that we take for granted. The biggest stress on the children is the lack of basic services like clean water/food and family members. All of their sense of a normal existence has been taken away. This is very devastating to their psychological development. The experience of losing family, seeing injuried family members or friends and being displaced from their homes and schools is almost too much to bear. Many of the children are scared or afraid that this could happened again. Communities and volunteers from all over the world have dedicated their money,time, and efforts into trying to rebuild and bring some sort of normacy back to the people, but especially the children in these countries.

References:
www.traumalines.word press.com
www.guardian.ck.uk

DIVORCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON OUR CHILDREN

Family relationships can become stressed when parents are not able to get along. The family unit serves as the provider of a child's basic necessities, their learning, their self image of themselves, and the ability to nurture friendships and provide harmony and stability. When this is threathen, children are the ones who are the most affected. Divorce can separate children from someone who is seen as a caregiver. Bonds or attachments may be broken which can cause the child to become withdrawn or lonely. Children may begin to act out or do certain things that they may have never done before. Divorce can affect the financial well being and stability of a family. Children may also feel that they are the cause for the parent leaving. I have helped to raise two children who witnessed their parents' divorce. They both could have benefited from counseling because for a long time they felt like they did something to cause the divorce. Even though they had a supportive father and extended family, I believe that this was not enough to erase the fact that "Momma" was no longer around.

Reference:

Berger,K.(2009). The developing person through childhood. New York,NY: Worth Publishers.