Professional Thanks

I would like to give a special thank to April for sharing the experiences that she has had dealing with her son and his situation.  I think that you are a very strong individual and I know you will go far. I would also like to thank Terrance for his great choice of discussion topics.  I think in every course you have that one person who's discussion your eager to read and Terrance was that person.
I wish everyone good luck on their journey!!!

children are our future

"I continue to believe that if children are given the necessary tools to succeed, they will succeed beyond their wildest dreams!"

                                                - David Vitter, U.S. senator

Testing for Intelligence

When considering viewing young children holistically I think that there are two very important components to the child that need to be assessed.  The first is the emotional stability of the child.  I say this because when a child has the proper emotional intelligence, the child is able to take the other person's feelings into perspective. It is thought that emotitiona intelligence is more important in the development and success in the child's life as well when determining the later success of the child as an adult (Berger).  For this reason I think that emotional intelligence should be measured and assessed for the benefit of the entire child. I also think that the intellectual ability should be measured and assessed.  Being aware of the intellectual level that the children are on will allow for adjustment and alteration to best fit the educational needs of the children or a specific child in general. 
In Canada there are a number of categories that are used to measure and assess school aged children.  School aged children are assessed through what is called the Woodcock Family of Tests.  This testing system is used to measure and assess general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, oral language, and achievement.  Through the testing and measurments of these specific areas Canadians are able to diagnose learning disabilities early, plan educational and individual programs for students, assess growth and provide guidance in educational and clinical settings. 

 

Nelson Education link- http://www.assess.nelson.com/test-ind/wj-3.html

The Influence of Violence and War

The stressor that I chose to discuss was violence.  A friend of mine, who’s name I will not say, dealt with violence first hand on a daily basis.  My friend dealt with violence first hand within her family.  Although it was not her parents that committed violent acts upon her, it was an older sibling. Her older brother made things very difficult for her sending her to school with blackened eyes if a person on the streets were beating her up.  She dealt with these beatings for years, until he was sent to a juvenile detention center for an unrelated crime at the age of 16.  I can remember the relief that she had when he finally left.  To this day, my friend is afraid of her brother but for some strange reason she loves him to death.  She would actually “break her neck” to make him happy, I’m not sure if this is out of love or fear though.  She suffers from severe paranoia, often thinking that those that care about her are plotting on her and planning to hurt her or talking bad about her when she is not around.  I think that because of what happened to her in her childhood she is a very violent person.  Often hitting her husband or throwing things when she doesn’t get what she wants.  In her case I think that her biosocial and psychosocial development were both affected because she is unable to express herself to people and holds things inside until she explodes and violence is usually the end result.  Through the love and understanding of her husband and the grace of God, she has come a very long way.

Think that violence and war has this same impact on the lives of children in Iraq as it did my friend and her situation of violence.  Just today there was a large explosion in Iraq as US troops were pulled out.  These children are really being placed in a horrible position.  Although there is a war going on there, their are still mothers and children there that may no longer remember how to live a normal life.  Being around violence directly on a daily basis would have a burden on any child.  I am sure that these children are dealing with great fear and psychological issues that will affect them for the rest of their lives.  These children are unable to live a regular childhood as others do, and do not have the privilege of attending school or playing with other children.   Researching Iraq and the impact that war has had on the country it was interesting to find that one of the larger female death rates were for those children under the age of 15. Although it is no surprise that the death rates rise each year it was surprising to find that most individuals that were questioned about who was responsible for the death of their loved one was unable to give an exact answer to the question.  Individuals there have already become tramuatized do to the situation that they are in.  I was unable to find any information that proved that anything was being done to prevent stress towards children.

The faces of children directly impacted by violence and war........

            

Nutrition/Malnutrion

After studying prenatal development during week one, I became aware of many things that had a direct influence on the development of a child.  One influence was malnutrion of the mother while carrying the infant.  I learned that the malnutrion of the mother while carrying the child could have a very negative influence on the child.  I chose to do research on Somalia because nearly 50% of the children there are considered to have malnutrion.  In Somalia malnutrion is common for young children and their mothers, and over half of the deaths of childen are associated with malnutrition. After reading about the influence that malnutrion has on children in Somalia I have become more aware of how serious it truly is in parts of the world outside of the U.S.  The information that I have learned will allow me to be more aware of the signs of malnutrion in order for me to prevent developmental harm to young children. Since I am aware of  the severity of malnutrion it will help me in my future work, by giving me a deeper perception of things that may be going on in the homes of children that may possibly be neglected or not receiving the proper nutrition that is needed. 

                                                       

Birthing Experience

The personal birthing experience that I have chosen to write about is the birth of my daughter Ma’Kayla. The things that I remember the most about my daughter’s birth would have to be the excitement that her dad and I felt when my water broke and we realized that it was time for our daughter to enter the world. After the excitement was the labor pain and the urgency that I had to get to the hospital and get the medication from the epidural flowing through my system. Having my child’s father with me through the entire labor process was the best feeling of support that I’d had the entire pregnancy. I chose this example because it pertained to the birth of my first child and it was a very exciting and fulfilling day for me. I think that birth has a great impact on the development of the child. I feel this because I know individuals that have had complications at birth that have been life threatening for themselves as well as for the child. In some situations the child’s development is hurt due to complications and birth defects that come about due to these complications.
In Germany, there is very little similarities between the birth of my child and the birth in thier country.  After doing research on Germany and births in their country I have found that there are no antibiotics provided for the mother or the child during pregnancy or after the birth of the child. Also in Germany, the mother has to depend on receiving information regaurding her pregnancy from the pharmacy rather than a doctor.  Now to me this seems to be a little out of place.  I know when I was carrying my child every appointment that I went to I had a list of questions written down for my doctor, so to think that these women did not have this same opportunity was very surprising.   

Ideals Relative to Me

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.
I chose this particular ideal because it closely relates to my passion for every child to have a healthy development in every aspect of their lives. I want to assure the safety and effective development of every child.
　I-1.10
ethnicity, and family structure are recognized and
valued in the program.As a professional I would like to assure that children view one another’s diverse background as an opportunity to learn and grow from one another. I want to assure that this take place within my classroom. I-2.2
create partnerships with the families we serve.I feel that every successfully develop child has the support of people in their lives that truly care for them. I want to form a strong connection between the children I encounter and their families. This will enable me to build a great support group for the children what will carry over to their educational needs and requirements. —To develop relationships of mutual trust and—To ensure that each child’s culture, language,