When I Think of Child Development

Holistic View of Children

I think that when looking and assessing a child in a holistic view, various topics should be looked at thoroughly.  Their reading skills should be looked at along with, vocabulary, mathematics, spelling, writing, and even their social traits. I think that looking at children as a whole tell the entire story of them and their learning scheme instead of just looking at one particular trait or feature. Children are complex and show off their talents in various forms and should be treated as though they are more than just one sided and objective. I think that children have capabilities that are often overlooked and assessments may often be confusing for children. Some have test taking anxiety and others may just be confused by the questioning. It is important that assessments are children friendly so that they are able to complete the task to the best of their abilities. I think that assessments should also incorporate questions pertaining to the child's personality. Personality plays a major role in the learning style of children and should be used to assist the teacher while in the classroom.

In Singapore, they are using a more holistic view with education and are focusing less on "content knowledge" and more on information processing. The teachers are given the opportunity to encourage creativity in their classrooms. They are also able to use the syllabus to in their own way to cover all of the material for the school term. They have structured their classes to incorporate learning in a nature environment and also to let the children prompt the learning focuses throughout the semester. They are still highly ranked in their testing as a result and the children are embracing the learning style.

Lim, R. (2012). Singapore wants creativity not cramming. BBC News. Retrieved from
                    http://www.bbc.com/news/business-17891211

Week 4 : Stress on Child Development

The one thing that I experienced as a child that had a major impact on my development as a child was a natural disaster. When I was in 5th grade our house burned down. We had electrical wiring issues in our home and that caused a fire to start and travel through the walls. If it had not been for our dog, we probably would not have survived the fire. Since the fire was in the walls, and the fire was at 2 AM, we were sleeping and did not detect or smell the fire burning. Our dog was barking uncontrollably and woke my mother up. She was just going to lock her in the laundry room and figured that she was just barking at her normal nothing. This time that was not the case. She had the urge to just walk around the house and make sure that everything was okay and when she turned the corner to enter into our living room, a huge blaze greeted her eyes. It was full above our fireplace and she became very alarmed. I was still upstairs in my room sleeping. She was screaming upstairs for me to get up while she tried to dash water on the fire. Finally, after many attempts of trying to awake me she finally woke me up and I came down the steps. I saw the huge blaze and immediately grabbed the house phone and called 9-1-1. I gave them our address and in the process I ran around the house and opened all of the doors so that some of the smoke could leave the house. I was so afraid and scared and had never experienced anything to that multitude. Our house was ruined. When the firemen finished, the smoke and water damage had completely destroyed our home. We had to stay in an extended stay for a month. All of my clothes smelled of smoke. As a 5th grader, I was still young and this had a tremendous effect on my day to day life. We no longer had a home and lived in a hotel , not to mention everyday I went to school smelling like smoke, and the even bigger hurt was what if we did not wake up? That would have been the end of our lives. I am so thankful to God for sparing me, my mother, and our dog and for giving us the senses that were needed to escape that horrible disaster.

Sri Lanka was the part of the world that I wanted to research when looking at natural disaster's and the stress on children. The people of this country have been victims of tsunamis. A high prevalence of PTSD can be expected within the Sri Lankan children who have been affected by additional traumatic events; Indeed, the prevalence of PTSD in Sri Lankan children affected by both the civil war and a natural disaster was as high as 40% after the Tsunami (2008). The impact of the natural disasters not only effect the children mentally but also imposes stressors for survival. There is a lack of resources, a lack of food, a lack of communication, lost family member, and a host of other long term effects.

Catani, C., Jacob, N., Schauer, E., Kohila, M., & Neuner, F. (2008). Family violence, war,and             natural disasters: A study of the effect of extreme stress on children's mental health in Sri Lanka. BMC Psychiatry, 8, 33-33.

Week 2: Public Health Issues

The ability to access healthy water is a topic that struck a high interest to me. Healthy hydration is essential especially in youth. They are usually more physically active and their bodies are constantly growing and evolving, so it is important for their bodies to have adequate supplies of water. It is also important that the water be free of contaminants and is not filled with parasites or diseases. Our country is so evolved that we have bottled water, purification systems in homes, and even purification systems attached to our water fountains. We are privileged and may not even realize it in comparison to other countries. Not only is it necessary to have clean water for drinking purposes but also for day to day functions as well. Cooking, brushing our teeth, taking a bath, etc. all require access to a clean water supply.

There is a program called Africa Heartwood Project that works to provide sustainable amounts of access to clean water. There is a lack of clean water in many rural villages in Africa, water-borne and water-based diseases are a primary cause of preventable illness and premature deaths, with children being particularly vulnerable (AfricaHeartwoodProject2015). Before projects like this children were drinking from streams that they also had to use the restroom in and take baths in. With all of those contaminants mixed together it was not safe for children nor adults to have to drink from those streams.


AfricanHerartwoodProject.Copyright2015.Web.http://www.africaheartwoodproject.org/water/?gclid=CI-w28jQgckCFdc9gQodIHYKDg

Week 1:Chidbirth

On January 23, 2012, my entire life changed. At approximately 3:00AM I began having sharp cramps in my sleep. Oh no. I thought that maybe I just had to use the bathroom and that my precious baby girl was just resting on my uterus. So I got up and went to the restroom. I laid back down. The pains did not stop. I knew that my water had not broke and that my mucus plug had not come down so I was not understanding what was going on. I laid in the bed and looked at my phone to time how far apart these pains were. They were five minutes apart! Too close for comfort. I woke my grandfather up and told him that I was hurting, he instructed me to call my god mother. So I called her told her what was going on and she said she was going to put on some clothes that I needed to go to the hospital. I got off the phone with her, got in the shower, put on some clothes, and began to pack my hospital bag. My baby's hospital bag had been packed for weeks now. I paced the floor waiting on her to pull up outside and never ceased hurting. When she arrived I grabbed my things and headed out the door. When I got in the car she asked how I was feeling I told her I was hungry and scared. I told her that the day before I had called in to work because of the pains I was experiencing but I thought I just needed some rest. I begged her to stop at Burger King to get me some breakfast, she refused.

When we finally made it to the hospital, twenty minutes away, they rushed me into a delivery room. I was only one centimeter dilated but as I had calculated, my contractions were constant and five minutes apart. They gave me Pitocin to induce my labor and another medication to make me sleep through my pains. I was still hungry, so they brought ice :(. By this time it was about 10AM. I slept until 11:30 and when I woke up I had now dilated to 5cm almost 6. They said I was still in a safe zone to administer the Epidural. I received the injection and after that the pain stopped instantly. Best drug ever! The rest was history, I kept dilating and before I knew it I was delivering a beautiful baby girl 6 lbs. 9 oz. 191/2 inches long at 1:56 PM. 

Childbirth around the World
An interesting fact learned while completing this assignment was the increasing rate of the C-Section in very cultures. The dramatic increases are in China where the rate in 1991 was 5%,by 2001 20%, and 2008 40% (Berger 2015). Those are alarming numbers being that C-Sections are more risky during child birth than natural labor.

Berger, K. (2015). The developing person through childhood (Seventh ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

Examining Codes of Ethics

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Core Beliefs that are important to me:

• Recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture, community, and society.
• Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect.

DEC (Division for Early Childhood) Core Belief that is important to me: 

• We shall serve as advocates for children with disabilities and their families and for the professionals who serve them by supporting both policy and programmatic decisions that enhance the quality of their lives

These three beliefs are very important to me because they uphold integrity and compassion in our career field.  Compassion for our students and their families is an important key to being a successful educator. We are a team and working together for the best interest of the child. We are the advocates to ensure that they are getting the best treatment and services possible. That is my life long aspiration to be an advocate for children in low economic areas with special needs. These three statements help me to remain encouraged on what my dream as an truly educator is. 

Growing Your Collection of Resources

Video: Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). The resources for early childhood. Baltimore: Author.

Part 1: Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://community.fpg.unc.edu/sites/community.fpg.unc.edu/files/imce/documents/FPG_Snapshot_N33_EvidenceBasedPractice_09-2006.pdf
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al. (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42-53.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases
• Part 2: Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being
  • Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
  • Websites:
  • • World Forum Foundation
      http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/about-us
      This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the media segment on this webpage
    • World Organization for Early Childhood Education
      http://www.omep-usnc.org/
      Read about OMEP's mission.
    • Association for Childhood Education International
      http://acei.org/
      Click on "Mission/Vision" and "Guiding Principles and Beliefs" and read these statements.
    • Part 3: Selected Early Childhood Organizations
      • National Association for the Education of Young Children
        http://www.naeyc.org/
      • The Division for Early Childhood
        http://www.dec-sped.org/
      • Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
        http://www.zerotothree.org/
      • WESTED
        http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
      • Harvard Education Letter
        http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
      • FPG Child Development Institute
        http://www.fpg.unc.edu/
      • Administration for Children and Families Headstart's National Research Conference
        http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
      • HighScope
        http://www.highscope.org/
      • Children's Defense Fund
        http://www.childrensdefense.org/
      • Center for Child Care Workforce
        http://www.ccw.org/
      • Council for Exceptional Children
        http://www.cec.sped.org/
      • Institute for Women's Policy Research
        http://www.iwpr.org/
      • National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
        http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
      • National Child Care Association
        http://www.nccanet.org/
      • National Institute for Early Education Research
        http://nieer.org/
      • Pre[K]Now
        http://www.pewstates.org/projects/pre-k-now-328067
      • Voices for America's Children
        http://www.voices.org/
      • The Erikson Institute
        http://www.erikson.edu/
      • Part 4: Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library
        Tip: Use the Journal option under Search & Find on the library website to find journals by title.
      • YC Young Children
      • Childhood
      • Journal of Child & Family Studies
      • Child Study Journal
      • Multicultural Education
      • Early Childhood Education Journal
      • Journal of Early Childhood Research
      • International Journal of Early Childhood
      • Early Childhood Research Quarterly
      • Developmental Psychology
      • Social Studies
      • Maternal & Child Health Journal
      • International Journal of Early Years Education
      • 
      • 
      • 

Inspirational Quotes

The isolated and simultaneous action of our senses exerts a powerful influence upon the formation and development of our ideas.
-Jean Marc Gaspard Itard


"The preschool years are critical, they are the first most fundamental period when children are in fact noticing who they are and are noticing the attitudes and the stereotypes and the discomforts or the positive messages about their skin color, their racial identity, their ethnic identity and so on."
-Louise Derman-Sparks, on the reason for her passion for early childhood

"We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child's life for the better."
                                                                                                        -  Sandy Escobido

Personal Childhood Web

 This first person that influenced my childhood is my mother. She gave me life, showed me love, and instilled in me everything that I know now. She was a provider, my best friend, a leader, and my disciplinarian. She taught me right from wrong and though I didn't always listen she still loved me the same. She is the reason that I am the woman that I am today.

This is my older cousin Kemisha. She has had a major influence in my life because she was like the older sister that I never had. When I needed advice and felt like I could not talk to my mother about it she always had a listening ear. She is now the God Mother to my daughter and loves her and calls her her niece. She has been a role model for me since I could remember. She has taught me some valuable life lessons and we have shared many laughs and cries(we still do!). I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world even though we fuss and fight, the love never changes. 

 This is my grandfather. He practically raised me along with my mother. I remember all the summer vacations, family reunion trips, holiday family gatherings, and school functions, and all of those memories include this man. He has been like my father figure and has done a spectacular job! He taught me about Christ and made sure that I was in church every Sunday, he taught me how to ride a bike, and he even taught me how to drive. I am so thankful that he is apart of my childhood web and that I have had the opportunity to share my life with such a special person. He may fuss at me but the love just grows stronger and stronger.

 This handsome young fellow holding my daughter is my little brother. He came along later in my childhood but influenced it just as much as if he was there since I was born. He was born when I was 13 years old and he is who truly taught me to be a leader. When I realized that there was a little person that looked up to me and admired me, I began to realize the importance of my actions. He has taught me how to teach and instill morals in a little person and has a lot to do with why I chose to become a teacher in the first place.I love him with all my heart and I stay on him hard but I know that it will pay off. He will be very successful one day.

Last but definitely not least, my gran gran. Oh how I miss this lady. This is my grandmother, she passed away in 1996 and before I had the opportunity to cherish her as I would have like. Even though I was young when she passed I remember everything about her. Her scent, how she used to take me for snow cones when she picked me up from daycare, how she called my her jazzypooh, how she would take me for the day and we would go to all her friends houses and they would pinch my jaws, and even how she used to keep a warm smile on her face. She was the best grandmother that I could ever even dream about having, and I am privileged to have had her in my life.  She taught me what it meant to be strong, how to have a pure heart, and how to be a genuine and loving person to anyone who crosses my path.

Week 2: Favorite Children's Quote, Children's Book, and Story about a Child

This book has been a favorite of mine since I can remember. It is full of color and mystery to figure out the next object that catches Brown Bear's eyes! I remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Campbell, reading this story to us and when I left school I made my mother buy this book for me. I even bought it for my daughter! Great childrens story!

MeetSt. Judepatient Audrey

Corinne, an attorney, let her assistant know she’d be out of the office that afternoon to take her daughter, Audrey, to the doctor.

That was in May 2013. Corinne hasn’t been back to work since.

Eight-month-old Audrey had been sickly all her young life, but this time when the doctor examined her, he saw her stomach was distended. He referred Audrey to the affiliate clinic of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital near her Louisiana home, where she was found to suffer from neuroblastoma, a cancer originating in nerve cells.

Audrey had two tumors in her abdomen, three tumors in her head and cancer cells in her bone marrow.

Within a week and a half of arriving at the affiliate, the tumors had grown so rapidly Audrey could no longer sit up or eat.

Doctors referred her to St. Jude because St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers.

At St. Jude, Audrey was started on an intensive treatment plan of chemotherapy, surgery, a bone marrow transplant, radiation therapy and antibody therapy. Then, just as Audrey’s family was ready to celebrate the completion of her treatment, the cancer came back. This time in Audrey's leg.

The family’s journey was beginning again.

“It’s been so scary, but at the same time, it’s taught me a lot of life’s lessons,” Corinne reflected. “One of the biggest is the goodness of people, and I think that’s exemplified through St. Jude. The thought of how Danny Thomas had this vision — to see it come to fruition is amazing. Without a doubt, it saved my baby’s life.”

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. “Other people that aren’t at St. Jude have a whole lot more to deal with, because they have to figure out a way to pay,” said Corinne. “Thankfully, those are issues we don’t have to have. I could work ten jobs and still not be able to pay for all the treatment Audrey’s received.”

Today, Audrey is 2 years old. Amazingly, all she’s been through doesn’t seem to get her down. “She’s got the best laugh,” said Corinne.

“She is really funny. She’s smart. She loves to dance, and she loves her music. She doesn’t let anything stop her.”

St. Jude won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. Because, in the words of Danny Thomas, “No child should die in the dawn of life.”

Week 1

I have been fascinated with young minds every since I can remember. Now that I have a little one of my own, the way that they perceive the world just blows my mind. From the way that imaginative play consumes their day to day actions to the way that social interactions shape their vocabulary, it is extraordinary to study. I have always expressed a great passion for children, but to actually study their interactions and development throughout adolescence has been a true eye opener. From birth through toddlerhood are the most intricate years of a child and those years define the success factors going into the school years. Influential milestones such as singing to your little one in the womb, to reading books at bedtime, and making silly songs at bath time can all play vital roles to vocabulary, speech, and thought processing. I am excited to be in this course and field, to learn so much more about the childhood stages.