beachteach: June 2011

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

"A nation that does not stand up for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand strong in the twenty-first century." Marian Wright Edelman

"Each of us must come to care about everyone else's children. We must recognize that the welfare of our children is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people's children. After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else's child will perform it. If one of our children is harmed by violence, someone else's child will be responsble for the violent act. The good life for our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people's children."

Lillian Katz

"I hate the waste. It doesn't allow children to grow up to their fullest potential"

Louise Derman-Sparks

Thursday, June 23, 2011

When I Think of Child Development.....

I think of Marian Wright Edelman.
"Investing in children is not a national luxury or a national choice. It's a national necessity. If the foundation of your house is crumbling, you don't say you can't afford to fix it while you're building astronomically expensive fences to protect it from outside enemies. The issue is not are we going to pay - it's are we going to pay now, up front, or are we going to pay a whole lot more later on."
Thank you to all my child development colleagues for your support and I wish you good luck in your future courses and endeavors.
Elise

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Testing???

As an educator I know that testing is a necessary tool to use to base instruction upon and to monitor growth and understanding of skills. As a parent, I hate to see what it does to my child. Every spring my daughter has to endure SOLs and then worry about whether she passed them. When she came home the other week after taking her science SOL she said "My brain hurts!"
Research in education recognizes the following:1. children help shape their own development; 2. children learn at different rates and through different methods; 3. children learn through social interaction within a sociocultural and historical context; and 4. children are part of a family, community and the larger culture (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bruner & Haste, 1990; Donaldson, 1978: Vygotsky, 1962).
Teaching children involves viewing children holistically, providing developmentally appropriate practices and to consider all the various environments in which children spend time. Within those developmentally appropriate practices and best practices, some children need to be taught a modified curriculum in order to meet their needs.
Every child is different and unique and as every child is different and unique so should their instruction and assessment be. No test is going to be an accurate measure of that child on that given day. While I understand the needs of assessing students in order to give them accommodations or extra support I don't understand why everything in the curriculum has to be test driven.

I came across an article about special needs students in India. The article was titled "Included by law, but little else". The article states that the Indian School Certificate Examinations board allows students with disabilities to be given grace marks in tests and additional time to finish papers. Unfortunately, the school administration where the child in the article went to school didn't follow the guidelines. The boy was retained and the mother is now taking the case to the Bombay High Court. It seems that there is support (legislation) for disabled children in India but little follow through. Education of children with disabilities is still considered an act of charity. The article closes with the fact that India needs a regulatory system.

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Giving birth-the latest job outsourced to India?

I read a very sad article about women in India who are surrogates to couples from wealthier countries. The women who are surrogates receive excellent prenatal care, unlike when they are pregnant with their own children and they do not recieve any prenatal care. The surroates live in a spacious house with maids, cooks, and doctors. Quite a contrast from their own home life. One woman will receive $4,500.00 after she delivers which would have taken 15 years to earn. The birth takes place in a clean, modern clinic compared to a typical birth in India that takes place in the home under less than ideal conditions.
A quote from the article that is really troubling- "You can picture wealthy couples of the West deciding that pregnancy is just not worth the trouble anymore and the whole industry will be farmed out."
Is it a win/win situation for the surrogate and the couple?

Different decades different births

The birth of my daughter was quite different from my son's birth. I labored at home for most of it because it was the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake up my son. It wasn't bad at first, but by dawn I was on my knees pounding the bed!. I had back labor and had problems with my back earlier. It seemed like those contractions were like a knife stabbing me in the back. After we took my son to the sitter, I was able to go to the hospital and get an epidural. My daughter was born quickly after that. I had both of my children in the same hospital The nurses are wonderful at INOVA Alexandria. My room was both the labor and delivery room and it was very cozy and patient friendly.
My mother shared the story of her sister's labor and delivery that occured in a different era and a different city. My aunt fell off the table because they hadn't strapped her down to the table which they did back then. My aunt ended up giving birth to a still born baby. She felt that when she fell off of the delivery room table it killed the baby. Of course there was no malpractice cases back then. My mother felt that the death of that baby changed her sister and she was never the same after that.
Two very different birth stories.

Codes of Ethics

Ethical Resposibilities to Families:

We acknowledge a primary responsibility to bring about communication, cooperation, and collaboration between the home and early childhood program in ways that enhance the child's development.

Responsibilities to Community and Society:

As individuals, we acknowledge our responsibility to provide the best possible programs of care and education for children and to conduct ourselves with honesty and integrity. We acknowledge a collective obligation to advocate for the best interests of children within early childhood programs and in the larger community and to serve as a voice for young children everywhere.

Taken from the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

The early childhood special education professional should base his or her behaviors on ethical reasoning surrounding practice and professional issues as well as an empathic reflection regarding interactions with others.

Taken from the DEC Code of Ethics

These ideals help remind me why we do what we do. Every child is unique and deserves the best possible start. It is our responsibilty to be informed, to foster and develop professional partnerships, and to support families in nuturing children.

Additional Resources in the Early Childhood Field

As you may be able to tell I absolutely admire Marian Wright Edelman. I don't believe there is another person alive who speaks for the children who don't have a voice. She just published an article about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Basically the article attacks the formulation for the distribution of Title I funds. A passion that is very near and dear to my heart as a Title I teacher. The article is: Priorities for ESEA Reauthorization March 2011 and can be accessed at www.childrensdefensefund under recent articles. Mrs. Edelman has also written several books. The Measure of Our Success (1992) was one of the first books published by Mrs. Edelman. It is a must read for any one working with children. Her recent book is The Sea is So Wide and My Boat is so Small (New York:Hyperion) is another excellent book.