Thank you

I just would like to thank everyone in group 2 for their blogs.  I have learned a great deal in this course and some of what I learned I learned from you.  I would like to especially thank Gwen Phelps and Cassie Massaker I definitely visited your sites, sometimes I commented other times I just read.
I wish everyone the best in their future endeavors.


 "When we deal with children we are not merely one person.  We are at least three people.  We are parents of our children...we are children of our parents...we are adults with our own interests and needs.  Often these three people within us do not agree and may have different ideas...about what should or shouldn't be done."  -Magda Gerber

Testing for Intelligence

In early childhood children should be assessed based on the interplay of domains.  They should be assessed cognitively, socially, gross and fine motor skills because these are the areas that we concentrate on when we teach them.  Each of these areas should be tested.  Each overlap as children develop.

Average scores on intelligence tests are rising substantially and consistently, all over the world.  These gains have been going on for the better part of a century.  These increases are called the Flynn Effect.  The rate of gain on standard broad-spectrum IQ tests amount to three IQ points per decade and it is even higher on certain specialized measures. (Neisser,  1997).   Many factors have influenced these gains in IQ tests such as child-rearing practices.  Parents everywhere are now interested in their children’s cognitive development and are probably doing more to encourage it than they did in the past.  Children are spending hours watching shows such as Sesame Street and other educational programs.  Better health and nutrition is a factor over the years, there has been a marked improvement in worldwide nutrition.  This means better nourished brains would allow individuals to perform better.   Increase of education, longer formal schooling years and an increase in culture-free IQ tests.  Visual and technical environment has increased.  Video games and computers each successive generation has been exposed to far richer optical displays than the one before.

Reference:

Neisser, Ulric (September-October 1997).  Rising Scores on Intelligence Tests  retrieved from  http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/num2/rising-scores-on-intelligence-test/1

Sandhu, Inderbir  (2002-2011).  Decline and Increase in IQ Scores   retrieved from:  http://www.brainy-child.com/exper/iq-score.shtml

Stress on Children's Development

The only stressful situation I can think of was a family in New York that experienced a terrible tragedy.  I was about 10 years old at the time when a young girl committed suicide by jumping from the 16^th floor of a friend’s apartment.  Her brothers were 6 and 8 and were friends with my younger brothers.  What made this so traumatic is her body was found near the playground and her brothers saw her lifeless body lying there.  This incident caused stress and trauma not only to her brothers, but to most of the children in the playground.  My mother took the three of us to counseling at our pediatrician’s office.  I had terrible nightmares for several weeks.   My mother suggested to this young girl’s mother that she might consider counseling for her boys and referred her to our pediatrician.  The community reached out to the family in many ways to help them get through their loss.   About  a year later the family moved away, but her brothers never seemed the same after this tragedy.

I read an article about a five year old girl named Marjan she and her aunt who is 10 years old spend their days collecting trash in the community.   The trash that they collect is used as fuel for cooking and heating.  Marjan’s family is poor.  She lives in Kabul Afghanistan where it has been said “it is the worst place in the world to be a child”.  One in five children do not live past five years old.  Many children die from hypothermia.  Many children are forced on the streets due to poverty.  Marjan little brother died from a cold.   Due to the effects of extreme poverty young children are deprived of their most basic needs, decent food, health, immunization and protection.  Many are exposed to the extreme cold of the winters in Afghanistan.    Many of these children will suffer from impaired brain development due to the malnutrition and lack of stimuli/interaction from their parents.   The only organization I was able to find that is working on combating the problem of Poverty in Afghanistan is Save the Children.

 Poverty can present many risk factors:  Inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, maternal depression, exposure to environmental toxins, trauma/abuse, and inadequate daily care of children.    Parental stress particularly impacts upon the developing child disrupting the neuron pathways of a child’s developing brain.  This can cause long term problems, such as learning disabilities, behavior, physical and mental health.  Studies have shown that children raised in poverty have poor academic achievement, are less likely to attend college, are more likely to become a teen parent, are more likely to smoke and use illegal drugs, are more likely to be unemployed.    One intervention for children of poverty is high-quality child care environment.

References:

Damon, Arwa (2008).  Child Scavenges for family's survival in Afghanistan.  Cable News Network retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/World/asiapcf/01/04/afghanistan.child.trash.scavenger

Policy Brief (2009).  The impact of poverty on early childhood development.  retrieved from http://www.rch.av/emplibrary/ccch/pb14_impact_poverty_ecd.pdf

NCCP (June, 1999).  Poverty and Brain Development in Early Childhood retrieved from http://nccp.org/publication/pub_398.html

Immunization

Childhood immunization has recently come under scrutiny because there have been studies that link immunization to autism.  Many advocates of Autism believe that thimerosal mercury which is a preservative in some vaccines was the cause.  Since 2001 thimerosal mercury has been removed, but the rate of the onset of autism has not decreased.   It is the same rate of other countries where thimerosal continues to be used. 

Immunizations is said to have had “a greater impact on human mortality reduction and population growth than any other public health intervention besides clean water” (J.P. Baker, 2000).   Immunizations in the United States have been mandatory if you wanted your children to attend school.  But recently at least 21 states have adopted what is called the personal belief exemption which allows children who have not been immunized to attend school.   These exemption rates are going up. 

Vaccines have been so effective that parents of today have no idea what many of these diseases look like and what the diseases cause.   Americans no longer see the shrunken legs and paralyzed children affected by polio.  It is my opinion that the benefits of immunization far outweigh the disadvantages and children should still be required to be immunized against these diseases. 

In India immunization such as DPT vaccine and polio vaccine are provided under Universal immunization Program, but there are several others such as varicella, vaccine against chickenpox and Pneumococcal infection that are not covered under this program.  The MMR vaccine that protects against Measles, Mumps and Rubella diseases have not been a priority for health agencies in this area.

The polio disease is still seen in countries such as South Asia, Utter Pradesh and Bihar states in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Africa.  Measles, Mumps and Rubella are still seen in other countries such as Western Europe. 

I choose this subject because I read how positively it has impacted mortality rates around the world.  After researching this topic my opinion remains the same that immunizations are very necessary and the dangers are far less than the benefits.  I would always recommend to parents to immunize their children.

References:

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.   Chapter 5 page 150

Park, M. (2008).  Where Vaccine doubt persists.  Cable News Network   Retrieved from http://www.CNN.com/2010/Health/10/20/why.not.vaccinate/index.html

Article (2008).  Vaccines for Adopted Children.   National Network for Immunization Information (NNii)  Retrieved from http://www.immunizationinfo.org/issues/general/vaccines-adopted-children

Birthing

My only experience with birthing was my own. In 1991 I went into premature labor at 26 weeks of pregnancy. I was visiting New York, my mother and was taken to the hospital. My obstetrician deemed my pregnancy hi-risk and had a procedure called a cerclage which assisted in my womb remaining closed. It was decided after about 6 hours of trying to stop labor that they were going to deliver my son by c-section. I was given an epidural for pain. I was taken to an operating room where the delivery was performed.  My mother was present with me.  My son was born at 1lb 4 oz. He remained in the hospital for approximately 4 months until he reached 5lbs and I was hospitalized for approximately 3 days. I was told by doctors that my son may have a host of problems due to the early delivery. The only problem he had was respiratory problems when he had a cold up until he was approximately 5 years old. He is smart and healthy 19 year old today. Due to the circumstances regarding my child's birth I am very pro hospital and doctor delivering babies. If I were in another country the out come regarding my child's birth may have been tragic. Even with a full term delivery so many things can and do go wrong. Having trained professional decreases tragic outcomes.

I researched two countries birthing procedures and found that I am happy I live in the United States. In the Netherlands pregnant woman don't see obstetricians but instead are referred to midwife. Doctors only intervene in high risk Case or if complications arise during delivery. Dutch woman decide whether they will deliver and home or at a hospital and more than half of them choose home delivery. The pregnant woman is responsible for obtaining medical supplies necessary for home birth it is called Kraampakket. Epidurals are rarely given. If given it would be because an anaesthesiologist schedule permitted administration of such. If a mother gives birth early in the day at a hospital she and baby may go home in as little as two hours. Then a system called Kraamhulp maternity home care is put in place. For seven days a nurse would visit the house and tended to medical needs as well cleans, cooks and provides basic parenting skills.

In Germany woman also see midwives for their prenatal care. It is a law that a midwife must be present at every birth and a doctor is optional. A local custom parents must choose child's name from an approved government list. Any exceptions must be approved. The reason for the policy is an effort to thwart potential ridicule of a child with a name that is too different.

In Japan women strive to give birth without the use of pain killers. It relates to the Buddhist perception of suffering: Labor pains act as a kind of test that a woman must endure in preparation for the challenging role of motherhood. Japanese women deliver in hospitals. The baby's father is only allowed in the delivery room if he has taken prenatal classes with the mother. If a c-section is performed the father must wait in the waiting room. After leaving the hospital mother and baby traditionally stay with the mother's parents for months or sometimes longer. The new mother must stay in bed for 21 days. During this time mother and baby are visited by friends and eat a celebratory food Osekihan (red rice and red beans).

My birthing experience was very different from these other countries in that a doctor was present during my delivery and it was done at a hospital.  I was given the option of an epidural.  My baby had the best care because a doctor tended to him and the complications were minimized.  My mother's presents was soothing for me during this stressful time and my recovery time was minimal.

　

　

Thank You

I would like to thank each one of you for your hard work on your blog sites. They have been inspirational to me. Each week reading your opinions and discoveries has helped me grow as a professional in this field. I hope that each of us continue to post new and interesting discoveries to our blogs. I wish each of you well in your educational and professional endeavors.

Cassie Massaker - I enjoyed reading your childhood web we come from different families, but there was so much similarity. I wish you well in all that you do.

Deidre Middleton - I enjoyed your quotes especially Hilliary Rodham Clinton's quote. I wish you well in all you do.

Code of Ethics

Naeyc Code of Ethics

I-3B.1 - To assist the program in providing the highest quality of service.  This is important to me in that I would like to deliver top quality services to my children and families.  This code of ethics parallels with my personal goal of becoming an excellent teacher.

P3B.4- If we habve concerns about a colleague's behavior, and children's well-being is not at risk, we may address the concern with that individual.  If children are at risk or the situation does not improve after it has been brought to the collegues attention, we shall report the collegue's unethical or incompetent behavior to an appropriate authority.  This principal became very important to me early in my career when I worked with a woman that would hit the children.  I made management aware of her inexcusable behavior.  She was spoken to by management, but continued to hit the children, this was her way of disciplining them.  I then brought the matter to Bright from the Start the licensing authority here in Georgia.  She was immediately discharged. 

DEC Code of Ethics

We shall support professions new to the field by mentoring them in the practice of evidence and ethically based services.  This is meaningful to me because I am new to the field of Early Childhood Education and would love to have a mentor.  My program does not offer mentors, but it is an excellent idea.  A mentoring program helps maintain professionalism in the field and helps in the effort to deliver high quality services to children and families.