Thursday, April 25, 2013
Special Thanks to My Classmates
I would like to thank all of my classmates for another fun, interesting and valuable class. I have really enjoyed sharing discussions and blog posts with each of you. I feel that each week I have learned something new, been challenged to look at things from a different perspective, and widen my outlook on many topics. I value each of your opinions, suggestions and advice as I work my way through the world of child development and strive to learn new things to help my boys achieve their highest potential. I look forward to working with everyone again in the next class!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Quotes and Reflections
I found two quotes that I really love:
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute
"The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation."
Ray L. Wilbur, third president of Stanford University
The quotes emphasize how important my children are in my life and how much I cherish every moment with them. I won't always be there for them so I have to do everything I can every day to make sure I am preparing them for the future. The quotes also remind me that children's lives are not scripted and can change day to day. I am very happy to wake up each day and wonder what great things the boys are going to do today. Every day is an adventure for us...it is tiring, but it is fun!
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
John W. Whitehead, founder, Rutherford Institute
"The potential possibilities of any child are the most intriguing and stimulating in all creation."
Ray L. Wilbur, third president of Stanford University
The quotes emphasize how important my children are in my life and how much I cherish every moment with them. I won't always be there for them so I have to do everything I can every day to make sure I am preparing them for the future. The quotes also remind me that children's lives are not scripted and can change day to day. I am very happy to wake up each day and wonder what great things the boys are going to do today. Every day is an adventure for us...it is tiring, but it is fun!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Evaluating Children in Appalachia
Like Berger (2012) notes,
Howard Gardner identified 9 different types of intelligence: linguistic, logical-mathematical,
spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and
existential. With this amount of
identified intelligence, how can we put any kind of faith in the IQ tests that
stick with the typical, aptitude based criteria. I truly believe that we need to spend more time evaluating
those things that are not academic based, such as social interaction and social
belonging. It has been proven over
and over again that a child’s success in this world largely depends on their
capabilities to function in society.
A child can have an incredibly high IQ but his social skills may be so
low that he cannot hold a conversation.
If this is the case, he will not be able to function in society, let
alone the work place.
When searching for how
intelligence is tested throughout the world, the same intelligence test (Wechsler Intelligence Scale) came up. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children has been
translated into several languages and it used in multiple countries throughout
the world. As with my previous
post, I have a connection to Appalachia and wanted to see if things are being
done differently in that area of the country. I came across a study that looked at children in Appalachia
from infancy to middle childhood.
The purpose of the project was to study the socioemotional and cognitive
development of low-income rural Appalachian children in middle childhood (Fish, 2007). They looked at social adjustment,
academic achievement, and attitudes toward tobacco in order to understand both
risk and protective factors and to inform future policy-making decisions. They used a variety of tools including
a perspective-taking task, a
project-developed assessment of social
cognition, the social convoy measure of social support, the Social Experience Questionnaire to assess peer relations, the Harter Perceived
Competence Scale for Children and the Feelings About School to measure self-perceptions. In terms of cognitive abilities, they
used instruments to test nonverbal
intelligence and two language measures. They also used surveys to collect
information from parents and teachers.
I
was exceptionally impressed with the holistic approach of this study because it
provided much more information than a standardized intelligence test. If we truly want to help children grow
and be successful, we have to look at them from all angles (so to speak) and
understand and appreciate the individuality of each child. Every child wants to be successful…we
just have to find the individualistic ways to help each of them accomplish
their goals.
Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY:
Worth Publishers.
Fish, M. (2007). Infancy to Middle Childhood in Rural
Appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.mchtraining.net%2Fresearch%2Fdocuments%2Ffinalreports%2Ffish_r40_mc_00316_mchb_final_report.pdf&ei=FthqUde_KtPk4APp84G4Dw&usg=AFQjCNEZF6ruEbGUZUjQpbZaoaW0OI70VA&sig2=NVeCt23WwX6hiArzVj-yfw&bvm=bv.45175338,d.dmg
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