Working Together to Educate Ourselves and Our Children

“If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?”

Maria Montessori

Preaching in front of a class is no longer an adequate form of education. Was it ever really effective other than for the pure memorization of information? As a student, mother, wife, and advocate for children, I feel we need to collaborate together to help our children grow and develop in every aspect of their lives. The developmental domains work together for the health and well-being of the overall child. Psychosocial, biosocial, and cognitive domains must be given equal attention for one domain to help the other to thrive.

In the same aspect of education for children I feel it is valuable to look at my own education thus far. Working together with my family, colleagues, the community, and educators to learn how to educate others has been enlightening. Without collaborative work from all of these entities I would not be learning the effective ways to educate. I would like to thank all of the colleagues in my classes so far for showing me different ways to learn and grow. I am able to keep an open mind and learn from each and every one of you.

Kristen Tulli  http://ktulli.blogspot.com/ has given me lessons from her own experiences as an educator and I have learned knew ideas and practices from her discussion posts and blogs. Thank you Kristen, you have given me the opportunity to hear and learn about your experiences from your point of view as an educator. I have been out of the workforce for a few years now and it was nice to hear from someone who is currently working in the field.

Megan Svoboda http://workingwithchildreneverday.blogspot.com/ as a new mother has been able to give her informative opinions in her blogs about the development of children and the importance of letting children play and learn. I have enjoyed sharing with her in discussion posts and blogs.

Student Testing

Government involvement in education began as soon as Sputnik flew overhead in 1957. The Russians had beat us into space. This could not be. We were the greatest country on Earth. With a heavily bruised ego, the political agenda of the government changed. The Russians had proven themselves to be scientifically superior to the U.S., and our leaders would not stand for it. They decided that our educational system needed some work. This began an everlasting involvement by the government into the educational policy. Policy driven by fear and created in order to re-establish dominance as a world power. However, like just about everything our government sticks its greedy little fingers into, our educational system has slipped into failure and realizes mediocrity at best. In the 50’s, when our country was populated by what many consider to be the greatest generation, our educational system has fallen from first in almost every discipline to the bottom half of industrialized countries.

Our country’s educational decline can be blamed solely on standardized testing and districts teaching students to pass these tests. Our government has created a system which forces schools to adopt assembly line practices in order to meet state and federal expectations in order to receive desperately needed funding. Money is given to schools whose students perform well on assessments that the government deems to be important. The whole child is not educated, only the parts of the child that the district can financially benefit from are considered relevant. This system is destroying generations of future societies. And what is ironic is, it does not work. Our country has fallen down the global educational scale more in the last 10 years than in the previous 100 years. The current practice does not work. Our teachers and schools need to be able to assess each child on an individual basis and work collaboratively with parents, community members, school officials, and other stakeholders to develop student specific goals. Each child should be assessed on an individual basis covering a variety of areas. These assessments should then be used to capitalize on the child’s strengths while improving areas of weakness. Achievement should be measured against the child specific goals; not every child is capable of the same level of achievement at the same time.

The country of Finland is a perfect example of how a successful educational system should operate. Finland has ranked 1^st and 2^nd place in international student assessment since the ranking of countries began. Also, Finland does not use any form of mandated high-stakes testing until students leave secondary school.

In Finland, students are not mere numbers to be crunched. Classes consist of no more than 12 students. Each class has two teachers, each with extensive Master’s degrees. These teachers teach what they want and how they want in order to meet the needs of each individual student. Assessment is used as a tool to improve instruction, not rank and classify students. Also, formative assessment practices are preferred as they allow the teacher to adjust instruction constantly and create an ever evolving learning community within the classroom. Formative assessment also encourages student self-evaluation and promotes academic awareness of individual achievement.

The U.S. has a lot to learn from countries that approach education as Finland does. The first and most important thing that our government could do to benefit education and students, would be to leave it alone. Politicians have no business creating educational policy. Each state should be given a fixed amount of money determined by the number of children in schools within that state. The money should then be divided equally among the schools according to student enrollment. Standardized high-stakes testing needs to stop. Determining how much money a school received based on test scores is absurd and is destroying our once great educational system. Students need to be taught as individuals, not as a number. Lastly, we need to hold our educators to higher standards and create a highly competitive atmosphere by paying teachers what they deserve. 

www.minedu.fi

 

Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Natural disasters happen daily all over the world, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires, and etc. When I was younger we had an F5 tornado come through our town. It was the end of the school year, and we were home already in early afternoon. The storm hit and it seemed like all the others before, but then the warnings went out. We looked out our front door and even though the tornado was at least 6 or 7 streets over it looked like it was about to swallow my grandparent’s house which was directly across the street from ours. It devastated our town and created a path of destruction for miles to come. It hit our elementary school and we had no power for a very long time. I do not remember what day of the week it was but I do remember that we had a skating rink that most kids were on their way to. If this tornado would have hit 20-30min later so many more lives would be lost. It leveled that skating rink along with several other businesses and homes. Our house had little to no damage, but mentally my brother and I had several obstacles.

My grandparents worked for the Red Cross and were out day and night working to help the people who were greatly affected. My parents also volunteered to help find missing people. I remember being left with a babysitter when we had no electric and more storms were coming. It terrified me and my brother. We had severe separation issues and were terrified of storms for many years to come. To this day the little town of Niles Ohio remembers that horrific day every time bad weather hits. It greatly affected the people who lived through it. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/05/trumbull_county_twister_of_may.html

Our community came together after the devastation of this natural disaster and helped comfort one another. Our family and friends stayed close and we still to this day talk about it to this day. It hit my elementary school and I still can remember the fear of going back to school the next year. With the love and support of the community, family, and the educators we were comforted and assured that we would be safe. I am sure that it had great effects on children and their learning that first year back. It is very hard to concentrate on studies when you live in fear when a storm hits. If not for the strong sense of the community I do not think most of us would have made it through that first year.

In 2004 Thailand experienced a devastation no one can imagine. The Tsunami that came through the area had a deadly effect on over 230,000 people in several different countries. My family and I watched the movie the Impossible which told the story about the tsunami and one family in particular that made it against all odds. The trauma that the children went through is really incomprehensible to me. Just these three children in this family went through physical, mental, and emotional trauma more than you or I might experience in a lifetime. People from all over the world donated their time and money to go and help families try to put their lives back together. The land was devastated and the homes were gone. The dead bodies lined streets and hotels which created a pathway for disease. There was no clean water to drink or bath in. Not enough room to even treat the injured and the conditions that they were treated in were deplorable. Children lost their parents and were orphaned. Over the years countries came together to help put this area back together so that the children had homes, water, food, and schools. Slowly the towns were put back together, but the emotional and mental turmoil for the children who lost loved ones or were put through horrific physical impairments will last a lifetime. Only through the love and support of families and the community can these children start to heal. They must receive counseling and be given extra love and attention in home and in the classrooms to make sure that their development stays on track. 

 http://theimpossible-movie.com/

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxm050h0k2I

 http://tsunami2004videoarchive.com/

Child Development and Public Health

There is a disease out there that affects our mind, body, and soul. It harms us physically, mentally, and emotionally. It harms not only the person with the disease but also the family and friends of this person. Do you know what I am talking about? I am talking about alcoholism/addiction. Over 18 million Americans are estimated to have the disease of alcoholism. They say that one in four people are addicts or alcoholics. I have people in my family who are affected by this disease and I personally have seen the effects that it has on the family and more so on the child. I have also seen friends who have died from the disease. Did you know that when a person close to you has the disease and you are an enabler or codependent that you can be just as sick as they are? You do not have to have a drink or a drug to be sick, but mentally you become very ill. Sometimes the family members suffer so badly that the disease overcomes them and they become sicker than the addicted. I have met families where the family member had actually taken their own life or became so mentally ill that they had to have serious interventions such as medications and counseling, sometimes even hospitalization.

So what do you think that this does to the children in your family? The children who you think might not know or understand, they are much more observant than you think. Children have a sense of danger, illness, or sadness. For example, Dad is an alcoholic and Mom is doing everything in her power to get Dad to quit, make him better, cover up his mistakes, and keep the family running. She becomes run down, depressed, or irritated. The children are the ones who suffer more than anyone. Even if they do not see the actual act, they still suffer. And then there are the children who actually witness some of the most horrific acts while a person can be under the influence. The children start to become depressed, stressed out, emotionally and physically exhausted. This will have a large influence on their growth and development. When children cannot concentrate they cannot perform well in school, when they are depressed they have poor nutrition, when they have lack of sleep they are also irritated and misbehave. I could go on and on about the poor effects of this disease on a child and in their growth and development.

After looking at the World Health Organization article about substance abuse I was surprised (http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/82/9/editorial20904html/en/) It talks about how developing countries have so many stressors that the rates of substance abuse are higher because of their living conditions. I am not surprised by the fact that people turn to substance abuse when stressed. However I am surprised that in developing countries where there is little to no money they can afford to buy drugs and alcohol.

This disease is real and is devastating to the mind and body not only of the abuser, but to the family around them. If you know someone who is in need of help you can visit this website http://www.helpguide.org/mental/drug_substance_abuse_addiction_signs_effects_treatment.htm

Or look to your local AA or Al Anon organization for guides to help in your area.

Birthing Experience

Birthing Experience

I have four children. I just recently gave birth on July 19. I gave birth in a hospital with doctors and nurses assisting me along the way. For the first time I also opted to utilized an epidural. With my first three children I also gave birth in a hospital, but to be honest I was too afraid of the epidural to try it so I went natural. My first three birthing experiences went smoothly and honestly quicker than most. With this last child I went to the hospital at 4 in the afternoon and was given Cervidil to open my cervix. When I was at 4 cm I was then given an epidural and never felt a single labor pain. When I was finally at 10 cm I couldn’t feel a thing in order to push. I did attempt to push however it was not long before I said to just shut it off so that I could push. This is when the pain began at full force, 10 min after it was shut off I was ready to get her moving. I knew that there was something wrong by the looks on their faces but they kept assuring me that she was ok. After very hard and painful laboring she was born at 2:15 AM and that is when they informed me that she was posterior (face up). She was a very healthy baby girl who weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz.

One week later a very good friend of mine gave birth to a baby boy. She had a healthy pregnancy and had kept up with her doctor’s visits just like everyone else would. When he was born he was covered in meconium. He was whisked away to the NICU and battled for his life. They believe that he had his first bowel movement within the past week before delivery. There were no warning signs that this was going to be the case in her delivery. He is doing better but is still in the NICU and will be for a while.

My sister in law and a few friends of mine are firm believers in natural childbirth including birthing at home. I had a difficult delivery that could have potentially gone bad, and my friend did have a delivery that needed immediate attention. I know that the argument of people such as my sister in law would be that it is healthier to go without drugs and be in your natural home environment. However, what happens when your delivery goes wrong? For example, I live 35-40 minutes away from the closest children’s hospital, would that be close enough? I personally would never chance it, just my opinion. I do understand some of the points of those who chose to stay at home, but how do you weigh the possibilities.

My son (second born) was born in a very fast and easy delivery. However when he was given to me I immediately knew something was wrong. He was born 4 weeks early and weighed in at 7lbs 1oz. While everyone ooohhhed and aaahhhhed over him I knew that he was suffering. I was younger and the nurses just attributed my worries to ignorance. He was blue, not pink. I continued to complain for a half hour before they told me that they would take him for his bath and shots and be right back. 5 hours later they came back with the head nurse of the NICU. I lost all control. I tried to tell them. No one would listen. My son was not getting oxygen and could not breathe. He had to be intubated and given medicine for under developed lungs. He only spent 10 days in the NICU, but to this day I believe that the lack of oxygen is a factor in his learning disabilities. He is slow to learn, has been on an IEP for speech, and continues to have cognitive delays. I would swear to it that his birthing experience had something to do with his delays. What if I was at home when I gave birth to him? Would he have lived? If he did live would he be worse off now? Even though I am not happy with how they handled things then, at least I was at the hospital and they could immediately take care of him.

During child birth there are so many different events that can affect the development of a child. Loss of oxygen is one of the most damaging. Procedures are in place in the hospitals to make sure that they can handle any scenario that should arise in order to prevent possible developmental delays. In other countries they do not have the luxury of nearby hospitals or even doctors to help them through a most important part of the developing child. In the movie Babies http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020938/ the mother from Namibia delivers without a hospital or doctors. Her delivery goes fine and she has a healthy baby, but what about the many mothers out there who do not have perfect deliveries? Her delivery goes as planned and her baby grows and develops, in my opinion, faster than some of our children here in the U.S. What is it about the way this child was born and raised compared to a child here that helps this child develop faster? It seems to me that he crawls and walks faster than the other three babies in the movie.

Women have been delivering babies since the beginning of time. Have we made it easier for woman or more difficult? Are the children now developing faster or slower? Children are diagnosed more and more with disabilities such as Autism. What is different today? I have been blessed with four beautiful and healthy children, but I have met parents that have had all of their children diagnosed with a disability. For example, in my previous place of work, I knew a woman that had three children and all three were severely disabled. One child was wheelchair bound, nonverbal, blind and had life threatening issues. Another legally blind with mild MR. And then another who is legally blind and severe MR. What was different about her pregnancy and delivery compared to mine? She took all the precautions.

So tell me what do you think? Should deliveries happen in the home or in the safe environment of the hospital? How much does the environment affect the delivery and the development of the child?