Children Quotes and Professional Thanks

There are many children quotes that I absolutely love. I feel that each quote gives me a different insight about children. I just picked out a few quotes that I would like to share.

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
~ Emilie Buchwald

"Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy".
~Robert A. Heinlein

"Children make your life important".

~Erma Bombeck

"Children make you want to start life over". 

~Muhammad Ali

"Children need the freedom and time to play.  Play is not a luxury.  Play is a necessity". 

 ~Kay Redfield Jamison

As this semester comes to an end I truly want to say thank you to everyone for taking time to read my thoughts and feelings. I know at times some of my work is long winded but I appreciate that many of you found time to read it and give your thoughts. A special thank you to Jamie who always gave honest feedback during discussions. I always looked forward to reading your post and your comments. Michelle, this is my second course with you and you always motivate me to keep pushing and never give up. Thank you for being "REAL". It's not many people with that characteristic these days. Lastly, thank you ShaRina. You made blogging fun and creative. At times I would always look on your blog to see how you wrote out the assignment. I appreciate your words of wisdom and all your comments on my blog. I look forward to sharing many thoughts and ideas with you. 

Assessing: Good or Bad Thing

 
The school district of Philadelphia is currently closing 64 schools. 40 percent of the children from the public schools will be attending charter schools. While some parents may think that "charter" schools are better, I feel that the parents should take a closer look. Hardy-Williams Charter School is a considered a great school. Many parents put their children on a waiting list because they feel that this school will properly prepare their child for the future. Currently, my nephew attends this school. One marking period he was on the honor roll and the second marking period we were failing. Now I'm thinking how could this be? His grades are based on class work, homework, and how high his test scores are on Benchmarks. Each marking period he goes through a week of testing. When I visited the website for the school it said "All core courses are aligned to Mastery’s interim assessments commonly referred to as Benchmarks. Teachers use the Benchmarks, scope and sequences and other course resources to plan daily lessons and units of study. All core courses are designed in accordance with State standards and back-mapped from college preparatory skills". Talking to my nephew teacher she informed that 60 percent of his grade depends on how well he does on the Benchmarks. Now my questioned is does the Benchmarks really help my nephew or does the benchmarks make the school look good. I feel that this type of structured learning is not really helping the cognitive development of the child. The teachers who are in these classrooms don't really know the curriculum they are teaching. The teachers are just following guidelines and standards that the school gave them. Also, the teachers are only teaching the material that are on these standardize Benchmarks.

When assessing children I think it is important to assess their learning abilities. All children are different and they learn differently. If the teacher is only accustom to teaching one way and a child is not adapting to that way of learning the child will get the short end of the stick. At my nephew school the teachers do not change the way they teach. When my nephew didn't do well on his second marking period the school just suggested that he attend tutoring on Tuesday or Thursday. I thought the whole purpose of assessing was to diagnose specific strengths and weaknesses in an individual's learning, and to motivate further learning. They diagnosed him but still kept in the same classroom with the same way of learning. Teachers have not creativity or opportunities to step outside the box. Children are not robots you can’t just program them and keep it moving. While assessing is necessary it should always in the interest of better the life of the child.

Japan is the country that I choose to research about how they assessed children. Japanese way of assessing is highly different then the way the U.S assesses children. Newborns to five are either placed in daycare's or center-based programs. These two facilities are not required by law to enforce curriculum such as reading or math. Each child is given the liberty to be free and have a playful environment. While Japanese culture feel it is helpful it’s actually harmful to the child. When the child is placed in kindergarten they already are behind on knowing the basics. In elementary school Japanese way of assessing is different. They challenge the minds of children in every area of their life. For example, a Japanese teacher teaches children the proper way to behave. Teachers are more concerned with, how virtually all children have the ability to learn well and to master the regular school curriculum and certain habits and characteristics, such as diligence and attention to detail, can be taught. Following the curriculum to prepare students for standardize test is the least of the Japanese teachers concern. Each grade level is categorized and provides information on how the children are assessed. In doing the research I found that the children learn accustom to their culture. For more information visit….Japanese Way of Assessing Children

Stressor (POVERTY)

In my previous class I talked about growing up in poverty. First and foremost let me say that I love my parents and I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for their unconditional love. Growing up wasn't easy. I have 10 siblings and we all lived in the three bedroom apartment in a low housing complex. We called it the projects. I was raised on WIC cereal which consisted of King Vitamin, Life, and Kix. Growing up I felt like I was extra poor. I didn't get the latest fashion of clothing, no name brand sneakers, and boy the hair styles I had was unbelievable. I choose to talk about poverty because i have experience this as child. I had many days when I was angry, upset, embarrassed, and confused. Both my parents worked everyday. My father was in the Navy and my mother worked for the school board of Philadelphia. How could both my parents be working and yet I still had to wear clothing handed down from my older sister, peanut butter and jelly sandwich's was a meal not a snack, and living in the projects was the "norm".

Going to school was hard because I teased on a lot for how I dressed, how dark I was, and how I always at the school lunch. Was that a stressful time in my childhood yes but I overcame it. As I got older I started to understand that my parents were doing the best that they could. I may not had the best meals but I ate My parents allowed my siblings and I to attend after school programs and while there they provided snacks. Although, I had to wear clothing handed down from my sister I still made sure I took good care of the clothing so that the person after me would have it in good condition Living in poverty taught me a lot. As I was going through school I always had big dreams and was determined that I was going to be somebody important one day. Living in poverty boosted my confidence level up. Where I lived and how I lived wasn't going to be the factor of who I would become one day! The major reason why I switched my whole career choice is so that I can give back to my community. I'm the only person in my family to attend college. Currently, I hold two degrees and determined to get two more. Poverty still exist but I speak better for myself as well as my family everyday. Can I change the poverty rate in my community probably not but can help motivate others to push and not give up YES! Below is a link of my city poverty rate.
Philadelphia Pennsylvania Poverty Rate
This not my country that I choose to talk about but I wanted to give readers an insight of my community. Currently, between the ages of newborns to age 5 36 percent are living below half the poverty level. I truly feel that this is sad and for America to be a wealthy country they have so many children living in poverty. According to Howard Friedman U.S is ranked number 4 with the highest poverty level. Number 4! WOW! Here is the link Top 5 Countries with Highest Poverty Rating

 

Africa is the country that I decided to learn about because my dance ministry will soon be visiting and I wanted to see how the country is coping with poverty. Poverty in Africa is also considered to be hunger and starvation. Some diseases that highly widespread are AIDS, malaria, and cholera. Africa is believed to be in these poor conditions due to lack of land management. The water is bad there and due to corrupted government is it hard for countries to sell or import goods. Africa does not have ways for getting medicine to those with diseases and because of this the diseases spread more. Some countries in Africa are not doing as bad as others because the seek help from corrupted wealthy western countries. Africa has been trying to do better. in 2008 they created a African Union called African Peer Review Mechanism. This is a self voluntary forum that monitors politics, government officials and the values of the country. Out of fifty three states, twenty nine signed up for the Union. Besides the union nothing else is being done about diseases, education, poverty, or hunger. China has tried to stepped in to help but its only so much they can do. If Africa wants to improve there rates have to come together and help each other. Fixing the water supply can help with crops in the land and government officials can create lesser strict laws to make sure the import and exports of good benefits the country. You can look at more details of Africa at Poverty In Africa