Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone
Choosing a school for a child is one of the most imprtant decisions parents make. The school - its teachers, curriculum, educational philosophy, and values both explicit and implicit - will affect the child's day-to-day life. It will help shape the child's personality, view of life, behavior, and destiny as an adult. And it will also deeply affect the lives of the parents and the life of the family as a whole' ~Ronald Koetzsch
I chose the two quotes above because at this point in my life, I have and continue to raise my children who are now young adults and I have a direct influence on the lives of many other children and their families who attend the childcare center for which I am the Director. I look back on my years in early childhood as well as a parent and I know and can see the choices that I have made and how they played a role in who my children have become. I am looked to for advice from parents as well as teachers and I truly believe that the above quotes express how I feel in regards to the impact that adults have on children.
About Me
- Angella Hart
- Hello! My name is Angella Hart. I have worked in field of early childhood for over 20 years now. I began my career teaching in a childcare center, I later owned and operated my own home childcare, then returned to center-based care through a Head Start program. In 2000 I left Head Start to begin working as a case manager for the State of Florida with children and their families who are at risk of abuse and neglect. In 2002 I moved to the northeast after accepting a position as Director of Early Childhood and Youth Development working with low income families of refugees and immigrants. In 2006 I had the opportunity to open a brand new Nationally Franchised childcare center closer to my home. Here I worked closely with the owners of the school and the corporate office in order to open and run a successful school. In 2010, I returned to Florida and I continued to work for the same national franchised school, under a different owner. Im am extremely happy to be back in warmer climate with my 3 sons (young men) who are all over 18.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Testing for Intelligence?
When considering whether or not children should be assessed and measured, I do not beleive that every child needs to be assessed unless there is a concern with their development. This goes the same for children that we think may also be "advanced" compared to their peers. I believe that children today have such over stimulated lives that if we start picking them apart "just because" it just adds worry and hype as well as stress to their already busy lives. This particularly holds true if the child has neurotic parents.
I definately believe that we need to be able to assess children, however every child does not need to be assessed and their intelligence measured.
Developmental milestones can be different depending on the cultural background of the child. For example, activities such as preparing breakfast cereal, using a knife and fork, pedalling a tricycle and playing board games would be uncommon for children in rural Africa. A pink doll used in a ‘feeding the doll’ test can be terrifying to many children who may have never seen anything like it before. And some of the questions feature pictures – problematic when many children have never seen a book or a pictorial representation of an object before, let alone some of the more foreign objects (such as a horse or a car). The Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT), was designed to be used as an assessment tool with children in rural Africa. Unfortunately, even with the tool, there are obstacles to improving child development in low- and middle-income countries. Many are limited in the resources they have available for screening children and for helping those whose development is delayed or disrupted.
Reference:
Article, "Refining the milestones: assessing child development in Africa"; Retrieved on December 10th, 2011 from http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/refining-the-milestones-assessing-child-development-in-africa/
I definately believe that we need to be able to assess children, however every child does not need to be assessed and their intelligence measured.
Developmental milestones can be different depending on the cultural background of the child. For example, activities such as preparing breakfast cereal, using a knife and fork, pedalling a tricycle and playing board games would be uncommon for children in rural Africa. A pink doll used in a ‘feeding the doll’ test can be terrifying to many children who may have never seen anything like it before. And some of the questions feature pictures – problematic when many children have never seen a book or a pictorial representation of an object before, let alone some of the more foreign objects (such as a horse or a car). The Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool (MDAT), was designed to be used as an assessment tool with children in rural Africa. Unfortunately, even with the tool, there are obstacles to improving child development in low- and middle-income countries. Many are limited in the resources they have available for screening children and for helping those whose development is delayed or disrupted.
Reference:
Article, "Refining the milestones: assessing child development in Africa"; Retrieved on December 10th, 2011 from http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/refining-the-milestones-assessing-child-development-in-africa/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)