Saturday, December 18, 2010

WHAT INSPIRES MY INTEREST IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

I found some quotes that really got my attention and that I related to.

A child miseducated is a child lost ~ John F. Kennedy

A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child.
 ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Before you beat a child, be sure yourself are not the cause of the offense. ~Austin O'Malley

Children are apt to live up to what yo believe of them. ~ Lady Bird Johnson

Each one of these quotes relates to different developments in a childs life. Rather it be a childs education, parenting styles, stressors in a childs life and encouragement that a child receives. Children are so precious and it is so important that they are receiving all the love and encouragement they need and they are staying healthy and given the chance to become something great in life.

I want to thank all of my colleagues for their support in this class. All of the discussions and blogs really helped me to understand the topic a little more, provided me with new information and insights, and provided me with excellent resources on topics we were discussing within this course.
I would really like to thank Agneatha and Christina because at times I turned to their discussions and blogs for guidence and understanding when I felt a little lost on the subject matter. They provided great information and helped me understand. I also feel like we share similar views on many of the course topics.
I hope that I have helped someone in this course as they each have helped me. I hope to stay in touch with you all and hear from you in furure courses. If I can ever be of any help please email me and I will try me best to help you. Good Luck to everyone in future courses.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

What is considered intelligent?

It seems like all children do these days in school is being prepared for a range of test taking. I believe that teachers and the school system focus way to much on teaching for the test that they are not focusing on what is important and what the children really need to be learning. I don't believe a test can rate a child's intelligence because a test doesn't show everything one may know. Children learn from school classes, but they also learn from others by watching them. Children learn skills and traits, they learn about values, jobs, how people live and this all influences a child's knowledge and learning. Also, some children are not good at test taking, so even if they do know the material the test will not show that because they do bad on test taking. Testing in my opinion doesn't show the whole person and what they are capable of and the knowledge they have.
I believe test should be given to see what area the child needs more help in and set up a class plan of action to help the child be successful in school and encourage them to go on in school and make something of them self in the work force when they get older. You don't want to give them test to separate them into classes that label them very smart and not. This will only lower their self esteem and will not motivate them. As teachers we suppose to be motivators and supporters for the children to be successful.

I chose to look at the Finland School System:

In Finland high school students rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night and children don't start school to the age of 7. There are no classes for the gifted students and no recognition organizations for those who achieve. Also, there is little in the way of standardized testing.
There is little grading and in essence no tracking in Finland. When you reach the 9th grade it becomes a divider as students are separated for the last 3 years of high school based on grades. Under current structure, 53% will go to academic high school and the rest will enter vocational school.
There are 20 universities and students are selected based on the results of entrance exams. The schools are free to students. Another higher education and is also free is the polytechnics schools. These schools offer a very close link to working life with focus on developing expert skills for various different vocational sectors. Entrance requirements must pass the traditional academic high school matriculation exam or have completed their vocational qualification.

Thomas. Several lessons to be learned from the Finnish school system. Retrieved December 8, 2010 from
http://www.openeducation.net/2008/03/10/several-lessons-to-be-learned-from-the-finnish-...