Thank you to my fellow bloggers!!!!!

In preparing this blog post I was going through quotes and cute little sayings about children and have seen a number of visuals and quotes that I have used before that mean so much to me. I was going to post one that has been posted on my blog before because it means so much to me but then I found this. Fitting in with the theme of all of my work for this week and one of the biggest reasons I work in child care is a quote by Teddy Roosevelt, “Children do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Showing children that you care for them will help them to grow and learn with you, if a teacher does not lead by example and show the children love and affection then the children are never going to understand how to show love and attention to others. It is our actions that make children who they are so don’t hold back. Give them all the love that you can.

In ending this quarter I would like to also thank the wonderful ladies that I have been able to share this course with. December Staddie, even though our opinions have differed often I have enjoyed reading your posts and I have learned a lot from researching  topics from your view point. Mary Conover You have given me a lot to think about as well. Both of you have always kept me thinking and researching and for that I am grateful. Without your thought provoking responses I would not be able to grow. 

Child Development and the Whole Child

The ways in which a child develops are intertwined and no matter how we try to separate them we can never fully understand child development until we understand how all these paths of development intersect. To say that we can figure out everything about a child and their education and development by taking one simple test or by taking part in one exam is naive and very foolish. In order to understand how any one child is developing or progressing it is important to know about all parts of their development, including intellectual development, spiritual development, emotional development, physical development and the development of their relationships. The way a child processes emotions will most definitely be impacted by the relationships in their lives or their spiritual beliefs taught to them by their families. Physical development is always important in child development but a lot of people do not realize that this area of development can also affect things such as intellectual development. Given all if this information I think it is extremely important to consider all parts of child development before judging a child and how they behave and learn because you never know how one situation in their life may affect all of the other areas of development.
In other countries things like child education assessments aren't the end all and most important part of education like they can be in America.
       Most European countries are starting to move away from standardized testing because it doesn't provide a clear picture of everything a child needs to continue their development and I think that we should move in the same direction. Standardized testing tells me where my child is academically bur it is my relationship with her that tells me whether or not she is a normally functioning eleven year old girl (if that exists, LOL). I know that she can share emotion and has string relationships because I pay attention, not because of some test. I am of the opinion that we should change the way standardized tests are used to aid the school in changing and planning curriculum, not punishing the kids for doing poorly.