Quotes for Children

Before I started my masters, I never really cared to look at quotes.  Since the beginning of my masters, I have enjoyed reading different quotes, especially related to children.  These are some of my favorite children's quotes.  

Testing for intelligence

Viewing children holistically means that the teachers need to focus on the progress of each student in an ongoing fashion throughout the year and throughout the rest of their school career.  Children, especially at the young age, are not strong test takers.  I know that I am still not a strong test taker and always get nervous before and during the test.  This is common with a lot of children throughout the world.  Ongoing assessment is something that is important for young children.  I feel that schools are focusing too much on giving tests and the results of the students from these tests.  Once they are tested on one topic or concept, it is not taught or focused on much more throughout the year.  The one thing that I think should be done to test the whole child is to have ongoing assessment for each of the four major content areas.  These assessments could be given once a month on each of the topics to see what the children are learning and what they are not learning.  If teachers are focusing too much on giving them tests after a chapter to review what they learn from that current topic, how will we know that they remember what they learned in the previous chapters?

The topic that I chose to focus on is the educational system in India.  In India, they do not have many written tests for the students.  "Portfolios provide a meaningful view of a student’s progress in learning. The concept of portfolio preparation should be thoroughly discussed with the students so that they understand the purpose 

of the portfolio." In India, they keep track of how their children learn by keeping a portfolio of all of their work throughout the year.  Their work is then assessed at the end of the year.  This decreases the amount of stress and frustration in the children.  

I believe that having children in all grades take pre-tests at the beginning of the year and then post-tests at the end of the year will prove to the teachers and the students what they have learned.  This may take extra time out of the school year, but it will show the progression in each of the children throughout the year.  I also think that having schools go later, like until 5pm on Monday through Friday, will allow the teachers to cover more detail.  In most schools now, they focus on mathematics and reading/writing.  If science or social studies are taught, it is for one or two days out of the week and for a short period of time.  Lastly, I think schools should focus more on exercise.  The schools should give them challenges to do outside of school that require them to be active outside of school.  

Kapur, K. (2008, 21). IAEA - The International Association for Educational Assessment. Retrieved February 14, 2013, from http://www.iaea.info/documents/paper_2b71209fa.pdf

Poverty around the world

The stressor that I focused on this week for this assignment is the issue of Poverty.  Poverty affects more people than it should.  Poverty relates to individuals or families that lack their own possessions and money.  My best friend has had to be on her own since she was 14 years old.  She was raised by her mother and she had never met her father until a few years ago.  I have been best friends with her since kindergarten, and I have always helped her in any way that I could.  She comes from a family with two other siblings, an older brother and an older sister.  Her mother raised the three kids, helping them with all she had.  Once my best friends mother was left after the birth of my best friend, it was a very hard time for her family.  My best friends mother did not have a job and had very little money.  She had to support three small children in a trailer park and with the little money that she had.  My best friend's mother would do little side jobs whenever she could to make at least a little bit of money for the family.  Throughout school, my best friends mother did not have a car.  So from elementary school up to 5th grade, all three kids had to walk to school.  The school that they went to was the same school that I attended.  Each of the schools were over a mile from their house, which made for a long walk to get to school in the morning and after school got over.  My parents would go pick up and take my best friend and her siblings to school a few days a week, every week,  for 5 years.  When my best friend turned 14 years old, she got her first job and had to move out of the house.  Her mother could not afford to pay for everything when my best friend was 14.  Ever since my best friend turned 14, she has supported herself.  This means that she has lived on her own since 14, bought her own car, and worked to support herself.  She now has two kids, graduated from college, and works two jobs.  She has become very successful now working two jobs and supporting her family.  Ever since elementary school, I have always done anything that I can to help her and her family.  To this day, I do not know what I would do without her.  She is one of the strongest friends and women that I know.  There was not much that my best friend could do when she was young to help her cope with this situation.  My best friends mother now has a car, but still no job.  My best friend tries to support and give her mother money when she can afford too.  It is a very eye opening experience to see someone that I am this close to go through something as serious as being considered in poverty.  

Poverty is a very interesting topic, but also a very disappointing topic for many families around the world.  I chose to focus on poverty in Spain. "The poverty risk rate of people under 18 in homes were nobody works is 62%; in those homes with 1 person working is 29% and in those with 2 people working is 16%." Hearing this number is very eye-opening. These numbers have increased in Spain from 2008 to where they are currently at in 2010.  This allows the children in Spain to become at a lower chance to go to school or be effective in school.  Not only does it effect children on the academic level, it also effects them on the emotional level.  "Many times they witness fights and see the consumption of alcohol and other drugs increase among their parents."  To reduce the number of families in poverty in Spain, families need to be extra cautious about the way they act at home.  This will have a direct impact of the kids when they are at school and at home.  

http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/society-science/child-poverty-catalonia-increased-185-238-between-2008-2010


Many times they witness fights and see the consumption of alcohol and other drugs increase among their parents.