How do you feel about child screening, tests and checklists? Are they a necessity? Are they respectful? Do they focus on the things children can't do, or do they emphasize the things children can do?
I'm personally not a fan. I've been in settings where children have undergone developmental checklists. I saw parents try and make their children jump on the spot, stand on one leg, match colors and pictures, do language tests, the list goes on. The reality (from my perspective) is that children are being forced to do these tests, they often end of very frustrated, and their parents usually take them and leave annoyed and out of patience. If think that if a parent chooses to do a checklist or screening test, the things they look for should be observed naturally and over a period of time-such as a few days to a week. I think children may benefit from it in this way because they are not being objectified. They remain to feel dignity and confidence in themselves because they are not being judged or put on a pedestal. The "tests" are done in a natural environment and the actions are occurring naturally and appropriately. I know that these tests are usually designed for children pre-school age, to see how "ready they are for kindergarten." I know this doesn't completely relate to infants and toddlers, but it does in some way. Parents ultimately want the best for their child and when they are being told that in order to provide the best, they need to find out as early as possible how their child's development is doing. I found THIS blog about a healthy children initiative based in Ottawa. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Another quote
“Infancy is a vulnerable stage of development, therefore, it's not enough that babies receive good care, the care must be excellent.”– Magda Gerber
RIE !
This is a link to the rie page website. Take a look and see what information it has to offer about infant and toddler care/respect.
RIE !
This is a link to the rie page website. Take a look and see what information it has to offer about infant and toddler care/respect.
A little Madga quote
Criteria for Praise I do have a few criteria for praise: • Do not praise a child who is happily playing; • Do not praise a child who is "performing" for adults; • Praise a child for social adaptation-for doing things that are very difficult, like waiting or sharing
Madga Gerber's "Criteria for praise."
I love the way Madga puts things into perspective. Honest and upfront. I think many people praise children for the wrong reasons. I know that we want to keep away from praise, using encouragement instead and this is a best practice for working with children. I think the way that Madga describes praise for children is a very realistic approach-Especially for parents who don't have a background in ECE or the education about best practices.
Madga Gerber's "Criteria for praise."
I love the way Madga puts things into perspective. Honest and upfront. I think many people praise children for the wrong reasons. I know that we want to keep away from praise, using encouragement instead and this is a best practice for working with children. I think the way that Madga describes praise for children is a very realistic approach-Especially for parents who don't have a background in ECE or the education about best practices.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
What is respect? Magda Gerber's Philosophy
Magda Gerber is a pioneer in the field of infant studies. She's established 10 principles of respect that caregivers (and all of society in my opinion) should understand. I'm going to list them out briefly. The full versions are very accessible in a variety of infant books and online as well.
1) Involve infant and toddlers in things that concern them. Don't work around them or distract them to get the job done faster.
2) Invest in quality time, when you are totally available to individual infants and toddlers. Don't settle for supervising groups, without focussing (more than just briefly) on individual children.
3) Learn each child's unique ways of communicating (cries, words, movements, gestures, facial expressions, body positions, words) and teach them yours. Don't underestimate children's ability to communicate even though their verbal language skills may be nonexistent or minimal.
4) Invest in time and energy to build a total person (concentrating on the "whole child"). Don't focus on cognitive development alone or look at it as separate from total development.
5) Respect infants and toddlers as worthy people. Don't treat them as objects or cute little empty headed people to be manipulated.
6) Be honest about your feelings around infants and toddlers. DOn't pretend to feel something that you don't or not to feel something that you do.
7) Model the behavior that you want to teach. Don't preach.
8) Recognize problems as learning opportunities, and let infants and toddlers try to solve their own. Don't rescue them, constantly make life easy for them, or try to protect them from all problems.
9) Build security by teaching trust. Don't teach distrust by being undependable or often inconsistent.
10) Be concerned about the quality of development in each stage. Don't rush infants and toddlers to reach developmental milestones.
1) Involve infant and toddlers in things that concern them. Don't work around them or distract them to get the job done faster.
2) Invest in quality time, when you are totally available to individual infants and toddlers. Don't settle for supervising groups, without focussing (more than just briefly) on individual children.
3) Learn each child's unique ways of communicating (cries, words, movements, gestures, facial expressions, body positions, words) and teach them yours. Don't underestimate children's ability to communicate even though their verbal language skills may be nonexistent or minimal.
4) Invest in time and energy to build a total person (concentrating on the "whole child"). Don't focus on cognitive development alone or look at it as separate from total development.
5) Respect infants and toddlers as worthy people. Don't treat them as objects or cute little empty headed people to be manipulated.
6) Be honest about your feelings around infants and toddlers. DOn't pretend to feel something that you don't or not to feel something that you do.
7) Model the behavior that you want to teach. Don't preach.
8) Recognize problems as learning opportunities, and let infants and toddlers try to solve their own. Don't rescue them, constantly make life easy for them, or try to protect them from all problems.
9) Build security by teaching trust. Don't teach distrust by being undependable or often inconsistent.
10) Be concerned about the quality of development in each stage. Don't rush infants and toddlers to reach developmental milestones.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Infant Swimming Resource Self-Rescue
http://youtu.be/fwvv5IyPkXM
I came across this video this morning and thought I'd share it. I'm not sure what my feelings are exactly. I think it's absolutely amazing that an infant is able to be taught to swim (better than I can!) and it's just another example of how our views of infant affect what we think they can do. This surely tells us that infants ARE capable and ARE competent. Being able to teach a young infant that skill is really amazing since it's a skill many people value for their whole lives. I wonder how the training of this resource would be? Would it be sensitive to the child's needs and respectful of their own bodies? Or would it only cater to the adults and would the children be used as objects? It would be so interesting to get a first hand view of how this skill to taught to infants. I think I would come up with better opinions of it after seeing that.
Anyways, super interesting video, it certainly makes you look at infants abilities and ability to learn.
I came across this video this morning and thought I'd share it. I'm not sure what my feelings are exactly. I think it's absolutely amazing that an infant is able to be taught to swim (better than I can!) and it's just another example of how our views of infant affect what we think they can do. This surely tells us that infants ARE capable and ARE competent. Being able to teach a young infant that skill is really amazing since it's a skill many people value for their whole lives. I wonder how the training of this resource would be? Would it be sensitive to the child's needs and respectful of their own bodies? Or would it only cater to the adults and would the children be used as objects? It would be so interesting to get a first hand view of how this skill to taught to infants. I think I would come up with better opinions of it after seeing that.
Anyways, super interesting video, it certainly makes you look at infants abilities and ability to learn.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
First Advocacy Post
I've made this blog to advocate for infants and toddlers. It's basically to raise awareness of the way we treat and care of infants, as well as reminding people that infants and toddlers are not toys or objects, but growing humans who deserve our respect. I'd like to provide different strategies and tips on how to be more respectful when caring for infants as well as facts about development and current information in the field of infant and toddler care. I hope you enjoy my blog and please feel free to comment or ask me questions!
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