This post will look at the scourge of fatherlessness in our society and how that affects our children especially boys. It will also look at how feminism and the push for gender neutrality in our society is absolutely reeking havoc on our social structures and foundations.
What do I mean by Fatherlessness
Of course, fatherlessness means the absence of a father/male role model figure in the lives of children. We have seen an explosion of single mother households in the last half century as well as a nearly 50% divorce rate in this country. These are horrible statistics that have had devastating consequences in our culture. However, the worst part of these statistics is the glorification of new ways of defining family as if the traditional model of the family provides unsavory outcomes. Over the centuries we have had single mother households due to death, divorce, and abandonment but we have only recently decided to celebrate that outcome as if it is to be desired more than the traditional household. As in all things liberal, in trying to remove the stigmatization of single mothers they went WAY too far. The liberals and feminists in our country during the 70s, 80s, and 90s wanted to help single mothers feel better about themselves since our divorce rates were skyrocketing. They wanted to remove the guilt and shame of failing marriages. What they should have done was to try to curb the rapidly rising divorce rates and undergird traditional marriages. However, that would have meant that the sexual revolution of the 60s, 70s, and 80s had negative consequences and feminists would not/could not bring themselves to admit that. I also believe that undergirding many of these progressive movements of the 20th century were people with communist/socialist leanings that had much bigger intentions. They had ulterior motives for our social breakdown. In the beginning most of the population did not see the harm in what they intended because they masked their true intentions behind flowery words and proposals. Now, after nearly a century of their work, we reap the ugly truth of what they meant for us all along - the removal of God from our culture and the breakdown of our family units. Every communist/socialist movement ever has had to truly remove those two foundational pillars of a society in order to force a revolt through uprising. People we are almost there.
Toxic Masculinity and Feminism
Our culture has gone so far beyond the feminism of the 70s, it is almost unbelievable. Most feminists from that time period wanted to empower women not remove men from society. Now, we have what is called toxic masculinity. All the traits that have previously been attributed to manhood now have the label toxic. The feminists of today want domination and maybe even extermination of the traditional male role model. That goes so far beyond trying to make single mothers feel better about themselves. Now they would have you believe men are not even necessary. Not only are they not necessary, all the traits that make a man a man have detrimental effects on society at large. The patriarchal family should be removed from our societal consciousness according to the new feminism. It is hard to even begin to unravel this lie from the pit of hell. The first step to begin the unraveling is to attack the underlying ulterior motive. The progressive movement hates the patriarchal family model because it represents God's model for the family and one of their longterm goals is the removal of God from society. God's model must be destroyed at all costs. Therefore, the traditional male role has to be undermined. What better way to undermine it than label it as toxic. However, that is not where it started and to completely fix the problem we must understand the roots. The progression of our evolution along this path as a society goes as follows - women need empowerment, women can do everything a man can do, woman do not really need men, men are basically toxic. This progression took decades to accomplish but the end goal of emasculating men has been underlying this movement from the very beginning. To destroy God's model for the family, men must be either emasculated to the point they are no longer men or removed from the picture altogether. People please do not be blind anymore. The goal of political correctness is to remove God from our culture and to destroy the traditional family. The collateral damage of such a movement can already be felt in this culture - an explosion of depression, despondency, drug addiction, violence, hate, chaos. The only cure for what ails our culture is a relationship with our Creator.
Gender Neutrality
One thing that must be understood about political correctness is that what counts as politically correct now will not be good enough next year. Once one boundary has been eliminated, the progressives will set their sights on the next boundary. No current issue describes that process better than the gender neutrality issue. Five years ago, you would have been laughed out of existence if you had said that the progressives would move on to destroying gender when at the time they were pushing homosexual rights. They swore up and down that once they had marriage equality, they would be satisfied. How dumb can we be? Now we are told that gender is fluid and a matter of how one feels. This is ridiculous. People, biology tells us that we have two genders - male and female. In order for there to be other "genders" requires chemicals and surgeries to undo natural biology. No sane person can think that there will not be devastating consequences to trying to destroy gender. Why are the progressives trying to destroy gender norms? It all goes back to trying to remove God from our culture every single time. God told us to be fruitful and multiply. We cannot multiply unless we have normal males and females to do so. The birthrates of first world countries has been declining for decades. This new push will only compound that exponentially. I will tell you that if you think gender neutrality will be where all this craziness stops then you are delusional. Their next target will probably be pedophiles. I already hear the rumblings of that in certain progressive circles. Do not tell yourself that they would never go there. Five years ago, we as a society could not imagine that gender would be fluid.
We need our men
People, we need our men to be men not some sissified version of a man. God intended men to be the provider/protector of the family. God hardwired a man's brain to function differently to fulfill those purposes. God hardwired women to be the nurturers. When we fight against God's design, we bring depression and despair on ourselves and our society. The big discussion in our society now is why have some of our boys and men turned violent and homicidal. Could it be the byproduct of labeling them toxic? Could it be that we have tried to remove positive male role models from their lives and then expect them to turn out okay? Can you honestly look at how the present generation is doing and say with a straight face that our experiment with fluid gender and redefinition of family is working out? As a woman that has been both a stay-at-home mom and a working woman, I will tell you that being a "traditional" woman can be one of the most freeing experiences you will ever have. When all I had to worry about was taking care of my home, life became so pure and simple. It was hard work, mind you, but it lacked the stress of trying to run a business. When I came under the leadership of my husband and let him be provider/protector, it freed me to be fully mother and wife. Our society not only vilifies men but also stay-at-home mothers and wives like that role has no worth at all. They could not be more wrong about a subject if they tried. Traditional men and women roles provide the glue that holds society together. Either we quit fighting that or accept that our society will continue to unravel as we continue to fight God's plans and purposes for our lives.
Conclusion
Now let us take this into the early childhood realm. My first question to you is: How do you treat the men/fathers in your realm of influence? Do you treat them as imbeciles that have no idea how to do anything right? Do you treat them as lumps of clay that are not really necessary? Guess what, the boys in your sphere of influence are watching how you treat the men in your sphere of influence. It is beyond important that you treat the fathers of the children you serve with as much respect as the mothers ESPECIALLY if there is a divorce situation. That man needs to know that he is just as important in the life of that child as the mother. My second question to you is: Do you respect the wishes of the father when those wishes contradict your "training"? You must remember the children in your care are not your children. They do not belong to the state. They belong to the parents. You do not have the right to override those parents just because some leftwing progressive trainer has told you all about "best practices." My last question to you is: Are you promoting the progressive ideals of toxic masculinity and gender neutrality in your setting? Sometimes we promote things in minor ways not realizing that our little bit in that direction gets multiplied when mixed with all the other influences of our culture. We do not want to rock the boat and come under the wrath of the progressive left. However, remember you will not answer for what the progressive left has done. You will answer for what you have done. Personally, I want no part of continuing our culture down this horrible path we find ourselves. Someone has to have the backbone to stand up to these bullies and say enough is enough!!
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Cognitive Development for 4 to 5 year olds - Science (Part 3)
This post will finish the posts on development for 4 to 5 years olds finishing the discussion of the component - Physical Science. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
We will start with the learning expectation: Recognizes that objects have observable properties that can change over time and under different conditions. The performance indicator for this one is: Develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawing, maps, and charts. Wow! Unless a child is in a very high quality program that includes this type of instruction on a weekly basis, there is no way a 4 to 5 year old will meet this performance indicator. This involves yet another way that lack of outside play, unsupervised outside play, has hurt this upcoming generation. They barely notice anything that is not specifically pointed out to them. They basically do not have enough unhindered alone time with nature to notice the change of plants, rocks, sticks, etc. over time. This must be demonstrated to them in a classroom setting and/or allow them to just play outside without adults hovering over their every activity. We have helicoptered an entire generation completely out of their natural curiosity. It is sad!
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes that the sun gives us light. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations, and generalizations based on past experiences. For this one the performance indicator does not really match the learning expectation. Most 4 to 5 year old children recognize that the sun gives us light. However, discussing, explaining, and generalizing might be a stretch for a great deal of them. This generation does not notice a great deal of what goes on around them. Some four year olds do not have the language skills to discuss, explain, or generalize. Children must be given the opportunity to develop these skills with an adult that actually engages and listens to them. That would require the adults in their life to put down their phones. I pray that you the teacher or caregiver will engage these children and help to look up from their phones and tablets and notice the world around them.
The last learning expectation is: Recognizes that sound is produced when two objects collide. The performance indicator is: Uses senses to observe and explore classroom materials and natural phenomena. Again, I believe this performance indicator does not really match the learning expectation. Most children of 4 and 5 do understand that sound is produced when two objects collide. Most of them have that much life experience even if they are constantly distracted by screens. However, observing and exploring do not really happen organically anymore. They can be prompted into observing and exploring, but most of the time the cattle prod is needed. I pray our culture soon realizes the damage all these technological devices have done to our children. Preschool children do not need screen time people or very little of it. Send those children to play and put up with their hissy fits until they understand you mean business.
I hope you have enjoyed this series on childhood development. This finishes the posts on 4 to 5 year olds. We will now switch gears to 2 to 2 and 1/2 year olds.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
We will start with the learning expectation: Recognizes that objects have observable properties that can change over time and under different conditions. The performance indicator for this one is: Develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawing, maps, and charts. Wow! Unless a child is in a very high quality program that includes this type of instruction on a weekly basis, there is no way a 4 to 5 year old will meet this performance indicator. This involves yet another way that lack of outside play, unsupervised outside play, has hurt this upcoming generation. They barely notice anything that is not specifically pointed out to them. They basically do not have enough unhindered alone time with nature to notice the change of plants, rocks, sticks, etc. over time. This must be demonstrated to them in a classroom setting and/or allow them to just play outside without adults hovering over their every activity. We have helicoptered an entire generation completely out of their natural curiosity. It is sad!
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes that the sun gives us light. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations, and generalizations based on past experiences. For this one the performance indicator does not really match the learning expectation. Most 4 to 5 year old children recognize that the sun gives us light. However, discussing, explaining, and generalizing might be a stretch for a great deal of them. This generation does not notice a great deal of what goes on around them. Some four year olds do not have the language skills to discuss, explain, or generalize. Children must be given the opportunity to develop these skills with an adult that actually engages and listens to them. That would require the adults in their life to put down their phones. I pray that you the teacher or caregiver will engage these children and help to look up from their phones and tablets and notice the world around them.
The last learning expectation is: Recognizes that sound is produced when two objects collide. The performance indicator is: Uses senses to observe and explore classroom materials and natural phenomena. Again, I believe this performance indicator does not really match the learning expectation. Most children of 4 and 5 do understand that sound is produced when two objects collide. Most of them have that much life experience even if they are constantly distracted by screens. However, observing and exploring do not really happen organically anymore. They can be prompted into observing and exploring, but most of the time the cattle prod is needed. I pray our culture soon realizes the damage all these technological devices have done to our children. Preschool children do not need screen time people or very little of it. Send those children to play and put up with their hissy fits until they understand you mean business.
I hope you have enjoyed this series on childhood development. This finishes the posts on 4 to 5 year olds. We will now switch gears to 2 to 2 and 1/2 year olds.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
The Dangers of Compartmentalization
This post will speak specifically to Christian educators and early childhood professionals. It will look at the dangers of compartmentalization for them personally, society as a whole, and the children they serve.
What Is Compartmentalization?
As I said in the opening, this post is for Christian educators and early childhood professionals. Therefore, the definition for compartmentalization I will use for this post is the act of completely dividing their personal faith and belief system from their professional actions and belief system. It is putting your personal faith in a box and not allowing that faith to dictate your actions in your professional life. Most people that do this work in fields that are heavily dominated by liberal, progressive policies and procedures. This very much includes most if not all of the educational field and early childhood professionals unless those educators work in private, Christian settings. However, even early childhood professionals that work in Christian settings will still find themselves dealing with this scenario because of standards and best practices. Unless you are in complete denial about the course standards and best practices are taking in this country, you know that the underlying philosophical base for nearly all education in this country is not only liberal but very liberal. It gets worse with every passing year. The college instruction that you received taught you to compartmentalize your faith whether you realize that or not. Most of the time this happens under the guise of separation of church and state and making you believe that working in the public sector means that you must put your faith in a box. That is not only not true, but as I will point out in the following sections dangerous. The first amendment does not exclude religion from the public sector. It protects the religious from state dominance. We have been fed a lie for years and years. I pray that this new administration will actually do much to undo what previous administrations did or allowed to force people of faith to compartmentalize.
The Personal Dangers
Most of the Christian people I know that work in the educational field or early childhood field are either completely miserable or in complete denial. There really does not exist a middle ground. Both of these states of being come with their own dangers. Working in a field that makes you completely miserable takes a heavy toll on any person emotionally, physically, but most importantly spiritually. The emotional and physical toll is easy to decipher but the spiritual toll may be a little harder to discern. Most of the time the motivation that keeps people in jobs that they despise is fear - fear of loss of income or loss of prestige. However, as Christian people our Father is our Provider. If He calls you out of a job, He will provide. It may not be at the level you think you need, but it will always be at the level you really need. For example, many woman would love to be stay-at-home moms but they fear the loss of income and/or the damage they feel it will have on their career. However, having been a stay-at-home mom I understand that there are many things I could live without if I got the opportunity to raise my own babies. There was no contest. Material wealth does not necessarily bring happiness and many times brings despair instead. Remember that. On the other side of the coin are those that live in denial. For those, I want to pose this question. Do you really believe that your excuse for teaching children some of the things you are forced to teach children will stand up when you are face to face with God Almighty? His word is very explicit on how He feels about putting stumbling blocks in front of children. Do you really believe He will accept your excuses for teaching children that He did not create this world not to mention that He created them male and female? Get your head out of the sand and open your eyes. Our Father does not approve of quite a few of the things that pass for education these days. You will answer for all of it when you stand before Him.
The Societal Dangers
Most Christian educators really believe that it is important for them to be in their position because if all the Christian people left the public schools and/or licensed childcares then the world would take completely over. My question to them is this. If you are forced to compartmentalize your faith, how are you different from the non-believing teachers and educators? You basically teach the same material and you do not dare contradict that material for fear of your job. Many Christian teachers like to say they are salt and light in the public school system. However, to be salt and light, you have to be salty and let your light shine. If you put your light under a basket (compartmentalization), you are basically having no effect. We also know what our Father says about salt that has lost its saltiness. We do not affect our culture for the good when we hide our light and lose our saltiness and our culture desperately needs salt and light. The first century Christians never, ever compartmentalized their faith and many of them lost their lives. We are so timid and fearful that we will not even risk a job for the sake of the gospel. Again, I ask you. Do you really believe all these excuses will fly when you stand before your Creator? My fellow Christians, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let us get our priorities straight and fear the right Person. It does not take a rocket scientist to see the decay and decline of our educational system. The progressive left does not even pretend to hide their motives anymore. This war is for the hearts of our children and we are losing miserably. How many of our children have to be indoctrinated through our public school systems and turn their backs on our Lord before we wake up and realize we have been foolish and swallowed lie after lie? Get your salt back and let your light shine and let the chips fall where they may. God will provide.
The Dangers for the Children
I have already touched on some of the many dangers to children. When we teach children outright falsehoods and lies, we are putting stumbling blocks in front of them. The forces of darkness always attack the children of a society. This is a war for the hearts and minds of our children. Are you teaching them to love their Creator or are you teaching them to compartmentalize their faith? Are you teaching them that religion is just something you do in your spare time to make you feel good or are you teaching them about the life-changing relationship they can have with the Creator of this universe? Even if you are not outright teaching them to compartmentalize, you do teach them to do it by example if you are doing it yourself. Oftentimes, our example teaches so much more than our words. What are you really teaching the children in your sphere of influence? We need to get real about the true answer to that question.
Conclusion
At this point many of you may be asking what is the solution to this dilemma. If many Christian people do not compartmentalize their faith, they stand a great risk of being fired or blacklisted in their field. I know because I have been blacklisted in many circles. I ignored the memo on compartmentalization because I was wise enough to know the danger and damage that compartmentalization can cause. I wanted you to know those dangers and damages. For some of you not compartmentalizing will mean losing your job. Are you willing to do that for your Lord? For some of you not compartmentalizing will mean a loss of prestige in your field. Are you willing to do that for your Lord? Do not tell yourself that God does not call you to take such stands. The Bible is chalked full of examples of people that took such stands. We are called to take up our cross and follow Him. I ask you to quit lying to yourself and telling yourself it will be okay because it will not be okay. Our country will grow worse and worse without your salt and your light. Also, remember that God often brings very unexpected visions and calls out of situations we think are complete disasters. Sometimes we are so intent on hanging onto what we think we should be doing that we never discover what God truly intends for us to do. Quit putting God in a box and let Him show you how marvelous your life can truly be.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
What Is Compartmentalization?
As I said in the opening, this post is for Christian educators and early childhood professionals. Therefore, the definition for compartmentalization I will use for this post is the act of completely dividing their personal faith and belief system from their professional actions and belief system. It is putting your personal faith in a box and not allowing that faith to dictate your actions in your professional life. Most people that do this work in fields that are heavily dominated by liberal, progressive policies and procedures. This very much includes most if not all of the educational field and early childhood professionals unless those educators work in private, Christian settings. However, even early childhood professionals that work in Christian settings will still find themselves dealing with this scenario because of standards and best practices. Unless you are in complete denial about the course standards and best practices are taking in this country, you know that the underlying philosophical base for nearly all education in this country is not only liberal but very liberal. It gets worse with every passing year. The college instruction that you received taught you to compartmentalize your faith whether you realize that or not. Most of the time this happens under the guise of separation of church and state and making you believe that working in the public sector means that you must put your faith in a box. That is not only not true, but as I will point out in the following sections dangerous. The first amendment does not exclude religion from the public sector. It protects the religious from state dominance. We have been fed a lie for years and years. I pray that this new administration will actually do much to undo what previous administrations did or allowed to force people of faith to compartmentalize.
The Personal Dangers
Most of the Christian people I know that work in the educational field or early childhood field are either completely miserable or in complete denial. There really does not exist a middle ground. Both of these states of being come with their own dangers. Working in a field that makes you completely miserable takes a heavy toll on any person emotionally, physically, but most importantly spiritually. The emotional and physical toll is easy to decipher but the spiritual toll may be a little harder to discern. Most of the time the motivation that keeps people in jobs that they despise is fear - fear of loss of income or loss of prestige. However, as Christian people our Father is our Provider. If He calls you out of a job, He will provide. It may not be at the level you think you need, but it will always be at the level you really need. For example, many woman would love to be stay-at-home moms but they fear the loss of income and/or the damage they feel it will have on their career. However, having been a stay-at-home mom I understand that there are many things I could live without if I got the opportunity to raise my own babies. There was no contest. Material wealth does not necessarily bring happiness and many times brings despair instead. Remember that. On the other side of the coin are those that live in denial. For those, I want to pose this question. Do you really believe that your excuse for teaching children some of the things you are forced to teach children will stand up when you are face to face with God Almighty? His word is very explicit on how He feels about putting stumbling blocks in front of children. Do you really believe He will accept your excuses for teaching children that He did not create this world not to mention that He created them male and female? Get your head out of the sand and open your eyes. Our Father does not approve of quite a few of the things that pass for education these days. You will answer for all of it when you stand before Him.
The Societal Dangers
Most Christian educators really believe that it is important for them to be in their position because if all the Christian people left the public schools and/or licensed childcares then the world would take completely over. My question to them is this. If you are forced to compartmentalize your faith, how are you different from the non-believing teachers and educators? You basically teach the same material and you do not dare contradict that material for fear of your job. Many Christian teachers like to say they are salt and light in the public school system. However, to be salt and light, you have to be salty and let your light shine. If you put your light under a basket (compartmentalization), you are basically having no effect. We also know what our Father says about salt that has lost its saltiness. We do not affect our culture for the good when we hide our light and lose our saltiness and our culture desperately needs salt and light. The first century Christians never, ever compartmentalized their faith and many of them lost their lives. We are so timid and fearful that we will not even risk a job for the sake of the gospel. Again, I ask you. Do you really believe all these excuses will fly when you stand before your Creator? My fellow Christians, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let us get our priorities straight and fear the right Person. It does not take a rocket scientist to see the decay and decline of our educational system. The progressive left does not even pretend to hide their motives anymore. This war is for the hearts of our children and we are losing miserably. How many of our children have to be indoctrinated through our public school systems and turn their backs on our Lord before we wake up and realize we have been foolish and swallowed lie after lie? Get your salt back and let your light shine and let the chips fall where they may. God will provide.
The Dangers for the Children
I have already touched on some of the many dangers to children. When we teach children outright falsehoods and lies, we are putting stumbling blocks in front of them. The forces of darkness always attack the children of a society. This is a war for the hearts and minds of our children. Are you teaching them to love their Creator or are you teaching them to compartmentalize their faith? Are you teaching them that religion is just something you do in your spare time to make you feel good or are you teaching them about the life-changing relationship they can have with the Creator of this universe? Even if you are not outright teaching them to compartmentalize, you do teach them to do it by example if you are doing it yourself. Oftentimes, our example teaches so much more than our words. What are you really teaching the children in your sphere of influence? We need to get real about the true answer to that question.
Conclusion
At this point many of you may be asking what is the solution to this dilemma. If many Christian people do not compartmentalize their faith, they stand a great risk of being fired or blacklisted in their field. I know because I have been blacklisted in many circles. I ignored the memo on compartmentalization because I was wise enough to know the danger and damage that compartmentalization can cause. I wanted you to know those dangers and damages. For some of you not compartmentalizing will mean losing your job. Are you willing to do that for your Lord? For some of you not compartmentalizing will mean a loss of prestige in your field. Are you willing to do that for your Lord? Do not tell yourself that God does not call you to take such stands. The Bible is chalked full of examples of people that took such stands. We are called to take up our cross and follow Him. I ask you to quit lying to yourself and telling yourself it will be okay because it will not be okay. Our country will grow worse and worse without your salt and your light. Also, remember that God often brings very unexpected visions and calls out of situations we think are complete disasters. Sometimes we are so intent on hanging onto what we think we should be doing that we never discover what God truly intends for us to do. Quit putting God in a box and let Him show you how marvelous your life can truly be.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Cognitive Development for 4 to 5 year olds - Science (Part 2)
This post will continue the discussion of the area of learning - Science. We will start with the component - Earth and Space Science and then move on to the component - Physical Science. Remember I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Development Standards (TN-ELDS).
The first three learning expectations - Recognizes the concept of day and night; Recognizes daily weather conditions; and Recognizes that time and temperature can be measured with a clock and thermometer - all have the same performance indicator: Continues to asks questions about the natural world and seeks answers through active exploration. This performance indicator makes an assumption that does not really match reality. That assumption is that all children ask questions. In today's society, that does not happen nearly as often as it should. Many children have their nose buried in screens and have no concept of the world that they live in. Therefore, the greatest gift you can give children is to take away those screens and push them out the door. Children that play outdoors have a great understanding of day and night and weather conditions because it has become part of their experience. The next gift that adults can give children involves conversations. When adults talk to children about time and clocks and temperature and thermometers, those children have a foundational knowledge of those concepts. When adults' noses are buried in screens, their children never get this experience. Bottom line - LIMIT screen time for both of you.
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes a variety of earth materials by their observable properties (rocks, sand, dirt). The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials and observe processes and relationships. The only way today's four year olds conquer this one is if some adult models these behaviors. If they are in a program or home where they get to experiment with simple tools and measuring devices, this will happen. If they are not, this will not happen. Science instruction for today's children suffers horribly because they are not allowed much if any free time outside. Children used to create simple tools and such when they were pushed out the door and made to entertain themselves. Now we have killed that with trying to keep them constantly entertained. There is much to be said about the value of a bored child.
The last learning expectation for Earth and Space Science is: Classifies materials by their elements. The performance indicator for this one is: Develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences. Wow, this one does not even come up on a lot of children's radars. Again, this is due to a lack of free time outside. Free outside play does more to encourage science development in children than any other activity. To compensate for that lack takes hours of direct instruction. Maybe one day we as a society will understand that in our pursuit of the perfect childhood we have destroyed childhood. Let those children be bored and have to entertain themselves out in the great outdoors for hours. Centuries of children survived it and thrived because of it.
Now we will move on to the component - Physical Science. The first learning expectation is: Recognizes the basic concept that forces can move objects. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions and form generalizations. Oh wow! People, you do realize that science instruction in our country has gone to pot not only in the early childhood years but also in the early elementary years. A lot of this has to do with the lack of outdoor play. However, another factor also comes into play. Many of the early childhood and early elementary teachers are dealing with so many immature and emotionally underdeveloped children that a great deal of their time is spent on dealing with behavioral problems instead of instruction. I go into classrooms all the time and what I see distresses me sometimes. They try. They just run out of time trying to cover the basics. This is especially true in the inner city schools. However, the rural schools actually have a leg up on this one. Want to know why? Those kids play outside and/or do chores outside. Both playing outside and doing chores go a long way to correct A LOT of the behavior problems in children. Therefore, those rural schools have more time for instruction. Those children also have more foundation for the teachers to build upon.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
The first three learning expectations - Recognizes the concept of day and night; Recognizes daily weather conditions; and Recognizes that time and temperature can be measured with a clock and thermometer - all have the same performance indicator: Continues to asks questions about the natural world and seeks answers through active exploration. This performance indicator makes an assumption that does not really match reality. That assumption is that all children ask questions. In today's society, that does not happen nearly as often as it should. Many children have their nose buried in screens and have no concept of the world that they live in. Therefore, the greatest gift you can give children is to take away those screens and push them out the door. Children that play outdoors have a great understanding of day and night and weather conditions because it has become part of their experience. The next gift that adults can give children involves conversations. When adults talk to children about time and clocks and temperature and thermometers, those children have a foundational knowledge of those concepts. When adults' noses are buried in screens, their children never get this experience. Bottom line - LIMIT screen time for both of you.
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes a variety of earth materials by their observable properties (rocks, sand, dirt). The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials and observe processes and relationships. The only way today's four year olds conquer this one is if some adult models these behaviors. If they are in a program or home where they get to experiment with simple tools and measuring devices, this will happen. If they are not, this will not happen. Science instruction for today's children suffers horribly because they are not allowed much if any free time outside. Children used to create simple tools and such when they were pushed out the door and made to entertain themselves. Now we have killed that with trying to keep them constantly entertained. There is much to be said about the value of a bored child.
The last learning expectation for Earth and Space Science is: Classifies materials by their elements. The performance indicator for this one is: Develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences. Wow, this one does not even come up on a lot of children's radars. Again, this is due to a lack of free time outside. Free outside play does more to encourage science development in children than any other activity. To compensate for that lack takes hours of direct instruction. Maybe one day we as a society will understand that in our pursuit of the perfect childhood we have destroyed childhood. Let those children be bored and have to entertain themselves out in the great outdoors for hours. Centuries of children survived it and thrived because of it.
Now we will move on to the component - Physical Science. The first learning expectation is: Recognizes the basic concept that forces can move objects. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions and form generalizations. Oh wow! People, you do realize that science instruction in our country has gone to pot not only in the early childhood years but also in the early elementary years. A lot of this has to do with the lack of outdoor play. However, another factor also comes into play. Many of the early childhood and early elementary teachers are dealing with so many immature and emotionally underdeveloped children that a great deal of their time is spent on dealing with behavioral problems instead of instruction. I go into classrooms all the time and what I see distresses me sometimes. They try. They just run out of time trying to cover the basics. This is especially true in the inner city schools. However, the rural schools actually have a leg up on this one. Want to know why? Those kids play outside and/or do chores outside. Both playing outside and doing chores go a long way to correct A LOT of the behavior problems in children. Therefore, those rural schools have more time for instruction. Those children also have more foundation for the teachers to build upon.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Saturday, November 18, 2017
The Early Childhood Community and Parental Rights
This post will look at how the early childhood community truly views parental rights. It will focus in on how "best practices" tries to trump parental rights through the propaganda technic called the bandwagon effect.
A Former Homeschooler's View of Parental Rights
Nothing is more sacred to a homeschooler than parental rights. In our view, the parent has the right to decide every aspect of a minor child's life. The only time a parent's rights can be nullified is when a child's life is in imminent danger not perceived danger but actual danger. Most of the time homeschooling parents fight current trends in parenting because they have a philosophical dispute with current culture and norms. Therefore, a lot of them know what it means firsthand to be on the receiving end of well-meaning social meddlers. Of course, they also have encountered their share of not-so-well-meaning social meddlers. What do I mean by social meddlers? Those are the people armed with the current "best practices" of parenting (the same parenting ideas that those homeschooling parents have purposefully discarded) that try to persuade and sometimes outright force these homeschool parents to conform. We live the double standard. Parental rights are fine as long as you conform. When you cease to conform, there is a problem.
The Early Childhood Community's View of Parental Rights
Having entered the early childhood community from the homeschooling community, I viewed the classes I took on parental involvement from the perspective of a conservative parent. I went home from those classes in tears begging God to explain to me why He had led me to such a liberal field. Most of these classes involved teaching us how to make parents view parenthood from a liberal point of view. Most of the instructors made it abundantly clear that some of the views I held should be considered child abuse. Like all things liberal, everything is fine as long as you agree with the liberals. If you dare to hold a different opinion, they will throw "best practices" in your face in the best case scenario or try to have you arrested for child abuse in the worst case scenario. Agreeing to disagree has long ceased to be an option. Now I know conservative parents also tend to be stay-at-home parents for just these reasons (these were exactly my reasons) but sometimes life does not allow you to stay at home. What are conservative parents supposed to do? Most poor conservative parents either stick their head in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong or compartmentalize their beliefs and accept the liberal parenting agenda. Those that cannot, stay at home even if it means greatly diminishing their family's financial well-being. The lucky ones have family to watch their children. Either way, the early childhood field has made it abundantly clear that conservative views will not really be tolerated.
Best Practices and the Bandwagon Effect
First of all, let me define the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is a propaganda technic where a statement is made over and over and over without real verification until it is commonly accepted as truth. It also helps this technic to throw in terminology that gives it the appearance of credibility. Using the term "best practices" is probably the most overused example of the bandwagon propaganda technic in the social science world. In case no one has told you, all social sciences are relative to the underlying culture and worldview. A social science theory cannot be divorced from its underlying philosophical foundation because that foundation determines priorities and outcomes. Therefore, when early childhood theorists state that a certain practice is "best practice," it is necessary to make them state for which philosophical worldview that applies. It is impossible to have "best practice" across worldviews. This propaganda technic remains the favorite weapon of the progressive liberal movement to force their worldview on all other worldviews. This is especially true when it comes to parenting techniques. If you dare to disagree with the "established" view of the progressive left, they will throw "best practices" in your face every single time. If that does not work, they will move on to labeling you a child abuser. Dissent is not allowed.
Child Rights vs Parental Rights: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
As a homeschooling mom of the 1990s and 2000s I was part of the fight against ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This UN resolution would have completely stripped American parents of their rights over their children. We fought this thing tooth and nail. It lay dormant for many years but has reared its ugly head in the last year or so. I recently read an article criticizing the United States for being the only civilized country in the world not to have ratified this particular treaty. To this I say "Thank the Lord." Number one, most countries that have signed this treaty only did it symbolically. It has no teeth where they live and they do not mean to actually enforce it. Number two, because of the structure of our legal system, this would be considered a treaty and would become the law of the land overriding our existing law. Most countries do not have this type of structure for treaties. Number three, does anyone remember the case of the baby that needed a certain type of treatment and the parents had to get permission from the English government? Part of this dilemma had to do with the fact that England has signed the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child. The state had more say over their child than the parents did. That was completely ludicrous. All the early childhood organizations for which I have knowledge push the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. That tells me everything I need to know about how the early childhood field truly feels about parental rights.
Conclusion
Even though many early childhood professionals will tell you that they believe in parental rights, I hope this article has shown that only applies if the parents are liberal. Conservative parents are not afforded the same courtesy.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
A Former Homeschooler's View of Parental Rights
Nothing is more sacred to a homeschooler than parental rights. In our view, the parent has the right to decide every aspect of a minor child's life. The only time a parent's rights can be nullified is when a child's life is in imminent danger not perceived danger but actual danger. Most of the time homeschooling parents fight current trends in parenting because they have a philosophical dispute with current culture and norms. Therefore, a lot of them know what it means firsthand to be on the receiving end of well-meaning social meddlers. Of course, they also have encountered their share of not-so-well-meaning social meddlers. What do I mean by social meddlers? Those are the people armed with the current "best practices" of parenting (the same parenting ideas that those homeschooling parents have purposefully discarded) that try to persuade and sometimes outright force these homeschool parents to conform. We live the double standard. Parental rights are fine as long as you conform. When you cease to conform, there is a problem.
The Early Childhood Community's View of Parental Rights
Having entered the early childhood community from the homeschooling community, I viewed the classes I took on parental involvement from the perspective of a conservative parent. I went home from those classes in tears begging God to explain to me why He had led me to such a liberal field. Most of these classes involved teaching us how to make parents view parenthood from a liberal point of view. Most of the instructors made it abundantly clear that some of the views I held should be considered child abuse. Like all things liberal, everything is fine as long as you agree with the liberals. If you dare to hold a different opinion, they will throw "best practices" in your face in the best case scenario or try to have you arrested for child abuse in the worst case scenario. Agreeing to disagree has long ceased to be an option. Now I know conservative parents also tend to be stay-at-home parents for just these reasons (these were exactly my reasons) but sometimes life does not allow you to stay at home. What are conservative parents supposed to do? Most poor conservative parents either stick their head in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong or compartmentalize their beliefs and accept the liberal parenting agenda. Those that cannot, stay at home even if it means greatly diminishing their family's financial well-being. The lucky ones have family to watch their children. Either way, the early childhood field has made it abundantly clear that conservative views will not really be tolerated.
Best Practices and the Bandwagon Effect
First of all, let me define the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is a propaganda technic where a statement is made over and over and over without real verification until it is commonly accepted as truth. It also helps this technic to throw in terminology that gives it the appearance of credibility. Using the term "best practices" is probably the most overused example of the bandwagon propaganda technic in the social science world. In case no one has told you, all social sciences are relative to the underlying culture and worldview. A social science theory cannot be divorced from its underlying philosophical foundation because that foundation determines priorities and outcomes. Therefore, when early childhood theorists state that a certain practice is "best practice," it is necessary to make them state for which philosophical worldview that applies. It is impossible to have "best practice" across worldviews. This propaganda technic remains the favorite weapon of the progressive liberal movement to force their worldview on all other worldviews. This is especially true when it comes to parenting techniques. If you dare to disagree with the "established" view of the progressive left, they will throw "best practices" in your face every single time. If that does not work, they will move on to labeling you a child abuser. Dissent is not allowed.
Child Rights vs Parental Rights: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
As a homeschooling mom of the 1990s and 2000s I was part of the fight against ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This UN resolution would have completely stripped American parents of their rights over their children. We fought this thing tooth and nail. It lay dormant for many years but has reared its ugly head in the last year or so. I recently read an article criticizing the United States for being the only civilized country in the world not to have ratified this particular treaty. To this I say "Thank the Lord." Number one, most countries that have signed this treaty only did it symbolically. It has no teeth where they live and they do not mean to actually enforce it. Number two, because of the structure of our legal system, this would be considered a treaty and would become the law of the land overriding our existing law. Most countries do not have this type of structure for treaties. Number three, does anyone remember the case of the baby that needed a certain type of treatment and the parents had to get permission from the English government? Part of this dilemma had to do with the fact that England has signed the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child. The state had more say over their child than the parents did. That was completely ludicrous. All the early childhood organizations for which I have knowledge push the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. That tells me everything I need to know about how the early childhood field truly feels about parental rights.
Conclusion
Even though many early childhood professionals will tell you that they believe in parental rights, I hope this article has shown that only applies if the parents are liberal. Conservative parents are not afforded the same courtesy.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Friday, October 20, 2017
Cognitive Development for 4 to 5 year olds - Math (Part 3) and Science (Part 1)
This post will continue the discussion for the component - Spatial Sense and Geometry and move on to the component - Problem Solving and Analyzing Data. We will then move on the area of learning - Science and cover the component - Life Science. Remember that I am taking my information from the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS).
We will start with the learning expectation - Explores and recognizes the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of real objects. The performance indicator for this one is - Identifies and labels several shapes (e.g., circle, square, triangle, rectangle). Most children in this age range will conquer this one before their fifth birthday with minimal instruction. Some children will still confuse squares and rectangles on occasion, but that is normal. However, if you expect the children to learn this through only exploration, you will be sadly disappointed. Learning the names of objects requires at least a little direct teacher or adult instruction. That should be obvious.
Now we will move on to the component - Problem Solving and Analyzing Data. The learning expectation for this one is: Begins to develop foundation for linking concepts and procedures with active experiences. The performance indicator is: Demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity. Ten years ago children may have conquered this one much easier than they do today. Today's children have WAY too much done for them, and it is destroying their ability to problem solve and compute on even a basic level. We as a society believe that parents should take care of everything for their children and we are ruining them. I have noticed in the schools where I read my books that children in rural areas tend to have more problem solving and natural math ability than children in urban areas. What is the difference? Children in rural areas are not waited on hand and foot for the most part. Children in urban areas are either protected every single moment of their lives or institutionalized every single moment of their life depending on their income level. This has nearly completely destroyed children's self-sufficiency which is vital to the attainment of this performance indicator. In order to counter this phenomenon, direct instruction in quantifying and problem solving has become necessary. Whereas, children in times past picked this up from everyday experiences, you cannot count on that in today's world.
We are now ready for the area of learning - Science. The first component is - Life Science - with the first learning expectation: Recognizes that living things are made up of parts. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to make comparisons among living things such as flowers, insects and animals. With the decline of outdoor play, children do not get proper science exposure especially life science exposure without deliberate lesson planning. If four year olds are exposed to real flowers, insects, and animals, they will start to notice differences between the various types of each. If they are not exposed to real flowers, insects, and animals, they might pick it up from books. However, that is not a given. If the children are not even exposed to these concepts in books, they will not come close to conquering this performance indicator.
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes that people use their 5 senses to explore their environment. The performance indicator for this one is: Expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things and natural processes. One word in that performance indicator knocks out nearly half of four year olds, and that word is observe. Natural curiosity among children has taken a huge hit in the last decade, and it only grows worse with every passing year. Too many children have developed the habits of their adult counterparts and stick their noses in a phone or other electronic device a large portion of their time. A child cannot observe the world with their nose in an electronic device. Period. Now we look at the rest of that performance indicator. I have talked extensively about the problems with language development in this country. Those language delays affect everything including and maybe especially science. You must have the language capabilities in order to describe and discuss. Many four year olds do not have that capability. The cause is linked to the same problems as the observing but it also involves a lot of other detrimental habits of our culture. In order to help children conquer this performance indicator, you will have to give them opportunities to experience the natural world AND you will have to talk and talk and talk about what the children are experiencing to give them the language foundation to be able to describe and discuss.
The last learning expectation for this component is: Recognizes that living things live in different environments. The performance indicator is: Expands knowledge of and respect for her body and environment. Expanding knowledge requires that knowledge be presented to the child. Unfortunately, very few programs and the early elementary grades in schools have the time and energy to really present good science knowledge to children. I have actually seen some improvement in some of the schools I frequent but early childhood programs too often are overwhelmed with dealing with emotional issues and discipline problems to cover science in a meaningful way. I do not fault them. Our culture at large seems to be going to pieces around us, and it falls on us to try to put the pieces back together, and teach the children everything they need to know to be successful in school. Sometimes there are just not enough hours in a day to accomplish that no matter how hard we try. All we can do is give it the best we have and try to give them as many quality experiences with their world as we can.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
We will start with the learning expectation - Explores and recognizes the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of real objects. The performance indicator for this one is - Identifies and labels several shapes (e.g., circle, square, triangle, rectangle). Most children in this age range will conquer this one before their fifth birthday with minimal instruction. Some children will still confuse squares and rectangles on occasion, but that is normal. However, if you expect the children to learn this through only exploration, you will be sadly disappointed. Learning the names of objects requires at least a little direct teacher or adult instruction. That should be obvious.
Now we will move on to the component - Problem Solving and Analyzing Data. The learning expectation for this one is: Begins to develop foundation for linking concepts and procedures with active experiences. The performance indicator is: Demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity. Ten years ago children may have conquered this one much easier than they do today. Today's children have WAY too much done for them, and it is destroying their ability to problem solve and compute on even a basic level. We as a society believe that parents should take care of everything for their children and we are ruining them. I have noticed in the schools where I read my books that children in rural areas tend to have more problem solving and natural math ability than children in urban areas. What is the difference? Children in rural areas are not waited on hand and foot for the most part. Children in urban areas are either protected every single moment of their lives or institutionalized every single moment of their life depending on their income level. This has nearly completely destroyed children's self-sufficiency which is vital to the attainment of this performance indicator. In order to counter this phenomenon, direct instruction in quantifying and problem solving has become necessary. Whereas, children in times past picked this up from everyday experiences, you cannot count on that in today's world.
We are now ready for the area of learning - Science. The first component is - Life Science - with the first learning expectation: Recognizes that living things are made up of parts. The performance indicator for this one is: Begins to make comparisons among living things such as flowers, insects and animals. With the decline of outdoor play, children do not get proper science exposure especially life science exposure without deliberate lesson planning. If four year olds are exposed to real flowers, insects, and animals, they will start to notice differences between the various types of each. If they are not exposed to real flowers, insects, and animals, they might pick it up from books. However, that is not a given. If the children are not even exposed to these concepts in books, they will not come close to conquering this performance indicator.
The next learning expectation is: Recognizes that people use their 5 senses to explore their environment. The performance indicator for this one is: Expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things and natural processes. One word in that performance indicator knocks out nearly half of four year olds, and that word is observe. Natural curiosity among children has taken a huge hit in the last decade, and it only grows worse with every passing year. Too many children have developed the habits of their adult counterparts and stick their noses in a phone or other electronic device a large portion of their time. A child cannot observe the world with their nose in an electronic device. Period. Now we look at the rest of that performance indicator. I have talked extensively about the problems with language development in this country. Those language delays affect everything including and maybe especially science. You must have the language capabilities in order to describe and discuss. Many four year olds do not have that capability. The cause is linked to the same problems as the observing but it also involves a lot of other detrimental habits of our culture. In order to help children conquer this performance indicator, you will have to give them opportunities to experience the natural world AND you will have to talk and talk and talk about what the children are experiencing to give them the language foundation to be able to describe and discuss.
The last learning expectation for this component is: Recognizes that living things live in different environments. The performance indicator is: Expands knowledge of and respect for her body and environment. Expanding knowledge requires that knowledge be presented to the child. Unfortunately, very few programs and the early elementary grades in schools have the time and energy to really present good science knowledge to children. I have actually seen some improvement in some of the schools I frequent but early childhood programs too often are overwhelmed with dealing with emotional issues and discipline problems to cover science in a meaningful way. I do not fault them. Our culture at large seems to be going to pieces around us, and it falls on us to try to put the pieces back together, and teach the children everything they need to know to be successful in school. Sometimes there are just not enough hours in a day to accomplish that no matter how hard we try. All we can do is give it the best we have and try to give them as many quality experiences with their world as we can.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
Friday, May 26, 2017
The Early Childhood Community and the Individuality of the Child
This post will look at how the early childhood community handles the individuality of children in the real world. It will specifically look at how developmentally appropriate practice influences this reality.
All Children Are Individuals
The previous statement should be a no-brainer. We all know that we are unique individuals with different personalities. However, when it comes to education that fact sometimes falls prey to the latest fad of the educational elite. Even the fad that involves individualizing instruction actually has a one-size-fits-all foundation. In early childhood speak, individualizing instruction usually involves the discovery style of instruction almost exclusively. I have yet to really see individualization of instruction occur outside of the homeschooling movement. I truly believe this is a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Standardization and the creation of an educational establishment have been baked into our national psyche to the point where we cannot reach true individualization. It is like removing an entitlement. Once it becomes an established idea, all future models must start from its foundation. But standardization and our present model of education are part of the problem. We believe we must group children according to age. We believe that group instruction is absolutely necessary for development. We believe socialization and education must be joined at the hip. All of these beliefs stand in the way of true individualization of education. The only group in this nation that defies all of these beliefs is the homeschooling movement. All "schools" that try to deviate from educational norms are demonized including homeschooling parents. We cannot fix this problem until we change the conversation on educational choice.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Now let us take this into the early childhood realm. What educational standards and norms have done for the public school system, developmentally appropriate practice does for the early childhood front. Everything in the early childhood world revolves around developmentally appropriate practice. It is preached at those studying early childhood at all levels. Anyone who dares question developmentally appropriate practice is considered a heretic at best. Some poor souls have suffered considerably for making that egregious error. However, if you look at the foundational principles of developmentally appropriate practice, you might begin to see the same issues with standardization. Those practices were built on norms. That means that they only apply to those children that fit the middle range of the tested population. Those children that fall outside the middle range on both ends do not comply with these standards. I have had my share of heated discussions with assessors over the application of these standards when dealing with autistic and developmentally delayed children. I had the same objections with advanced and gifted children but did not even attempt that war. Children with disabilities do have protected status in our culture to some degree. Unfortunately, advanced and gifted children have nothing. Even then with their protected status as children with disabilities, developmentally appropriate practice is the sacred cow that no one could touch. It does not matter that these standards did not fit the children. Developmentally appropriate practice is the irrefutable foundation that all practices in early childhood MUST be built upon. To even propose anything other than this is heresy. As I said before, this problem is like removing an entitlement.
How Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Hurt Individuality of Instruction?
Because this concept is so ingrained in the psyche of early childhood professionals, I know I will have to really spell this out. Around the age of 2 children begin what I like to refer to as the split in ability. Some 2 year olds can speak in complete sentences and some children barely put two words together. This split increases in intensity as children age. Those children that are at the top of their age group outpace the rest of their age group, and those children that are at the bottom of their age group drag behind consistently. This widens the gap with the passage of time. By the time children are 4 years old the difference in actual ability can span what most consider two or three grade levels of instruction. This huge span of ability makes group instruction very difficult. As I have stated before, developmentally appropriate practice was built on norms. What is considered developmentally appropriate practice for each age group really only applies to the middle of the pack. Those children on the top and bottom end of this huge chasm of ability either are not challenged or cannot possibly keep up. A great deal of issues in group instruction can be attributed to those children that are not challenged or in over their head. They often disrupt because the instruction does not fit their need. Some four year olds are absolutely ready to start reading instruction and some four year olds barely know their body parts and basic colors. Developmentally appropriate practice acts as if these children do not exist.
How to Encourage Individuality of Instruction for Children
The first step is to acknowledge the huge spread of ability. That should seem obvious but our culture has a tendency to ignore the obvious when it does not fit their narrative. Remember developmentally appropriate practice is THE narrative in early childhood circles. Once you admit the obvious, you begin to group children by ability instead of age. Some four year olds should be grouped with 3 year olds with the same ability level. Some two year olds can hang with some 4 year olds easily. However, the best way to insure individuality of instruction involves actually teaching children one-on-one instead of in groups. This is the only method of teaching that allows you to tailor instruction to the strengths and weaknesses of each child. We really should not rely so heavily on group activities in the early years and let children develop group social skills during free play time. We could accomplish so much more with each and every child if the instruction were truly tailored to that child. When we do that, then developmentally appropriate practice becomes irrelevant. I like to use the term individually appropriate practice. What is appropriate for some two year olds would not be appropriate for some three year olds. Each child develops at his/her own pace regardless of how we want them to develop. This mindset frees up those with advanced and gifted children to teach them to read when those children are ready. It also frees up those with developmentally delayed children to let them hit the educational milestones when they are ready. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
Conclusion
As a former homeschooling mom of a gifted child and as a childcare provider that has had quite a number of children on the autism spectrum, I speak with years and years of expertise on this matter. Children are individuals. They need to be taught the way and pace suited for them and not some concocted standards.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
https://linktr.ee/natawade
All Children Are Individuals
The previous statement should be a no-brainer. We all know that we are unique individuals with different personalities. However, when it comes to education that fact sometimes falls prey to the latest fad of the educational elite. Even the fad that involves individualizing instruction actually has a one-size-fits-all foundation. In early childhood speak, individualizing instruction usually involves the discovery style of instruction almost exclusively. I have yet to really see individualization of instruction occur outside of the homeschooling movement. I truly believe this is a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Standardization and the creation of an educational establishment have been baked into our national psyche to the point where we cannot reach true individualization. It is like removing an entitlement. Once it becomes an established idea, all future models must start from its foundation. But standardization and our present model of education are part of the problem. We believe we must group children according to age. We believe that group instruction is absolutely necessary for development. We believe socialization and education must be joined at the hip. All of these beliefs stand in the way of true individualization of education. The only group in this nation that defies all of these beliefs is the homeschooling movement. All "schools" that try to deviate from educational norms are demonized including homeschooling parents. We cannot fix this problem until we change the conversation on educational choice.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Now let us take this into the early childhood realm. What educational standards and norms have done for the public school system, developmentally appropriate practice does for the early childhood front. Everything in the early childhood world revolves around developmentally appropriate practice. It is preached at those studying early childhood at all levels. Anyone who dares question developmentally appropriate practice is considered a heretic at best. Some poor souls have suffered considerably for making that egregious error. However, if you look at the foundational principles of developmentally appropriate practice, you might begin to see the same issues with standardization. Those practices were built on norms. That means that they only apply to those children that fit the middle range of the tested population. Those children that fall outside the middle range on both ends do not comply with these standards. I have had my share of heated discussions with assessors over the application of these standards when dealing with autistic and developmentally delayed children. I had the same objections with advanced and gifted children but did not even attempt that war. Children with disabilities do have protected status in our culture to some degree. Unfortunately, advanced and gifted children have nothing. Even then with their protected status as children with disabilities, developmentally appropriate practice is the sacred cow that no one could touch. It does not matter that these standards did not fit the children. Developmentally appropriate practice is the irrefutable foundation that all practices in early childhood MUST be built upon. To even propose anything other than this is heresy. As I said before, this problem is like removing an entitlement.
How Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Hurt Individuality of Instruction?
Because this concept is so ingrained in the psyche of early childhood professionals, I know I will have to really spell this out. Around the age of 2 children begin what I like to refer to as the split in ability. Some 2 year olds can speak in complete sentences and some children barely put two words together. This split increases in intensity as children age. Those children that are at the top of their age group outpace the rest of their age group, and those children that are at the bottom of their age group drag behind consistently. This widens the gap with the passage of time. By the time children are 4 years old the difference in actual ability can span what most consider two or three grade levels of instruction. This huge span of ability makes group instruction very difficult. As I have stated before, developmentally appropriate practice was built on norms. What is considered developmentally appropriate practice for each age group really only applies to the middle of the pack. Those children on the top and bottom end of this huge chasm of ability either are not challenged or cannot possibly keep up. A great deal of issues in group instruction can be attributed to those children that are not challenged or in over their head. They often disrupt because the instruction does not fit their need. Some four year olds are absolutely ready to start reading instruction and some four year olds barely know their body parts and basic colors. Developmentally appropriate practice acts as if these children do not exist.
How to Encourage Individuality of Instruction for Children
The first step is to acknowledge the huge spread of ability. That should seem obvious but our culture has a tendency to ignore the obvious when it does not fit their narrative. Remember developmentally appropriate practice is THE narrative in early childhood circles. Once you admit the obvious, you begin to group children by ability instead of age. Some four year olds should be grouped with 3 year olds with the same ability level. Some two year olds can hang with some 4 year olds easily. However, the best way to insure individuality of instruction involves actually teaching children one-on-one instead of in groups. This is the only method of teaching that allows you to tailor instruction to the strengths and weaknesses of each child. We really should not rely so heavily on group activities in the early years and let children develop group social skills during free play time. We could accomplish so much more with each and every child if the instruction were truly tailored to that child. When we do that, then developmentally appropriate practice becomes irrelevant. I like to use the term individually appropriate practice. What is appropriate for some two year olds would not be appropriate for some three year olds. Each child develops at his/her own pace regardless of how we want them to develop. This mindset frees up those with advanced and gifted children to teach them to read when those children are ready. It also frees up those with developmentally delayed children to let them hit the educational milestones when they are ready. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
Conclusion
As a former homeschooling mom of a gifted child and as a childcare provider that has had quite a number of children on the autism spectrum, I speak with years and years of expertise on this matter. Children are individuals. They need to be taught the way and pace suited for them and not some concocted standards.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
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