When I Think of Child Development

Mornin’ Joy Childcare Learning Center is a faith-based facility and is founded on Biblical principles. We focus on working well with others and our motto is “Be Nice!” The quotes chosen are Biblical inspirations with implications towards developing into a healthy, wealthy, and wise individual. Here are three foundational quotes in which Mornin’ Joy is built upon:

1) “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

Implication to Caregivers: Notice your child’s strengths and help her develop in it. When the child becomes aware of his strength, he will strive to master it.

2)“Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with teachings, which are able to make you wise…” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

Implication to Children: Act according to what you believe, being taught by someone you trust that you may obtain good results.

3) “All discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:9-11).

Implication to policymakers: Caregivers and recipients need rules and regulations that allow them to experience sufficiency, reach their highest potential, and enhance quality of life.

I was inspired by every post written on my blog. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you. This was one of the best groups I have had the pleasure of participating in. I have learned so much from this class and look forward to incorporating various ideas that will enhance the success of each developing child.

 

 

Testing for Intelligence

There is no single test that can measure all the complexities of the human brain. There are still many unknowns concerning the brain. Scientifically, humans are known to have multiple intelligences. Howard Gardner originally described nine intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic (movement), interpersonal (social understanding), and intrapersonal (self-understanding), naturalistic (understanding nature), and existential (thinking about life and death) (Berger, 2012).

All of the intelligences are valid, however of the nine, I would focus more on measuring interpersonal-a child’s social understanding. It is my belief that knowing how to live well with others supersedes other intelligences, not to say by any means that the others are not important. When an individual is able to interact well with others, in whatever capacity of weakness this person exhibits, someone is willing to work with this individual to help him/her reach their greatest potential in that area. How we treat one another and position ourselves to learn from another is foundational towards developing the whole person. I would want to know the level of a person’s social understanding; it would help me in learning how to be most effective in that particular person’s life.

Australian psychologists using earlier versions of these tests have relied on the American data in the manuals when evaluating a child's level of performance. Yet data from previous research, and from the recently completed standardization of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Third Edition (WPPSI-III), has revealed that on average Australian children score slightly higher than their American peers on this test. This difference is assumed to reflect a higher mean level of parental education, and a similar effect is expected to be observed in the WISC-IV standardization sample (Hannan, 2013).

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Hannan, T. (2013). Assessing children: Hits and myths. Austrialian Psychological Society. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/inpsych/assess_children/