The Kansas Department of Education recently released early childhood guidleines which Kansas voulenteered to comply with to go along with other childhood standards wich are now required. My professor, Bronwyn Fees, was on the committe for drafting them. We got a glimps of a draft last Spring, and now they are officially out. What is odd is that some esctions are still missing.
Check them out at the KSDE website.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Toy recalls
Heard about the massive toy recall by Mattel? I first heard about it on NPR, and then was e-mailed by my major professor, Ann Murray, about it. THe problem, as I see it, is that everything is made in China (I'm not just saying that, all of the toys that were recalled were made in China...and almost all the toys that are recalled in the US form ANY company are made in china. China doesn't have the standards that we have, but the companies that they sell them to in America do have standards. So if they aren't careful about checking the products they are having made for them, then dangerous toys get sold in the US market.
So Mattel is in BIG trouble. They appologized, but, from what I heard Mattel's president on NPR say, he is confident no one will loose faith in them because they are a house hold name. (He didn't sound that appologetic...much more defensive than appologetic).
In the e-mail Ann Murray sent (a forward from ExchangeEveryDay, a listserve for subscribers to Exchange Magazine, a child care magazine) there was a link to a list of considerations before buying a toy. Take a look. On the web page on the top right corner is a PDF version in a much better checklist format. Good for printing out to take with you whne you shop for toys for your classroom or home.
So Mattel is in BIG trouble. They appologized, but, from what I heard Mattel's president on NPR say, he is confident no one will loose faith in them because they are a house hold name. (He didn't sound that appologetic...much more defensive than appologetic).
In the e-mail Ann Murray sent (a forward from ExchangeEveryDay, a listserve for subscribers to Exchange Magazine, a child care magazine) there was a link to a list of considerations before buying a toy. Take a look. On the web page on the top right corner is a PDF version in a much better checklist format. Good for printing out to take with you whne you shop for toys for your classroom or home.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Baby Einstein Hype
So, you may have recently seen something in the news about the new research that came out saying videos like Baby Einstein and such are harmful to children. One of my professors sent me and my colleagues a link to a summary of the article. Then my professor's husband (another professor in Human Ecology, sent us a PDF of that article. (Pardon the lack of APA citation formatting).
Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD; Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH; Andrew N. Meltzoff, PhD. Television and DVD/Video Viewing in Children Younger Than 2 Years.
PEDIATR ADOLESC MED/VOL 161, MAY 2007
He also commented that, "Of course, Ann and I already wrote about this :)," and gave us a word document of their article on the topic. Below is the citation (no link unfortunately) to their article.
John P. Murray and Ann D. Murray. M. Haith & J. Benson (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development. Oxford: Elsevier Publishers, 2008
If the media would have gotten a hold of their article before the other, my professor and her husband might have become famous!!!
Just a side not in case you read the first article, I'll tell you a little about my professors article, too, since you can't read it: Dr. Murray and Dr. Murray's paper is a bit more positive. It says that shows like Sesame Street and Mister Rodgers Neighborhood have positive effects for preschool-aged and older children, and that while things like baby Einstein can have negative effects, with strong parent intervention, they may not (but the general idea remains that TV under the age of 2 is unnecessary and may be harmful).
Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD; Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH; Andrew N. Meltzoff, PhD. Television and DVD/Video Viewing in Children Younger Than 2 Years.
PEDIATR ADOLESC MED/VOL 161, MAY 2007
He also commented that, "Of course, Ann and I already wrote about this :)," and gave us a word document of their article on the topic. Below is the citation (no link unfortunately) to their article.
John P. Murray and Ann D. Murray. M. Haith & J. Benson (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development. Oxford: Elsevier Publishers, 2008
If the media would have gotten a hold of their article before the other, my professor and her husband might have become famous!!!
Just a side not in case you read the first article, I'll tell you a little about my professors article, too, since you can't read it: Dr. Murray and Dr. Murray's paper is a bit more positive. It says that shows like Sesame Street and Mister Rodgers Neighborhood have positive effects for preschool-aged and older children, and that while things like baby Einstein can have negative effects, with strong parent intervention, they may not (but the general idea remains that TV under the age of 2 is unnecessary and may be harmful).
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Play Therapy
I just spent 3 days at a Play Therapy training here in Manhattan (KS). It was put on by Denise Filley of the KC Play Therapy Institute. Although a lot of seems very psychoanalytical (which is NOT my theoretical basis), I think it is a very good area to study if you work with kids at all. Unfortunately, becoming a registered play therapist is only an option if you have a licence and a graduate degree in a mental health profession right now. Denise discussed the possibility of some day adding some sort of credential for Educators, but that may be way off (I would be happy to colaborate on that project!). Anyone is welcome to go to the trainings and even to complete the certificate program. However, the most you can ever do with that is to say that you have done it, but did not receive the certificate.
Look into it!
Look into it!
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