Quotes: “Adventure is worthwhile in itself” (Time for Kids, 2014). “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” (Time for Kids, 2014).   I would like to thank all of my colleagues whom have supported my blog throughout this course.  I must admit, it has really been an adventure working with each and every one of you.  Hopefully, we will get the opportunity to meet again soon in other classes.  Best wishes to your future endeavorments!   Reference Time for Kids. (2014). Quotes for Children.

This week’s blog asks a very good question.  When it comes to my thoughts as to what I believe should be measured or assessed when it comes to viewing young children holistically, I think that testing a child’s short term memory would be a factor.  Working in the school system, I have seen that many lessons being taught are not being detained by some children.  This can be a result of many reasons.  One reason that comes to my mind is the fact that the material being introduced by the teacher to the child does not strike the child’s interest.  I think that when a child is not interested, it is difficult for them to obtain the importance of the material.   I know that it is the teacher’s job to be creative and do what they can to effectively reach and teach each child, however, this does not always take place.  There are some creative teachers and then there are some traditional teachers.  There are also some children that require more teaching time than others when it comes to learning.  This is ok and it is to be expected, but, there must be a way for the school system to allow room teacher’s and children at all different levels.   Just because a child requires more teaching time does not necessarily make them special ed. students.  One the other hand, just because a teacher is a traditional teacher, does not make him or her a bad teacher.  There are different strokes for different folks rather teacher or student.  This means that society has to stay creative as well.  In other words, I think that one has to know the individual in order to know exactly how that individual should be measured or assessed.  The background of the child is a factor too. According to McCauley (1994-2004) young children are difficult subjects to assess accurately because of their activity level and distractibility, shorter attention span, wariness of strangers, and inconsistent performance in unfamiliar environments. Other factors that may affect a child's performance include cultural differences and language barriers, parents not having books to read to their child and a child's lack of interaction with other children. Consequently, assessment of infants, toddlers, and young children requires sensitivity to the child's background, and knowledge of testing limitations and procedures with young children.  Informal relaxed settings where the child can be as much at ease as possible are recommended when doing assessment (McCauley, 1994-2004). Assessing a child within the context of his or her community and the interacting social systems, and taking into account the family's needs, resources, and concerns affect both the evaluation and possible interventions. When testing young children the examiner needs to take certain aspects into account. The young child's immature developmental status influences the responses to testing more than older children or adults. Other considerations, which are important, are the socio-physical environment and sensory integrity of the young child (McCauley, 1994-2004) Reference McCauley, L. (1994-2004). The Developmental Assessment of Young Children.  Retrieved from www.priory.com/psych/assessyoung.htm