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Introduction to all child language development theories
Introduction to all child language development theories
Child Development and Learning Focusing on Language Development
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Jessica Lahey in the article “poor kids and the word gap” asserts that the condition of American children, and their eventual role in society, is determined well before their first day of kindergarten. She argues that the “word gap” (poor families not being able to talk with their children as much as wealthy ones) affects these children in a huge way. Because of the lack of word development that happens to a child belonging to a poor family, she suggests that any parents; poor or rich, should talk, sing, and even read to a child to help them with an overall great life experience. Talking to a young child everyday can change their whole future.
Jessica Lahey supports her argument by showing that higher income families are at
a financial balance and can talk to their children more often than the ones who are financially unstable. She further believes that people should not have a lack of communication with their child because it can truly affect them later in life because without communication a person creates that “word gap” in a child’s mind before the age of 5. She includes a study that found “that low-income parents underestimate their power to influence their child’s cognitive development, sometimes by as much as 50 percent”. In response to this article, I am shocked that the difference of vocabulary between low-income and high-income families with children is such a big difference. I did not realize that being poor meant not having the time to sit and have a face to face discussions with their child. I strongly disagree with the fact that just because a family has a low-income it means their allowed to focus more on other things rather than building a stronger vocabulary with a son or a daughter. Everyone with a child; wealthy or poor, should set time aside to build a connection with their child, and not ever should someone blow away their child because of financial struggles. This article relates to society today because it shows some reasons why kids are having a harder time in all grade levels of school. This article provides an eye opening issue that looks at all the different types of parents, especially the ones with the young children. I now realize that as I get older I’m going to be sure to take the time to connect with my child on a daily basis no matter what kind a financial trouble I’m in or not in.
David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.
According to a 1997 report of the National Coalition for the Homeless, “nearly one-fifth of all homeless people are employed in full or part-time jobs”. In the book Nickel and Dimed, On Not Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author goes undercover in order to investigate and experience first-hand how life is for America’s “working poor”. The “working poor” are defined as individuals who have a full-time job, sometimes more than one, but still cannot afford the basics of shelter, food and adequate healthcare. As one can imagine, this led to many public health concerns. In each of the three locations visited, Ehrenreich realizes that for many, “getting by” in America can sometimes be a daunting task.
In Janet Poppendieck's “Want Amid Plenty: From Hunger To Inequality” she argues that America puts excessive focus upon hunger issues among the poor when there are many other important issues that go unnoticed. Poppendieck believes that it is time to find a way to shift the discourse from undernutrition to unfairness, from hunger to inequality. In today's society, there are many food banks, food drives, soup kitchens, etc. Food is extremely abundant in America, therefore Poppendieck's statement is proven true when she states that there is too much focus on hunger. Throughout this text, she strongly supports her claims about hunger, equality, and poverty in general.
This film chose to focus on very young people struggling to survive in poverty. All three of the boys are younger than 18 years old and thus are in an important developmental stage. The film gives us a view into the effects of a disadvantaged upbringing on a child’s development. These three boys grew up in situations defined by poverty and familial dysfunction and for two of them, the after effects are clear. Harley has severe anger issues and is unable to function at school. Appachey lashes out uncontrollably and has multiple diagnosed behavioral disorders. Both boys have had run-ins with the law and dealings with the juvenile court system. This solidifies the argument espoused in Marmot’s The Health Gap that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds face significant developmental challenges. The evidence suggests that children who grow up in poverty have cognitive and developmental delays and suffer from greater risk of mental and behavioral disorders. As shown in the film, Harley and Appachey both suffer from extreme behavioral and cognitive deficits and exhibit the corresponding poor scholastic and societal performance which will serve to further negatively affect their
In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler tells the story of a handful of people he has interviewed and followed through their struggles with poverty over the course of six years. David Shipler is an accomplished writer and consultant on social issues. His knowledge, experience, and extensive field work is authoritative and trustworthy. Shipler describes a vicious cycle of low paying jobs, health issues, abuse, addiction, and other factors that all combine to create a mountain of adversity that is virtually impossible to overcome. The American dream and promise of prosperity through hard work fails to deliver to the 35 million people in America who make up the working poor. Since there is neither one problem nor one solution to poverty, Shipler connects all of the issues together to show how they escalate each other. Poor children are abused, drugs and gangs run rampant in the poor neighborhoods, low wage dead end jobs, immigrants are exploited, high interest loans and credit cards entice people in times of crisis and unhealthy diets and lack of health care cause a multitude of problems. The only way that we can begin to see positive change is through a community approach joining the poverty stricken individuals, community, businesses, and government to band together to make a commitment to improve all areas that need help.
Poverty is a worldwide epidemic, creating undesirable living conditions for many people on a daily basis. Some of the most touching stories in literature have an overlying theme of poverty. A wide variety of these stories are often set in Asia. Connor Grennan’s novel Little Princes was set in Katmandu, Nepal. In his book, Connor tells the story of his gargantuan trek across Nepal in an attempt to return seven missing children, all of which belong to a Nepali orphanage he volunteered in. These children were all victims of ruthless child trafficking. Connor’s time in Nepal was laden with obstacles and undesirable living conditions. Therefore, Little Princes presents a dystopian world as a result of poor conditions of the orphanage, the treacherous nature of the mountains and the poorly equipped hospital.
In today’s world what mostly limits children’s opportunities lies on their parents income. According to 2011 research study by Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon, the test score gap between the children of the poor and the children of the wealthy has expanded by as much of 40 percent and is now more than 50 percent larger than the black-white achievement gap. According
explains that the economic gap between high and low income families is affecting their children as
Why are some people poor and homeless, while others have so much money they literally
The most major point highlighted in this article seamed to be that children that are raised in the upper class are more likely than those raised in the lower class to attend pre school. It was pointed out that families in the upper class send their kids to preschool because they are the families that are more encouraging to their children. They are the families that are more supportive according to this
Have you ever looked back over your childhood experiences and the challenges growing up in a community with many disadvantages? How you share the same space and almost everything with your siblings. Henceforth into your career profession, or earning a degree helps you understand someone who went from having a history living in poverty. Author and poet, July Westhale use her childhood as a topic of discussion in her article. Her article reminds me of my own personal experiences growing up on the south side of Chicago. My childhood disadvantages taught me important life skills such as how to make do with very little, the quality of family time, and not allowing my childhood disadvantages experiences effect my future.
Every child deserves the right to a fair and equal education no matter their race, gender, language, social class. However, often time’s people do not provide that for children, including the child’s own parents. With that being said the changes have to start somewhere. Research has been done in finding solutions for teachers and curriculum, schools, and for parents to help increase the learning of all children, but even more so for those children in poverty.
Have you noticed that a lot of Americans most disadvantaged children grow up without the skills they need to thrive in the twenty-first century? Have you ever wondered how NYC High School scholars judge each other? Whether in educational attainment between income groups or racial/ethnic groups, inequality still persists. In New York City, the nation’s largest school system, on average student outcomes and their opportunity to learn are more determined by social class and family backgrounds. Think of your own experiences when you were in high school? We always hear people speak about others because of the way they dress, where they live, and who their parents are. Also some are treated differently and have greater opportunities than others. For example, children growing up in low-income neighbors are much more likely to experience repeated stress from violence crime that may cause them to be capable for development. On the other hand, high income in the United States has increased the importance of how external environment factors impact students and schools. What is a good education to you? A good education is the key foundation and the need for every child to succeed in the world today, with the fast growing markets and a lot of competition. A lot don’t understand and need to learn what it takes to compete with other individuals and make a decent living. However, not every child has been receiving a fair and equal education throughout all of society and education inequality has become a major issue. Many of the children living in low-income and middle-income families are not receiving an equal type or quality of education as those who live in high-income families.
Therefore, many children living in poverty are not able “to make use of their talent- to get the right education, to pursue the right career path” (Krugman,1). Because of this, social injustice has started to rapidly affect our education system, and for this reason, children living in poverty are getting fewer chances at a successful future. These kids are not entitled to a promising future because of their social background. To provide these kids the education they deserve, the government should spend more of our taxes on the low-income families. Then by providing the families more access to basic needs, their children become healthier and are designated to a better school and education. Social inequality is rapidly downsizing the rate of graduating students yearly, and as a society we must strive to end the inequality in America’s education
Most of us in today’s society do not realize how powerful words can be and how huge of an impact they can have on our lives. I remember the day when my son said his first words,