Final Blog Assignment

Final Blog Assignment

The three consequences that I learned from the international early childhood field is that Walden University was able to show me another picture of what is happening to children around the world.  Through that learning I realized that we too here in the United States have the same issues as it relates to children and finding funding for our programs.  I learned that international professionals have very similar trends and issues that they feel strongly about ensuring every child  receives an education.

One goal in regards to international awareness of issues and trends and collegial relations is sharing what I learned with my data team this school year.  I believe it is important to bring awareness to the teachers I work with that we may brainstorm how to become involved.  By brainstorming together ideas will help us be more successful as a school to become an active in a more visible way.

 

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3

After viewing “UNESCO Education Early Childhood,” one new insight I gained was that the early childhood period extends to eight years of age. 

Another insight I learned was the UNESCO main objective is putting together programs that will benefit early childhood education that includes educating families and providing nutrition and health for children.  The reason I learned why nutrition and health are so important is because most children usually die before the age of 5.  The numbers are very alarming in 3^rd world countries.

The last insight I gained was about Inclusive education.  I finally realized that groups and organizations such as “UNESCO really have their work cut out for them.  I first touched on a link named Inclusive education.  This leaded me to information about how girls have been excluded from receiving an education.  Along with disabled children.  My first thought about these types of actions was unheard of.  As I read further I learned that a big percentage of children are girls.  Then I thought if there are more girls, then girls are being prevented from being educated.  It is believed that by excluding girls and disabled children from receiving an education will help with an economy living in poverty.  Children who live with disabilities live in communities but are not expected to get to school or seek an education.  These children will grow up and be unable to contribute to the society they live in.  “UNESCO sponsor programs for children with disabilities to have a chance of an education.

Ten years ago Global Crisis said there would be education for all by “2015.”  As a result of the financial crisis a set back may mean that this goal may not be met.  To ensure progress continues there is some things that need to happen such as invest in teachers and invest into books for students.  If these things do not change children are going to be left behind because of poverty.

Reference:
UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/),

Blog Assignment: Sharing Web Resources

Blog Assignment: Sharing Web Resources

China is one of the countries I was studying.  I decided to explore the outside link under “Press release.  The topic was about Asia-Pacific government commit to increase cooperation for child rights.  The link leads me to a press release by BEIJING November 2010 that states the cooperation of countries committing to improve upon the rights of 1.2 billion children.  They are committed to three areas:  (1). Disaster risk reduction; (2). Child protection and welfare systems; (3). Ensuring that economic and social development is equitable for all children.

The one area I thoroughly searched of one area of the site was “THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN” 2011 Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity.  I was lead to a YouTube and before listening to it I first thought I would report on what was said on the outside writing.  The outside article talks about the world’s issues and what young people will be faced with as they grow up.  Some examples were climate change, rapid urbanization, the economic recession and rising unemployment.  A number of 1.2 billion young people (adolescents) look to be effected throughout other countries in the world.  Children will suffer from not have a quality education.  UNICEF has step up to the plate to offer children a basic education.  As I listened to the YouTube it featured children singing music that expressed how they as children could clean up their own country.  The whole concept is to empower children and adolescents through educated them so that they will be able to break through the cycle of poverty. 

I did not read about one of the exact issue we have been studying in our class.  However I did read about the “Education Kit on East Africa.”  This kit was put together with the help of “UNICEF Australia in hopes of giving teachers more resources to utilize when trying to get across the message of disasters to the areas children.  It is believed that children need to be counted in as part of the healing process in hopes of relief of anger, anxiety and fear.  By using the “Education Kit teachers will have ready hand strategies to help guide them in dealing with the at hand disasters that have hit their country.  The education kit includes:  (1). A guide for teachers and parent to help you talk about natural disasters and emergencies with you children and students-useful in affected and non-affected communities.  (2) A fact sheet about current humanitarian emergencies. (3). A guide to mobilizing a whole-school response. (4). A fact sheet about how UNICEF works in natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies. (5). Activities to use in the classroom. (6). Information about how your school can help make a difference.

The new information that is available is the things that have been achieved in a year since the Pakistan floods.  (1). Clean water by UNICEF and its partners to 4.5 million people very day. (2). Education services to more than 100,000 children through building Temporary Learning Centres. (3). Sanitation facilities benefiting 1.5 million people. (4). 9 million children have been vaccinated against measles and polio.

I thought the website that featured the YouTube did a great job adding to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education.  The children in the video displayed how they could come together using their talents to make their situations better.  One girl in the video talked about her desire to be educated so that she could make a better life for her child and herself.  After viewing the video and hearing the young lady speak it makes us here in the United States just realize how thankful we should be for the opportunities we have to receive a free education.

One new insight I learned after listening to the audio conversation with “Delila Vasquez.”  I learned about the availability and challenges.  The first one was cost, resources, social issues.  Ms. Vasquez helped me to understand about the way programs are funded and how the funds are spread out among the programs.  For example Head Start verses Early Childhood.  I learned that there are times when the funding for one program has to be spread out between other parts of education.  Preschool, early childhood along with school age children funds are divided up to help all programs.  I also learned that the need is always greater than the funds received.

Resources:

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

http://www.unicef.or/sowc2011/

http://www.unicef.org.au/Discover/News/072011Education-Kit-on-East-for-students.aspx

http://www.unicef.org.au/Discover/Pakistan--one-year-on.aspx

Blog Assignment

Blog Assignment:  Getting to know your International Contacts Part 2.

One insight I learned was about "The National forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.  This program Policy and Programs.  This program tries to communicate the need for public Investment, what area to invest funds and the containing assessment of set programs.

Another insight I learned was about the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University working together with Governors in support of "Best Practice" across the entire United States.


The last insight was about "Child Mental Health Network."  Child Mental Health is a program that looks at how much we know and don't know about mental health.  Research is constantly being looked at in hopes of a resources of understanding mental health. 


Reference:


(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Blog Assignment: Sharing Resources

Blog Assignment:  Sharing Resources:

1.  The section of information that seemed particularly relevant to my current professional development is using sport for development.  The "Unicef" uses sports as a strategy to help developed physical strength and play.  In the profession I am inspiring to teach in play, exploration and observation is essential part of a young child's development.

2.  I found "Australian Cricketers," to visiting teen mothers to be a great way of catching the attention of young mothers and inspiring them to stay in school.  Young mothers also are educated on the importance of HIV and Aides.

3.  The Unicef website helps me to understand the trouble today's youth is in due to the economy and changes in world climate.  The Unicef recognizes the need of investing into the needs of the youth in hopes of curing poverty.

4.  One other new insight I learned about issues and trends in the early childhood field is how the " Unicef" youth advocate for the rights of all children.  The youth worked together by being young people's voice and to speak on behalf of other children.  For example primary children feel they want to go to school and play they feel they should be provided medicine when they are sick.  All of these rights are addressed by the youth working for Unicef.

References:
 http://www.unicef.org.au/ 
 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/australia.html  
 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html 

Getting to know my International Partner

My International Partner:

I thought it would be great to share the email that my international wrote to me on my blog site for this assignment.  Everything that was asked about poverty with children and their families was shared through this email.  My international partner name is Prima.  She was great in sharing what she knows and has experienced as it relates to poverty.  The next thing you will read below is her email to me.

Hi Audrey,

I am an Indian and have lived in India most of my life. I am currently based in Hong Kong.

When I think of poverty I can associate poverty more with India compared to Hongkong. I have seen cases of extreme poverty as well as people barely managing to get through. I have lived in Bombay and Pune. Bombay or Mumbai is the financial hub of India and is a city where you see the ' filthy rich ' as well as beggars .

I am assuming your question is based on early childhood in relation to poverty ......

The poor in India are associated with having ' too many ' children. The mother is often on a poor diet before , during and after pregnancy, Once the child is born the mother either goes back to  work as domestic help ,construction work etc and the baby is left with the grandmother/ relatives . Speaking kindly or gently is unheard of and the poor baby is often neglected .  The only thing that draws the adult's attention is a big job or hunger wails. If the mother is at home she is often busy with the other kids .

Children are often seen wandering on roads , playing with mud / cement / pebbles , running around naked around slums .

Toys are very few and books as a source of entertainment are  practically non existent in these homes.
Well every second house in most slums does have a television though which according to me does no good !!!

Children often go to  ' Balwadi' ( kindergarten ) at the age of 3 or 3.5 . The Quality of these schools and the teachers is another story and a sad one !

Since the houses are super small say 100 sq ft sometimes.... the older children are forced to study / read amidst loads of noise ( mostly consisting of fights  ) . Most don;t make it beyond 8th grade .I firmly believe that the first 6 years are extremely crucial in a child's mental development and considering the fact the most of their crucial years are spent wandering aimlessly and barely been spoken to its no surprise that most of the children are not too bright.Its a sort of vicious circle as lack of education forces them to get into unskilled labour and earn less ..

Girls are often expected to do household chores and look after the children . Most of them today are sent to school but education amongst girls is not considered important.

Well all is not grim and we do have a few cases of poor children topping grades and doing well and getting out of the curse of poverty.

If you search online you will see the statistics of literacy rates in India rising but by and large poverty is rampant within the huge population of 2 billion.

We do have a few organisations that help in the field of education. They run day cares for infants and kindergartens for children. We have world vision which accepts sponsors for education children .

My heart goes out to the children who wander aimlessly or beg on streets when they should be in school. But I guess the stomach needs to be filled before the brain !

This is my perspective and how I see it. Hope it helps in a tiny way.

Take care

Regards

Prima

What I have learned by listening to my international partner Prima talk about her country is that children in her country are suffering in terms of every day basic needs.  When you add education into the equation that is not very much room for such things.  It seems like from what I have read that because of the resources provided by World Visions they are able to offer child care for children.  This free up mothers to be able to go to work.  One insight that I got after reading further was picturing children walking around the streets looking for food instead of being in school.  I just can't understand how did a country get into a situation such as they are in.  It makes you wonder about the United States with the trouble our economy is in, can this happen in our country as well?

Blog 2 Assignment

Blog 2 Assignment Resources:

1.  The newsletter I subscribed to is Australia's newsletter.  The types of issues the newsletter address is "Australia committed to its children. " The article is basically addressing children deserve the right to be heard.  It goes on to list 3 groups of children that are missing out
(1).  Aboriginal and Torress Strait Islander children have child morality rates three times their non-aboriginal peers and are the least consulted in Australian.
(2).  The numbers of children in out of home care has increased by 51.5 percent since 2005.
(3).  The children of asylum seekers remain in detention facilities.  
The newsletter contains a variety of issues such as information about South Sudan children having a historic day of a new country emerging without conflict.  Another story was interesting was about welcoming the finding of the Independent Review on Aid Effectiveness.


2.  I have learned that resources seem to be available for children and families in different parts of the world.  I also, have learned that as much as given much is still required.  It seems like other countries will always need extra resources for children to have a heath development.


3.  The issue that stands out and catches my attention is the report that was recommend to listen to children.  I believe the issue sounds like the same things we are faced with here in the United States as it relates to children.  Although, what I feel makes these concerns a little different is Australia has addressed these issues from the perspective as if children are expressing their needs.


4.  After considering the topic for this week the website I am studying offered one story about early education program increases access for ethnic children in Laos.  Basically this story is about a young boy who is among different ethnicity's that make up a diverse country.  His education presents a linguistic challenge.  I personally thought about the challenges people have to educate children in their own country.  Then I thought about the challenges that are ahead of us with the change of demographics and diversity in the near future.

References:

http://www.unicef.org.au/
 

Establishing Professional Contacts

ESTABLISHING PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS
1.  This week the steps I took to locate and contact two professional in Australia, China Hong Kong and Beijing were to email, introducing myself, telling them where I attend college, I gave them information about my class and about my first assignment.  I asked each of them would they help me over the next weeks in talking about trends and issues in early childhood in their area.

2.  I also subscribed to Australia, China Hong Kong and Beijing's newsletters in attempt of establishing contact with a professional.

3.  I have not gotten an answer after attempting to establishing communication.  I have waited for the last days to hear from someone before posting my assignment.  If I don't hear from some one next week, I will have to choose the alternate assignment for Part 1.


4.  I chose the organization of UNICEF.  I basically clicked on the website located in the resources and chose a country I was interested in learning about.  Then I read about how long the organization has been established in the area.

5.  The website I decided to study was Australia's website.  The website gives valuable information in how long the website has been established trying to help support children.
 

6.  The helpful tips I can share with you is just to read everything at the top of the website and the different areas that the website represent.  The other hit is apply to more than two professionals and organization's.


7.   I do not have a question yet for my colleagues concerning this project yet. 

"MY SUPPORT"

"MY SUPPORT"

THE FACTORS THAT ARE SUPPORTIVE TO ME:
1.  HUSBAND (BRIAN)
2.  THE FUNCTION OF MY PHYSICAL BODY
3.  CURLING IRON

1.  MY HUSBAND BRIAN SUPPORTS ME BY DOING ALL THE SHOPPING FOR THE HOUSE AND THE COOKING.

2.  HAVING THE SUPPORT OF MY PHYSICAL BODY ENABLES ME TO GET AROUND AND DO THE THINGS I WANT, HELP ME TO MAKE A LIVING AND HELPS ME TO ENJOY WALKING.

3.  MY CURLING IRON PROVIDES ME WITH THE SUPPORT OF HELPING ME TO STYLE MY HAIR.

"BENEFITS OF SUPPORT"
1.  BY BRIAN SHOPPING AND BEING THE COOK FOR OUR FAMILY HELPS ME TO NEVER CONCERN MY SELF WITH MAKING A CHOICE OF WHAT I AM GOING TO EAT.  I NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF ANY ITEMS IN THE HOUSE "BIG OR LITTLE" THERE IS ALWAYS A LARGE SUPPLY OF EVERY THING.  I BENEFIT FROM BRIAN COOKING BECAUSE IT ALLOWS ME PERSONAL TIME TO DO OTHER THINGS.  IT WOULD BE HARD FOR ME IF "BRIAN DID NOT DO THE THINGS HE DOES BUT, I COULD ADJUST BY GOING OUT TO EAT OR EATTING AT WORK.

2.  BY ME BEING PHYSICALLY ABLE TO MOVE ABOUT IT BENEFITS ME IN NOT HAVING TO WAIT FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO DO THINGS FOR ME.  IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO EXIST WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF MY PHYSICAL BODY.  THE IMPACT WOULD BE "HUGE".  I PROBABLY WOULD GET ONLY 30% OF WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO GET DONE FOR MYSELF.  FOR EXAMPLE, I HELP CARE FOR MY MOTHER AND SHE DOES NOT HAVE THE PHYSICALLY CAPABILITIES OF HER LIMBS AND SHE HAS TO WAIT FOR "EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE."

3.  CURL IRON'S HAS BECOME MY BEST "FRIEND."  THEY SUPPORT ME BY STYLING MY HAIR OR BUMPING MY HAIR.  THE BENEFITS OF THESE SUPPORTS HELPS ME TO BE ON TIME FOR WORK AND NOT HAVE TO SPEND MONEY AT THE HAIR STYLESS.  ON A SCALE OF 100%, I COULD NOT EXIST 85% OF THE TIME WITHOUT MY CURLING IRONS.  I WOULD HAVE TO PAY SOMEONE TO DO MY HAIR MORE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.  THE IMPACT OF MY CLURING IRONS NOT BEING IN MY LIFE WOULD BE "UN-SPEAKABLE."  IT WOULD ALSO IMPACT MY EXTRA SPENDING MONEY AND I WOULD HAVE TO FIND THE TIME TO WAIT FOR MY HAIR TO BE STYLED.

THE CHALLENGE I CHOSE TO IMGAINE RIGHT NOW IS NOT HAVING "AIR CONDITIONER."  THE WEATHER IS SO "HOT" RIGHT NOW.  IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT NOT HAVING COLD AIR TO KEEP ME COOL.  THE CHALLENGE WOULD BE HOW DO I STAY COOL AND COMFORTABLE?  THE SUPPORTS I WOULD NEED EMOTINALLY WOULD BE MY FAMILY.  THE PRACTICALLY SUPPORTS I WOULD NEEED IS MONEY TO GET MY AIR CONDITIONER FIXED.  THE PHYSICAL SUPPORT I WOULD NEED IS STRENGTH MENTALLY TO STICK IT OUT.  I ALSO WOULD NEED THE PHYSICAL STRENGTH OF GOING FROM PLACE TO PLACE NOT WANTING TO BE AT ONE PLACE TO LONG.

DEDICATED TO PLAY

"MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY"

I SELECTED THESE TWO QUOTES THAT I FEEL SUMMAIZE WHAT PLAY REPRESENTED FOR ME IN CHILDHOOD.
"I WILL NOT PLAY TUG O'WAR.  I'D RATHER PLAY HUG O' WAR.  WHERE EVERYONE HUGS INSTEAD OF TUGS.  WHERE EVERYONE GIGGLES AND ROLLS ON THE RUG.  WHERE EVERYONE KISSES, AND EVERYONE GRINS, AND EVERYONE CUDDLES, AND EVERYONE WINS." 
~ Shel Silverstein

"WE WORRY ABOUT WHAT A CHILD WILL BECOME TOMORROW, YET WE FORGET THAT HE IS SOMEONE TODAY. ~ Stacia Tausher

HERE ARE TWO TO THREE PICTURES OF ESSENTIAL PLAY ITEMS FOR ME WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.
1.  I PLAYED HOUSE A LOT WHEN I WAS GROWING UP.  THE ITEMS THAT I USED A LOT WERE DISHES, BROOM, MOP AND BABY DOLLS.  EVERY HOUSE I WENT OVER WITH MY MOM I CLEANED THEIR HOUSE.  MY MOTHER USE TO TELL PEOPLE "AUDREY WANTS TO BE A MOMMY WHEN SHE GROWS UP."

MY DADDY SUPPORTED PLAY WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.  HE WOULD OFTEN CHASE MY SISTER AND ME ROUND THE HOUSE AND SAY HE WAS THE VAMPIRE OF WHATEVER YEAR IT WAS AND THE ONLY WAY FOR HIM TO LET YOU GO AND NOT BITE YOU WAS, YOU HAD TO SAY YOU WANTED A TRUCE.  THEN HE WOULD ALLOW US TO RUN AFTER HIM AND BE THE VAMPIRE AND WE COULD DO THE SAME THING TO HIM.  HE WOULD ALSO PLAY HIDE-AND SEEK WITH US AND BE THE PERSON WHO COUNTS AND TRY TO FIND YOU.

I BELIEVE PLAY TODAY IS SIMILAR BY CHILDREN BE CREATIVE AT YOUNG AGES ONLY. CHILDREN ARE DIFFERENT WHEN I WAS ENGAGING IN PLAY.  SEEMS LIKE IT CHANGED WHEN CHILDREN START TO CHANGE WHEN THEY ARE SCHOOL AGE.  WHEN I WAS A CHILD WE CREATED OUR OWN GAMES.  TODAY WITH OLDER CHILDREN VIDEO GAMES AND CELL PHONES ARE THE GAMES.  I RARELY SEE CHILDREN RIDING THEIR BIKES ANY MORE.  MY HOPES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN WITH REGARDS TO PLAY IS SOMEONE IS PLACED IN THEIR LIFE THAT WILL HELP THEM LEARN AND PLAY THE GAMES I DID WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.

I REGARD THE ROLE OF PLAY THOUGHOUT MY LIFE AS A GOD SENT.  THE ROLE OF PLAY MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY.  I WAS ALLOWED TO PLAY FROM "SUN UP TO SUN DOWN."  THIS WAS ALLOWED MORE BY MY MOTHER THAN MY DAD.  HOWEVER, AS LONG AS OUR CHORES AND HOMEWORK WAS FINISHED WE COULD PLAY AS LONG AS WE WANTED.  THIS WENT ON THROUGH THE WEEK, WEEKENDS, AND ALL SUMMER.  I BELIEVE THAT EARLY LEARNING OF CARING FOR MY DOLLS AND TAKING CARE OF THE HOUSE HAS HELPED ME BECOME A GOOD MOTHER AND A GOOD CARETAKER OF MY HOME.  I WAS RECOMMENDED BY MY MOM'S FRIENDS TO BABY SIT THEIR OTHER FRIENDS KIDS.  I BELIEVE I BECAME AN EDUCATOR BECAUSE OF MY BACKGROUND OF NATURING CHILDREN AND BEING ALLOWED THE TIME IT TOOK TO PLAY.  I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS GREAT AT KEEPING HOUSE AND CHILDREN.  I DO BELIEVE I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO HELP CHILDREN BE SUCCESSFUL AT PLAY AND ACADEMICS.  I BELIEVE I AM ACCOMPLISHING THIS TASK THROUGHOUT ADULTHOOD AS A TEACHER.

CURRRENT RELATIONSHIPS

RELATIONSHIP REFLECTION

RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE THEY GIVE ME A SENSE OF BELONGING TO A REASON.  THEY GIVE ME A PURPOSE IN LIFE.  

I AM GREATLY ENRICHED WITH SEVERAL RELATIONSHIPS IN MY LIFE.  THE TWO THAT I AM GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU IN MY BLOG ARE MY DOGS.  THE FIRST ONE I WILL SPEAK ABOUT IS "MIDGET MARIE HUDSON WINTERS."  SHE IS NO LONGER WITH ME!  MIDGET DECIDE TO GO UP YOUNDER ON 7/17/10.  I MISS HER DEARLY!  SHE GRACED MY LIFE AT THE AGE OF 3 YEARS OLD.  ONCE I SEEN HER I KNEW SHE WAS THE ONE.  I PUT MY HAND OUT SHE PUT OUT HER PAW AND THE REST WAS HISTORY.  MIDGET CAME INTO MY LIFE FOR A PURPOSE.   LIKE MOST THINGS OR PEOPLE.  SHE HELP ME THROUGH HARD TIMES EMOTIONALLY.  MIDGET KEPT ME WARM AND ALWAYS WAS BY MY SIDE.  SHE WAS OFTEN UP SET WITH ME AFTER BEING PICKED UP FROM THE GROOMER BUT WAS VERY FORGIVING.  

MIDGET CONTRIBUTED TO ME DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER ANIMALS.  I SOON ADOPTED A BROTHER FOR HER SO THAT SHE WOULD NOT BE LONELY WHEN I WAS AWAY.  MIDGET CONTINUES TO INSPIRE ME TO LOVE NOT ONLY HER BROTHER BUT OTHER ANIMALS.  I AM NOT FEARFUL OF LOVING ANOTHER DOG.  SHE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU STOP HAVING RELATIONSHIPS YOU STOP LOVING AND LIVING.  ALL RELATIONSHIP ARE BROUGHT TO US FOR SO MANY REASONS.  MIDGET HAD BEEN WAITING FOR ME ALL MY LIFE.  

THE SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MY RELATIONSHIP THAT FORMED A PARTNERSHIP WAS MIDGET WILLING TO LOVE ME REGARDLESS OF HOW I FELT OR HOW SHE FELT.  THIS MADE ME DEVELOP A LIFE LONG PARTNERSHIP WITH ANIMALS FOREVER.

I BELIEVE MY EXPERIENCE WITH RELATIONSHIPS ENABLES ME THE ABILITY TO BE AN ACTIVE, REFLECTIVE CONTRIBUTOR, AND WILL BE DISPLAYED IN MY ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND MY STUDENTS UNIQUE LEARNING STYLES.  THE IMPACT OF EACH STUDENT LEARNING AND WORKING IN THEIR LEARNING STYLES WILL SHOW THROUGH THEIR TESTING AND GRADE LEVELS.  RELATIONSHIPS HAVE GIVEN ME THIS GIFT!

A CHILD'S QUOTE

FAMOUS CHILD QUOTE
A child is fed with milk and praise.
Mary Lamb 
I would like to thank each of my class members for such a spirit feel discussion.  Each of you kept the discussions fun and exciting.  I truly enjoyed learning about the development of a child.  I wish each of you much success as you go forward.  Take care!

Audrey Winters

SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN ASSESSED IN CHINA

ASSESSED CHILDREN IN CHINA

I believe a young child's development should be assessed.  The reason being, the teacher has to have a starting point.  This will help the teacher understand were the child is in terms of academics.  Teachers refer to this as a base-line.  

The additional ideas and suggestions I have to help children with problems be dysexia, try having the child tested earlier than their 5 birthday.

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52:2 (2011), pp 204–211    doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02299.x
Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children: familial history of dyslexia, language delay, and cognitive profiles
Catherine McBride-Chang,1 Fanny Lam,2 Catherine Lam,2 Becky Chan,2 Cathy Y.-C. Fong,3 Terry T.-Y. Wong,1 and Simpson W.-L. Wong4
1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China; 2Child Assessment Service, Department of Health, Hong Kong, China; 3The University of Hong Kong, China; 4University of Oxford, UK
Background: This work tested the rates at which Chinese children with either language delay or familial history of dyslexia at age 5 manifested dyslexia at age 7, identified which cognitive skills at age 5 best distinguished children with and without dyslexia at age 7, and examined how these early abilities predicted subsequent literacy skills. Method: Forty-seven at-risk children (21 who were ini- tially language delayed and 26 with familial risk) and 47 control children matched on age, IQ, and mothers’ education were tested on syllable awareness, tone detection, rapid automatized naming, visual skill, morphological awareness, and word reading at age 5 and subsequently tested for dyslexia on a standard Hong Kong measure at age 7. Results: Of those with an early language delay, 62% subsequently manifested dyslexia; for those with familial risk, the rate of dyslexia was 50%. Those with dyslexia were best distinguished from those without dyslexia by the age-5 measures of morphological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and word reading itself; other measures did not distinguish the groups. In a combined regression analysis across all participants, morphological awareness uniquely explained word reading accuracy and rapid automatized naming uniquely explained timed word reading at age 7, with all other measures statistically controlled. Separate stepwise regression analyses by group indicated that visual skill uniquely explained subsequent literacy skills in the at-risk group only, whereas tone and syllable awareness were unique predictors of literacy skills in the control group only. Conclusions: Both early language delay and familial risk strongly overlap with subsequent dyslexia in Chinese children. Overall, rapid automatized naming and morphological awareness are relatively strong correlates of developmental dyslexia in Chinese; visual skill and phonological awareness may also be uniquely associated with subsequent literacy development in at-risk and typically developing children, respectively. Keywords: Language impairment, genetic risk, morpho- logical awareness, rapid automatized naming.
Although several large-scale research studies have now established clear cognitive correlates of dyslexia in Chinese children from mid-primary school on (e.g., Chan, Ho, Tsang, Lee, & Chung, 2006; Chung et al., 2008; Ho, Chan, Lee, Tsang, & Luan, 2004; Ho, Chan, Chung, Lee, & Tsang, 2007; Shu, McBride- Chang, Wu, & Liu, 2006), one of the most important questions for clinicians is how to identify children at-risk for reading difficulties as early as possible. The earlier such children are diagnosed, the more time there is for systematic and effective interven- tion (Hulme & Snowling, 2009; Shaywitz, 2003). In Hong Kong, where children generally begin formal instruction in literacy by about the age of 3.5 years, early predictors of dyslexia are particularly impor- tant. Wong, Kidd, Ho, and Au (2010) demonstrated that approximately 43% of Hong Kong Chinese children ages 6 to 11 years old with a prior history of early language delays manifested dyslexia, a similar pattern to that found in alphabetic languages. How- ever, that study was retrospective in nature, involv-
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
ing children from a wide-ranging age group. A group with a narrower age range would add to these findings.
McBride-Chang et al. (2008) examined early cog- nitive correlates of Hong Kong Chinese children who were at risk for reading difficulties either because of early language delays as diagnosed by a clinician or physician or because of a genetic risk from an older sibling having already manifested dyslexia. Com- pared to a control group without any prior risks for dyslexia, children with a genetic risk for dyslexia showed particular difficulties in lexical tone detec- tion, morphological awareness, and Chinese word reading, whereas the language delayed group per- formed more poorly across all tasks administered.
The present study was a follow-up of the at-risk children tested by McBride-Chang et al. (2008). We had three questions related to these groups. First, across the two at-risk groups, what percentage of each manifested an official diagnosis of dyslexia two years later? In addition, we looked at the extent to which the children with dyslexia from the at-risk sibling group as compared to the language delayed
Ó 2010 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Ó 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA
group had initially differed across cognitive and reading tasks. Second, how did those with the diag- nosis of dyslexia differ from those at-risk children who did not have dyslexia across the cognitive and reading skills administered at time 1? Third, which of these cognitive skills were most predictive of the three literacy skills tested to make up the dyslexia diagnosis at time 2, i.e., untimed word reading, one- minute word reading, and dictation? As demon- strated previously for English-speaking children (e.g., Snowling, Gallagher, & Frith, 2003), all of these questions are important for understanding how best to identify and perhaps even how to approach the issue of remediation of those Chinese children at risk for dyslexia as early as possible.
Method
Participants
In the first phase of our cohort study, 47 children at risk for dyslexia (29 boys and 18 girls; aged 5.06 years) were referred by pediatricians from the Child Assess- ment Centre (a sector under the Department of Health in Hong Kong) when they were in kindergarten. The at-risk children came from one of two groups: (1) the familial risk group, which included 26 children who had at least one elder brother or sister diagnosed with dyslexia; (2) the language delayed group, which con- tained 21 children who were first identified by parents or teachers as having language development difficulties and were thereafter tested on language/intellectual scales, with the resulting diagnosis of a language problem in one or more areas of language delay (see McBride-Chang et al., 2008 for details). Children with profound behavioural problems, such as autism, hyperactivity, or significant developmental delay, were excluded.
In the second phase of testing, these at-risk children were 7.3 years of age on average and had finished one year of primary school. They were then tested across the three literacy sub-tests of the Hong Kong Test of Spe- cific Learning Difficulties (HKT-SpLD; Ho, Chan, Tsang, & Lee, 2000). Raw scores were first converted to scaled scores base on the local norms, and the scaled scores ranged from 1 to 19, with 10 being the mean. Here, we refer to those 26 children who attained a literacy com- posite scaled score of 7 or below as the dyslexic group, while the other 21 at-risk children who scored at 8 or above on this battery were considered the non-dyslexic group (e.g., Ho et al., 2004).
Our control group consisted of 47 normally achieving children who were 5.08 years of age at time 1, matched to the at-risk group by age, gender, mother’s education level, and nonverbal IQ (assessed by Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices; Raven, 1956). They were selected from a sample of 163 children who were taking part in an ongoing longitudinal study of language development coordinated by the first author. In the follow-up testing, all children in the control group scored higher than 7 on a composite of the HKT-SpLD literacy subtests. The average mean scaled scores on each of the three literacy subtests for the three groups of children are shown in Table 1.
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Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children    205
Table 1 Means and standard deviations of all tasks at times 1 and 2 controlling for age of three groups of participants, and F-value for univariate test of group differences Mean (SD)
At-risk group Non-dyslexic (N = 21)
Measures (Maximum Score)
Age (Time 2) Time 1 variables
Nonverbal intelligence (24) Visual-spatial relationships (15) Rapid number naming Morphological awareness (20) Syllable deletion (15)
Tone detection (48)
Chinese character recognition (211) Time 2 variables (Scaled scores)
Chinese word reading+ One-minute reading+ Chinese word dictation+
Dyslexic (N = 26) Mean (SD)    Range 88.78 (4.80)    80–98
11.62 (2.24)    7–16 8.62 (4.45)    1–15
27.86 (7.66)    17.06–52.89 6.24 (3.63)    0–14 8.88 (4.14)    0–15
33.86 (5.25)    21–47 23.62 (14.05)    0–49
5.23 (2.10)    1–8 6.08 (1.55)    4–10 4.00 (2.02)    1–8
Mean (SD)    Range 85.58 (3.08)    82–92
11.19 (2.34)    7–16 9.81 (4.63)    0–15
26.08 (15.63)    15.90–88.84 7.30 (3.66)    3–17 9.33 (4.80)    0–15
32.50 (5.20)    25–48 33.45 (14.66)    8–74
11.43 (2.34)    8–16 10.00 (2.07)    7–16 7.95 (1.88)    4–11
Control group (N = 47) Mean (SD)
90.85 (7.41)
11.13 (1.92) 10.19 (4.57) 20.05 (6.35)
8.98 (3.96) 11.09 (3.96) 34.87 (5.24) 51.85 (27.94)
12.40 (3.16) 12.53 (3.18) 10.32 (3.48)
Range 79–102
8–15
0–15 8.70–43.94 2–17 0–15
23–43 18–144
F(2, 91) 5.65**
.84 1.04
5.52** 3.73* 1.78 1.06
12.73***
Pairwise comparisons by LSD RD = RN, RD = CG, RN < CG
RD = RN, RD = CG, RN = CG^ RD=RN,RD=CG,RN=CG RD=RN,RD>CG,RN>CG RD=RN,RD<CG,RN=CG RD=RN,RD=CG,RN=CG RD=RN,RD=CG,RN=CG RD=RN,RD<CG,RN<CG
RD<RN,RD<CG,RN=CG RD<RN,RD<CG,RN<CG RD<RN,RD<CG,RN<CG
5–19 60.94*** 6–19 52.46*** 3–16 40.39***
^RD = at-risk and dyslexic; RN = at-risk and non-dyslexic; CG = control group; *p < .05., **p < .01 ***p < .001. + The means of the three SpLD literacy subtests at T2 were expressed in age-graded scaled scores (HKT-SpLD manual, 2000).
206    Catherine McBride-Chang et al. Procedure
The first testing phase (June to July 2006) was carried out when children were in kindergarten. All children were assessed on six literacy/cognitive tasks at this time. About two years later (July to October 2008), they were contacted again to be assessed for dyslexia. For the dyslexic-risk group, the testing at both times was done individually with children at a Hong Kong Child Assessment Centre by pediatricians, clinical psycholo- gists, and undergraduate psychology majors with prior training. The control group was tested as part of an ongoing longitudinal study by trained undergraduate psychology majors at the children’s homes. Informed consent was obtained from the parents before each testing phase.
Measures
The following six cognitive/literacy tasks were admin- istered to all participants at age 5.
Chinese character recognition. This task required children to read aloud 27 one-character and 34 two- character words. Testing terminated when the children failed to correctly read 10 consecutive items. For those children who were able to move on to the last item without reaching ceiling, the Chinese word reading subtest of the Hong Kong Test for Specific Learning Disabilities (HKT-SpLD; Ho et al., 2000) was then administered to further assess children’s reading abil- ities on more difficult items. The maximum score one could get across the entire assessment was 211 (61 for the first task and 150 for the second task). The internal consistency reliability of this whole word reading task was .96.
Visual-spatial skill.    On each of the 16 items from the Visual-Spatial Relationships subtest of Gardner’s (1996) Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (non-motor) Revised, children were required to select one figure from among a set of five figures with a different directionality from the others. The highest total score possible for this task was 15 (the first item was a test trial and was not counted). When the children gave four incorrect answers out of five consecutive questions, testing ceased. This task yielded an internal consistency reliability of .89.
Rapid number naming. Children were presented with a sheet of paper containing five rows of arabic numerals; each row comprised the same five digits (5, 4, 3, 1, 8) arranged in different orders. Before the testing started, the experimenters first ensured that the chil- dren could name the 5 numbers accurately. After that, the children were asked to identify aloud the 25 num- bers on the sheet in a specified order as quickly as possible. They performed the task twice, and both trials were timed using a stop-watch in order to obtain an average time. The test–retest reliability was .92 for this measure.
Morphological awareness. On this task, used in past studies (e.g., McBride-Chang et al., 2005, 2008)
to tap children’s lexical compounding abilities, chil- dren were asked to combine familiar morphemes to produce linguistically sensible compound nonwords for describing novel objects. For example, one item was: ‘When oil is made of peanuts, we call it peanut oil. What should we call it if the oil is made of mushrooms?’ (The answer should be ‘mushroom oil’.) This task taps structural knowledge within one’s lan- guage. The individual morphemes (e.g., mushroom; oil) are well known by these children. However, their primary task is to combine them in new ways for an efficient and sensible response. For example, ‘oil mushroom’ would be incorrect because its meaning is completely different from ‘mushroom oil’. All 20 items (together with the two example items at the beginning) were orally administered using a two-sentence sce- nario as in the above example. In the trial scenarios (but not the testing scenarios), pictures were pre- sented for assisting children in understanding the task requirements. Experimenters were instructed to go through all 20 items regardless of children’s per- formance. The task’s internal consistency reliability was .72.
Syllable deletion. For this task, across each of the 15 items (including two practice trials), experimenters said a three-syllable word in Cantonese, and the chil- dren were instructed to repeat the word orally with one of the three syllables omitted (either the first, middle, or last). One sample item is the following: ‘Please say/ fu6 can1 zit3/(meaning Father’s Day) without/zit3/.’ The correct answer is ‘/fu6 can1/’ (meaning father). The ceiling level was reached when incorrect answers were given for five consecutive items. An internal consistency reliability of .90 was obtained for this scale.
Tone detection.
By referring to Ciocca and Lui’s tone awareness task (2003), we selected two Cantonese monosyllables ‘/ji/and/fu/’ and made use of their six respective tones as stimuli. A total of twelve target syllables,    including/ji1/    (clothing),/ji2/    (chair), /ji3/    (first character of spaghetti),/ji4/    (son),/ji5/ (ear),/ji6/    (two),/fu1/    (skin),/fu2/    (tiger),/ fu3/    (trousers),/fu4/    (symbol),/fu5/    (woman), and/fu6/    (father), were each pictorially represented by a concrete object as indicated above. In the training session, children learned to identify the syllable cor- responding to each of the twelve pictures. A booklet containing three trials and 48 test items was used in the testing phase, and all the verbal stimuli were played using a Sony mini-disc player. For each item, children were presented with two pictures with each of them derived from the same monosyllable (either/ji/ or/fu/), but having different tones (e.g./ji2/    and/ ji5/ ). After listening to the target syllable through the mini-disc player, children were asked to choose from two pictures the one that corresponded to the target syllable. The 48 testing items were designed such that each of the 12 tones was the target word for 4 items, across which they were paired with four other different tones (12 · 4 = 48). The internal consistency
reliability of this task was .66. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Ó 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Ó 2010 The Authors
Hong Kong Test of Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing
The three literacy subtests of the HKT-SpLD (Ho et al., 2000) were administered to all participants at age 7 only. The first subtest was Chinese word reading con- taining 150 two-character words arranged in order of increasing difficulty. Children were instructed to read the words aloud one by one until they failed to read 15 consecutive words. The One-minute reading subtest tests children’s reading fluency; here, children are given one minute to read 90 two-character Chinese words as quickly and as accurately as possible. Their total score is the number of words correctly read within the 60-second time period. The third subtest, Chinese word dictation, requires children to write 48 two-character words. One correctly written character yielded one mark, and the testing ended when the child scored a zero for both characters across 8 consecutive words. The raw scores attained in the three subtests were converted to age-graded scaled scores (HKT-SpLD manual; Ho et al., 2000). Following the manual, those who scored a 7 or below averaged across the three subtests were identified as dyslexic.
Results
Among the 47 preschool children considered at risk for reading problems at time 1, 26 of them were confirmed to be dyslexic in the follow-up testing while the other 21 were identified as non-dyslexic. Among those diagnosed as dyslexic, 13 were from the genetically at-risk group, whereas the other 13 were from the language delayed group. Thus, there was a 50% rate of dyslexia among those children who had one older brother or sister with dyslexia (genetic risk) and approximately a 62% rate of dyslexia among those who had manifested an early language delay. These rates are in line with those from other previous studies of both genetic (Gilger, Pennington, & DeFries, 1991; Pennington, 1991; Snowling et al., 2003) and language delay (Aram & Hall, 1989; Bashir & Scavuzzo, 1992) risk. When we compared those 13 children each in the genetic and language delayed groups, respectively, who had dyslexia on all tasks administered at times 1 and 2, we found no differences in performances on any cognitive or lit- eracy tasks across time between them. Thus, for all subsequent analyses, these two groups were com- bined to form a larger group with dyslexia. All chil- dren who had been at risk for dyslexia but did not manifest the disorder at time 2 were then labeled the non-dyslexic group.
About eight months following time 2 testing, we telephoned parents of as many at-risk children as possible to determine whether any of them were receiving any special interventions at school. Of the 21 out of 26 dyslexic children of families who could be contacted (4 families were unreachable after repeated calls), 10 were currently receiving some therapy at school, and 1 additional child had had
some therapy previously but was no longer receiving it. Of the 19 non-dyslexic children whose families were reachable by phone, 7 of them had previously experienced some type of therapy at school; of these 7, 4 were currently still receiving it. Most of the intervention therapies were focused on articulation and speech organization; a minority incorporated orthographic knowledge training as well. Beyond these language-related therapies, some of the chil- dren additionally received occupational therapy, focused more specifically on fine motor skills and attention. Each therapy session at school lasted from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours; some occurred monthly, and others occurred weekly.
Our focus shifted next to a comparison of the performances among the three groups (i.e., dyslexic, non-dyslexic, and controls) across the six metalin- guistic tasks administered two years previously. The three groups differed in terms of age at time 2 (with the mean ages for at-risk dyslexic, at-risk non-dys- lexic, and control children being 88.8, 85.6 and 90.9 months, respectively, F(2,91) = 5.65, p < .05). The children who were at risk for dyslexia but non-dys- lexic differed in age from the other two groups, which did not differ from one another. However, the groups differed neither in mothers’ education level (F(2,91) = .28, n.s.) nor in nonverbal intelligence (F(2,91) = .47, n.s.) at time 1. Therefore, the task performances were compared using ANCOVA, with age at time 2 as the only covariate. Results of ANCOVAs (Table 1) showed that there was a significant overall group difference across all experimental tasks except for Visual-Spatial Relationships, syllable deletion, and tone detection.
The performances of the control children were significantly better than those in both at-risk groups (dyslexic and not) in rapid number naming, F(2, 90) = 5.52, p < .01, partial g2 = .11. In contrast, for the morphological awareness tasks, the control group scored significantly higher than those 26 children with dyslexia only, F(2, 91) = 3.73, p < .05, partial g2 = .08. For Chinese character recognition at time 1, the at-risk non-dyslexic performed as poorly as the at-risk dyslexic group and worse than the control group (F(2, 91) = 12.73, p < .001, partial g2 = .22).
Apart from looking at group differences, we per- formed correlational and regression analyses to explore the role of the metalinguistic measures as early predictors of children’s subsequent reading and writing outcomes. Because there was some evidence that the at-risk non-dyslexic group scored between the at-risk dyslexic and control groups (i.e., significantly higher than the dyslexics but lower than the controls) and also for simplicity, correlations are shown in Table 2 separately only for the at-risk and control groups, though the patterns of correlations for the dyslexic and non-dyslexic at-risk groups were similar. Because mothers’ education levels were not significantly associated with any of the perfor- mance measures, this variable was not included in
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Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children    207
208
Catherine McBride-Chang et al.
correlational or any subsequent analyses. However, because age was significantly associated with some variables, partial correlations among all variables are shown in Table 2 with age statistically con- trolled.
We then examined the extent to which we could predict individual literacy skills two years later, based on time 1 cognitive tasks, in the entire group com- bined in order to maximize statistical power, given the relatively large number of variables included. We included sex in these analyses because for dictation, but not for the other variables, girls significantly outperformed boys. Given inter-correlations among predictors, we report sr2 (in addition to b) in Table 3 to reflect the unique variance explained by each pre- dictor after accounting for the variances contributed by the other predictors combined.
Without controlling for Chinese word reading at time 1, between 26% and 31% of the variance could be explained by these variables across groups at time 2. The strongest correlate of word reading was mor- phological awareness; morphological awareness was also marginally (p < .07) significantly associated with one-minute reading and dictation. Speeded naming was a unique predictor of one-minute reading and marginally associated with dictation. Age tended to be significantly negatively associated with these literacy skills because we used scaled, rather than raw, scores to predict these variables. (Because some of these assessments were made by busy clinicians, raw scores were not always available for these analyses.) Age was already taken into account in the scaled scores, but it was included here because of its positive associations with some of the cognitive variables (i.e., morphological awareness, syllable deletion, and Visual-Spatial Relationships) at time 1. Overall, these analyses indicate that Hong Kong Chinese children’s skills in speeded naming and morphological aware- ness may be among the most sensitive predictors of subsequent performance on literacy skills. Syllable deletion, tone detection, and visual skills, though correlated with subsequent literacy skills, were not unique predictors of subsequent Chinese word reading in this combined group.
We also carried out these analyses for the three literacy skills with the autoregressive effects of Chi- nese word reading at time 1 included. In these anal- yses, morphological awareness remained a unique predictor of subsequent word reading only. In con- trast, only speeded naming was a unique predictor of subsequent speeded reading. None of the cognitive tasks were unique predictors of dictation skill apart from early word reading itself. These analyses indi- cate that even for very young Hong Kong Chinese children, Chinese word reading itself, if available, is the best predictor of subsequent literacy skills.
Another way to analyze these data is to determine which variables uniquely explain variance in the lit- eracy tasks using stepwise (forward) regression analyses. We did this separately for the control and
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Table 2 Partial correlations among time 1 metalinguistic measures and time 2 literacy outcomes (word reading, one-minute reading and word dictation) with time 1 age controlled Control (N = 47)
At-risk (N = 47) Nonverbal intelligence
Visual-spatial relationships Rapid number naming Morphological awareness Syllable deletion
Tone detection Chinese character recognition Chinese word reading (T2) One-minute reading (T2) Chinese word dictation (T2)
Rapid Nonverbal    Visual-spatial    number    Morphological
intelligence    relationships    naming    awareness .22    .12    .07
.61    ).01    .11 ).08    ).46    ).02
.39    .31    ).34 .13    .35    ).48    .28 .36    .30    ).16    .33 .16    .16    ).21    .55 .16    .33    ).14    .33 .13    .33    ).39    .34 .16    .34    ).18    .22
Chinese    Chinese Syllable    Tone    character    word
deletion    detection    recognition    reading (T2)
.13    .18    .11    .12
.31    .38    .21    .05 ).27    ).27    ).22    ).18 .28    .57    .25    .34 .40    .26    .16 .28    .56    .42 .37    .20    .55
.19    .08    .47 .29    .04    .32    .67 .08    ).01    .22    .72
One-minute reading (T2)
.18 ).02 ).49 .12 .09 .37 .45 .57
.56
Chinese word dictation (T2)
.15
.05 ).32 .19 .43 .28 .40 .57 .50
Note: Correlations of magnitude.31 or higher were significant at p < .05.
Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children    209 Table 3 Final standardized beta weights explaining three literacy outcomes at time 2 from metalinguistic measures at time 1
Age ).38 Sex .05
Nonverbal intelligence Visual-spatial relationships Rapid number naming Morphological awareness Syllable deletion
Tone detection Chinese word reading R2 (df)
).23 .03 .06 ).06 ).39 .07 ).06 ).03 .48 .46
).20* ).22 .03    .06 .05    .03
).05 ).04 ).33*** ).43 .06    .21 ).05 ).00 ).03 .09
.40*** (9, 82)    .31
).19* .06 .16 .03 .04
).26** ).29 .15+ .18
).25** .17+
With T1 read- ing
b sr2
Word reading
One-minute reading
Dictation
Without T1 reading
b sr2
).32** .07
).05 .07 ).11
.30** .02 .05
.55    .45*** .48 (9, 82)    .28 (8, 84)
With T1 read- ing
b sr2
Without T1 reading
b sr2
With T1 read- ing
b sr2
Without T1 reading
b sr2
).33*** ).37 .04    .07 ).02    ).02 ).06 .08    .06    .09 ).07    ).06 ).13 .21    .17* .36 ).04    ).04 .02 ).07    ).06 .07
).30 ).03 .01
+p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. sr2 represents the part correlation, i.e., the correlation between the predictor and the criterion variable with other predictors statistically controlled.
at-risk groups. (Because the results for the whole combined sample mirrored those shown in Table 3, they are not reviewed here.) For the control group, with word reading from time 1 included, only time 1 word reading uniquely emerged as a correlate of word reading at time 2 (total R-squared = .26), only speeded naming and time 1 word reading emerged as predictors of One-Minute Reading (total R-squared = .33), and only syllable deletion emerged as a unique correlate of dictation (total R-squared = .16). In contrast, the unique predictors for the at-risk chil- dren were age, word reading at time 1, and Visual- Spatial Relationships for word reading at time 2 (total R-squared = .45), age and speeded naming for One-Minute Reading (total R-squared = .20), and age and Visual-Spatial Relationships for dictation (total R-squared = .24). Patterns remained the same when word reading at time 1 was excluded in the analyses for the control and at-risk groups separately, with one exception: only tone detection was a unique predictor of word reading in the control group (total R-squared = .16).
Discussion
The present study was a follow-up on previous work (McBride-Chang et al., 2008) seeking to identify those Hong Kong Chinese children at greatest risk for dyslexia at a very young age based on a battery of cognitive tasks. We demonstrated that 50% of those at genetic risk for reading difficulties and 62% of those with a diagnosed language delay at age 5 subsequently manifested dyslexia in this sample. The genetic and language delayed groups did not differ from one another in severity of dyslexia. When groups of children who had and had not subse- quently manifested dyslexia at age 7 were compared to one another and to a control group, neither the visual spatial skill nor the lexical tone or syllable
deletion tasks were clear unique predictors of sub- sequent reading difficulties. However, measures of speeded naming and morphological awareness did distinguish the children who were ultimately diag- nosed as dyslexic from a control group. Moreover, only these two measures emerged as unique pre- dictors in the entire group of one or more subsequent literacy skills. In addition, very early word reading was the best measure for distinguishing among children who subsequently manifest the diagnosis of dyslexia.
These results are practically important. They underscore the overlap between language delay and dyslexia found in previous work in Hong Kong (Wong et al., 2010). In addition, they highlight the impor- tance of going beyond phonological sensitivity mea- sures only to diagnose subsequent reading difficulties in Chinese children. As demonstrated in correlational studies of older Chinese children with dyslexia, both speeded naming (Ho & Lai, 1999) and morphological awareness (Chung et al., 2008; Shu et al., 2006; Wong et al., 2010) are key predictors of reading difficulties in Chinese children. Moreover, given the unique educational structure of Hong Kong, a city in which formal literacy instruction begins very early (e.g., Cheung & Ng, 2003), it is equally vital to note that Chinese word reading itself at age 5 tends to be the best predictor of subsequent reading difficulties in older children. At the same time, however, reading itself is strongly influenced by explicit teaching. Therefore, clinicians should use their own judgment in assessing the importance or weight assigned to early word reading in predicting subsequent reading difficulties in at-risk groups.
Theoretically, these results also demonstrate the broad array of metalinguistic and cognitive skills that are potentially important for learning to read Chinese. Although phonological sensitivity is clearly developmentally vital for learning to read Chinese, the unreliability of phonological cues to Chinese
Ó 2010 The Authors Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Ó 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
).37*** .17+
).00 .07
(8, 84)
.03
.01 ).17    ).14 .11    .08 .08    .07 ).09    ).07
.44    .37*** .39 (9, 82)
.01    .01
.02    .02 ).21    ).18+ .23    .19+
.14    .11 .02    .02
.26 (8, 84)
210    Catherine McBride-Chang et al.
words, in addition to the relatively easy phonological structure of the Chinese language, makes it essential to look at other indicators of reading difficulties. Morphological awareness may be particularly helpful in early acquisition of Chinese literacy skill. In addition, fluency in identifying printed symbols, in this case in the form of simple numbers, is a strong correlate of subsequent reading, particularly spee- ded reading.
At the same time, forward stepwise regression analyses by group also indicated that all of the measures included at time 1 were uniquely asso- ciated with at least one time 2 literacy skill in either the control or at-risk group. For example, both the syllable awareness and tone detection measures explained unique variance in subsequent literacy skill in the control group. Thus, within this group, with, almost by definition, greater variability across all literacy tasks at time 2 as compared to those who were initially at risk for reading difficulties, phonological sensitivity measures were significant predictors of subsequent reading and writing. In contrast, in the at-risk group, early visual, but not phonological sensitivity, skills were uniquely asso- ciated with subsequent dictation and untimed word reading, suggesting that visual skills may be useful, perhaps somewhat independently of (phonological or morphological) metalinguistic skills, for Chinese literacy acquisition among at-risk readers. Future work should consider the possibility that the route to Chinese literacy acquisition may include multiple dimensions which may differ somewhat across those with and without risks for reading difficulties.
Importantly, those at-risk children who ultimately did not manifest dyslexia two years later neverthe- less performed significantly more poorly than the control group on two of the three literacy skills tested at time 2, though they had differed from the control group at time 1 only on speeded naming and word reading. This pattern is similar to one demonstrated in a longitudinal study of English-speaking children at familial risk for dyslexia and adds weight to the argument (Snowling et al., 2003) that solid language skills may help children at risk for dyslexia to com- pensate for some reading difficulties. At the same
time, the fact that this at-risk group was initially slower on the rapid naming task also suggests that automatization of literacy skills may be a continuing challenge for them.
The present study was limited in the measures it included. As noted previously (McBride-Chang et al., 2008), ours was not an exhaustive group of cognitive tasks. For example, paired associate learning might have been a good measure of early learning to include (Li, Shu, McBride-Chang, Liu, & Xue, 2009). Future studies might increase the number of mea- sures tested to predict subsequent reading difficul- ties. In addition, there were some age-diagnosis interactions. Indeed, the children who had been initially at risk for dyslexia but did not manifest the disorder were significantly younger than were those of the same grade level who were diagnosed with dyslexia. Criteria for the diagnosis of dyslexia are stricter for older children.
Despite these limitations, however, this study has been important in at least two ways. First, we have examined longitudinally in a prospective study the overlap between genetic risk, as well as early lan- guage delay, and subsequent dyslexia in Chinese. This overlap is considerable and adds to the growing understanding of how important early screening is for later reading problems. Second, we have isolated speeded naming and morphological awareness, apart from reading itself, as two cognitive tasks that appear to be potentially clinically useful in identify- ing very young Chinese children at risk for sub- sequent reading difficulties.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (project reference #448907) for support of this research.
Correspondence to
Catherine McBride-Chang, Psychology Department, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; Tel: 852-26096576; Email: cmcbride@ psy.cuhk.edu.hk
Key points
• The rate of dyslexia at age 7 in Chinese children with a language delay at age 5 was 62% and with a genetic risk for dyslexia at age 5 was 50%.
• The cognitive tasks at age 5 that best distinguished Chinese children with and without dyslexia at age 7 and that predicted subsequent literacy skills across all children were rapid automatized naming and morphological awareness. At the same time, word reading at time 1 itself was the best predictor of sub- sequent reading difficulties in this sample.
• Within the control group only, syllable deletion and tone sensitivity were significantly associated with subsequent literacy skills; among the at-risk group, visual skills were significantly associated with sub- sequent literacy skills.
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Manuscript accepted 24 May 2010
Ó 2010 The Authors Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Ó 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children    211

It is a great concern that young children in China will be Dysexia

HUNGER IN SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN

AS A YOUNG CHILD I REMEMBER THE FEELING OF HUNGER.  I NEVER APPROACHED MY PARENTS WITH MY FEELINGS.  I WOULD JUST TRY AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM MYSELF.  I REMEMBER AFTER HAVING A MEAL GOING IN THE REFRIGERATOR AND TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO EAT THAT WOULD NOT REQUIRE COOKING.  LOTS OF TIMES I EXPERMENTED WITH BREAD & KETCHUP, BREAD & JELLY AND BUTTER SANDWICHES.  ALTHOUGH, I CAN HONESTLY SAY I NEVER FELT LIKE I NEEDED MORE TO EAT WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL.  THE CHILDREN IN MY CLASSROOM OFTEN COME TO SCHOOL ALMOST EVERY DAY WANTING MORE TO EAT.  THEY WILL GRAB FOOD FROM OTHER STUDENTS, THEY WILL EVEN GRAB FOOD FROM SOMEONE WALKING DOWN THE HALLWAY.  IT'S EASLY DONE BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW THEM VERY WELL IS NOT EXPECTING THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR FROM THEM.  AS A TEACHER I DO MY BEST TO HAVE FAST EATING FOODS THAT I CAN GIVE THEM WHEN THIS HAPPENS.  I WILL SAY SOME OF MY STUDENTS COULD EAT FORVER.  THIS IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE WHEN IT IS INSTRUCTIONAL TIME.  TEACHERS BECOME VERY CREATED WITH SNACKS VS. INSTUCTION.  I WAS CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT GOES ON IN THE LIFE OF SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN IN CANADA.  BELOW WILL EXPLAIN SOME OF THE THINGS GOING ON WITH CHILDREN IN CANADA.

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Perception | Volume 23, #4 (Spring 2000) School Food Programs: A good choice for children? by David I. Hay Introduction Food security is not assured for all Canadians. For a number of reasons, many families are unable to adequately meet their food needs. School food programs have been one response to this problem. But have school food programs been a sound response? What do we know about the delivery and outcomes of school food programs? Health Canada recently completed a three-phase review of school-based nutrition and feeding programs*. In Phase I, interviews were conducted with provincial government officials about existing programs within their jurisdictions. During Phase II, an analytic literature review was commissioned on the role of breakfast programs in contributing to children's mood, behaviour and ability to learn. This article is a condensed version of the work commissioned for Phase III of the project. The objective of this phase was to analyze whether school food programs are an appropriate social policy choice for children. Two questions guided the research: 1. Are school-based food programs a sound social policy response for children? 2. What role, if any, should the federal government assume in supporting these programs? Interviews with key informants and a review of relevant research literature were the two methods used. The research was conducted between November 1998 and February 1999. What are sound school food programs, and why are they needed? Generally, sound social programs are those with the following characteristics: developed in response to clearly defined needs designed to meet clearly articulated goals and objectives managed efficiently and effectively evaluated in terms of clear, direct and relevant program outcomes. Unfortunately, most school food programs lack one or more of these elements, making proper assessments difficult. In particular, the need for school food programs has not been adequately determined or demonstrated. School food programs have tended to be implemented in response to a fairly informal, and sometimes anecdotal, assessment of a school's or community's social and economic situation. Most school food programs began as a response to perceptions of hunger and inadequate nutrition among low-income children. Although the program goals are not always explicit, the implementation of school food programs is meant to reduce hunger and enhance nutrition among the particular population of children who are considered to be at risk of poor outcomes. Explicit goal statements of school food programs, however, usually refer to the delivery of the programs and not to enhancing health. One example of such a program is in British Columbia, where the government operates a school meal program throughout the province. This program was initiated in 1992 because the BC government recognized that hunger was a potential consequence of child and family poverty, and that hunger hindered child development. The overall purpose of the program "is to provide meals to students who come to school hungry." The objectives of the program are to "provide ... meals to children in need, promote a healthy school environment ... [and] promote nutrition education." The program criteria, purpose and objectives contain no statements about reducing hunger or enhancing nutrition. Because evaluations of programs usually assess outcomes in relation to program objectives, an examination of the contribution of school food programs to hunger reduction and nutrition enhancement may be inadvertently overlooked. Yet there is a real need to evaluate programs to assess their effectiveness in reducing hunger or enhancing nutrition. As school food programs have developed, their goals have shifted. Programs that were begun simply to feed children now try to address multiple goals such as nutritional adequacy for all children, nutritional education, positive socialization, school attendance, family time-stress, community mobilization, partnerships and social supports. One reason for this shift is that programs have been unable to demonstrate reductions in hunger and enhancements in nutrition. Hunger Hunger has been defined narrowly as physiological discomfort as a result of a lack of food, and it is defined more broadly as "the inability to obtain sufficient, nutritious, personally acceptable food through normal food channels or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so." If "the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways is limited or uncertain," then a condition called food insecurity exists. Hunger and food insecurity in Canada are primarily the result of family income insecurity. Family income insecurity puts children and adults at risk of a large number of negative outcomes, including ill health, stress, family violence, and illiteracy. From this review of school food programs, it would seem that they are an inadequate or inappropriate response to hunger in children for a number of reasons, including the following: Programs can only address a symptom - hunger - of one or more underlying problems. Typically, hungry children and their families use other means to alleviate hunger - such as food banks, relatives, neighbours - before using school food programs. Lack of data makes it very difficult to know, other than through anecdotes, what percentage of hungry children in any given school area participate in programs. The nutritional value of programs and of the food that is served may be inadequate. A lack of documentation means that there is insufficient evidence to measure the nutritional value. From a developmental perspective, hunger and undernourishment can have the most severe effects on preschool-aged children, rather than on school-aged children. Children not yet in school should probably be the priority recipients of food programs. Most programs are elementary-school based, thus disregarding youth. Most programs are based in schools rather than in other community facilities, so the food is available for only about half the year. All informants stated that they believed the government's number one priority should be to strengthen the ability of families to provide for their own children. This capacity building for families requires many elements, including job and income supports, work and time-stress supports (most importantly, adequate child care), nutrition education, affordable and accessible nutritious food, and neighbourhood and community services (such as pregnancy support and outreach, home visiting, early childhood education, and the like). Within these responses, school food programs could be one element in an overall strategy to alleviate hunger. They could be particularly useful as interventions with high-risk, poor children and communities. Many informants for this review feel strongly that hunger - and to some extent, nutritional adequacy - can be addressed only with additional monies for low-income families with children, at a cost of approximately $5,000 per hungry family. Increased employment opportunities and higher minimum wages could contribute to families' increased incomes but in some cases, for example when parents or children are ill or the family is led by one parent, increases in income support programs would also be required. Nutrition Some informants believe that there is a current or emerging "crisis" in nutrition (and therefore, a crisis in health) for a variety of reasons, including poverty, low education, lack of appropriate food choices, food insecurity, a lack of time, and gender issues (such as body image). Although research is lacking on the prevalence of hunger and inadequate nutrition, some informants see school food programs as part of an appropriate response to these conditions. They note that the fast food industry can create problems for families who have little time to shop and cook, and the choices available do not usually offer a balanced and nutritious diet. School food programs can allow families to bypass the fast food market. After the family, schools are considered to be the location of choice for delivering a food program because many of the social conditions that children face elsewhere are minimized or equalized in schools. Schools can provide a positive environment in which children can learn about appropriate nutrition and eat a nutritious meal. In addition to alleviating hunger, school food programs can introduce children to foods that they might otherwise never eat, and the programs can provide the children with a general education about food security and their place in the food system. Again, we do not have adequate information from evaluations or from other research in order to determine how, or even if, these outcomes are achieved. Dependency / Institutionalization / Professionalization The literature indicates that some school food programs appear to have created various forms of dependency. In some cases, programs have become an institutionalized response to a lack of money, time and, to a lesser extent, knowledge among families about how to prepare and deliver nutritious meals. This institutionalization of food delivery can also serve to depoliticize responses to community food issues, for example by encouraging people to concentrate on continuing a food program rather than tackling the underlying issues of food and income production and distribution. Some of the research on school food programs has argued that the professionalization of school food programs - evident in the hiring of staff, increased management and administrative activities, and fundraising - may indicate that a program is focussing more on its continued existence and less on program objectives like hunger reduction or nutrition enhancement. These researchers have concluded that, over time, program delivery objectives gain prominence over hunger reduction and nutrition-enhancement objectives. As mentioned earlier, it may be erroneous to equate the continued existence of a program with success, without examining the program outcomes. Sustainability Most school food programs depend on voluntary support for their existence. Because of this, programs vary widely, particularly in regard to food quality and safety. To ensure sustainability, program operators request more money or they concentrate some of their time on fundraising. An adequate and assured funding base, along with plans for the maintenance and succession of staff or volunteers, are central to a program's sustainability. Charity Charitable groups believe that they are contributing to community capacity by delivering programs to meet community needs. For a number of reasons, however, many informants said they are uncomfortable with charitable responses to social problems. Primarily, they view charitable responses as a sign that government priorities have shifted away from serving the broad public interest through the delivery of a basic necessity of life. As well, charitable programs tend to view vulnerable populations as being unable to help themselves. As a result, some informants suggest that charities contribute to the promotion of values that are the antithesis of equity, perpetuating a social system that fails to make more systemic, structural changes that would equalize opportunities for all citizens. Other informants feel that the time, energy, and resources generated by private charities should not be dismissed. These informants are concerned that in an era of decreased public sector initiatives and a focus by governments on sectoral partnerships, charities have filled a void in services by providing vital support. These informants believe that there can be dynamic and creative roles for charities as long as appropriate criteria are in place to guide their actions. Two criteria most frequently mentioned are transparency and accountability. There is also evidence that charities are unable to respond adequately to food insecurity, with the result being that Canadians are still going hungry. Food security / Food policy According to some commentators, ad hoc, band-aid attempts to alleviate hunger and enhance nutrition have been insufficient because they have been based on a food charity system that "does not have the capacity to address any of the deeper, structural issues that have created the conditions of poverty and hunger." In some jurisdictions, community/government partnerships are addressing broader issues of food security and food policy. Many informants feel that dialogue and action at this level would greatly benefit family and community health and that this is the most appropriate forum in which to assess the need for school food programs. Potential roles for the federal government A few of the informants interviewed for this study, particularly the provincial government representatives, gave a one-word answer when asked what role the federal government should have in the area of school food programs: none. Provincial officials recommended that the federal government restore federal transfer payments delivered under the CHST to their pre-1995 or earlier levels. They did not feel that designating any part of the CHST funding for food programs was workable, given the ongoing social union discussions and other federal/provincial/territorial initiatives. On the other hand, community and local or regional government representatives would like stronger federal involvement in this area. They believe that federal dollars are more readily available - at least currently - and potentially more sustainable than provincial government funding sources. These informants also believe that the federal government should take on the role of providing national leadership by setting standards for healthy child development, family food security, and school food programs, and by promoting ongoing collaboration with the provinces. Some informants would support the direct delivery of a broad-based food or nutrition program by Health Canada. Recommendations 1. Are school-based nutrition programs a sound social policy response for children? There doesn't seem to be a clear answer to this question, although the short answer is "No." Overall, the available evidence does not clearly demonstrate that school-based nutrition programs are a sound social policy response for children. More evidence is required to adequately assess the contribution these programs can make to alleviate hunger, enhance nutrition, and contribute to healthy child development, without creating any adverse consequences such as dependency or stigmatization. 2. What role, if any, should the federal government assume in supporting these programs? As a response to social program funding cuts, communities across Canada are examining school food programs as a potential solution to issues of hunger and inadequate nutrition. However, without adequate evidence, the federal government should not support further development of school food programs. The federal government should share conclusions from the three phases of research on school food programs commissioned by Health Canada with other provincial and community stakeholders. This could contribute to the development of additional research, with the following goals: Creating outcome targets and key indicators to better assess levels of hunger, nutrition, and food security among Canadians generally, and among children in particular. Building appropriate evaluation frameworks - including outcome targets and key indicators - to evaluate and assess current programs. Identifying, documenting and disseminating innovative approaches to food security. More broadly, the federal government can make a number of contributions to reduce hunger and enhance nutrition for Canadians within five existing elements of its mandate: Population Health; Healthy Child Development; Income Security; Food Security; and Social Policy Leadership. Population health and healthy child development provide the context and basis for priority policy directions in income security and food security. Social policy leadership is important to demonstrate federal commitment to these policy directions