Children and Parents Network

America's public school system was modeled after the training of the Prussian military and factory workers from the 1800's. There are many benefits to this type of education and it has provided us with a strong foundation upon which we can continue to build. Currently, we have tremendous resources and opportunities in our hands which are benefical in establishing effective educational methods for today's and future generations.

Change is necessary in order to keep up with the rapid pace of the world. The time has arrived for change, necessary change for the success of our children. Our children deserve to be taught what they are going to need to lead a successful and productive life as adults.

Children and Parents Network is dedicated to bringing you solutions to your concerns and to providing you with information concerning exactly what your child needs to be successful, productive and happy in life.

American children have outgrown the current format of education. Our children are the future leaders of the world and they need to be educated in an effective way. It is our responsibilty, as adults, to be honest with ourselves and in that honesty, seek to create solutions for our children. Knowlege is strength.

Jean Piaget (1898-1980) Switzerland

Piaget identified four main periods of intellectual development:
1- sensory motor period – age: birth - 2
2- preoperational period – age: 2 - 7
3- concrete operational period – age: 7 – 11 or 12
4- period of formal operations – age: 11 or 12 and on

As a child passes through these periods, he/she changes from an individual with little cognitive development who is dependent on the senses or motor activities to an individual capable of greater flexibility of thought and abstract reasoning.

What do all children need for self–realization as human beings?

This question motivated Maria Montessori throughout her life’s work with children and education. A student of anthropology, she was convinced that each person possesses a strong potential for fulfillment. During the early years of childhood, it is important to encourage the human potential to emerge and develop. The teacher has a strategic role: to encourage each child toward full self-realization.

“What really makes a teacher is love for the human child.”

Known as the father of “Progressive Education”. Dewey was a philosopher and educator with a vision and a strong sense of optimism and hope for the future of American education.

Dewey gave high priority to the interests of the child. He believed that learning is self-motivated, should be enjoyable and child centered. This philosophy gave children the freedom to develop and understand themselves in the context of the world around them; a practical education based on experience, participation and hands-on exercises. Active learning was the core of his philosophy – learning by living.

Children should be encouraged to investigate, experiment and discover those things that sparked their interests. They are given the opportunity to reach their own conclusions when participating in experiments that had a direct correlation to the world around them. Dewey believed effective education concerned itself with the relationship of the student to the environment and his/her society. He regarded education as the “continuing re-creation of experience.” Learning must lead to more learning – the process is never-ending.

Dewey’s method develops the full potential of each student. Dewey believed if children understood their own abilities and capacities through experience, as adults, they would become productive and stable members of society.

Dr. Gardner is the Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the author of 18 books, and highly respected for his most famous work, "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence". His latest books is Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds.

Since 1983 when Dr. Howard Gardner published the book, "Frames of Mind", the multiple intelligence theory became a tool for educators to better understand the learning process. Dr. Gardner’s work has helped teachers properly assess their student’s learning styles and create a learning environment to effectively meet the learning needs of their students. Dr. Gardner's work has had a profound positive impact on education, especially in America.

Dr. Gardner has been at Harvard University for the past 30 years. The conclusions drawn from his work about the nature of intelligence are logical and are grounded in the cognitive manner in which individuals relate to their environment. Assuming that "I.Q." testing is an accurate way to determine what intelligence is... or is not... amounts to a "one label fits all" mentality about intelligence. That mentality is naive to say the least and, quite frankly, just plain lazy.

Most people know who Albert Einstein was. He was perhaps the greatest thinking mind of the 20th century.. yet, Einstein failed math, was considered a dreamer and labeled a "looser". Obviously, Einstein's brillance was not recognized becuase it did not fall within the narrow scope of what educators considered "intelligence". That same naive mentality is the driving force behind the vast majority of America's public schools who have failed to embrace the Dr. Garnder's multiple intelligences.

In brief summary, Dr. Gardner has concluded that there are at least 8 intelligences by which people take in and process information in various ways. Each intelligence is of equal importance. Assessing and recognizing which of the multiple intelligences within an individual are strengths and which are weaknesses is vital to developing an educational format that allows an individual to learn and become a secure productive and educated individual.

* As research continues it may be evident that individuals possess more that 8 intelligences.

All children need a compass in life as they navigate their course to success. Understanding the foundation of their country is an important and key aspect each child needs in order to create the life of their dreams. An understanding of the vision of the Founding Fathers, which unites all of us as the American Culture, is necessary in order to appreciate our freedoms and the opportunities we have. Awareness of the American heritage provides our children with knowledge which empowers them to create solutions from which all of humanity can benefit.

THE IDEA THAT AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT TO DETERMINE THE KIND OF GOVERNMENT UNDER WHICH THEY LIVE IS A CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN GREATNESS

The continued success of America lies in the acceptance that there is a personal responsibility to live these cornerstones of freedom by each citizen.

It has been said the American greatness has been built upon three cornerstones:

1- The idea that any government should operate by the consent of the governed.

2- The idea that every person should have complete freedom of expression so long as he/she does not interfere with the rights of others.

3- The idea that all people should have equal opportunity under the government.

Each of these cornerstones is an idea. Ideas have been responsible for the development of America. Behind every important advancement is first a noble idea. Ideas are one of the most powerful things in the world: ideas can promote the greatest change for the benefit of the World.

The government of the United States of America has been looked upon as an example in the modern world - an example of something new and different. Actually, the idea was not new; but the concrete expression of that idea as set up here, was an effort of greater magnitude than had ever been tried anywhere else.

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"

The use of medication to curtail and/or modify attitude and behavior in children in America today, has by many experts, reached epidemic proportions. Parents are told, in many instances at 2 years of age that a son or daughter should be on medication so that they may properly relate in a classroom setting. This trend is alarming and as many experts now attest, the use of medication is an epidemic.

We at CPN wish to make parents aware of options and consequences. Parents ultimately make the decisions that effect their children. Below you will find an opinion by Dr. Samuel Epstein in a piece entitled, Can Ritalin Cause Cancer? Dr. Epstein explains the studies done on this readily prescribed medication. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Epstein explains what is known about the consequences of using this drug that have not been made public in a meaningful way. You decide for yourself.

Can Ritalin Cause Cancer?

Cancer Prevention Coalition
American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Treating Behavioral Disorders in Children with Ritalin Ignores Evidence of Cancer Risks warns Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
Chicago, 10/04/01. —

Based on an industry-funded multi-university trial on 282 pre-teen children treated with Ritalin for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), just published in Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed the use of the drug. However, the Academy ignores clear evidence of the drug's cancer risks of which parents, teachers and school nurses, besides most pediatricians and psychiatrists, still remain uninformed and unaware.

Some 40 years after the drug was first marketed by Ciba Geigy, carcinogenicity tests were conducted at the taxpayers expense by the National Toxicology Program, the results of which were published in 1995. Adult mice were fed Ritalin over a two-year period at dosages close to those prescribed to children. The mice developed a statistically significant incidence of liver abnormalities and tumors, including highly aggressive rare cancers known as hepatoblastomas. These findings are particularly disturbing as the tests were conducted on adult, rather than young mice which would be expected to be much more sensitive to carcinogenic effects. The National Toxicology Program concluded that Ritalin is a "possible human carcinogen" and recommended the need for further research. While still insisting that the drug is safe, the Food and Drug Administration admitted that these findings signal "carcinogenic potential" and required a statement to this effect in the drug's package insert. However, these inserts are not seen by parents or nurses.

The Physicians' Desk Reference admits evidence on the carcinogenicity of Ritalin, now manufactured by Novartis, qualified by the statement that "the significance of these results is unknown," apparently not recognizing that this is more alarming than reassuring. Apart from cancer risks, there is also suggestive evidence that Ritalin induces genetic damage in blood cells of Ritalin-treated children.

Concerns on Ritalin's cancer risk are more acute in view of the millions of children treated annually with the drug and the escalating incidence of childhood cancer, by some 35% over the last few decades, quite apart from delayed risks of cancer in adult life. These risks are compounded by the availability of alternative safe and effective procedures, notably behavior modification and biofeedback.

There is no justification for prescribing Ritalin, even by highly qualified pediatricians and psychiatrists, unless parents have been explicitly informed of the drug's cancer risks. Otherwise, prescribing Ritalin constitutes unarguable medical malpractice.

Contact: Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., emeritus Professor Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois School of Public Health, Chicago, and Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition, 2121 W. Taylor Street (MC 922), Chicago, IL 60612, phone 312-996-2297, fax 312-996-1374, email epstein@uic.edu

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