The study attempted to evaluate the levels of cognitive skills of kindergarten children attending day care, and the apparent growth of cognitive skills over a period of time, using published tests as instruments of measurement. An informal evaluation of the tests was made. The review of literature presented three points of view regarding approaches to the development of cognitive skills. An analysis of the data, using t-tests, was carried out and conclusions were stated. Implications of the study were made, and questions concerning the growth of cognitive skills of kindergarten children attending day care centres were raised. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis examines the theories of some recent affective* literary critics in the light of James Britton's theory of language and learning. Until recently, literary criticism generally has not been concerned with the relationship between the text and the reader; it has concerned itself either with the poem as a static verbal object, as in New Criticism, or with the writer-text relationship, as in biographical criticism. With the neglect of the text-reader relationship, the study of literature has also ignored a basic aesthetic principle -- that the relationship between a work of art and its percipient is a dynamic interaction where 'ordinary' experience cannot be separated from aesthetic experience. Chapter I delineates this principle proposed primarily by John Dewey, whose theory is complemented by those of R.G. Collingwood, Susanne Langer, and George Kelly. Chapter II identifies and examines the recent theories of seven literary critics who discuss the 'affective' relationship between the reader and the text -- Norman Holland, Standly Fish, Roland Barthes, Wolfgang Iser, Georges Poulet, Wayne Booth, and Walter Slatoff. Two ideas emerge which are related to the aesthetic principle espoused by John Dewey and others: 1) our aesthetic responses to literature are natural extensions of our mundane selves; and 2) literature as art is still a linguistic utterance, and as such is related to other ordinary kinds of language use. But these ideas are rudimentary and fragmented and there is a need for a more general theory to integrate them. James Britton's theory of language in Chapter III, contained mainly in his book Language and Learning, provides a structure which subsumes these fragmented ideas so that a perspective can be gained on this new criticism. Britton puts forth the view that literature is a manifestation of man's linguistic activity in what he calls the 'spectator role*. This theory integrates the critical ideas arising out of Chapter II and also places literature in a new perspective with other of man's spectator role activities, both linguistic (gossip, personal letter-writing) and non-linguistic (play, dream, fantasy, ritual). Britton points to the importance of spectator role activities in personal development. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

This investigation studied children's attitudes toward play and their play behavior when engaged in free play on their school playground. Subproblems of this study attempted to determine if there were differences in free play on school playgrounds when considering the variables of; 1. sex, 2. grade, 3. school and 4. sex within each grade. In addition, the compatibility of the questionnaire-interview technique with the observed behavior technique was assessed. Three hundred and thirty-nine grade one, two and three children served as subjects for this study. Two techniques were utilized for data collection; 1. a questionnaire-interview, and 2. observations. The questionnaire interview assessed: children's desire to play, reasons for playing, favorite time to play, favorite spot to play, play behaviors and the type of equipment children use. The observations assessed: children's favorite spot to play and children's play behaviors. The conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. The questionnaire-interview and observation techniques can be successfully utilized to determine selected attitude and behaviors of children. 2. Children play on their school playground because there are fun things, they can socialize (children play with friends who are generally their own age) and because of pleasant feelings. 3. The school playground is mainly used during school hours. 4. Females were more likely to choose an activity because it was fun while the males chose an activity because they could use it in a game. 5. Children's choices of activities and equipment were comparable. 6. Males use the playing field more while females use the blacktop area more - often. 7. Children preferred high energy activities with medium and high energy activities increasing in preference with increases in grade. 8. The equipment area is used most often with both sexes and each of the grades making equal use of it. 9. The males and females showed preferences in play behaviors. 10. Males perform high energy activities more than females who perform medium and low energy activities more than males 11. Grades one, two and three children have different play behaviors. 12. The activities children said they preferred were actually what they were seen doing. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of hyper-kinesis and family stress. The relevant family stress and hyperkinesis literature is reviewed. Research suggests that families containing a hyperkinetic child experience stress due to the possible lack of coping resources. Using both standardized measures and non-structured clinical interviews and observations, the coping efficiency and coping resources of five families were studied. The variables examined included parent self-concept, child-rearing attitude, family adaptability and cohesion, marital communication and parent anxiety. It was hypothesized that parents of hyperkinetic children would perceive themselves as having low self-concept, more autocratic child-rearing attitudes, poor marital communication and high anxiety. They would perceive their families as enmeshed and highly structured, and as having a depletion of coping resources. In addition to these hypotheses, a number of secondary research questions were examined. Differences between mother and father scores, and the effects of SES and the sex of child, and the family rules, alliances and triangles, on family coping were explored. Evidence of hyperactivity in the extended family was also examined. The results of the study suggest that families with hyperkinetic children lack coping resources, especially in the area of internal strengths. The families tended to perceive themselves as being disconnected and structured, and as having poor communication patterns. Parents did perceive themselves as having average self-concept, low anxiety, more democratic child-rearing attitudes and as successfully managed family life. Although the aforementioned trends were evident in the sample population, the study had a number of limitations. The sample consisted of volunteers who were found to be abnormal specimens due to SES and their membership in parenting group for parents of hyperactive children. The instrument used to assess the level of stress in the family did not accurately measure this variable. Finally, the reliance on paper and pencil measures for the data was found to be a limitation. The results from these measures were consistently contradicted by the nonstandardized measures. Further research should be done to determine the generalizability of the results of this study. Areas of concentration should be on determining more specific areas of resource deficiency, causes of marital communication problems and the impact of stress on the family sub-systems. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Whenever adults speak about children or make plans for them, their actions are based largely on assumptions about what constitutes the nature of a child and what a child's place in society is. Often forgotten is the fact that these assumptions are shaped by both time and circumstance, and have gone through considerable change in the history of the western world. This thesis attempts to provide a .broad background out of which teachers, curriculum developers, and those involved in * child study' can reflect upon their assumptions about childhood. While the approach is primarily historical, the work is not meant to be a chronological tracing so much as a highlighting of themes in history thought to have a bearing on current debates. In general, the themes include such matters as child sacrifice, infanticide, and aspects of child rearing practice prior to the Renaissance, as well as views of the child emerging from debates about human nature discussed through the intellectual formulations of Renaissance humanism, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the rise of Science. In 'antiquity', infanticide, child sacrifice, and the exposure of infants were often related to concerns about property and an assumption that children and adults somehow shared different natures. The writings of the Church Fathers, particularly concerning baptism, witnessed a movement stressing the existential equality of old and young. The humanist revival beginning in the late Middle Ages saw a powerful linking of ancient classical education with religious piety, such that the child became increasingly an object of pedagogical concern. For the humanists, education would mean an enriched awareness of providential design as well as a more civilized society. For the reformers the ultimate lesson for the child was to understand man's utter dependence on divine graciousness. As such, reformation views of the child often became overlaid with strong moral intent. With the Enlightenment and the rise of Science came a gradual demystification and secularization of human endeavour such that discussions of man's nature and destiny were carried on without the former classical and theological referents, those being replaced with a concern for natural law, rationalism and the inevitability of human progress. Within this context, childhood was viewed as a time of construction (Locke) and/or a time of natural innocence (Rousseau). Beginning with Darwin, a definite 'scientific' value is assigned to childhood whereby as an isolable entity the child becomes an object fit for empirical study. Within the modern context, studies of childhood suffer from narrowness of methodological vision. What is called for is a more holistic understanding of human life. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Introduction: Although global prevalence of anemia has decreased from 1990 to 2010, children under 5 years remain as the only age group to have an increase. Large differences in the prevalence of anemia have been reported according to the area of residence (urban and rural) and geographic level. This could be due to differences in access to health services, adherence to treatment, social factors, among others. Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the determinants of the difference in anemia prevalence across the urban and rural areas and its spatial distribution in infants aged 6 to 59 months in Peru in 2019. Methods: We will conduct a quantitative, cross-sectional analytical study based on the secondary analysis of the 2019 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Our sample will be made up of children from 6 to 59 months with complete data for the variables of interest. Anemia will be defined as the presence of hemoglobin <11 g / dL adjusted for altitude. Multivariate decomposition analysis for non-linear response models will be employed in STATA 16.0, in order to know the determinants of the difference in anemia between urban and rural areas. Moreover, the spatial analysis will be performed in ArcGIS 10.8 and SaTScan 9.6. We will do a choropleth map about regional anemia prevalence. In addition, we will determine global Moran’s I, Kriging interpolation and SatScan cluster analysis.

A research Report submitted to the faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Health in the field of Rural Health Johannesburg, June, 2017. / Introduction: Knowing the burden of severe malaria in children and the predictors of outcomes for children with severe malaria would help to put up interventions that would reduce the risk of poor outcomes and promote survival. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of outcomes for the children with severe malaria admitted at Mchinji district hospital, in Malawi. Methods: This was a cross sectional study and 201 randomly sampled files of children admitted to Mchinji district hospital with severe malaria in 2013 and 2014 were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to predict outcomes for the children with severe malaria. Results: During the study period there were 2603(N) children admitted with severe malaria. A sample of 202 (n) files for children admitted with malaria was randomly selected, and 201(n) were included in the final analysis. The majority of the children were under the age of five years 155 (78.3%), 106 (53.5%) were male, with 147 (73.1%) being self-referrals and 54 (26.9%) health centre referrals. Fever was the most common presenting complaint, 177 (88.1%), while 76 (37.8%) had convulsions and 58 (28.9%) had vomiting. All patients were treated as per Malawi National Malaria Control Program treatment guidelines. The outcomes of the children were either discharged home alive, died, missing (referred to a specialised unit, or absconded from hospital). The case fatality rate was 7.5%. Of the children that died 11 (73.3%) were children under the age of five years and 9 (60%) were children referred from the health centre. Children who were referred from the health centres were more likely to die than children who were self referred by guardians from their homes [OR=4.84 1.63-14.35] Conclusion and Recommendations: The study found that being referred from health centre, presenting with unconsciousness, long stay in hospital and receiving LA in the course of treatment are predictors of outcomes in children admitted with severe malaria. The predictors are a combination of patient and health systems factors that influence delay in accessing prompt treatment for malaria in general. Therefore, there is need to improve patient care right from home and in the hospital with special attention on the patient referral system. Further research on community and health system factors to improve the system for caring of children with malaria may be required. / MT2017

No description available.

No description available.