Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Assignment 9

1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty.

There are some very obvious signs of physical changes with Sky concerning her puberty stage.  For one she isn’t really the taller lengthy girl anymore and is starting to fill out more in the hips and also in other places that I would rather not mention.  Other signs of Sky hitting that incipient stage of puberty is her general mood swings, sometimes for no apparent reason Sky is cranky and moody, another tall tale sign is her new found interest in boys and the comment “I’m too fat” which tells me that her body is simply changing and she doesn’t want to feel as if she is not attractive.  Sky seems to be having the normal signs of the inevitable puberty stage,

 

2. How would you characterize your child at this point in terms of the under-controlled, over-controlled or resilient categories? Have there been any changes since the preschool period and why might they have occurred?

Sky is still a very resilient child, she is coping very well with all the new changes that she is going through at this stage in her life.  She is for the most part able to bounce back from every change that I make her go through, her mother makes her go through, school, and the general stage of puberty.  The only thing that she is having a hard time adjusting too right now is her feelings towards my girlfriend, and her mothers boyfriend.  I believe this to be a very typical emotion for a child her age and will just wait to see how she grows out of it.  For the most part though Sky is a very strong willed child and has been able adjust too anything that is put in front of her and that’s why I placed my child under the resilient categories.  There really hasn’t been any changes that come to mind since Sky’s preschool age.

 

3. Using the 7th grade report card and your own observations, summarize your child’s academic skills at this point. What specific activities might promote some of these skills? 

Well this report card was good and bad, Sky once again received good grades in English, Social Studies, Spanish, Reading, Spelling, and Writing skills.  Sky has always been strong in the above categories but it seems we have back tracked a little in regards to Sky’s math skills.  I truly believe part of the problem with Sky’s math skills is that she always has a bad attitude towards it.  Her last report card showed improvement but then I got this one and am a little disappointed.  Sky received a “C” in math class and we are definitely going to work on her attitude when it comes to math and I already made the decision to enroll her in after school tutoring.  Sky got a “B” in science but Sky enjoys science and I think with a little bit of support she can bring that back up to an “A”.  The only activity I can think of that will help Sky with her math is playing a game like monopoly and teaching her about financing and the aspect of money.  Ultimately she will need more than this to improve her math skills but it’s a start.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Assignment 8

1. Describe your child’s academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how well these skills are developing. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. What are you doing to help your child?

I think I am very fortunate with my virtual child, Sky has done nothing but continuously improve in the academic areas. Sky’s current report card stated strengths in reading, spelling, writing, speaking, and listening.  Sky has also been reported as average in the areas of math, graphical applications, arithmetic computation, art and music.  This makes me extremely happy because Sky has struggled all the time with math, I think it had a lot to do with her attitude as much as the understanding aspect of it.  I think that my strategy has finally paid off with Sky, for example Sky would get frustrated with certain math problems and instead of me just doing the problem for her I would have her refer back to example problems and try to figure it out.  When Sky would become too frustrated that’s when I would step in and assist her.  The process seems to have finally paid off, I cant take all the credit though because Sky is a very intelligent individual and is going to do very well in 6th grade.

 

2. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?

Sky is a very popular person at school and has a lot of friends, very rarely do we have behavior problems with Sky and when we do she seems to recover very quickly.  On occasion Sky has been known to act out in stressful situations but liked I mentioned earlier seems to come out of it quickly.  I think that it is extremely normal for a child to act out every once in a while, me as a parent haven’t really done much of anything about it because it is not a major issue right now.  If it were to become an issue at any time I would take Sky back to the basics of how to act in public and focus on proper manners and how to control emotions.

 

3. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood.

I don’t feel that my parenting style has changed at all since Sky was in preschool, the only thing that has changed is me and my partner are know longer together.  By me stating that my parenting style hasn’t changed doesn’t mean I haven’t had to adapt to new methods of ensuring my child’s education.  That is the only example I can think of, what I mean by that is since I receive report cards about my child’s learning abilities I am able to see where Sky needs some help, so when I notice Sky is lagging in math I can change my methods on how I begin to get her interested in that particular subject.  The only example from the text that I can think of that involves my parenting ways is Erikson’s theory on Industry VS. inferiority.  The way I changed my parenting style as mentioned above goes along with industry, because I promote a positive learning environment with Sky and work on making her feel confident in skills she is lacking on.  For example as mentioned above with the math problems and according to Sky’s report card she is doing better and too me that proves that Sky is becoming confident and more proficient at math.

 

 

Friday, October 24, 2008

Assignment 7

1.How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child's verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist's report at age 8 years, 11 months.

Just a quick recap on Sky’s scores from age 6 are as follows she shows strengths in reading, writing, speaking, listening, social studies, and science.  Sky is average in math and problem solving, but lacking in spatial and number concepts.  At the age of 8 Sky is doing excellent in vocabulary, Sky is below average in math and for some reason doesn’t have much of an interest in it other than multiplication tables, Sky is still lacking in spatial and I have know idea how to fix that, Sky has recently become excited about music and began playing the flute, and Sky is still very outgoing and active in sports such as cheerleading but we are starting to notice that Sky is more into the social aspect of the sport rather than the athleticism. 

 2. Describe some examples of your child's behavior or thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e.g., cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc.)?

 First of all I think it is important to explain my thoughts on “typical American gender roles”.  I was raised with a very open minded way of thinking.  My parents always promoted that it didn’t matter if you were a man or a women as long as you could do the job as well as the person standing next to you.  I very much believe in this theory however I am a strong believer that it is wrong to hire a person just to fill a quota, for example hire a man as a nurse because you don’t have too many male nurses, or hire a women to be a firefighter because you don’t have enough female employee’s.  If you can do the job then so be it, now when it comes to Sky one example that pops in my head that run along the typical gender roles is, Sky is a cheerleader and as far back as I can remember only women were cheerleaders.  Sky also plays the flute which to me screams feminine.  I thinks Sky does these two things because she feels most accepted by these activities due to gender role socialization.  When you thin cheerleader the first thing that pops in my head is cute popular girls, not buff men.  When I think of the flute I think of a soothing sound which I associate with being a female artist.  One role that Sky has taken that is a little masculine is playing sports with boys and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that either.  I believe whatever makes your child happy is the best thing for them.

 3. How might your child's development have been different if s/he was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures.

 My child’s development would have been way different for example, in German cultures the infants show considerably more avoidant attachment due to the fact that German parents encourage independence and don’t want there kids to be clingy.  That too me sounds insane, I want to be there all the time for my child and want to give my child the sense of trust and the ability to rely on me as the parent.  I know with Sky, she sometimes gets moody when I don’t show her enough attention and she relies on me a lot when she needs help.  If she was brought up in a German culture she would be much different in the above categories.  Another example is Tribal and Village culture, in this culture kids are taught little to know schooling and primarily focus on adult work and conversation.  For one Sky can’t even take care of the chores she is given at home so I think there is obviously a big difference there, another huge difference in her development would have been her education.  Right now Sky is in 3rd grade and she is already reading at a 5th and 6th grade level.  If she had been brought up in a culture where school was not considered a priority, her development would be like night and day.  I believe those are a few drastic examples of how Sky’s development would be different if she was raised by another culture.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Assignment 6

1.     How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home?  Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point?  Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?

 Sky is adapting very well in social situations right now, in the home Sky is becoming helpful and seems to be doing great, the only information I have regarding Sky outside of the home came from her report card and it had nothing but great things to say about Sky.  In school Sky has been working very cooperatively with groups, usually respects rights and property of others, usually demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction, listens attentively and follows directions, and usually follows classroom rules.  Sky seems to be doing ok with emotional issues right now, which is good because me and my partner just split up and Sky seems to be handling the situation just fine.  However Sky has had a few behavior problems that seemed to have popped up out of know where, Sky has been cheating in games lately.  I’m not too sure where she got the idea to cheat.  I think she is still a little too young to understand the morals behind cheating, Sky has know problem when it comes to knowing what is right and wrong. I truly think that Sky got the idea to cheat by simply understanding that a game is played to win and she wants to win, now that she is getting older she is becoming more and more sufficient in figuring things out.  So with that in mind I think she just figured out she can cut some corners in order to win.  Currently I am focusing on explaining to Sky that cheating is not right and if she continues to do it know one will want to participate in games with her.

 2.     Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4?  Give specific examples.  Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do. 

  Sky is becoming more and more efficient in her language abilities, Sky seems to be improving every time I get a progress report regarding her speaking, reading, and writing skills.  For example Sky has been reading a lot of books ever since I can remember, whether it was me reading it too her or her being able to read it herself.  Sky is now in first grade and I made the decision to go ahead and buy her some new books that were above her reading level, and now Sky is reading books at a second grade level.  I am very proud of her, I’m hoping that all the reading she has been doing is going to pay off in the long run.  That is one example of an improvement but unfortunately I have an example of Sky needing some special attention with cognitive learning.  When Sky was 4 I got a progress report stating that Sky’s cognitive skills are lacking in the area of copying designs, solving picture puzzles and building block towers.  Since that report card Sky hasn’t really had much improvement since the report card stated that she required some additional support in the areas of spatial understanding and visual arts, which reflects the problems I stated above.  I am a little confused on how to fix this problem since I have been dealing with it for some time now, but I do have some ideas.  I plan on taking some time to sit down with sky and trying to put some puzzles together, study some picture books with certain designs, and maybe even buy a little doll house that we can put together.  By putting a doll house together it might give sky the basic understanding of looking at something and then trying to make all the pieces fit together in order for it to turn into a doll house.  Those are just some ideas that I have been thinking over but who knows if that will have the desired effect, on a good note though Sky is developmentally appropriate in math now and when she was 4 she wasn’t really up to speed in that category. 

 3.     Which aspects of your child’s behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior and which seem to be novel for this age level?

 Sky has tons of great aspects about her, she is such a fun loveable person that seems to surprise me all the time.  One of Sky’s behavior traits that has been very continuous is how sociable she is.  Sky was a little shy when she was like 2 yrs. old, but grew out of that stage and has continuously been very sociable and liked by many.  This is very good for her age level because she is now at the point where she needs to be sociable and be able to interact with others in an appropriate way, and from the information that I have gathered Sky seems to be right where she needs to be regarding her social skills and seems to be very consistent in this category.  Her social skills also seem to play a big role in her personality, Sky has been considered a leader for quite some time now.  Sky’s personality is awesome sometimes she can be a little brat but that’s to be expected.  When she was younger around 3 years old we started teaching her the difference between right and wrong, with those skills being taught Sky has the basic understanding of how to treat people.  Once again Sky is at that age where she needs to understand the appropriate way to behave when it comes to the rules and how she is to present herself while around others and with that information at hand Sky is doing well for her age when it comes to interacting with others and being able to follow rules at home and in the education setting. 

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Assignment 5

1. How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences? 

I would characterize my parenting style in a few words; loveable, reasonable, trustable, and Caring.  I have a few things specific parenting techniques that have changed since Sky was an infant.  One is I have eased up a lot about the germ factor with children, when Sky was younger she was getting sick all the time and I was trying to shelter her a little so she wouldn’t get sick so often but now I am constantly trying to invite Sky’s little friends over for play time.  Another technique is hard to explain, but I just kind of go with the flow now.  I’m not really too stressed out about Sky not being able to build blocks as well as other kids, in the beginning I was very concerned about every below average grade that Sky received, but what I have come to realize is that kids learn at different paces and I have lightened up a little on hammering Sky in certain categories that she is struggling with.  Although I still want her to improve, I just approach it with less urgency.  I truly feel that I am raising Sky just as my parents raised me when I was growing up, I try to provide a loving happy home for Sky and I encourage Sky to have a lot of family time because I feel family is the most important thing in the world.  My cultural background plays part in every decision I make with Sky, I only know the things I know today because of the culture, morals, and ethics I was taught.  Sky is going to be the next generation and I want nothing more than to guide her the proper way through life, that is how cultural background has played its role in my parenting decisions. 

 2. Describe two specific examples of changes in your child’s behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e.g., improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind).

One example of change Sky has encountered is the arrival of her new sister.  Sky has been having behavioral changes off and on since the new baby came, at certain points Sky is more moody, acts like an infant, talks like an infant, and is more testy.  I believe this is Sky’s way of symbolic thinking, Sky sees her little sister cry and immediately one of the parents tends to the babies need’s.  With that in mind Sky has symbolic thinking in effect, what I mean by this is sky associates crying with receiving attention, so in Sky’s mind crying symbolizes the need for attention.  The second change in Sky’s behavior is how she conducts herself while in public places.  Every time we would take Sky out for dinner she would act up in the restaurant, yet now that she is in school her report showed that she was cooperative and understood the rules.  It seems that Sky is getting a better knowledge of the world and how it works, her mind is finally grasping the concept of rules.  By Sky being able to understand rules and why they are in place, shows me that she is getting a better grasp on the knowledge of the world.  

 3. How would you characterize your child’s personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument.

Sky’s personality is pretty awesome, she is extremely talkative and can hold conversations well for the most part.  She helps out a lot with the new baby even though she has her moments of acting out.  She is easy going for the most part and seems to be more sociable now than she was when she was younger.  She isn’t to testy on the rules and for the most part stays out of trouble.  Sky is becoming more independent by the day and loves animals, books, and out door activities.  If I had to call Sky anything it would be resilient because she has a good attitude even when being disciplined, she seems to listen to what you have to say and then makes an effort to correct the problem.  She recovers from the situation and understands that she needs to change the way she is acting, for example when Sky acts out at sit down restaurants I would explain to her what behavior I expected and that she needed to change her attitude right away or we would be leaving, and usually she would change her behavior.  Another example of how resilient Sky is, when we had the new baby and Sky seemed to be acting out, my partner and I would spend more alone time with Sky away from the baby and with that little act Sky seemed to turn around quickly and actually start helping out with the child instead of making a difficulty situation worse by continuing to act out.