PSYC-290N Week 2 Course Project I: My Virtual Life – Raise A Child: Section 1-Infancy: 8 to 30 months

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PSYC290N Week 4: Course Project I: My Virtual Life— Raising a Child 1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty. My child has begun showing interest in the opposite sex, s... uch as classmates and celebrities. She also has been acting more feminine and seems to be more concerned with her appearance. I see this through her desire to wear makeup and interest in clothing styles. She also is frequently hanging out with her friends and going out to public places such as malls and parties. In addi- tion, she is becoming an avid user of a social media platform, which is typically inhabited by teenagers. 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? I would say that my child is still pretty resilient as she used to be. She is not nearly as aggressive as when she was an infant and she is still very cooperative. She is much more capable of focus- ing on tasks than she used to be and still demonstrates and interest in schoolwork. She is grow- ing more and more independent as she is going out on excursions with her friends. I do not feel that I need to be overprotective nor am I acting underproductive because I and her teachers and peers have observed my daughter to be a very responsible, cooperative, and respectful girl. Be- sides physical growth, I can tell some slight changes in her personality since preschool years. My daughter is becoming more concerned with her appearance than she used to be and is acting in ways that are considered more stereotypically feminine. I assume that this is due to puberty as well as some social influence from her peers. I surmise that many of her friends are starting to wear makeup and become interested in boys and thus has reflected in my daughter as well. 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? My daughter’s word reading, spelling and writing skills are strong. This correlates with my ob- servations as I have always known her to have impressive strengths and interests in these areas. Although I feel like she is too old for me to read books to her, I feel it is still beneficial to take her to the library and encourage her to read more advanced books than what is considered grade level to stimulate her critical thinking and enhance her vocabulary. She got A's in the gifted and talented English-Social Studies core course and in Spanish. The teacher commented that she was becoming very good at analyzing literature and was quite a good writer as well. My daughter has always been proficient in English and literature. I think that her strengths and skills in these areas were able to overlap in subject of Spanish as well. I also think her curiosity helped her to do well in Spanish since she was probably curious to learn about the language of a different cul- ture other than her own. She got C's in 7th grade Math and Science. The teacher thought that she could do better with some tutoring and more studying. I know math has always been her weak- est subject although I know that she has the ability to improve since she has done so before. I believe it is best for me to encourage her to go to after school tutoring or ask the teacher for help so that she can gain a better understanding of the concepts. I am surprised about her C in science since she has always done well in this area before. However, will encourage her to go to tutoring for this subject as well. I may also consider signing her up for some science related classes for activities over the summer so that she can learn and possibly develop an interest or curiosity in this subject again. My daughter took art in 7th grade as an option, and got an A. The art teacher wrote a note attached to the report card that said this was a real area of strength for her. I am not surprised by this since she has always demonstrated strength in her visual and spacial abilities, even as a young child. I speculate that this was due her always playing with puzzles, painting, and building things. I would want to encourage to engage in these same sorts of activities but at a more complex level, so that she can deepen her skill sets in this area. 4. What activities and experiences at ages 12 and 14 has your teen been involved in that might promote healthy behavioral practices, physical fitness and skill in sports? My daughter has tried out for the high school softball team and made it. She is developing a sense of seriousness and competitiveness about it and learning the rules. She seems to be enjoy- ing this activity and it is helping her to make friends and stay active. It is also helping her to learn how to work in a team for a common goal. 5. Have there been any changes in your teen's behavior toward you or your partner? Why are these occurring and how are you responding? I do not think that there have been any noticeable changes. My daughter occasionally gets upset and becomes cranky or gives me the silent treatment. This is mainly occurs when we have dis- cussions about areas of conflict like bedtime, chores, curfew, clothing choices, music choices, etc. However, other than that, we get along pretty well like we used to. I think it is normal at the teen age to get into disagreements with your child as long as you are able to come to a resolution and it does not get too out of hand. I think the reason that these argumentative discussions are occurring is because she is a growing teenager and is trying to develop a sense of independence while still living in her family’s household. In addition, her brain and body are still developing, so she has not fully matured her sense of reason, therefore it is only natural that there may be some disagreements between us. 6. Do you see any examples of how cognitive and physical changes in early adolescence (ages 12-14) relate to your teen's social or emotional behavior? I can tell that there are definitely some cognitive and physical changes that are occurring. My daughter recently exhibited a Stage 3 Heinz dilemma in Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Develop- ment. This occurred when some choir students were caught in the act of stealing while on a field trip. My daughter knew that this was a wrong because the students were letting down their parents and coaches. Although she did not take into account the lawful consequences and legali- ties of society, I am happy that she is at least developing a sense of morality from an emotional aspect. She has also started developing and interest in boys and has been going out on dates. I do not have a problem with this as long as she stays in a group and contacts me to let me know how she is. 7. Think about your teen's cognitive strengths and weaknesses and how they are reflected in his or her school grades and activities from 14-16 years of age. What careers or courses of study might be best suited to your teen's abilities and interests? My daughter is very good at English, languages, and anything that involves creativity. I can tell this not just because of her grades, but also in the was she speaks and discusses things. Because of this, I think a career as an author or journalism would be very beneficial to her. This would al- low her to use her creativity and her talent as a writer to discuss things she is passionate about. She received a B in math and physics. Although this was not as high as her other grades, I do not think this is a problem since she does not a very strong interest in this area nor was it ever her strongest subject in the past. 8. How important have your teen's relationships with peers been to his/her social development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-16 years of age? I think my daughter is doing fine in terms of making friends and developing a social circle. She has been attending parties, taking trips, and being involved in school events. I think this is bene- ficial as it is helping her to be comfortable in social environments and become more independent. I think that overall, her relationships have been positively affecting her emotional well being and school achievements. Since she is doing very well in school, I don’t think the relationships that she has made have had a bad impact on her when it comes to schooling. Overall, she is very sta- ble emotionally with minimal arguments at home. 9. How has your teen adjusted at 14-16 years of age to typical adolescent issues such as risk-tak- ing, drugs, alcohol, and sexual interests, and how have you responded to your teen? There has been a scenario where I had to deal with this issue with her. One night I picked her up from a party and she had the smell of alcohol on her breath. The next morning, she seemed to be hungover. I decided it was best to start discussing the dangers of underage drinking and have been providing her with examples of how this is very detrimental behavior. She has also been dating someone for 2 months and has said that she’s in love. This has me at some concern that she may be having sex. I told her the reasons why I think she may be a little young and ex- plained the importance of maturity when it comes to these types of relationships. I try to teach her good moral values when it comes to these types of situations. 10. As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier development? Describe some spe- cific ways in which you think your parenting mattered for your child's development, based on evidence from the course regarding the contributions of parents to child development. I believe that my daughter has had a very good stimulation in all areas of development. I had al- ways encouraged her to participate in the things she was interested so that she can develop things that she is passionate about. She has been developing these aspects as a very young age. When she was a small child, she enjoyed solving puzzles, reading books, exploring, and playing with her peers. As her conversation skills developed we begun to talk about morality and ethics, and she demonstrated a clear sense of judgement. I could have predicted what person my daughter would grow to be. I think this is due to the fact that my parenting style was consistent from the time she was an infant until now. In addition, her personality and temperament did not change much since she was a toddler. I think I practiced authoritative and always tried to be reasonable and rationally and I think that it affected her positively. I tried to be responsive and provide a safe space to come and talk if she was ever feeling stressed. I also set certain rules such as al- ways go out with a group of people and calling me ever so often ever she went out. I think these rules were necessary so that my daughter can grow into a responsible person and so I can ensure her safety. 11. Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be influenced by factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental events or the general influ- ence of contemporary middle-class American culture. My daughter has been drunk a few times after parties. I have a feeling that these instances were mostly due to peer pressure, since I had always told her about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. I did not want to prevent my daughter from go ing out and having fun, yet I felt that this was out of my control since I was unable to prevent my daughter from succumbing to peer pressure. I think general influences of contemporary middle-class American culture are that my daughter was very interested in material/consumer things such as clothing. Clothing was a very important part of her identity and it was important for her so that she could fit in with her peer group. My daughter also demonstrated instances where she was very insecure about her beauty and appear- ance. She seemed to have a specific standard of beauty in mind that probably results from the American cultural consumerism always trying to make girls feel that they need to buy more things so that they can be accepted. 12. Bonus Question: Are there any issues you had with your parents, your school work, your friends, or your romantic involvements in the last year of high school that continued to be issues for you in college? Reflect on your own personality, interests and cognitive abilities at the time you graduated high school. How did these personality characteristics and abilities manifest them- selves in subsequent years? How have they changed since your high school days, if at all? I didn’t have a ton of issues with my parents, but we did have the occasional argument about chores and other minor things. I continued to have minor arguments with parents in college, but they did seem to be less often than in high school. My school work has always been pretty con- sistent. I have always stayed on top of my homework and I continued to excel at the subjects I was good at in high school in college as well. The subjects that were more difficult for me in high school still gave me some trouble in college. I did not have a relationship with anyone in high school. I was always a relatively good student in high school. I was quiet in class but I was always to make friends and find my niche. This followed me into college. To this day, I still re- main mostly quiet in class but I am not lacking in a social environment. I think I have grown more independent since my high school days since I do not rely on my parents as much and they do not monitor me as closely as they did in high school. [Show More]

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