I chose my general topic as child development. I chose this very broad topic because even though I have a lot of knowledge about this topic there is more that I need to learn. Child development really plays an important part in my current job as a Program Supervisor/ Education Coordinator at an Early Head Start program. As I was thinking about child development, I began to think about all the different factors that influence or affect the child’s development. I have come up with three subtopics that I feel really relate to child development. The first one is the family’s socio-economic status in society and how it can affect different parts of child development either positively or negatively. The second one is the relationship or the attachment a child has with their parents and how that can influence the child’s development especially in the social-emotional domain. The last subtopic is having siblings versus having no siblings and how that can affect child development especially the social-emotional domain with regards to relationships.
After much thought and consideration I have decided on the subtopic of how siblings can affect children’s social-emotional development with regard to relationship building with siblings and other children. I choose the subtopic on siblings because it can be directly related to what I currently do in Early Head Start. I am always trying to learn about how different factors affect the child’s development. I can also relate to this topic on a personal level as well. I am a middle child and also a mother of three young children. I have seen that certain factors influence each child differently. I anticipate that researching this topic will help with current families I am serving in Early Head Start and will help me come up with different techniques to work with families. I feel that understanding this topic will help me better understand where certain families are coming from and let me see them from a different angle. I also feel that it will help me on a personal level as a mother of three to see my own children’s development in a different light and help determine what influences their development.
I know that growing up as a middle child had its advantages and disadvantages. My older sister would always talk for me so I didn’t really start using language to communicate until much older in my childhood. My siblings and I have a very close relationship. I am seeing familiar situations with my own children as I remember growing up with my own siblings. I have often wondered how having siblings affect social-emotional development and also language development. I wonder how many colleagues have shared the same experiences or have seen them in their own children.
Some of the main resources I like to use are the Zero to Three Website: http://www.zerotothree.org/, National Head Start Association: http://www.nhsa.org/, and also Walden’s library. I am always looking for different resources so if anyone wants to share ones that they find valuable please feel free to post a comment.
Alison,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting topic! Birth order and siblings do seem to influence social/ emotional development to a point, so I can’t wait to read your future posts. I believe our Military Family and Life Consultant has provided a parent training on sibling rivalry I will ask her where if she knows of good places to find information. Good luck with your research.
Sondi
Alison,
ReplyDeleteI love your topic! I had conversation with my husband today about birth order and the responsibility of the children when they become grown ups. For example, I am the oldest child so I had a very strict upbringing and was placed in a more responsible role at an early age. My husband was the baby or youngest child and was not expected to contribute much to the family. His upbringing was laid back and his parents were more permissive with him.
I have 3 children that fascinate me so your topic brought to mind them. I have often heard that the middle child often walks to the beat of their own drum and this is so true with my son,Jonathon. He is a free spirit/spontaneous/ will not conform/true to himself male! Great post, I can't wait to read more!
Alison,
ReplyDeleteThere are so many areas of child development that I think you will learn a great deal of information. I can't wait to see what you come up with birth order because I am the oldest and I have caught myself talking for my sister. I wonder if this has effected her develpment. Can't wait to read your post through out this course.
Hi Alison,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post. I have three children and my middle child seems to be the one who's always trying to find his place within the three. My oldest is the independent leader while my youngest is the "baby" of the group. I have read many studies in relation to middle children and I must say that many of the research findings have valid points. I look forward to your research findings on child development.
Sondi ~ That would be wonderful. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteTaShunda ~ My mother and I always are having conversations about this topic. Like I stated above I am the middle child and yes as my mother says I have always walked to the beat of my own drum. My older sister had more responsibilities put on her than my brother and I. My brother is the baby so I always tell my mother that I feel that he got away with a lot more than my sister and I. I can already see the same things arising while looking at my own three children.
Tashana ~ My sister always talked for me. My mother likes to remind me that I had my own little language while I was little and only my sister and mother could understand me. She believes that is why my sister would talk for me because no one else could understand me. Sometimes I remember getting upset with her because I wanted to speak for myself and then other times it really didn’t bother me.
Chantrell ~ I can relate to your comment as a middle child and also by watching my own children. My boy is the middle child, and he always is trying to fit in. I think what makes it worse for him is that he is the only boy so the girls like to gang up on him. It is really fun to watch them play house. My oldest daughter is always the mother, my boy is always the father (because he is the only boy) and the youngest is always the baby. I remember a conversation they had one time when he didn’t want to be the father but my oldest stated he had to be because he was the only boy. Needless to say he quit playing house with them and went off and played by himself.