Post one E.H. Part I Hi, everyone, my name is Erin. I-Get Answer Now
Post one E.H.
Part I
Hi, everyone, my name is Erin. I am from Washington, and I currently live in Seattle with my wife and our dog. My master’s program centers around developmental psychology, and I hope to obtain my Ph.D., do some child development-focused research, and teach at a university eventually. I have been working with children for a significant amount of my adult life, as a teacher and a nanny, and I find it hugely entertaining and rewarding. My other work experience is on the opposite end of the developmental spectrum, as I spent about 4 years working as a nurse assistant in skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities. I have found both my work with children and older adults to be fantastic hands-on experience while I navigate the academic side of psychology. Most of my time is occupied with either work or school. Outside of that, I spend time with my wife, read, exercise, play the piano, and cook. I also love to do casual research in my free time, and I am big on Mary Ainsworth and attachment theory. An area of research that I want to pursue someday is the interaction between religious/cultic psychological abuse and the development of attachment bonds and figures. I grew up in and eventually escaped from a religious cult, and that background has pushed me more than anything into the field of developmental psychology. I am excited to further my knowledge of child development, cultural influences on said development, and childhood disorders in this class.
Part II
For this part of the discussion, I chose to focus on social development in early childhood. During this time, children reach some big developmental milestones for social behavior. By approximately age 4, children have mostly developed and consolidated a theory of mind, i.e., they have figured out that other people believe/experience things differently than they do and that people’s beliefs and actions are not always consistent (Gilmore & Meersand, 2014). Early childhood sees children solidifying biases for people in their group, as well as becoming aware of social exclusion and ways to avoid it (Svetlova & Carpenter, 2017). Svetlova and Carpenter (2017) also explain that this developmental period is when children really start to adhere to and enforce social norms, e.g., rules for games and gendered behavior. All of these social developmental milestones, as well as the communication and pro-social skills that are needed to navigate them, seem to be dependent on children being able to socialize with peers (Svetlova & Carpenter, 2017). A severe health condition could presumably keep a child out of preschool/daycare and restrict opportunities of socializing and playing with other children. In this way, social development seems like it would also be restricted, and it might be tricky for a chronically ill child to interact in a socially “normal” way with others.
References
Gilmore, K., & Meersand, P. (2014). The little book of child and adolescent development. Oscord University Press, Inc. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=1780391#
Svetlova, M., & Carpenter, M. (2017). Social development. In B. Hopkins & R. G. Barr (Eds.), The Cambridge encyclopedia of child development (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://search-credoreference-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/content/title/cupchilddev?tab=entry_view&heading=social_development&sequence=0
Post two. T.M.
Hello everyone,
Part I: My name is Theodore, but I go by Teddy for short. I’m currently living in a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. I consider myself to be a very lucky husband, having a beautiful wife who has blessed me with two gorgeous daughters. I moved back home a few years ago after 10 years of being away. Serving 4 years in the Air Force as an active duty member, and the other six working as a firefighter. Which is the current profession I hold today. The job is extremely rewarding but I’m ready to move on and live my dream as a business owner/ entrepreneur. My favorite time of year is spring, mainly because Chicago winters are pretty long and brutal to say the least. Once it the weather starts to warm up I can finally get back outside, without having to literally freeze. Some of my hobbies include hiking, playing disc golf, and enjoying the outdoor life in general. My short-term goal is to get my MBA in entrepreneurship. My long-term goal would be to actually start my own small business in the pet industry. I want to become an entrepreneur due to the fact opening my own business has always been a dream of mine, and I feel I definitely work best on my own. I feel setting my own goals and relaying on myself to provide for my family will only make me better as person, improving my quality of life. That’s what motivates me to becoming an entrepreneur. I’m definitely looking forward to learning as much as I can about Child Development during this course. Which is one of the two courses I’m taking currently to start my final semester towards completing my MBA. I’m interested in this course as an elective, due to the fact that I am a father of two “little ones”, and always try to the best dad in which they deserve. So, not only do I want to better educate myself on being able to recognize and distinguish differences between typical and atypical developmental characteristics, but to also have the ability to understand and educate myself to become both a better father, and parent.
Part II: After doing some research, the developmental area I would like to focus most on would be social and emotional (socioemotional) skills. With the phase of child development being the early childhood, or the preschooler phase. Some typical milestones for this phase would include things such as them being able to draw stick figures, recognizing written words, along with starting to read. Also, the most relevant currently in my children’s lives, starting school. My oldest starts kindergarten this month, and my youngest started Pre-K in June. Two very big milestones for the both of them this year. However, overcoming these milestones in the early stages of life can be impacted by many extreme, or chronic health conditions. Chronic illness can affect a child’s social development; children who have physical restrictions and pain are particularly vulnerable. Psychiatrists recommend both individual and group social activities for chronically ill children. Children with chronic illnesses are 30% more likely to develop depression, but parents can help manage symptoms by being aware of a child’s depression and of the factors that may lead to it (Frankenfield, 2000). Parents facing these developmental obstacles, should be inspired by taking it as a learning opportunity for themselves, to only better the life of the child. As almost all parents only want what’s best for their children. With time, as many of us have learned, it’s more beneficial for us to focus on getting past the challenges life’s brings, rather than dwelling on the negatives. Which then will give us the ability to adapt and overcome any obstacle, making us stronger in the end. I look forward to interacting with the class, and gaining as much knowledge as possible from the professor and fellow classmates! I hope you all have a great week 1!
Respectfully,
Teddy
Frankenfield, G. (2000, June 22). Chronic illness may affect a child’s social development. WebMD. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20000622/chronic-illness-social-development
Post three. S.A.
Good evening,
My name is Sariam Acaba and I am currently taking my last class for my Organizational Psychology Masters degree. I currently reside in New York and I chose this class as my last elective since I would like to gain as much knowledge as I can about development and apply this knowledge on my field. For this topic I chose to discuss the social-emotional development of children and how important are these milestones in the early development stages and how it can benefit or disrupt the late stages in life of a human being. Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others (Cohen and others 2005) During early stages the child starts to develop the ability to understand others and managing different emotions. Babies learn by associating actions to feelings, for example when a baby cries and is held, he recognizes and associates the crying to a way of expression to ask for something or express discomfort. When a baby is left crying for a long time, the baby might associate crying with a feeling of loneliness. Infants start showing emotions without even understanding what they mean, but these interaction and developing social emotional milestones such as learning to interact with others, how to smile and create bonds with others help them regulate their emotions and start to understand the complexity of them. They start developing these emotions with parents, caregivers, the community and teachers, especially in infants these are built on interactions and stimulation. Even early in infancy, children express their emotions through facial expressions, vocalizations, and body language. The later ability to use words to express emotions gives young children a valuable tool in gaining the assistance or social support of others (Saarni and others 2006). An infant that does not develop social emotional milestones will be an adult struggling with building relationships with other and their surroundings.
References
Cohen, J., and others. 2005. Helping Young Children Succeed: Strategies to Promote Early Childhood Social and Emotional Development. Washington, DC: National Conference of State Legislatures and Zero to Three. (accessed on December 7, 2006)
Saarni, C., and others. 2006. “Emotional Development: Action, Communication, and Understanding,” in Handbook of Child Psychology (Sixth edition), Vol. 3, Social, Emotional, and Personality Development. Edited by N. Eisenberg. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
