Week 4-Siebring

Week 4:  Early and Middle Childhood

            This week’s readings probably have been the easiest for me to comprehend.  I mean between my niece and nephew and the subbing I have been doing in the middle schools these are the ages I have had the most first-hand exposure to recently.  It was pretty cool to read Table 6.1 on page 132 because my niece, who is 6, has pretty much followed the levels of The Emergence of Motor Skills that is shown.  She is in the beginning of the shoe tying stage, but she is getting there.  My nephew on the other hand that just turned 4 is a little bit behind then she was, but I feel it is because he seems to have a bigger imagination then she did and he goes off into his world then learning new skills.  I totally agree with the section about Early Childhood Education.  I feel the years that my niece was in preschool before kindergarten was very beneficial educationally and emotionally.  Not only did she learn her colors and her letters at an early age, but it opened it her up to new people.  She was very reserve when meeting new people.  Now she is a social butterfly that can not stop talking in a group setting.  I have also noticed that my niece has followed Rhonda Kellogg’s stages of drawing during childhood as seen on page 150.  I am amazed how her drawing has gotten better in the last year. 

One of the topics that seem to stick out to me in the middle childhood reading is the discussion of eating habits of children on page 158.  I have noticed while doing some lunch room duty, many students may have not learned proper eating habits.  So many students will take the bare minimum that is required by the schools and the state.  However, a lot will not eat all those items and then in turn will buy snacks.  Then there are the students that I see that bring sack lunches from home and they are packed full of unhealthy food choices.  Many parents do not seem to want to take time and provide healthy choices and provide what is quick.  Another section that struck close to me was the Obstacles of Successful Problem Solving.  As a sub, I do not get to see and or figure out what causes each students success or failure on problem solving, but I have seen what I feel is the decay of problem solving amongst middle school age kids.  The Role of Schools in development in middle childhood was very fascinating to read.  I agree that schools play a major role in development.  A lot of schools that I have worked to instill this development, but there is so much more that the schools can do.  I do not know if it fears of parental complaints or restraints from government standards.  Many seem to do just the bare minimum to get the student through the “system”.