Unit 1: Dear Abbey
These are other writing expected of me, but these are assigned by my Childhood Development Class.
Letter 1 Chapter 2
My teenage daughter has a bad habit of chewing her fingernails. Someone told me it might be because I didn’t breastfeed her. Where would such an idea come from? Could it be true? How would you recommend we help her break the habit of chewing her fingernails? I’ve heard conditioning is one method that can be used. What is it and how would I go about doing it?
Dear Abbey,
I don’t believe that there is a relation between you not breastfeeding your daughter and her biting her fingernails. Sigmund Freud, the mind begin one of the founding theories of human development, claims in his Psychoanalytic Theory that satisfying the pleasure sense in the mouth when born is the beginning to a good life though. If you have another child, I recommend that you breastfeed your child, since it is the most natural way to give your child the proper nutrition.
Yes. Conditioning is an effective way to progress your daughter beyond this habit. Operant Conditioning is the way that we are advised to steer a child to have healthy habits. The theory that conditioning is from is called behaviorism, believing in animal instincts. This is useful when raising children, since we cannot communicate with then intellectually at times. Conditioning is about reinforcing the desired behavior by punishment or reward. You will need to use your imagination to discover the appropriate awards and punishment to use especially at her age.
Maybe you should talk to her about breaking bad habits, and if she agrees to your desire, after a week or two of forsaking her habit you can pay for her to have pedicure done. If you already do this routinely, you can punish her by withholding the pedicures until she quits.
You need to be careful about her personality though, finding a punishment that would apply to her. If she does not even care about a pedicure, the reward or punishment may not help affect her actions.
Sincerely
Alex Hicken
It seems someone in my family is always having a crisis. My older daughter is always worried about boys, my teenage son seems lost and uncomfortable in his own body, and my youngest girl refuses to give up diapers and move to the toilet. I’ve heard the theorist Erik Erikson believed crisis was part of life and that it opened the door to growth. Is this true? What are the basic principles of his theory and what recommendations would you offer a frustrated parent for working through these issues?
Dear Abbey,
Erikson’s philosophy is that there is a psychosocial element to life. He line up opposites that we face from the beginning of life that we should be careful of especially as parents raising a child. These opposites are personal characteristics of attitudes cultivated in life. I will list them for you
Average ages, which we face these crises.
Trust vs. Mistrust From Birth to the age of one year old
Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt From the age of one to three years old
Initiative vs. Guilt From the age of three to six years old
Industry vs. Inferiority From the age six to eleven years old
Identity vs. Role Confusion Adolescence
Intimacy vs. Isolation Adulthood
Generativity vs. Stagnation Adulthood
Integrity vs. Despair Adulthood
These attitudes are highly influenced by how a child was raised by their parents. Autonomy and Doubt are opposites, having to do with the trust of your physical capabilities. If a parent limits the actions of play and activity of a child because you don’t trust them, they will lack trust with themselves. Limiting the trust of an individual slows progression and the person’s initiative.
I propose an attitude shift. The plasticity of a soul is great, meaning the person’s ability to change. I believe that your family can be built on the attitude listed on the left side. Piaget’s Cognitive theory esteems our thoughts to be foundational to the actions, attitudes, and (I believe) emotions of man. If you have the desire have this change, I recommend a study of wholesome books that would be instructive for life. The knowledge of a more optimistic philosophy will change the attitude of the whole family, if it is led by the example and teaching of the parents of the household.
Sincerely
Alex Hicken
I’m looking at various preschool programs for my daughter. Several have mentioned that they follow a Piagetian or Vygotskian approach. I’m not sure what that really means; can you enlighten me?
Dear Abbey,
It is exciting that you can afford to put your daughter in a preschool. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are both theorist of human development. Their views on raising your child are very different.
Piaget’s theory states that your daughter is in a period called Preoperational. This period is known for great creativity, and verbal communication is a good tool for this age. I expect that the preschool will embrace these attributes of the Preoperational Period. Jean Piaget believes in the power of thought and pushing the limits of learning by thought; although, they understand the psychology that in this preoperational age of the children are egocentric.
Lev Vygotsky learned to respect the traditions and view of each culture on raising children. He is the father of the Sociocultural Theory on the development of man. The Sociocultural theory holds the interaction of humans in our societies as most instructional. It claims that without instruction intellectual development will be slowed. I expect that the Vygotskian Preshool will seek to keep the learners in their ‘zone of proximal development.’ This includes a knowledge of your children and the what should be taught next, keeping the environment exciting and challenging.
Thank you for trusting my wisdom,
Talk to you later Abbey!
Alex Hicken
My sister is having twins and it has raised my curiosity about my own prospects for having twins. Do multiple births run in families? If so, is that true for both identical and fraternal twins and/or multiples? Are the incidents of multiple births rising or do we just hear more about them today? If one identical twin acquires an addition or disorder such as autism, does it mean the other one will also acquire the disorder?
Dear Abbey,
The chances that you have twins are purely by chance from what I have learned. Multiple births are not more in your family than in any other. Identical twins are a lot rarer than fraternal twins. It is interesting that you wonder, if multiple births are increasing, and you observation is correct.
It is by the modern advances of medicine, health, and science, which is increasing the multiple births. This phenomenon is increasing the risks for the mothers and babies. The women that were unfertile and women seeking greater fertility have increased the multiple birth rates fivefold.
Concerning the risk of identical twins suffering the same genetic disorder, it is true, for they both have the same genetics from their parents.
It’s good to hear about your family. How are you?
Sincerely
Alex
We’ve been married for several years and have been unable to get pregnant, though we’ve tried almost from the beginning. Are fertility problems common? Is it usually the man or the woman who may have a problem? Are there ways we still might be able to have a child?
Dear Abbey,
I am sorry to hear of the sorrow that you and your husband may be enduring. You desire is great, but several years is longer than the measure of infertility.
Infertility affects ten percent of women; however, infertility is equal among humans. Infertility is not a permanent case in many cases. There is still hope, but infertility deemed upon whether you failed to get pregnant trying for one year.
I am sorry that I have to inform you of this by a letter.
Sincerely
Alex
I understand that boys are more likely to be colorblind than girls and that the disorder is most likely to be inherited from the mother. That makes no sense to me. Please explain. Are there other disorders or conditions that are more likely among girls or boys?
Dear Abbey,
I understand that genetics are hard to understand. Boys are colored blinded a lot more than girls because the last chromosome of our DNA decided our gender. Girls always have an X chromosome, but the sperm of a man can have either the X or Y chromosome. Men therefore alone decided the gender of all children. X chromosome don’t match Y very well, so when an X chromosome has the recessive gene of color blindness. There is nothing much to fight it in terms of the Y chromosome.
Do you have additional questions?
Sincerely
Alexander Hicken
Can things I ate before I found out that I was pregnant impact the development of my baby? I heard that it is really only in the first trimester that you have to be real careful about what you eat and be careful about taking prescription medications. Is it true that the placenta prevents toxins from influencing the baby, unless it’s very high doses? What are the most common things I have to be careful about eating, drinking, or taking into my body? Also, if I eat well, do I really need to take a prenatal vitamin?
Dear Abbey,
Preparing to have a baby should not be taken lightly. The life that you live will be reflected in the health of your child. Experts encourage couples to “stop using recreational drugs, update their immunizations,” and eat a “balanced diet with extra folic acid and iron.”
Foods that are recommended to avoid is prescription drugs; mercury, which is found in a lot of fish; caffeine; Alcohol; and Tobacco. These are the common foods, but recreational drugs in the great horror of what can be viewed a recreational drug are to be forsaken.
A placenta is a great protection for your future child, but they should not be taken for granted, for teratogens, a list of harmful substances, can be absorbed through it.
Prenatal vitamins are highly recommended to take especially when pregnant. They are provided to insure that your child gets enough nutrition. It is difficult for people to get a good amount of nutrition for themselves much less two people.
Good luck on having a child!
Alex Hicken
I’m pregnant and still in high school. I’m not sure I’m ready to have a baby. I’m still in my first trimester and my friend said the baby is more like a clump of cells than a baby at this point. When does my pregnancy turn into a real baby? My friend had a baby and it came several months early. Is that more common for teenagers? How old does a baby have to be before it can survive outside the womb? Are their certain things that have to develop before it can survive?
Dear Abbey,
I am grateful that you are asking good important questions to be mature and informed about taking care of the possible child that you will be bearing.
The child that you are developing in your body should not be underestimated. 4 weeks into your pregnancy the embryo most likely already has a primitive heart pumping blood throughout his body. You child has developed his eyes, nose, and digestive system three weeks later. You child should have most everything beginning to be forming by week 8. The child in you is developing at a rapid pace. If you are late into you first trimester, you have already reached the few stages final stages of your child’s development, since your child would already a fetus. The age of viability, the stage in which is can survive without further development is usually at the age of 22 weeks old.
At this age of viability the development of the brain in the fetus as grown to be self-reliant, regulating needs such as the breathing and the sucking.
Preterm births are more common among teenage mothers because they are more immature and irresponsible than that of an adult. The unstable and unbalanced diet has become a concern for professionals for symptoms of low birth weight and small for gestational age are often the case for these new mothers. These symptoms are caused by a slowing development of the expected growth of a child.
I hope that I was informative enough to answer your questions, but don’t quit learning how to take care of your child.
Sincerely
Alex
We’re expecting our first baby and are so excited. My husband laughs at me because I want to read to our baby even though it’s still in the womb. Are a baby’s senses active before he or she is born? If so, how early in the pregnancy are they functional?
Dear Abbey,
Congratulations. I am happy to inform you that your child has been hearing and absorbing in his soul the love of your household since the age of viability about 22 months into your pregnancy. The bond that you create with your child will be very powerful especially since you cared for your child before be felt the world beyond your womb.
Thanks for keeping in touch
Alex
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