The Effects Of Early Educational And Extra Curricular Activities On The Overall Development Of Children Essay

As we all know mother does know best, yet in some cases mother can do more harm than good. There is a big debate on how people are raising the newest generations and whether or not they are properly being introduced into the realities of our society. Are children being spoiled too much or not enough? This topic is thoroughly discussed by Alfie Kohn in his essay, “ The One-sided Culture War against Children” and by Nick Gillespie within his essay, “The Current State of Childhood: Is “Helicopter Parenting” or “Free-Range Childhood” Better for Kids?”. Although Kohn offers valid explanations, Gillespie does surpass Kohn’s explanations; parents need to be less overbearing and stop pampering their children.

The authors utilize the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos to show their conflicting argument on if children should be micromanaged. In the first article, Anna Quindlen claims that children shouldn’t have every minute of their lives scheduled because “downtime is where we become ourselves” and that allows children to grow. Her use of vivid imagery prompts the audience to empathize with the children. She describes the nostalgia of having “day trips to the beach” and “pickup games” that are no longer available to today’s generation. Quindlen also established herself as a sincere person since she explains how “‘doing nothing’ is when human beings actually do their best thinking”, it is that unstructured free time, that allows for children

Parental involvement in children’s lives comes in a variety of ways, and the idea of how involved parents should be may vary with different families. Jeynes, in Parental Involvement and Academic Success, states that for their studies “parental involvement” was characterized by “parental participation in the educational processes and experiences of their children.” There are many ways parents can be involved in their child’s academics, several are mentioned in the same work, by Jeynes. Parents may communicate with their children about daily school occurrences, help with and check their child’s homework, let the child know their expectations for his or her academics, and attend relative school functions (42). Another way parents may get involved in their child’s academics, mentioned by Schor, in Caring for Your School-Age Child, is to meet and

A longitudinal study done by Lansford et. al involved the observations of 574 children from the ages 5 to 21. The participants were recruited when they entered kindergarten in 1987 or 1988 at Tennessee and Indiana. The parents of the children were randomly approached and asked if they would take part in the longitudinal study. Detailed interviews concerning the child’s developmental history were conducted with their mothers before they had entered kindergarten. In these interviews, the mothers were

The next mediating mechanism of childhood poverty affecting intellectual development is the mother’s involvement with her child. How a child is raised and parented is crucial to the human development at a young age, and is one of the main intervening factors between poor families and the ultimate outcome of the child. More completed models of childhood development in poverty include “mediators such as the amount and quality of time spent by parents with their children,” along with the other aspects of home-learning environments (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, and Klebanov 309). Parents who live in poverty daily and for longer amounts of time often face lack of food, poor housing, unsafe neighborhoods, unemployment, discrimination, and poor health (Guo and Harris 433). When facing these hardships, impoverished parents suffer from more psychological issues than non-poor parents, which can lead to harsh discipline and low levels of support for the child. When a parent is not supportive or does not challenge a child to preform at a higher

Dweck, Carol S. "The Secret to Raising Smart Kids." Collections, Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015, 21-26.

A child’s first 12 months is described as being a “critical” time in it’s development, and nature versus nurture begins to take place in its development from the earliest of stages. According to Christopher Ruhm, “environmental factors are also likely to be significant in the formation of learning skills, self-esteem, and emotional security” (Ruhm, 2007). If mother’s are forced to go back into the workforce due to lack of funds or job security, this most likely means that their child will have to be placed into a daycare of some sort, unless a family member is able to care for the child while the parent is away. While daycares may aid in cognitive development and social development due to the nature in which day cares are run, a mother may be compelled to raise the child in their own way, and provide the environment in which they would like to have their children raised. Although the difference is small between children who were home with their mothers versus at daycares, if a mother is able to be home and commit her time to raising her child, it has been shown that the child will in return perform better in a variety of areas. According to the Ruhm, “maternal employment during a child’s first year appeared to negatively affect subsequent cognitive test scores and was associated with increases in behavioural problems” (Ruhm,

Every parent wants to encourage their child’s development and ensure that they are developing on pace or even above their peers. How can parents accomplish this goal and give their children an opportunity to achieve appropriate developmental milestones? The answer lies in the hobbies of the child and how these activities affect their development. Involvement in activities leads to greater development in children overall. However, the greatest opportunity for children to grow and adapt to the changes occurring during child development appears in one particular activity.

Years ago, children used to spend most of their time with their parents. They worked with their families on the farm, in a shop, or learning their father’s trade. Girls worked alongside their mothers, helping with household chores, doing laundry, helping with younger siblings and cooking and baking. Most children were also schooled in their own homes and so children saw their parents all day long. It was easy for a parent to be a part of their children’s life and have influence over them. Now, children enter day care or early pre-school and are in school all day long. At first children are more influenced by parents when they are young, but become more influenced by their friends as they get older unless parents make a major effort to be a

After reading chapter 6 of the textbook, I have realized that children early years are severely important because they provide the foundation for the rest of their life, as adolescent, and as adult. Children that are well nurtured can live well and be sociable. Early childhood is the most rapid period of development in a human life. A child creates their own sense of identity. Indeed, it is important for a child to have a sense of identity. Although individual children develop at their pace, all children progress through an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. The early child development approach is based on that children respond best when caregivers use specific techniques designed to encourage and stimulate progress to the next level of development. Early childhood is the time during which essential, intellectual, and emotional abilities form. Keeping young children safe and nurturing them is protective against lifelong problems. Including the risk of becoming involved in violence. Early experiences affect the brain development, shaping the brains physical growth and sculpting neural connections. This occurs primarily between birth and school age years. Besides, the family, community and society are powerful in shaping young children’s development. They grow at a very rapid rate during the first one and a half years of life. Their development is not only physical, it is also mental, emotionally, and social. These developments are

In a recent issue of the journal Dynamic Parenting, cultural anthropologist Dr. Julius Walker note, “As recently as thirty to forty years ago, the neighborhood streetlights coming on at dusk signaled the end of outside activity and ushered kids into the house for the night. Now, dusk is just the beginning of a flurry activity for kids whose schedules is as crowded and complicated as adults’ schedules.” This is true in the case of the Winston family from Birmingham, Alabama, the Winstons have two children, each with a full slate of extracurricular obligations that begin as soon as they are dismissed from school. Mary, who is twelve, is involved in piano lessons, ballet lessons, soccer matches and church youth group meetings her brother Spencer, who is ten, have basketball practice, saxophone lessons, math tutoring and Boy Scout meetings to attend. This crowded calendar of evening events mean that one or both children are unavailable for dinner five days per week. Their parents are glad that Mary and Spencer are engaged in constructive, affirming activities, those activities prevents the family from bonding over meals that emphasize sharing. Such as shared meal preparation, shared conversation and the shared chance to reconnect with one another after being apart all

When it comes to raising a child, families fall into the category of either emphasizing concerted cultivation or accomplishment of natural growth. In Annette Lareau’s first chapter of, “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life,” she talks a bit about the different families she researched and the various methods the parents are categorized in about raising their child. Through her observations of these families, she noticed middle-class families practice a particular parenting style known as concerted cultivation, where the parents believe they must promote the growth and development of their child’s abilities and skills. These types of parents often push their kids to join a variety of activities and are very active in their child’s life. They also don't physically punish their kids, but negotiate with them. Children raised in this kind of parenting style often feel comfortable to express their emotions and opinions to anyone even someone in authority. These kids usually grow up into thinking they have equal power as anyone else.

The average day of a child has changed drastically over the years. Kids used to come home from school, play tag with neighborhood friends, climb trees, play a pickup game of baseball, or read a book. Today, Children do not have time for these simple games because they are involved in so many organized activities. In the article “Who’s Raising Baby? Challenges to Modern-Day Parenting” by Anne R. Pierce, she explains why this is detrimental to children.

“Parent involvement is widely believed to be critical to children’s early academic development” as quoted in Parent Involvement in Preschool: Predictors and the Relation of involvement and Preliteracy development. Despite alike documentation that involvement may contrast in preschool rather in later years, astonishing not enough is known about the later years.

There are multiple factors in a child’s development. Parents have a responsibility, as well as a privilege, to contribute to every milestone. Most parents stress over physical and mental stages so much so that play-time is ignored. By making decisions that sacrifice play parents hinder their social development. Parents must take action and encourage their youth to play more, before childhood is lost forever.