****** 18 ******

1. As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier development?

Sam's physical development seems to be average to slightly above average.  He played baseball through most of his schooling years.  He never seemed to reach that star status, which only discouraged him a little.  He enjoyed the sport and enjoyed the team atmosphere.  Sam has developed the belief that his body's physical development is important in life.  He has taken care to maintain shape through sports and healthy eating and to avoid drugs because he felt he was an "athlete."  I believe he will continue on this path through out his life as physical fitness has been a focus for him his entire life.

Cognitively Sam is amazing he has strong reasoning and logic skills which is displayed in his straight advanced placement A's .  Socially, Sam is quite, yet well respected.  He seemed to follow all the "norms" when it came to experimentation and risk taking yet avoids the "major" pitfalls.  Sam has good moral reasoning, which kept him out of trouble when exposed to drug's, stealing and girls.  Sam has had 2 serious girlfriends and several "best" friends.   Emotionally, Sam is stable.  He has had one bout of a "depression" like state.  He had a falling out with friends and ended up sulking around the house for a few weeks.  Besides that he tends to be pretty easy going and happy go lucky.   I feel he will do well in the working world, he is going to be attending a very selective college next year which will help tremendously when he sets out in the working world.  Once there Sam has leadership skills.  He will listen to what co-workers have to say, use his logic and reasoning and take the appropriate course of action.  He will be well liked as he is not overbearing.

When Sam first started getting assessments back in preschool we knew early on that we had to intervene and do everything we could to help this developing mind and body be all that it could be.  It wasn't until about 2nd grade that we really felt we were out of the woods with possible adjustment problems.  His love for words, reading, drawing, and math was a pretty good predictor that he was going to do well as long as he had caring guidance.

2. Describe some specific ways in which you think your parenting mattered for your child’s development, based on evidence from the course regarding the contributions of parents to child development.  

In the beginning of this class we were posed with the question what is more important, Nurture or Nature.  At the time I felt Nature was the primary force for development.  Throughout this course and the raising of this virtual child I have come to the conclusion that Nurturing is paramount when it comes to a child's development.  With out the loving guidance of an authoritative parent the child has little chance of developing self esteem and self reliance.  With out those very crucial elements it is difficult to direct ones own life.  There would be barriers to social development.  Education would be limited to the amount of participate in class.  With out self esteem one would be less likely to go out for sports or other extracurricular activities.  Without quality parenting a child is stranded.

3. Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be influenced by 

factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental events or the general influence of contemporary middle-class American culture.

I feel we have same great direction in school, we were diligent with homework and communicated with teachers regularly.  However, that is only the tip of the iceberg.  So much of what Sam did throughout school was done through work of himself and with teachers.   He joined clubs that interested him, ie the math club.  Now I would not necessarily have steered him in that direction but he did it and was very successful. He developed leadership roles in these clubs which will certainly help as he progresses through life.  

As for culture, Sam fortunately was raised by two college educated, caring parents in a middle class environment.   He did not necessarily want for anything and everything was not handed to Sam.  He had to work for the "extras" he wanted.  Sam did not have to experience the financial and emotional hardships that come with growing up in a lower SES society.  Sam was also able to reap the benefits of two educated parents who understood the importance of education in today's society.