The Effects of Child Rearing Techniques on Overall Development

Since birth, the child seems to be experiencing gradual but systematic social, cognitive, physical, and emotional and also the moral development. From birth to 9 months, the child was able to form attachments with not just me but also his other parent. He has fun as he plays with us as his parents and is also able to warm up to individuals that are friendly bit took his time with the strangers. At nine months he can now eat foods like the rest of the family (Rathus). When he felt threatened by a stranger, angry when I leave or even pain, he experienced all the emotions such as anxiety, crying and even excitement when comfortable and happy. He has also advanced his motor skills since he can now crawl and stand when supported.

By the age of 19 months, the child was able to interact effectively with others and also fit very well into the play group in the local day care center. His language production and also understanding was also very advanced, and I engaged him in conversations a lot to ensure that his language acquisition and understanding became enhanced further. His engagement in spatial activities such as copying shapes and also coloring within the lines as directed was amazingly accurate. At two years his language had advancement to include the tenses that were previously not well comprehended. He had also been able to get object permanence in line with the Piaget’s Sensory Motors stage of development (Feldman, 95). He could realize his toy was missing even when hidden from him over meals. He also enjoyed being at preschool more and had begun getting competitive and also became more active in the physical activities such as running, playing ball, climbing and skipping. His ability to focus and concentrate was also more enhanced at this level (Rathus). By three years the child was now more interested in games that involved riding of the bike and also was able to lead others in play and other activities. His reading and writing abilities advanced for five years and was able to write even his name and also count a lot of numbers. As was expected of him at the age, he remained egocentric as he did not want to take my view on some issues as is indicated in the Piaget’s theory of development he was at the Pre-operational stage of development until 7 years (Feldman, 96).   He became even more socially involved with his friends and began bringing some of his friends home and visiting them over the weekends. These are traits that continued for six years when he was in first grade as he performed very well at school. When I took him for some IQ tests at eight years of age, he was able to maintain his concentration and scored above average. He was also now actively involved in spelling competitions at the school. He continued through to 10 years when I began realizing that he would get upset and also some cases of indiscipline at the school where he was involved in a fight with a 13-year-old boy that was bullying his friend (Rathus).

At 12 years of age, he was consistently able to schedule his time and keep it and also performed very well in his class. He even took up a German as a language to learn and furthered his spelling competitions. However, by 14 years, I began realizing that he became more secretive and also autonomous in making his decisions and no longer involved me as he used to when younger. By 16 of age, he topped his class in geometry and other subjects scoring very high in all the subjects. On competing school; at the age of 17, he scores exemplary well in his SATs and is enrolled in Harvard school of law which was his childhood dream as he wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. He is now 18 years and leaving for college in a far off state and helping him pack up and leave our home has never made me more proud and at the same time sad that he will be away for the better part of the year.

Question 2

As a parent, I firmly made demands and had expectations for my child and he now right from when young of the things that I approve of and those that I did not approve. I had conversations with him and actively listened to his side of the story before making any demands. I also provided all the means, resources and support that he needed to succeed to the best of my ability and as parents we both ensured that we provided love and warmth to him although he apparently knew the limits of the discipline (Larzelere, Morris and Harrist, 20). It is this that shaped the behavior of the child and also offered the support that accorded him the opportunity to make the significant milestones in his development. I was sure that if he grew from a tender age knowing right from wrong while at the same time having some sense of independence, coupled with our warmth and nurturance he would forge a path for himself even without us as his parents (22). It is our parenting that made it easy for him to remain focused even at adolescence whereas a parent we begin losing control of the choices the children make. He was able to utilize his reasoning and when he mentioned that he wants to study law we offered him the best education and support that enabled him to focus on his studies especially from the 7th grade onwards. We had to be flexible since I had hoped that he would study medicine. However the law is what made him happy, and I showed my support by making sure he spent more time with his lawyer grandfather for nurturance and mentorship right from a young age (Larzelere, Morris and Harrist, 27-30).

Question 3

From the age of twelve, I began realizing that the development of my child was no longer within my control especially when he started spending, more time with his friends, got his first girlfriend at 14 years, and I even caught him and his friends drinking one evening in his room. The adolescent development was not within my realm but was influenced by his peers and also was innate and was also a consequence of random environmental events since the day that he was drinking; I later found out that it was his way of dealing with his first break up (Feldman, 67-72). Moreover, his strong sense of understanding and high intelligence, especially at school, was not something that was within my control as much as I offered him support but was genetic. He ultimately took from his grandfather who scored the highest SAT scores in his time just like my son had done in his time and joined the most prestigious University in America just like his grandfather had done. I expected him to score high, but I never imagined him scoring high enough to join Harvard.

Moreover, from around 11 years of age, my son had become overly ambitious all of a sudden and began to speak of his plans for the immediate and long-term future. He also started engaging in an argument with us over almost all issues including politics and was clear that he had begun forming his ideologies. It was an indication of his growth and was at the formal operational stage of development according to Piaget hence, could think logically and reason without needing my influence (Feldman, 100).