30 Months!

1. Have there been any environmental events in your child’s first 2 1/2 years that you think might have influenced his or her behavior? On what do you base your hypotheses?

Cillian was scratched by a cat at a neighbor’s house and subsequently did not want to visit them anymore, and became unusually clingy and whiny, but this seemed to go away after a while. Cillian also took some time to adjust when he was moved from one daycare center to another when he was two. As for the environment that I provide him, he has many people with whom he can interact, is given a variety of nutritious foods, is encouraged to be independent, and seems to be very healthy overall. I encourage him when he seems interested, or excited, and don’t push him too hard when he is uncomfortable with a situation. Overall he is, in my opinion, very well adjusted because of the environment that he has been provided. I base that opinion on the fact that he seems to be progressing very normally in his development (faster in some areas, slower in others, but at least average overall) and appears very well-adjusted. I would also note that, as a child, Cillian was very slow-to-warm-up, borderline difficult child at times, but due to his environment seemed to grow out of this, becoming much more friendly and adventurous.

2. How is your child progressing on typical toddler issues, such as learning household rules, learning to follow routines, listening to you, developing self control and learning to get along with other children?

I have not had any problems with Cillian at home as far as having him follow our family’s rules or any other sort of disciplinary issues. Sometimes at daycare he loses his temper, or shows aggressive tendencies (for example, when other children attempt to take his favorite toy from him) but he relaxes when one of the care providers intervenes. He has been a little slow to pick up on his bedtime routines, but we’re working with him on this. He also sometimes has difficulty focusing on the task at hand, or staying on-topic during prolonged conversations.

3. Analyze your own parenting philosophy and practices. What principles from social learning theory, Bowlby, Ainsworth, Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing theory, developmental neuroscience and other theories do you appear to have relied on in making your parenting choices or interpreting your child’s behavior? Include three principles/theorists from the above list in your answer.

Different theories have useful applications, in certain situations. For example, with potty training, we used B.F. Skinner’s example of operant conditioning, providing Cillian with positive reinforcement (attention, verbal encouragement, stickers) when he used the toilet. In developing his fine motor skills I employed a sort of modeling (as described by Albert Bandura) by providing him with examples when he was stuck on a problem he was attempting to solve, be it building block towers or anything of that sort. I also used modeling in a more general sense by always treating him kindly, attempting to be “in-tune” with his emotions and frequently engaging him in conversation. In a sociocultural sense, I attempted to give him plenty of opportunities to develop by introducing him to a broad variety of people, encouraging him to build meaningful relationships with family members, neighbors, other adults, and plenty of kids his own age.