Learning Plans 3 and 4

These chapters were quite interesting to me. I have three children and wish I would have known then what I've learned in the last week. I found the information on brain development fascinating. As a parent, you think you know everything there is to know about your child, I only now realize how little I did know. Although, my kids survived my ignorance.

I especially enjoyed the article "To Be a Baby". I truly enjoyed my philosophy class in my first year in college. One quote that comes to mind is about imagination. "Imagination isn't just something we develop for our amusement; it seems to be something innate and connected to how we understand the casual structure of the real world." It all seems so logical that childhood is a time for complete uselessness. It may sound harsh, but I can relate to being so overwhelmed with school work and learning and taking in, that at the end of the day I really wish I did not have to take care of myself or anything else. What a luxury it seems to be, now while I'm in the process of learning so much, to be useless with all the other responsibilities. The article touched me in a sense that if there is only one thing I teach my children, it would be to not follow in my footsteps. It is so much easier to go to college when you have no responsibilities, it may not mean as much, but it is easier to focus on learning. They get tired of hearing it, but I hope they take it to heart. Again, if I only knew then what I know now. I also thought the article ended on a very thoughtful note. "And this gives us the ability to change those things that are wrong and get to better moral principles than we started out with". What a refreshing thought.
I really seem to get a lot from the articles we read from the discussion boards and learning plans. The article "Children Needing a Childhood", was another article that touched me. It gave me a total new perspective on my parenting. It made me realize that the most important gift or lesson I can give my children is to give them more of me.
Chapter four had a lot of interesting information as well. I used to be a home daycare provider and found the section on child care very informative. I experienced a lot of the topics that were covered in this section. I had always wondered about the separation anxiety. One day a child would come to me, like I was a second mother. The next day, they wouldn't come near me. It was very disturbing at the time, but now it makes perfect sense.
In conclusion, I learned so much in such a short amount of time. I find myself wanting to learn more about everything I've read. Especially the interesting articles. It is so much more real when you read an article that you can relate to on a personal level.