8 years - 8 years 11 months

1. How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child’s verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist’s report at age 8 years, 11 months.
Actually, I’m really surprised in what I read about Peyton’s report back from the psychologist. According to the psychologist, Peyton scored either average or above average on all the different areas. I think she scored above average on vocabulary, comprehension, and similarities. A lot of the math subjects she scored average on; the copying of designs and spatial rotation was above average and the best news of all Peyton doesn’t have any of the typical signs that she has ADD or ADHD. Peyton is really smart when it comes to science and reading. She absolutely loves to read (I have no idea where she got that, because to be honest I hate reading). She can’t get enough of science, that’s why I signed her up for science camp so she can have more fun with it. She seems to grasp concepts really when it comes to math, and she even seems to enjoy it at times. When Peyton was younger she wasn’t very good with instruments or music or anything like; however, she is taking an interest in learning how to play something, we picked the violin. Peyton has very good communication skills and loves talking to people. Because she likes to read so much I think it has really helped her learn vocabulary and it has even helped with her communication. I don’t mean to brag about my kid, but she seems to be doing very well for her age.

2. Describe some examples of your child’s behavior of thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e.g., cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc.)?
Right now Peyton is very into playing sports at school with the other boys and when she comes home she likes to build things. At this age, I don’t think this is a bad thing; actually for me personally, I didn’t want Peyton to be a girly girl because I think it’s good for girls and boys to experience some things that the opposite sex does. I was more of a tomboy growing up, and I love playing sports and hanging out with my dad and older brother. I think my attitude towards this is pretty laid back and so it reflects that if Peyton wants to do something like play catch or play sports, more power to her. I think this will only make her stronger in the end. American attitudes toward this can be kind of 50/50 because some people are worried that if the girl is too masculine then they are going to turn out to be a lesbian or if boys are too feminine then they are going to be gay; I think there are certain limits that you have to draw a line at, like for boys they probably shouldn’t be dressing up in girls clothing, it’s not meant for them and I think it’s only confusing them, for girls it’s the same thing, they shouldn’t wear boys clothing for the same reason. I think this way of thinking all depends on the parents and where you ultimately grew up around. My parents had no choice about me being a tomboy, I was very stubborn and I hated everything that stood for being a girl, luckily I grew out of this and now I’m content with being a girl and I have even found some perks to being a girl.

3. How might your child’s development have been different if she was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures.
I think that there would be a ton of differences. Her memory might be better if she was living in a non-Western culture. According to Berk Australian and Guatemalan kids have a better memory than Americans do. They have to use more of their memory skills than we do because we use strategies and so they don’t learn other techniques like spatial location and arrangement of objects. Americans are so spoiled sometimes, that we don’t realize how easy we have it and sometimes take it for granite. I think that Peyton could have better memory skills if she lived in a different culture. I’m not going to complain or anything because Peyton is either average or above average on all the important skills that she’s learning.