A quick pre-assessment of my background knowledge for Learners in Context tells me I will be doing a lot of learning this summer! All of the names and catch phrases in our short quiz--Vygotsky, Piaget, cognitive development, etc.--seem familiar, but the truth is that I haven't thought of most of them since I took a basic undergraduate psychology course thirteen years past.
So what do I know about child development? Becoming a mother four and a half years ago has been the greatest practice in understanding how little people develop and grow, from the wide-eyed, serious infant stare (Are you in there, smiles and laughter?) to three-year-old tantrums to potty training and learning how to adjust to life as a sibling (which is the latest news at our house--I delivered a baby boy on June 3).
When my first child was born, learning to read his cues and meet his needs felt intuitive in many ways, but it seemed I could never be quick enough to respond before a full-fledged infant protest began. Now that I have another baby, the comparing of children, despite all efforts to halt it, has begun! Our new baby is incredibly docile, patient, and it's only with his arrival that I can see just how distinct my children's personalities are from birth. It is definitely increasing my conviction of nature in the nature vs. nurture debate.
Medina's findings on the importance of sleep are obviously no surprise to me in my current season of life. In fact, they come as welcome relief to me when I feel like I can hardly get a coherent sentence out after a wakeful night of feedings and rocking the baby to sleep!
Also, the sleep data would be a useful tool for families at the international school where I have worked the past two years. Many students, some as young as four, are constantly scheduled with music lessons, swimming playdates, phonics, math, or foreign language tutoring (really), and exhibit definite signs of exhaustion at school. These are tiny children who are "working 60 hour weeks," as the teachers have come to say, and they are stressed out, distracted, and agitated. If parents better understood that our brains need sleep to essentially finish the work--the learning--they start during the day, perhaps they would place rest and a decent bedtime higher on the priority list (Medina, 40). I know our students would surely appreciate the chance to play and rest more, and work less.
References
Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.
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