Response to Kristen Colling

I have to agree with Kristen Colling that the information in this chapter will definitely assist us as teachers in seeing possible problems we may not have recognized before for what they actually are. The information that was covered from low birth weight; to teratogens; to the changes to the brain in adolescence; these are all something that every teacher should know about. Since students spend so much of their time in the classroom their teachers can be extremely important when it comes to recognizing and reporting possible problems. If we as educators don’t know what to look for then so many children that could have gotten assistance and services will wind up slipping through the cracks.

I thought that the lecture along with chapter two from Child & Adolescent Development for Educators were very interesting.  What I found to be most interesting was all the statistics having to do with prenatal development.  On page 54 it talks about the "risk rates of down syndrome," as it relates to age and I was very surprised to see how much the rate jumped with just a few years.  Another thing that I found interesting in the book was on page 74 where it states that babies seem to be born with a sweet tooth and the reasoning behind it, which makes a lot of sense to me.  Also when I read that it made me think of the kids I nanny for and how big of a sweet tooth the twins, that are now nine months old, have.