Monday, January 27, 2014

Thinking and writing together about what kids mean in our culture


Students, in this blog assignment, I want to use writing as a way to gather different ideas and stories about younger children, say below 10 years of age.

  1. In the Comments section of this post, add your opinion to this subject and answer these questions: What do we learn from children, and what qualities do they have that are admirable or important? 
  2. Tell us about a child that you value now, or that you have in the past.  Think about someone who inspires  you or others, and tell us an anecdote (a very short story about something that happened with this person) about that specific kid. 

33 comments:

  1. From chidren I think we learn to not take life so seriously. Once they smile or start giggling it takes away all your worries and you start luaghing with them. Children have qualities that I think as we grow older we lose, or forget. They have the ability to know when something is bothering you and can make you feel better by just asking whats wrong.They sense when something is bothering you and want to make you feel better.
    In the past I had a cousin who was very young. Carter would always want me to play with him and show him how something worked if he did not know. He was always asking questions that he expected to have an answer to. I liked that because it made me feel important and very knowledgable, even if I did have to make up a reason as a why something was the way it was.

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    1. Ashley, that was good I believe that when we get older that we start to lose their qualities.

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    2. I have to do the exact same thing with my little cousin's. They ask so many questions haha. It does give a sense of importance, it's a good feeling!

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    3. P.S you spelled laughing wrong

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  2. I like this subject because I feel like we learn a lot from children. Some of the things we learn from children are how to value family more. Children help us learn a lot about the human body as well. Kids have4 a lot of admirable qualities such as the way they talk.

    I value my little brother Jude more than I do myself. My mom had just came home from the store she told us she was expecting twins. After the boys were born everybody loved them. When I was in fourth grade my two year old brother Joel got hit by a car in Sawyer Ludwig Park in Marion. He passed away, this accident made my family value our time spent together more. It showed us that life's not about the simple things its about the ones you love. I miss my baby brother like crazy. To this day I still watch over Jude when I walk with him in store parking lots I make him give me his hand because I'm afraid something will happen to him. Right now he's in fifth grade and is eleven years old. He plays basketball, and baseball and is great at school. I'm proud of how far my family has come since that day.

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    1. sorry to hear, Its amazing how one event can change a way a whole family functions. Yours happened in a tragic way, and again I am very sorry, I am very glad to hear how you and your family has recovered, family means everything!

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    2. Emily, I'm very sorry to hear about Joel. I agree with you that children help you value family more, and that is what is really important.

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  3. I have been around a lot of younger children in my past, since my mother ran a day care center. I valued nothing more but to be around the children, they seemed to be fulfilled, no cares or worries in the world, I admired that. As time past they grew older and caught on a little more they are not the same children that I remember. My brother, now 13, has a few of the daycare kids come over sometimes. They walk in the door, take off their shoes and sit on the couch and pull out these little devices, and they will stay on them all day long, even when the sun is shining and a lovely-warm day! So the child I admire the most is my cousin, her name is Emily she is also 13 and she is not like any of the other children I see in everyday society, she doesn't care about technology. Emily has such the imagination that I had when I was a little girl. She does not want a phone or an ipad for her birthday, no, she wanted a tiara, she wanted something so simple. This little girl lets her imagination guide her! To this day, when I pick her up for a girls day she wants to go the park, preferably ones that have a little patch of trees,and say in her words "Discover a new world!". This little girl, Emily is who I admire most!

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    1. I couldn't agree more to that! Kids today don't really rely on anything but technology and it's sad. When I was younger, I always played outside from the time the sun was up till after it was dark and we always used our imaginations to make up games. It's sad that that has disappeared into the generations now.

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    2. Awe. Emily sounds adorable. It is true that it does seem like nowadays that the kids want the an Ipad and Nabi. And will not be satisfied with the same things that we or even our parents would have been growing up. Such is the will and effect of society in many cases.

      I know that as a kid I wanted to rush to become an adult and now that I am I miss the carefree kid version of me.

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    3. I wish my daughter didn't want that stuff, but she got a phone for christmas and spends to much time on the computer. Oh well.

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  4. What I have learned from children is to have fun but when it is time to get serious then it it time to get serious. Some qualities that they have are when they can tell if a person is not feeling well or when they need to be quite and gentle around a baby. I remember one time when I had to watch my three year old cousin, and I remember being very tired after that day beacuse all he wanted to do was go outside and play either basketball or soccer in the summer. It was hot.

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    1. I remember getting my baby cousin to stop crying was by doing weird faces to him and making him laugh when he wsa tired and upset.

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    2. Wow Preston you sound like you do well with children.

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    3. Children are in some ways better are reading a persons mood better than we can. Even if is to do with being gentle around a baby or seeing that someone is sad they seem to always know. I think we can all learn that lesson to be sympathetic towards others.

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  5. I remember one time just the other day, I went over to my sister's house for dinner and so she could help me with my writing assignment. My niece Emma was asleep when we got there. When she finally got up she was grumpy. Everyone thing I asked her she came back with an abrupt "No!" Eventually she dropped her attitude and was running around giggling throwing a big ball around. My daughter and I decided to play keep away until I got worn out. I wish I had the energy and stamina of a two year old.

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    1. Shane I think this speaks to how children can change moods so fast, and often it's up to us to help get them in the right frame of mind. Their energy is both a blessing and a curse, but what I love is the curious questions they always have. When we are too old to ask questions, we are fooling ourselves. Just like kids, we have to keep hungry to learn, in my view!

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    2. It's funny how little kid's mood's changes so quickly! my cousin's do the same thing and we just let it play out until they're nice again haha.

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  6. I think children make us learn to slow down for the hustle and bustle of everyday life. They have the qualities that we all had at one point but lost as we got older. They have a great imagination and are intrigued by new things. They also find ways to have fun and try have a good time.

    My son Tayton, or Tator for short. Is my Inspiration. When I walk in the house after coming home from work or school, he is genuinely happy to see me. He cannot wait to show me what he has down that day, (Good or Bad). His excitement is pure, which excites me.

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    1. That is sweet to hear you and your son have such a strong bond!

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    2. That's awesome to hear you have a good bond with your son! My dad has raised me since I was nine, and he's my rock and I don't know what I would do with out him, so I love hearing about fathers being good fathers and having a strong bond with their children.

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    3. That's good that you recognize that imaginative quality in your son. hang on to it.

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  7. What we learn from children is the ability to learn how to keep hope alive. Even a kid growing up in the poorest of neighborhoods, one of their more admirable qualities is the fact that while they can acknowledge there maybe some bad things going on at home that their limited understanding does not provide them the luxury of being to able to fully comprehend the why but they always manage to keep hold of the idea that things will get better.

    I remember when my younger brother was in 2nd grade. He got picked on at school because he was anti social and did not want to play with the other kids. He came home covered head to toe in mud and crying believing mom would cross with him, for being dirty. I looked him over and noticed that out side of the mud there was not a scratch on him. He smiled at me, a wide grin with one tooth missing in the front. I asked, what happened to his tooth. He merely replied "Dad told me if you get pushed down, get back up and wipe the dust off. Well I got back up, I threw the mud into the kids face from my pants and ran to tell a teacher what he did. I was too busy looking behind me and turned my face at the wrong moment and smacked into the doorknob of the teacher. But he got in more trouble.

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    1. It's so sad that children get picked on for being themselves. They don't understand now but they will one day. I'm glad your brother stood up for himself and told a teacher about what was happening!

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    2. I agree with you on how children and help give us hope, even when it is not looking to good. This can also show us that children are watching every move older people make so we must set a good example on how they should treat others.

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  8. We definitely learn so many things from younger children. As we get older we tend to lose a lot of abilities we had as children and they help us remember what it was like. They have the quality of cuteness, playing the cute card doesn't really work for us adults to get what we want like children can. They are more active than we are, children run around and play and honestly some of us are too lazy for that now.

    My little cousin's mean the world to me. When they come to visit me my inner child comes out. They keep me active and they inspire me to be mature but to never let my childhood memories die. Corban is exactly 10 years and 10 days apart from me , he is 8. Braydan is 6 and Rozzalyn is 4. They are the most energetic fun loving little kids I know. The boys are in football, baseball, and basketball and I love watching them play. When both Corban and Braydan scored they're first touchdown they were so happy and I was so proud and glad I was there to witness it. I'm proud of them and they give me hope for one day when I'm older and have my own kids to be proud of.

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  10. Well i have four younger brothers and one on the way, and they are my life. I feel like my role in life as the oldest is to make sure i pave the way for my brothers and make them the best they can be. They make me proud all the time, couldnt be blessed any more. Two of my brothers are both state wide and nationaly ranked in wrestling and thats just one accomplishment they hold that i am proudof.

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  13. To me children are the future and can show us how to step back from our adult lives. A child will love you as you love them and give them respect. They have the innocence to be a friend to everyone and have a care free attitude. Children can let there dreams blossom and believe that they are going to come true. As for adult's I believe most of them lose those hopes and dreams as life goes on. Children have important messages that everyone could use.

    An important child to me is my cousin Enrique. Not just because he was something new and cute, but his personality was great. I remember even at a very young age his commical care free ways made me laugh and always will.

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  14. By watching how kids act and play you see that to them its the little things that matter. They just like to have fun anything to keep them happy. Also kids are very blunt they dont know they offending somebody by just giving their honest opinion. A child in my life is my nephew Kartier. By just watching him i see how honest kids are, like one time were in a grocery store and my nephew smelled someones gas and yelled in the middle of the store to the man in front of us like ew your nasty and all i could do was laugh. I couldnt be mad at him tho cause he knew no better.

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