Rebecca Escutia

2/14/17

Reflection HD 300 Childhood Themes/Life Cycles

HD 497 Capstone

HLP1 Cohort
 This class helped fulfill my goal by learning and understanding the psychological

development of Adolescents. When attending Community College I learned about early

childhood development, which helped me understand my daughter as she was growing up. At the

time of this class my daughter was eleven years old and my first experience at being a parent in

the pre teen years. This class helped me learn the different stages of puberty they will experience,

their social emotional development and different strategies on how to be a supportive parent

during these changes. Taking these types of classes where you learn about the development of an

individual really has helped me as a parent.

This class added to my knowledge by reviewing all the different theorist and their stages of

development. The main theorist we focused on was Erik Erikson because he focuses from birth

to death. We also reviewed other theorist such as Piaget, Freud, and Vygotksy.

A new technique I acquired from this class was to be more observant with the children that

I work with. I learned about the different learning styles and how school aged children learn,

develop and cope under certain situations they may be experiencing at their age.

My contribution to this class was providing information through a presentation that

involved the life cycle issues of ages 30-39. My classmates contributed information to me

through their own presentations. Class discussions were also a great contribution due to the fact

that we have a wide age range of students in our cohort. Hearing their personal stories of what

they were currently experiencing in their life helped give an insight of what to expect when I

come across those years.

The one thing I learned from this class that will continue to stimulate my thinking is the

importance of preparing for your death. Its important to do the research and plan ahead of time

about purchasing a burial plot so family members are not left trying to figure it out. I also learned
that I need to accept everything that comes with age and take care of myself in order to have a

positive experience with the change of life.

Reflecting on the discussions in class and the presentation I did with my group I was able

to understand my current position in life. Growing up I was diagnosed with depression and was

on medication to help with the chemical imbalance. When I was twenty years old I became

pregnant and my therapist took me off my medication. I have not been on medication for thirteen

years now and have been able to control my emotions thru coping strategies I learned in therapy.

However at the time of taking this class, HD 300 Early Childhood Themes/Life Cycles I felt

myself slipping into a state of depression. I learned in this class that it is common for woman to

go through depression in their thirties. I also learned that most woman experience a career

change sometime during their thirties. This was something that I had experienced in my early

thirties. I have been a Child Development Instructor with the El Monte City School District for

eleven years and realized I was ready to explore a new career other than teaching in a classroom

setting.