more than 250 words each. look at folder

Journal Entry 1

Think of yourself at a particular time in your childhood. Using the model from Urie Bronfenbrenner, reflect in your journal about the following:

1. Microsystem: Describe your family, your school and teacher, your peer group, the media-favorite TV shows, books movies and your surrounding community.

2. Mesosystem: How your parents interacted with your peers, how your parents interacted with your school, whether your parents helped with schoolwork, and how your community supported your school or activities (e.g., sports).

3. Exosystem: Your parents' jobs, vacations you took, and whether there was a divorce in your family.

4. Macrosystem: Describe your ethnic heritage, your religious affiliations, whether you lived in an urban (city) or (country) setting, your social class (poor, working-class, middle-class, wealthy), and what was going on in the world at the time (e.g., Vietnam War, who was president, etc.)

5. Chronosystem: How a historical event (such as terrorist attacks of September of 2001) or more gradual historical changes (the change in the number of women who work outside of the home).

Journal Entry 2

You may (a) consult with your parents about your own birth, (b) interview a new parent about their birth experience, or (c) consider the birth of your own child. If you cannot remember or cannot ask your parents, you can write about your own children, or interview another person about their first year. Please discuss the following in your journal:

1. Describe the events leading up to the delivery. Where did the delivery take place and who was present? Was any medication used? How soon were you able to hold the baby? What were the first weeks at home like? What problems did you experience? How was having a baby different than you expected? Describe a typical day at home during the first weeks after the baby was born.

2. If possible, write about your own first year of life. Where did you sleep and did you sleep through the night? Were you breast-fed or bottle-fed and when were you introduced to solid food? How old were you when you: rolled over, sat up, crawled, cruised, walked along? What were some of your earliest memory and how old were you? Your favorite toys, games, books, first words? Was more than one language spoken at home? If so, which did you prefer to use?

3. How would you describe your own temperament? Were you an easy child, a difficult child, or a slow-to-warm-up child? If you had brothers or sisters, how different or similar were your individual temperaments? Do you think temperament is inherited?

4. Where did your family live when you were a preschooler and who was living in the house? Did you share a bedroom, and did you have a "going to bed" routine? What was your favorite toy, story and game? Describe one of your preschool birthdays and the presents you got. Recreate a holiday. Do any of the family traditions still occur today? If you have children, do you carry on these traditions in similar fashion?

5. Did your mother work? Did you go to preschool or have a babysitter? When did you first write your name? Do you recall any special event, pleasant or traumatic, that happened to you or in your family between two and six years of age? How might this have affected your later development? Who was your closest friend? Describe a common activity you played. What was your health like? Any serious illnesses?

JOURNAL ENTRY 3

1. Reflect on your early childhood years.  What style of parenting did your parents use and did both parents use the same style or were they different?  Has your parents' style affected the person you have become?  Has their style of parenting affected how you plan to discipline your children? 

2. What socioeconomic status was your family?  List any values, beliefs, attitudes, holidays, foods, etc. supported by your ethnic group(s).  Describe the effects of your family’s religion on your school years.  How did your family feel about education and future goals?  Did you experience any school difficulties during your elementary school years?  How do you think your upbringing affects how you plan to raise your own family?

3. Think back to your elementary and junior high years.  How would you describe your social competence?  Were you a high or a low status child?  Did you play predominantly with high or low status children?  Think of a popular child in your school and an unpopular child (first names only!) and describe their characteristics.

4. Body image (how you think you look to other people) is an important part of your self-concept and self-esteem. especially true during adolescence. Rapid changes taking place, many adolescents are dissatisfied with their bodies. Think back to high school. How did you feel about your body?

5. Try to imagine yourself on a typical day in high school. Compared to others, how did you feel about your: height, weight, breasts, muscles, ears, hips, legs, nose, hair, eyes, face, clothes, posture, nails, athletic ability, skin, teeth, smile, sexual activity with a date, and overall body. How do you think these early adolescent feelings have affected how you feel about yourself now?

JOURNAL ENTRY 4

1. In your journal, reflect on your adulthood experience. Do you plan to get married? Are you already married or in a relationship? Do you have any children? What are your goals? 

2. When did you decide to go to college and why did you choose this college?  Is this your first time in college?  If you are older than 20, why did you delay going to college?  What difficulties are you experiencing?  Is college like what you expected it to be; how is it different?  What conditions would make college a better experience for you? 

3. Think of your current lifestyle.  What health habits do you need to acquire to live longer and healthier?  Why do you and other adults find it so difficult to follow good health habits?  What can you do to help yourself change these poor habits?  Do you have any family history of disease or early death that would encourage you to do so?

4. Interview your parent(s) about their health, children, parents, friends, how they met, marriage, financial problems, disappointments, and vivid memories of good times that happened, then consider what you could do differently or the same when you get the age of your parent(s). 

5. Did you learn anything from your interview with your parents? If so, what?

JOURNAL ENTRY 5

1. Interview your grandparent(s) and find out what lifestyle they have. Do they have enough money to meet their needs? How is their health and relationship? Did you learn anything from your interview with your grandparents? If so, what?

2. How do you imagine you will handle your own successful aging after age 65?  Will you gradually withdraw from the world to enjoy peace and solitude do the things you want to do, like read or relax, according to the DISENGAGEMENT THEORY OF SUCCESSFUL AGING?  Or do you imagine you will want to continue an active life full of socializing, volunteer work, being with family, going on trips, etc., according to the ACTIVITY THEORY OF SUCCESSFUL AGING? 

3. Tie your speculations into how you view your personality today.  For example, are you a loner who prefers peace and quiet leisure activities like reading or watching TV?  Are you an extrovert who only finds real happiness out with friends and doing some activity like dancing or taking exercise classes?  Try to paint a picture of your life at 65 or older.

4. Thinking back to all the information you have accumulated about your lifespan, have you learned anything that will be helpful in your life from this class? What would constitute a perfect day for you? For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

5. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? What is your most treasured memory in your life? What is your most terrible memory? What is the biggest challenge you are facing right now?