A Little More on Number

This is Ritchiel, the author of our second and final entry on chapter 3, and her sisters. She said, "This picture was taken in the Philippines. I believe I was six years old." She explained that she wishes she had more pictures, but her mom told her that most of them are still in the Philippines. Her second oldest sister, Cherry Ann, is on the far left; Lorely, the oldest, is in the middle; Raciel, the third oldest, is on the far right; and Ritchiel is "last, but not least." Enjoy reading Ritchiel's take on what Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff had to say in chapter 3.

The authors did an amazing job in this chapter describing how toddlers learn how to do addition and subtraction. As soon as I began reading the passage, I realized how children learn differently and that much of the time, they will not give the right answer.

In the beginning of the passage, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff told a little story about a mother who was reading the newspaper and discovered that, “infants can perform addition and subtraction” (p. 38). As soon as I read the passage, I read it again just to make sure I read it right, and I did. I stopped and thought, how can an infant learn to do addition and subtraction at such a young age? How is it even possible for them to process that in their brain when they’re barely learning how to suck their thumb or their bottles? When you think about it, it would be good if it were true that an infant can perform at such a young age. Of course we all want our children to be smart and give them the best path to succeed in their education (I don‘t have children yet), because if we don’t we’re the ones to blame.

As the chapter continues, it begins discussing the results from some research, and some ideas for helping children learn how addition and subtraction work. Studies show that children can learn how to do addition and subtraction. Professor Janellen Huttenlocher did a study with toddlers, and it was a success. The same success occurred when she did her studies on monkeys. I thought it was a brilliant idea to use an object instead of using flash cards to show a child how the equation works. But, I still disagree with Professor Janellen Huttenlocher’s research, because I do believe that children tend to memorize a word, such as three, as the “name” for everything, and would do the same with color. For instance, a child might think “red” is the name for all colors. The child needs to learn through experience that three don’t mean that every item is going to be three.

I began reflecting on my former job as a preschool teacher three years ago. The first time I started working at the preschool, I was very surprised that children who were 5 and/or about to start kindergarten must learn their ABC’s, numbers to 30, shapes, sight words, and must know how to write their name. I felt really bad for the children, because they were loaded with a ton of homework and they’re not even in grade school. It seemed to me like they were not given the time and space to enjoy their childhood. It seemed to me like they skipped the childhood stage and jumped into the adult stage. When I was in preschool in the Philippines, I remember just playing a lot and of course learning my ABC’s, numbers, etc. As a child, I learned by playing. I’ve never seen children put under pressure as much as I saw it while working at the preschool for three years. Preschool should be fun for children, which is the way I remember it. You can always combine learning and playing at the same time. Hirsh- Pasek and Golinkoff wrote that, “Children learn much better through play” (p.58). I think this is the most important part of learning.

Reading this passage has made me realize more about how children are put under pressure to learn. I think it’s great that school has high standards for their students because it will benefit them later as they go on with their schooling. But you can’t forget that children are still children, they’re not robots. Children cannot program themselves to learn something in a second once the teacher explains it once. Children need different objects to manipulate, so the children will have a better understanding of what is happening. Also children need to learn to communicate with their peers or others, and their motor skills needs to be practiced as well. Make learning fun for children. Throw in some fun activities that you could do with them; in that way you will meet your goal as a teacher, and of course your children will be having fun and not stressing out about learning new things.

Playing the Numbers: Lessons from Vinny

This is Kasandra, and in her words, it's "a soccer picture of me when I was a chubby little four year old!" When you read her entry, you'll see that she's done a nice job not only remembering a little from her own preschool years, but applying information from chapter 3 to her current experiences with young children. Enjoy!

When you ask a two year old how old they are, they usually look back and hold up two fingers to show you. While they know how many fingers to hold up to represent their age, do they really know what the number two means? In chapter three, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff explore the process of children’s understanding of quantity. Previous to reading this chapter, I had never really put much thought into when or how children learn what numbers truly mean. I knew there was a certain age they learned to count from one to ten, but I never considered that even though they knew the numbers, they didn’t know what they truly meant. I can’t personally recall when I began to understand numbers. I do, though, recall when I realized numbers go on for infinity. I was a third grader, and wrapping my mind around that was a lot to take in.
I agree with the authors when they say parents in our society are too worried that their child is going to be behind in school before they even start preschool. Parents hear that infants should be able to add and subtract numbers, and automatically think their child is behind. They then go out and buy flashcards and math videos to help their children catch back up to speed. This reminds me of a very important lesson I learned in one of my psychology classes. Parents need to learn what sources to listen to and which ones to just ignore completely. To know what information is legitimate you need to learn what a credible source is; you can’t listen to everything you hear.
I was at a baseball game with my family and my three year old cousin Vinny asked me for quarters so he could by some candy at the snack shack. I didn’t have any quarters so I gave him two dimes and a nickel and told him it was the same amount. My Dad then proceeded to give him two quarters, so Vinny then gave me my change back. After reading this chapter and looking back at this incident, I realized Vinny didn’t know that a quarter was twenty-five cents; he just knew that he needed a quarter to buy some licorice, and that was all that mattered to him. He has yet to completely understand the true value of a number, though he does know that a quarter has a money value.
While reading this chapter I kept thinking of children I interact with at the daycare where I work. I am curious to know what goes through their young minds when playing with the manipulatives we set out every day. I also wonder what they think about when I ask them how old they are. Reading this chapter made me realize how complex the brain truly is. As Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff stated, “Nature has programmed children to learn about numbers”(p.42). Doing exercises with children to assist them to better understand quantity is excellent; however, children will learn on their own the true meaning of numbers.

Mom's Womb Wasn't a Disco!

This is Ally, the author of our final entry on chapter 2, with her grandmother when she was little. "The violin is not real," she explained, "but I used to make it make noises. My sisters tell me I used to play it like a guitar."









Here, Ally is with her little brother. She said, "The cat's name is Pee Wee (from Pee Wee Herman). My sisters told me that Pee Wee ran away because I used to dress him up and act like he was my baby doll."
Clearly, Ally had some fun play experiences as a child, and you'll see that she shared some of those in her entry. I hope she doesn't mind how I titled the entry -- I loved the point she makes about mom's womb, so thought it was fitting! Happy reading.





Chapter two of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards is an amazing chapter filled with tons of information of which new parents and early childhood care providers should be aware. This chapter is entitled Brainchild: How Babies are Wired to Learn. At the beginning of this chapter we are introduced to new parents that are trying to be the best parents possible. These parents, like many others, have learned from friends and media that there are ways to give your child an extra advantage in life; they have decided to get the video Baby Genius: Mozart and Friends. When they were having their second child, they learned that playing music to their unborn child would make them smarter and increase the physical and emotional bonds between parent and child. Parents are almost willing to do or pay anything to give their children the best possible life. But is listening to the new hype the way to go?

The authors of this book explain that there has been a connection between music and childhood intelligence. But it is not explicitly from playing “classical music”; it is from stimulating the synapses connections in the brain of the young child. This Mozart effect or idea was started on the University of Wisconsin’s Oshkosh campus. A researcher named Francis Rauscher was looking at the effect of classical music and “spatial reasoning tasks.” The research showed that after listening to classical music the students’ performance on tasks was better. The news of this study got out to the media and the media came up with the concept of music helping increase children’s brain development. The media and developers of toys are willing to tell parents anything to get them to buy their products. Everyday new parents are bombarded with new products that will help their baby’s brain develop faster and better. The idea is that parents are supposed to be the “sculptors” of their children’s young minds, but is that really the case?

Some scientist and toy developers believe that it is important to have children take advantage of the extra synapse connections that they can form. They believe that the more connections and things that young children learn, the smarter they will be. But many, including me, believe that the brain needs to be “pruned” so that we can make way to learn new concepts and extend on previously learned concepts. Research has discovered that the Fragile X Syndrome, which causes mental retardation, is related to the lack of pruning of these synapses. This is why it is important not to over stimulate a child. Neonatal nurses first thought that stimulating the mind in the neonatal ward would help the child go on to live a more successful life. But later research showed that these children that were over exposed to special lighting and sounds had ADD problems as well as other attention problems.

When children are placed in natural environments where they can see, hear, smell and touch, they are going to learn just fine. In the womb of your mother’s tummy there is no disco ball spinning, and there is no music box playing Mozart. In the womb there is only relaxation and the distant sound of people talking or making noise. Children are developing in the womb without any outside force showing them what to listen to or learn.

It is not true that the first three years of childhood are the most important; all of childhood is important. There is no magical age by which children need to learn. It is true that at a young age, children learn they can trust and not trust certain people. Children learn about the world, relationships and language through listening and seeing others during childhood. The book gives an example of a little girl named Genie who was a prisoner in her own bedroom. Genie’s parents kept her in a small room from the time she was 20 months old. The little girl was tied to a potty chair in her room and only had physical contact when she was fed. When the child was found at the age of 13, she was undersized, very brittle, and under nourished.

After years and years of trying to teach Genie language skills, she was still at the language stage of a four year old. This goes to prove that children can always learn new things, but it is important to give them a natural environment in which to learn. This also proves that if children are not provided the right tools to learn and grow, they will become socially, physically, and mentally disadvantaged as they get older. But these tools are not DVD’s or Leapfrogs; children need plenty of love, conversation, and things to explore so that their brains can develop. You cannot open a child’s head and pour in the information you want them to learn. They might be able to recite a few words from memorization, but will they be able to tell you what the sentence means?

As we have learned today it is not always better to overload a child with information. Do adults like being overloaded with work? Do they like being bombarded with too much information to process? Why would people think it is ok to over work a child? Parents! Please stop listening to the media and other myths and please start listening to yourself. You know what is best for your child; do what feels right.

When I was a child I remember not having money to buy new toys, so we made our toys. I played outdoors with my siblings and cousins; we played house, we imagined that we were kings and queens ruling the land, and we made our own carnivals in our backyard. This is why I agree that it is so important to take children outside and let them explore, take family trips to the beach or to your own backyard, don’t have your children just memorize things, teach them the context of what they are learning, and most important of all…. do not go out and buy the latest toy that is supposed to increase children’s brain function. You can give the child toilet paper rolls, old clean rags, cardboard, and empty water bottles and just watch what the children can make or imagine.

I know when I have a child I am not going to listen to the media and what the newest child books say, but of course I want to do the best thing for my child. What is best for my child is not always what others claim. What is best for my child and your child is what you think is best. Let your child play, explore, and make mistakes. Childhood theorists Vygotsky, Erickson, and Piaget all agree that play, friends, and security are the most important thing in a child’s life so make sure to give them those.

Chapter 2: Brainchild: How Babies Are Wired to Learn

The author of our first entry for chapter 2 is Kylie. If you haven't already guessed, this is a picture taken with her dad, Kevin, and she said, "I am a daddy's girl for sure."


Not only is Kylie Daddy's girl, but she's also the youngest in her family. This is her with her older siblings. She said, "Family is a very important part of my life, and they are awesome. The oldest girl is Amanda (the blonde one), then Melanie (the brown haired girl), then Scott, and then I am the youngest!"

My guess is that Kylie's family thinks she's awesome, too. And for that matter, I believe you'll agree that her blog entry fits the "awesome" label, as well! Happy reading.

I have always been very skeptical about all of the “make your baby smarter” merchandise that is so popular with parents today. It was encouraging to read in this chapter that educational merchandise, geared to making parents feel that the material is necessary in order for their child to have a better brain, is completely unnecessary for the proper growth of their child’s cognitive skills. When the book talked about all of the myths about the brain development of children, I felt a wave of relief. Although I do not have kids, it was encouraging to read that the parents of a child are not the sculptors of their child’s brain. If the child has a normal environment to thrive in, their brain will develop just as it is supposed to; no special, educational programs needed.

There were many parts of this chapter that made me think of my nieces and nephew. My siblings are great parents who do not overload their children with information, but allow them to spend time with the things that interest them. Although all of the children in my family are free to explore and learn without rigid guidelines, they all were exposed to educational merchandise. When my siblings became parents they were all swayed, at one point in their parenting life, into thinking that their children needed extra stimulation to have better brains. I have never experienced the privilege of parenting, but I can only imagine how much influence the media’s idea of parenting has on one’s parenting style – and how much pressure parents must feel.

The most common educational merchandise that my family has been exposed to is the “Baby Einstein” DVD series. These items focus on playing classical music for varying ages while showing visuals of different shapes with multiple colors. I never thought twice about these items, but after reading the chapter I see that there is no benefit. Another form of educational merchandise that my family has been exposed to is flash cards of information. The child that has been most exposed to this is my nephew, Joshua. My nephew is a unique child. He is not even three years old and he can read very well. He does not just memorize books, but he actually comprehends what he is reading. He can pick up a third or fourth grade level book that he has never seen before and comprehend what it says. I feel that Joshua is a very gifted child and is truly advanced for his age. His favorite thing is to learn new things and he learns very quickly. Joshua’s parents have used flash cards in response to his wanting to learn new things constantly. He loves his flash cards, and it is always him asking for them and not his parents wanting to quiz his skills. Although I agreed with the book when it said that flash card learning is not as effective as learning things with context, I cannot help but be curious as to whether, in Joshua’s case, there is an exception. He is so advanced for his age that it is difficult for him to learn things that he wants to learn within their proper context. Joshua learns so fast that it is difficult for his parents to keep up with him. New learning material gets really expensive at his accelerated rate. Flash cards are an easy and much less expensive way for him to have access to what he wants to learn. In his case, I have questions with what child development people would say with what would be the best way to raise such a gifted child.

Chapter two reminded me of things that I have learned about child development. One of the things that I was reminded of when reading this book was that children excel the best when their parent is conscious of their interests and needs. Children learn the most when the lessons are geared in a way that they understand it and it is not just memorization. The most crucial thing for a child’s development is to provide a positive and loving home environment. I also was reminded of the fact that as a consumer, it is our responsibility to be an informed consumer. Taking something as fact without researching it at all on your own is irresponsible to yourself and to your children. Being informed about how to look at research and see what is legitimate and what is not is a great tool that I learned from studying child development.

Although the reading reminded me of multiple child development concepts that I have previously learned, the reading also gave me questions about child development. After taking so many child development classes and adding the new knowledge to what I believed to be true about children before classes, it has been difficult not to question myself regarding the way I interact with children. It is difficult for me to truly trust myself with the skills that I have acquired by being exposed to children. I feel like I have been exposed to so much information about child development that I have to go through my knowledge to make sure that my actions toward a child are supported by research. This process makes my actions with children much more reserved than I feel that I would be if I were not as informed. It is important for me, and every other future or current parent, to take the knowledge, provided in child development courses, and apply it to their parenting style, but to not completely question your own ability.

I am so glad that I was able to read this book because I have always been passionate about raising my future children in a loving and cognitively-encouraging environment. It is amazing to me that the general public jumps on any new concept that the media comes up with, regardless of the validity of the research behind it. After reading this chapter, it is more evident to me how important it is for parents to not take everything they hear about child research as truth, but research themselves what is truly best for their children.

Final Chapter 1 Entry

While I think all students of child development can relate to a lot of the information in the book we're reading, you'll see that the author of our latest entry can REALLY relate to the information presented in chapter 1. Sarah wrote this, and I think you'll appreciate how close she is to the subject!

I read the introduction to the first chapter, about Felicia and her many choices while pregnant. I had to put the book down and start writing this blog. That little portion of text was enough for me to begin reflecting.

Felicia was six months pregnant when she faced the great sea of childhood products. I am currently three months pregnant, and have seen and felt exactly what Felicia has seen and felt. When I found out I was pregnant, I was thrilled! I looked online at the developmental progress of my baby. It was great to know my baby had webbed fingers in one week and ears on the side of the head in another. Next, I began looking at birthing methods. I researched natural home births, water births, C-sections, and more. So far, all of this information was not too intimidating. It wasn’t until I began to set up my baby registry at Babies R’ Us that the fear Felicia felt ran through me as well.

Felicia’s story reminded me of my own. I also went to a baby store with friends who had recently had children. They named off all of the products that worked best for them. Each mom loved the one special product, while the other mom hated that same product! I began to feel frustration and anxiety. All I want is for my baby to be born, live healthy and happy, and for me to be able to be a parent, as I know how. As I walked down each aisle, I would get more and more of a headache, comparing the language cd’s to the womb music, and the nursing pillows to the breast pumps.

Soon, I realized I needed to trust many of my own instincts when shopping for my baby. I don’t need the womb music. I don’t need the language cd’s. I especially don’t need the infant flash cards. Better yet, my baby doesn’t need the womb music, or the language cd’s, or the flash cards! Having put these thoughts down on paper, I returned to the book, and continued to read the chapter.

I finished the chapter, which prompted me to think about how my husband and I want to raise our child. This first chapter spoke about the loss of childhood in today’s culture. They mentioned children used to be seen as adults, then were seen as children again, and are once again seen as being in adulthood while in infancy. I found it easy to want to agree with every convincing word from the authors Hirsch-Pasek and Golinkoff. My husband and I took a moment to reflect upon the authors' statements and the implications of this chapter on our own beliefs about parenting.

We considered the replacement of childhood with adulthood, but found that this arrangement placed too many unrealistic and harmful demands on our child and family. We also considered the absence of adulthood from childhood, but came to the conclusion that it could lead to a lack of responsibility, selflessness, and perpetual childhood. This latter stance seemed to be the suggestion of the authors.

My husband and I agreed that we wanted to raise our children with a balance. We value play just as much as the authors do. We know our child and our family needs quality and quantity time together. We also value responsibility and a good transition from childhood to adulthood. We realize that while play is important, perpetual childhood (called adolescence) is not appropriate. Our goal is to help each other raise a child who can learn and imagine through play, but take responsibilities and also learn to become an adult.

I believe my family's values and instincts are correct, that flash cards and busy-ness do not create intelligence, nor do they create adults. Love, time, play, responsibility, and discipline help create intelligent adults. I hope my husband and I can constantly reflect on our values about parenting and do not get caught up in the hustle-bustle of “Keeping up with the Jones’” children.

Another Chapter 1 Entry

This is Ashleigh, and she said, "This was me trying to be cool!" It appears to me that she was successful!

She has written our second entry for chapter 1, and I believe you'll see that it's cool, as well. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 deals with how parents make efforts to help their children learn more effectively by buying learning games like Baby Einstein, and having their children listen to Mozart. The argument proposed in the chapter is that children do not need all of those aids; they just need to be children and play. I totally agree that children learn best though play and do not need all the fancy, high tech toys to learn. When I was little, I did not have all the toys that children have today and I did fine.

Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff wrote, “The baby-educating toy category is now a $1-billion-a-year business. Sixty five percent of parents believe that flash cards are very effective in helping 2-year-olds develop their intellectual capacity” (p. 3).
I see this with my dad; he assumes that the grandchildren already have received toys and teddy bears from the paternal grandparents, so he shops for his grandchildren to help them get an edge. I tell him that the grandchildren still will benefit from yet another simple toy that helps them bond with him, rather than making it look like he wants them to work. Children learn and retain memories through play.

I do not understand why parents today are so worried about their children being highly educated at a young age. Why is it such a big deal to get into the right preschool? Parents have to remember that these things are just marketing tools and they should reject those appeals to influence them in such a manner. Some parents need to just keep things simple for themselves. What they can listen to is their own innate common sense about what a child enjoys, and child development experts. It is amazing that a 3 or 4 year old can read, but I believe you are pushing your child too hard. While each generation wants to do things better, parents should still let children just play and explore the world. Parents do not need a lot of money to create the best, capable, healthy child; they just need to spend good play time with their child.

Today most parents are very busy; some are working at two jobs and have a hard time juggling everything. So they feel that since they do not have enough time to spend with their children, buying educational toys or materials will do the educational work for them. While that may be useful, it often depends on how old the child is.
I worked in a preschool for a couple years and the teachers never had lesson plans like they do in elementary schools. Why? Because preschool should be spontaneous and children at that age should be playing and just having a good time.

At the end of the chapter it deals with the three R’s, which are Reflect, Resist and Re-center. I think that this is a great concept to understand. The term reflect refers to when a person gets a new parenting idea; they study it and figure out if it fits with what they are already doing with their children. Then there is the concept of resist. It means stopping yourself from buying into the parenting idea. Lastly there is the term re-center. This concept means that the parents take time to let themselves know they made a good choice.

Chapter 1 -- The Plight of the Modern Parent

This is Amy, and she is the author of our first blog entry. Of this picture, she said, "This is a picture of my dad and me when I was about 4 or 5 years old, I believe. We were out at my uncle's pond and this was my first fishing pole -- and first fish that I ever caught! I know it's small, but I still laugh every time I see this picture!" I think you'll enjoy reading Amy's response to chapter 1, and will see that her fun childhood has helped shaped her opinions about what's best for children. Enjoy!


Chapter 1, The Plight of the Modern Parent, really does a great job of illustrating the confusion most parents have when entering parenthood. As soon as I began reading and realizing all the choices a new parent must make, even before the baby arrives, I could see how stressful and scary having a new baby can be. A first-time-parent has so many choices to make, from car seats to cribs, strollers to diaper bags; even decisions that one would think should be easy become difficult. Walking into a store for babies suddenly makes the parents feel as if they are unfit because of all the consumer choices they have thrown at them. The new parent is told to make the best choice or else!

As this chapter continues, it begins discussing the pressure our society puts on children to learn and succeed at an accelerated pace. What shocked me was the fact that there are now flash cards for infants! This seems absurd and ridiculous to me. So there is literally no childhood now. Even before babies can communicate through language they are already being told they must learn these flashcards! While reading this part of the chapter, I began reflecting on job shadowing I did for a kindergarten class last year. I was amazed that by the spring of the children’s kindergarten school year they were expected to read, know a certain amount of sight words, write sentences about a picture they drew, and add/subtract. In some cases the workload would leave the children in tears from stress and the pressure of not feeling good enough. It was definitely sad for me to watch this because when I was in kindergarten, which was 17 years ago, kindergarten was still fun! Yes, I was still expected to learn. But, I was learning my colors, shapes, and some sight words. There were no sentences to write; I was still learning to trace letters and write my name. After reflecting on my experience with my own kindergarten class and the class I job shadowed, I now see why we have so many people in our prison systems. I strongly believe that because kindergarten is no longer set on building strong social and emotional skills, people do not have a foundation for how to deal with others. Instead, they feel pressured and not good enough by school standards, so they just fall through the cracks or drop out. With such an accelerated pace in school there is no room for a child to fall behind; once they are behind there is no time to play catch up!

This reading has truly made me want to somehow advocate for changing the ridiculous standards that have been set for school age children. I do not believe there is any way that these standards help, benefit, or make children any smarter than children once were. I want to advocate for schools to go back to teaching and setting a foundation for children’s social and emotional development. Then, around first and second grade, begin teaching reading skills and addition/subtraction. This will allow children to feel better about themselves, so they have the mental capacity to sufficiently learn these tasks without beating themselves up because they do not understand.

Welcome to Our Blog!

It is Fall 2010, and we are studying Advanced Child Development Theories with Dr. Kathie Reid at California State University, Fresno. The course is CFS 140, and one of the requirements (which we're completely excited about, by the way...and, yes, Dr. Reid is writing this first entry...) is to read the book, "Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn -- and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less" by Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, Ph.D., and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D.

We have each signed up to write a reflection on a chapter from the book, so just about every week, we will be putting those entries up here. You don't want to miss this, as the book is great, and our reflections will be, well, incredibly intellectually stimulating and quite entertaining (reminder: Dr. Reid is writing this entry...). Sometimes, we'll even post pics of ourselves as children. How cool is that?

Before we post the first chapter reflection, though, we'd like to introduce ourselves by our small groups. We work in small groups each week in class (we LOVE this part of class), and Dr. Reid made us create clever names for our groups. Isn't she cool?...So here we are:


Cool Cats
Kasandra, Morgan, Belinda, Denise


Kiddies
Amanda, Mai, Celia


BA-KAS
Brittney, Ally, Susana, Kylie


Rabid Squirrels
Hnou, Caitlin, Kodi, Sarah


RAM-G
Amy, Gustavo, Monique, Ritchiel


Leading Stars
Ashleigh, Maggie, Jackie












That's us. And this is our blog. We hope you come along for the ride with us, as there's a lot to think about and learn from each other, and the Einstein book.

Oh, and we had an extra credit blog title contest...there were so many creative entries, that Dr. Reid combined three of the entries for our blog title. The winners were Jackie (Got Play?), Ritchiel (411), and Belinda (What Children Really Need). We're obviously off to a great start!