Respond to the Classmate’s Discussion as you would in a face-to face class by stating why you agree with their discussion, asking questions and stating your point of view. 

I thought the controversy of co-sleeping from chapter seven was interesting (Erford, 2017). I’ve often wondered about this myself in kind of a general way, but also in terms of one of my nieces. She is eight and very rarely sleeps a full night in her own bed. Basically, every night, at some point, she crawls into my sister and brother-in-law’s bed and sleeps the rest of the night with them. My sister and brother-in-law aren’t affected by it whatsoever and, in fact, they enjoy waking up with her there (they have figured out “marital activities” outside of this window of time, so that is not a factor). Their only rule is that she falls asleep in her own bed. Then, she is free to come downstairs and sleep the rest of the night with them. I personally think it’s sweet and that it offers security and bonding between her and her parents. I also like their rule of her having to fall asleep in her own bed. I remember being at that age and getting to sleep with my mom once a week. I was so excited, and it really was the highlight of my week. It came to a screeching halt when my mom re-married when I turned eight, but I just remember it being special. I understand the concern that children may be more dependent on their parents if they co-sleep, but, at least in the case of my niece, she is very independent and there isn’t any indication that she relies too much on her parents. Like most things, I think it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach as all children are very different and what works for one may not work for another. While my niece may be independent despite her co-sleeping habits, another child may rely more on their parents in part because of their co-sleeping habits. 

I also really liked learning about the Zone of Proximal Development (Erford, 2017). It’s such a great way of reminding parents/teachers/etc. that children have windows of development and not all develop the same way. I know this can be tough on teachers who stick to curriculum and don’t have the time to maintain one-on-one interaction with the children, even if they would like to. Or even parents. I just think it’s overall another concept that sees the child as a person that is independent of other children in their development and can give parents a chance to be collaborative and supportive in their scaffolding or teaching. These sorts of concepts are really fascinating to me because, although it makes complete sense once you read about it, it’s interesting how often we forget as adults how difficult it was to be a child and learn. Especially if we grew up in an environment that was not collaborative or supportive. And, unfortunately, most of us mimic the way we were taught. 

                                                                    Reference

Erford, B.T. (2017). An advanced lifespan odyssey for counseling professionals (1st ed.). Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.