Why Do Kids Cry?

So, why do kids cry? Having already experienced 2 observation days and volunteering in so many schools, I feel that I have come up with 2 conclusions in why kids do cry.

1. Kids cry because they don't get what they want.

So my second observation day, I actually did make a kid cry. Horrible, right?! Actually, I'm a pretty kind person. This is what happened as I'll give you the quick and dirty version. It was indoor recess and so the kids were playing with their iPads, there was me trying to socialize and talk to these students while they were playing. All of a sudden, someone lost and starts to cry. I go over and ask him what's wrong. He starts by saying how I was distracting him from him winning and that because of me, he lost. Then he loses it and cries. Runs across the room to crawl into a ball and cry. Fast forward, I apologized to him later saying I shouldn't have distracted him, but in reality I was trying to make an effort in introducing myself!

I feel that kids don't only cry because they don't get what they want, but adults too. For example, adults could cry when they experience the following:

- really emotional and really tough break-ups (don't get my mom started on The Bachelor!)

^ Actually that's the only thing I could come up with, so if you have any ideas, feel free to share!

2. Kids cry because they get scared.

When I did storytime to daycare of age 3-5, I would bring a really scary crocodile puppet to sing with. When I pulled him out, almost all of them thought it was a real crocodile. To make it more interesting, I would take the puppet and almost eat one of their heads and chew them off. As I'm writing this I kind of feel horrible, but it was more on the entertaining side of things. Some kids actually cried because they were SO scared of the puppet. I had to reassure them, and same with their peers, that the crocodile puppet was fake, meaning not real. Kids these days, believing a puppet is real and that money grows on trees. What's next?!

In upper elementary or junior high, I remember they would cry if they got "detention" or a "call to the parents". Looking back, they actually did work and can see why getting either would make them want to cry.

Now there could be many more reasons why kids cry, but for right now those are the two that I can clearly think of. If you can add more to this list, please feel free to do so! 

Recap: EDPY 302

Recap of EDPY 302: Learning and Development in Childhood (Educational Psychology)

After my summer job working with children, teens, pre-teens, babies and seniors, I was truthfully looking forward to this class. I find psychology class kind of like biology, where it's information you memorize endlessly for the exam. I knew going into this class that I wouldn't walk away with a decent mark, though I was pleasantly surprised that I did! 

Also, this is the first time that I took a "blended" course, meaning instead of having 3 hours of lecture every week, it was cut down to half. The other half was geared towards an online component on eClass. At first it was a challenge because I discovered that with these kinds of course you have to find more motivation to do the work than a regular class. At the beginning of the term I did not do the readings at all, just because I always disregarded the lecture on Monday mornings. However, upon completing my essay I increasingly found the course material more and more interesting. Because of this, I started to do my readings on time and actually enjoyed the course content! Who knew reading the textbook could be so beneficial?! 

Thoughts Throughout

This course had so many little things that we had to do, at first I was a bit distraught. Our grade was divided into 3 exams (all non-cumulative, thank god), a reflection assignment (basically 3 essays) and participation marks. I'm so thankful for our professor who chose not to make our exams cumulative, otherwise I would've quadrupled-stacked my flashcards. I honestly stressed so much about my assignment/essays over this term, though I had to keep reminding myself that all 3 essays were worth 20%. Yes, 20% (groan). The time that I put into those essays should actually be worth more. 

Final Thoughts

Out of all the classes that I took this term, I found this ed psych class to be the most interesting. In the second half of the term I looked forward to the lecture because our class actually had in-depth course-related discussions. My favorite topics that we learned and analyzed included types/causes of childhood bullying, various parenting styles and its impacts it has on children, as well as several learning disabilities. We talked about how teachers must be willing to work with children who could have these disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or ADHD. 

I found these topics interesting as it will apply to me when I have students who may have these kinds of learning setbacks. Most importantly, it shows that children are not the same. They learn, they speak, they understand differently than their seat partner. As a pre-service teacher, I'm willing to go those extra miles for children who may need more attention and time than necessary. That's definitely okay, because I'm willing to put in that extra effort so that my students will go that extra mile.