Critical Thinking

This is Jamie, the author of our first entry on chapter 5, when she was about 5 or 6, and her little sister was about 2 or 3. She said this is her mom's favorite picture of the two of them; can't say as I blame her!
Happy reading!

In this chapter, I read about children learning how to think critically. What stood out for me were the three different principles related to how children learn to trust “providers of information” (p. 213). The first principle states “Cooperate with kin” (p. 214), and this principle made me think of my childhood when my second cousins would babysit me till the late hours of the night while my parents worked two full time jobs. Since my parents were working all the time, I learned to trust my cousins with everything: taking me to school, feeding me, helping me with my homework, and answering any questions that I had.

The second principle is “Cooperate with other people who cooperate with you” (p. 214). This reminds me of all the many years I had spent as a child doing physical therapy to help my walking since I was born with mild cerebral palsy. I remember leaving school every day at lunch time and getting on a bus and heading to what I liked to call the “physical therapy school.” When I would arrive there they would check my weight and height and ask me if I had been doing my daily exercises at home. If I said, “Yes,” that sometimes would mean that I would get to go home early or I would learn something fun after I did my exercises. But if I said, “No,” they would tell me, “Jamie, if you don’t cooperate with us then how are we going to help you keep your legs strong? We need you to cooperate so you can go home early every day and learn something fun instead of learning these exercises all the time.” Then I would have to stay longer that day and learn the old exercises and the new exercises and not have any fun after. So trust me, I learned very quickly how to cooperate with my physical therapists so I did not have to stay late at therapy every day and we could learn something fun.

The third and final principle that I connected with was “Cooperate with people who are cooperative in general, whether with you or someone else” (p. 214). Growing up as a child with mild cerebral palsy was not easy. I was always in and out of hospitals because of surgeries and physical therapy. It was also very hard to make friends with kids my age as well because they thought I was weird and awkward because I walked differently than them. But the positive side of having cerebral palsy is that I learned to be a very easy going, fun loving kid and made friends and understood adults better than kids my own age. So I learned to cooperate with my doctors, nurses, and physical therapists more because they knew me. I would always be seen playing with the nurses on the playground when they were on their breaks and because I was so cooperative with them, they actually helped me make friends my own age in and outside of the hospital.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Errrr....Apple?

Though it's not what they intended, this picture is actually fitting with regard to how far behind I've fallen in posting the entries that students have continued to write in response to Galinsky's book! They have been turning them in on time, so it is completely my fault that they're being put up so late. I hope to make up for most of that in the next few days.

In the meantime, this is what Miriam, the author of our fourth entry on chapter 4, had to say about the photo:

"The picture is of my 8-year-old brother Moises and me on New Year's Eve.

The words on it say 'Siblings? It doesn't look like it!' Although we are so different, he still learns a lot from his big sister." And I think you'll learn a lot from reading Miriam's entry, as it's quite creative and thoughtful. Enjoy!

The chapter began with a story about a mother who realizes that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Well, I do not have children but my "apple" is my eight-year-old brother, Moises. In some ways, we are so different, not only in that he looks like mom and I like dad, but he is extroverted and I am more introverted. Although we are so different, my brother follows my examples and learns from me, and somehow has developed my music taste, and is learning to dance from his big sister. I have a great influence on him and I hope to further encourage his connection-making process.

Making connections is a skill that begins in our infancy and follows us through our college careers and the rest of our lives. In college, we are constantly being asked to form new connections. Our research projects consist of taking a topic and looking at what others have to say and how it may support or revoke what we have to say. When I have made connections between subjects or related them to my own life, these learning experiences have stayed longer with me. Making connections is about creativity, as stated by Galinsky: “The essence of creativity is to be able to disassemble and recombine elements in new ways” (p. 182).

Making connections consists of more than relating ideas, objects, subjects, etc. One will categorize and figure out how one thing can represent another or stand in place of another thing. When we make connections we discover what is the same or similar, or the contrary: We discover what is different. Along with this we look into how things relate to one another. Children are born with an object sense and thus are wired to see beyond what is immediately presented visually. They are also born with a space sense that allows them to find their way around, and an approximate number sense where they can visually distinguish between different amounts of objects.

Galinsky writes about the connections between the “arts and the brain.” Children who are engaged in the arts experience a positive impact on their cognition. This could be due to their learning to focus better, and as a result, pay better attention. It could also be that the arts capture the interest of children and become a motivational factor in their lives. The arts not only encourage focus but encourage the child to look outside of themselves, to think outside the box, and help them to understand and develop metaphors. Art was my favorite subject as a child, and even today whenever I cannot seem to get my life together, I grab my sketch book and charcoal and draw away my troubles. Art is my way of expressing myself and helps me clear my mind. I have to really look inside myself to be able to show the world what is going on. And while I am thinking outside the box, I am bringing people in. Why not encourage your child to be creative and help them find a way of expressing themselves and connecting with the world?

Making connections is something that should be fun and children should be encouraged to make them and be creative. Current interests can be developed into learning experiences. As child development majors, I think we all agree that we love working with kids, we are fascinated with by their development, and we are now turning this into a career. We need to teach children and remind ourselves that mistakes are a part of the learning process. To further guide a child we should provide them with opportunities to experiment with how things work and to explore. It is important to be descriptive with play, whether it is about the objects the child is playing with or the environment. Talking about quantities helps with developing number sense even further. Playing games with the children that include sorting helps them even further by giving them feedback on the game. Finally, you can help your child see things from different perspectives by using optical illusions , and I do recall those being fun ever since elementary school.

An Early Love of Reading...Over and Over and Over

This is Alyssa, the daughter of Mai Neng, who wrote our third entry on chapter 4. Mai Neng said she is 8 months old here, and you can see she already enjoyed books. Or was at least curious about them!

This is Alyssa and her mom when Alyssa was 14 months old, and she wanted Mai Neng to read to her. I wonder if she wanted her mom to read this blog entry to her, too? Happy reading!

I was born in Laos and lived in the mountains, where there is no school or education system and there is no information about children. I came to the United States when I was 11 years old and started school in fourth grade. I grew up not knowing the importance of child development. I used to think that the skill of making connections was not that serious or important. In the chapter, Galinsky suggests some ideas for finding out how children are making connections to things around them, such as objects, space, and numbers. Before I took child development classes, I used to think that sorting objects and scribbling on paper were nothing but child’s play. Galinsky stated, though, that sorting things is one way of making connections to the world, because through that process, children are learning how the world works.

My 15-month-old daughter loves looking through books and wants an adult to read to her every minute. When we are at home, we have to read about seven to eight times a day to her. In addition, though we have about ten books, she will always choose the same three books, and I always wonder why she picks those books. After I read this chapter, I realized that she is making connections to books. For example, it stated in the book that young children’s object sense is like that of adults: If they “see something again and again, they become tired of it and pay less attention each time it’s repeated” ( p. 161). In my daughter’s case, I believe she is working on her object sense; she will read the same books until she gets tired of those books and moves to a new one.

Young children do more than connect to objects. Space also helps children find their way. Galinsky stated that “children learn to make connections using clues that go beyond the geometry of the space; such as color or other landmarks” (p. 165). Children usually remember where their things are by remembering what they have to get through before they get to what they need. For example, my daughter likes to look through books, she knows where her books are located, but she has to go around the sofa and open the drawer to be able to get to her books. This is one way children use their sense of space to locate hidden objects. According to the reading, young children use spaces in their minds to create cognitive maps of their environment.

Adults may wonder why children keep playing with objects and how they understand that they have to go around the table to be able to get to their bottle. In this chapter, Galinsky teaches us that this play serves as a way for them to make connections to objects and space in their environment.

Making Connections

Ok, seriously....how cute is he?!! This is the son of Alexis, the author of our second entry on chapter 4, and he looks pretty excited to have you read him mom's thoughts on the importance of helping children learn to make connections -- enjoy!

Upon reading this chapter, I began making connections to the events that were occurring in my life. In the chapter, her first example was one with a two-year-old boy named Philip, who had a passion for grouping toys by particular characteristics. She discusses the importance of developing the ability to classify items correctly into groups, for she believes it helps us later in life.

In December of 2009, I became a mother, and since, my life has changed dramatically. In a short amount of time, I went from being a free-spirited, outgoing girl, to a responsible but sleep deprived adult. The process of becoming a new mommy required hard work, and not being afraid to ask questions or for help. It was an adjustment, for now I had two sets of parents providing advice and recommendations about how to raise our little one, though I had always had a vision of what type of mother I would be. Once school began, my fiance and I had to find a balance between school, work, and our son. This was when we were hit with the realization that our lives would never be the same, and this was accompanied by overwhelming feelings. It wasn’t until I began remembering all of the advice my mother and family had given me, as well as everything I had learned in my classes, that I had my first, “aha” moment. I had made a connection by combining the information I had been given and applying it into my parenting habits. Once this happened, I noticed parenting was not so scary. I felt in control and anytime I was unsure, I turned to my parents or texts for advice. Now my relationship with my fiance is better than ever, as we are much more confident, relaxed and happy with our parenting style. It is an indescribable feeling to watch our son fly through his milestones, and as we look back, we are amazed to see how much we have all changed and matured, in such a short period of time.

Watching my son every day, I am astonished when he displays a new talent. Galinksy writes that “space sense and object sense” are large factors in development. She explains that we are born with these abilities and display them from a young age. A great example is imitation. My son has recently developed an interest in my cell phone and snatches it when I am not looking. He holds it to his ear and makes us laugh as he babbles into it and runs away. Though funny, it is developmental, for he has made a connection that phones are for talking. This is a great start, for soon it will develop into dramatic play.

In conclusion, developing the ability to make connections is extremely important, for we use it in our lives every day. By taking in new information and applying it to what we already know, we are expanding our knowledge and our perceptions of how things work.

Parents' Connections with Children

The author of our first entry on chapter 4 is Morena, and she's pictured here at the age of 10 with a bike about which you'll read. Though she said she wished she could lighten the exposure in the photo so you can see it better, it's nearly impossible to miss the joy on her face. I think you'll also enjoy reading her thoughts here!

The author presents twelve suggestions to help parents promote their children’s ability to make connections . There were three of them in particular that caught my attention, and I was able to relate them to my childhood.

The first suggestion was to provide learning opportunities for children that are challenging and help them see connections that are enjoyable and educational. It made me think of my experience in second grade when I had to learn addition and subtraction. My teacher, Mrs. Gonzales, made the lessons fun by providing us with candy or fruit to count. It became my favorite subject because when we did addition, she would bring the candy so we could use them when adding. I was happy to see the result; we quickly finished the math problems and ate all the candy we counted. For subtraction problems we had groups of people with oranges and others with apples that we shared and ate in the end. It was a playful way of learning the math concepts and the best part was that we got to eat all the things we added and subtracted. I would tell my mother to do the same thing at home with candy and fruit instead of marbles or Popsicle sticks. I tried to apply this technique with my younger sisters, but by using their favorite snack: Hot Cheetos. This way they completed their math homework and when they finished, they were able to enjoy their favorite snack.

The second suggestion was to allow the children “to make mistakes because it is part of learning and it is okay” (p. 188). Many children are afraid to try things when they do not work for them the first time. I was thirteen and decided to make pancakes for the first time and surprise my mother with breakfast. The first time was scary for me because I used the hand mixer to mix the flour with the milk. Sadly, all the ingredients went flying everywhere! I turned on the stove, set the heat on high, and took out the butter; I was ready for my pancakes. The first one burned, so I decided to set the stove on low and it worked better. I was ecstatic to see my mother and know she felt proud of me, although she did advise me to practice and never to try it alone. I realized it was okay for me to have a burned pancake because the second time would be better; practice makes perfect. What motivated me to not give up was that I wanted to surprise my mother. I agree with Galinsky that, “making errors is fundamental to learning” (p. 188) because it teaches us that we are not perfect; we should not stop trying until we get it right, learning from the mistakes we made first. From this activity I was able to learn that if I did not place the hand mixer in the bowl, I would make a mess and high heat would burn the pancakes. Practicing a task is what helps us improve each time. I kept practicing and now I make delicious pancakes that my siblings can enjoy.

Another suggestion that I connected with was number eight: “Give children family work that involves counting” (p. 194). I am the second of six siblings and it was difficult for my parents to buy a bicycle for all of us. I remember my uncle giving me twenty dollars and telling me to save it, and when I had five of them, I would be able to purchase a bicycle. It was hard because when the ice cream man passed in my neighborhood, I wanted to buy ice cream, but I endured and thought about my bicycle. Each week I counted the money in my piggy bank to check for my five twenties. My mother, father, and uncles would give me money every time I earned good grades and did my chores. As a result, within a month, I was able to buy my pink bicycle. The connection to this suggestion was that it taught me to save money for something I actually wanted, to control and balance everything I had in order to get to my goal.

Without a doubt, the twelve suggestions in this chapter resembled tasks that my teachers and parents used in my childhood. I am not a parent yet, but I am planning to use these twelve suggestions in my family one day. They have been helpful to my parents and the examples from the book show clearly how children develop and grow. Even today I still follow these suggestions on my job and with my younger cousins when I help them with their homework. Before reading this chapter, I did not have a clue about the twelve suggestions to promote children’s ability to make connections; they are everyday tasks that I did not realize I used. Indeed, some of them may work, but it is not necessary to use them all. It is a combination that teachers and parents can apply in their classrooms, at home or both. Making connections makes children enjoy and learn material that they can use in different settings in their lives.

This is Morena at the age of 3 with her older and only brother. She said that she remembers not wanting to have her picture taken, but her mom was able to get her to pose by allowing her to hold the banana.

"Guess what happened after," she said. "Well, I ate it!"

No Learning? No Living!

This is the author of our final entry on chapter 3, Sara, when she was a child. Galinsky's chapter reminded her of her childhood, and I think you'll appreciate what Sara has shared. Enjoy!


Communication plays an important role in interactions, especially with children at a very young age. When I first started reading this chapter I thought it would not be interesting, but I discovered otherwise - this chapter was very interesting to read. There are a few things that I am going to mention that include the dog communicating to the owner, children coding with one another, language and literacy. Additionally, I will discuss Galinsky’s first suggestion: Create an environment at home where words, reading, and listening are important.

Some of the examples related to my childhood. For example, Galinsky states that animals can communicate. I could relate to the dog that waited until the owner would pay attention to him, and then would tell the owner what he wanted by pointing with his nose (first to the owner, then to the cabinet) when he wanted his biscuit. I have a dog and when she is hungry she will sit in the same spot in the kitchen by the cupboards and wait. During that time she gives me a pitiful look with her eyes, telling me that she is hungry (it’s more like an “I’m starving!” look). Once I feed her, she goes off and does her own thing. I just love that section and can really relate to it because I am an animal lover. Animals truly can communicate with humans in their own way.

Another part of the chapter that intrigued me was the section about a family sitting around the dinner table. There were three siblings, and they were talking in code in front of their mom. It brought back a memory of when I was a child, but instead of between siblings, it was with friends. I remember when I was in grade school and my friends and I had a code. We mainly talked in this code in school. The adults could not figure out what we were talking about, like the mother in chapter three. Prior to reading this piece in the chapter, I had forgotten about having a code as child. The more I thought about this section, the more I thought about the children of today talking in code. It makes me smile thinking about my past experience as a child, and watching today’s children doing the same.

The section about children and literacy made me think about the role of reading in developing communication skills. I feel that it is very important to read to children starting at a young age. It helps the child to learn about language and written communication. I feel that when a child is being read to or they are reading to someone else, learning occurs. Books allow children to venture out and explore new things. Children are able to learn new things such as information about a new country, the stars, dinosaurs or whatever has peaked their interest. There was this one particular child who I had in my infant classroom who loved to be read to. He would bring a book to an adult and would want us to read it to him - this would happen throughout the day. After a while, this child would memorize his favorites and he would “read” the book to us. It was great to see this child love to read and to have him help me read the book, especially the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book. His mother would tell us that they read all the time at home.

When I was reading suggestion one, it occurred to me that I never thought of reading literature as so important until I was older. Suggestion one states that “In order to promote literacy and communication skills, we must exercise them ourselves. Children learn what they see and live” (p. 142). When I was reading to my preschool class some time ago, I would ask them about the book and what they thought might happen next in the story. Looking back, I now know I was doing the right thing, but I did not realize it at the time. “If you stop learning, you stop living” (p. 142). I really agree with this statement, because you learn new things everyday whether you realize it or not. My son just turned three years old and he is learning and discovering new things every day through reading, communicating, and interacting. Watching him learn is a wonderful experience.

I have learned some new things from this chapter about communicating with children - as well as adults. This new information will help me understand children and families better and how they communicate with one another. Reading this chapter encourages me to pay more attention to the communication I have with my own family and friends. It will not only help me, but will help me teach my son better communication through reading books, talking and listening with him.

The Power of Simple Communication

This is Leslie, the author of our second entry on chapter 3, and she said the photo was taken when she was about 1 1/2 to 2 years old. She also said, "My mom said I loved this dress." This picture definitely captures that! Happy reading.


In chapter three, we learn that communication is crucial in infancy. The only way that children understand and comprehend their environment is through verbal and physical gestures. Galinsky said that "infants as young as one or two days old already 'recognize' their mother's voices" (p. 105). This means that infants are already familiar with their mother's voice, and when they are born, they know that that voice is their mother's. Infants learned their mother's voice prior to being born because they were constantly surrounded by their mother's conversations.

Galinsky also discussed the importance of language development in the early stages of life. She talks about how speaking bilingually will have a large impact on the child's language comprehension. I agree with this because when I was growing up, my parents spoke a lot of Hmong to me, but they also spoke a lot of English, and the one that stuck was English. I learned to speak Hmong, but I did not grow as fluent in the language as I would have wanted. Plus, growing up I was always used to speaking English at school, and then when I was home, I would speak "Hmonglish," which was a mixture of both Hmong and English. It never occurred to me whether I was speaking one or the other, but learning two languages as a child was not as difficult as learning a different language as an adult, and this helped me keep the language in my system.

Communication also incorporates the use of facial expressions as a way to illustrate what someone feels, thinks, or wants. There are three typical faces that are expressed: “Oochie= an expression adults use to express concern, caring, comfort, and love. It involves pursed lips and is playful. Wow= it is an adult expression of surprise; the eyebrows are raised, the mouth is wide open, and there is an upturning in the lips that indicates amazement, pride, and love. Joy= reflects an unmistakable look of joy and love” (p. 111). I always get caught making these expressions to my baby brother, Ethan, when I’m talking to him. I remember when he was about 15 months; he was learning to imitate the same faces I made towards him. I took him to the store with me and I would look at him and open my mouth wide and look down at him with big brown “googly” eyes. He thought it was hysterical and tried to do the same “wow” expression. I notice that every time I interact with him now, he always has a funny expression on his face due to his learning way too many from his older siblings.

I also agree with Galinsky’s perspective on how parents communicate with their babies through “baba-wawa talk.” I use this language all the time when I am babysitting my little cousins and my baby brother. The children will indicate that they want water through either saying the basic “wa wa” part or by pointing to the water. They are learning to verbalize the first part of the word and learning to use the “wa wa” to let me know that they want the water. My family and I use this method with my baby brother. Whenever he wants to eat or drink, we say “mah mah” which means rice in Hmong. He nods his head up and down. He knows the word simply because we always say it to him and he comprehends that when he asks for it, it will be given to him.

This chapter focuses a lot on many different ways communication can be stressed to young children and parents. Communication embodies the elements of child development because we want to see the growth of a child’s language and verbal speech through conversations and their environments. Developing communication skills is an on-going learning process that never stops because children are constantly exposed to learning new things and learning to store what they learn in their memory.

The reading on communication has further made me more aware of how well children comprehend the information and how they process that into their memory. I was really surprised at how children learn so much through observing the facial cues of their parents, and how powerful those are. I feel that now when I communicate with my baby brother, I see that he is catching on to what I am trying to get across to him, and I’m amazed at how well he comprehends what I am telling him. When he nods and tries to tell me something, I see that he knows how to get me to understand the same thing he is trying to explain to me. We somehow learn what the other needs and wants through facial expressions and simple “one” words.

Chapter 3: Communicating

This is PK, the author of our first entry on chapter 3. In this childhood picture, her dad is holding her older brother and her. Happy reading!


Like Galinsky, I’ve always been fascinated by the development of language. I was surprised to learn that infants learn through parent-look and parent-gesture, which makes perfect sense, because how else would they have learned about communicating? I’ve always thought they learned language through listening to verbal communication. Reading this chapter gave me insightful ideas about how to help children with language development. It also allowed me to reflect back on my childhood and my experiences with language.

One of Galinsky’s suggestions for promoting communication with children was to read with them. While recalling my childhood, I don’t remember my parents reading to me because they didn’t speak the English language, let alone read or write in English. While suggesting this, Galinsky used research from Catherine Snow, indicating that children‘s learning and academic performance are enhanced when parents read to them regularly, prior to classroom learning. I think I performed well academically, despite the fact that my parents never read to us. Instead, my parents were very supportive and always reminded me that education was the key to success, and that alone was a motivating factor for me.

One of the topics Galinsky touched upon is learning a second language. Being a bilingual student myself, I remember the challenges of learning the English language, but overcoming these obstacles has led me to this wonderful asset of speaking two languages. I started preschool not knowing any English but I loved going in spite of that. I remember preschool being a real positive experience because we did so many fun activities like painting and singing songs. I just loved school! Having mentioned this, I believe that learning itself should be fun and exciting for all children. Learning a new language should be just as fun. Children should be encouraged to explore the world through play and learn as much as they can.

I was surprised that the game of “Simon Says, Do the Opposite” was mentioned in this chapter. According to Galinsky, games like this promote focus and self control. Not that she knew it at that time, but my older sister often played this game with us. She always had to be “Simon” and “Simon” always had to be the oldest one. The younger ones, including me, were the players. The winner would often get to walk with her to the store and buy ice cream. We loved the game because my younger siblings, who were then ages 4, 5 and 7, would always be the first ones out because they just didn’t understand the game. She would always do the opposite of what the command was just to trick us, but the younger ones would always follow her instead of the command. This would be a perfect example of children in Piaget's preoperational stage whose thoughts are still very rigid. For children during this cognitive development stage, they are unable to see things in reverse and instead focus on the appearance rather than the reality.

In closing, I found the reading to be worthwhile. I learned about the different ways that children first learn language and ways I can assist children in my future career. I feel that with unconditional love and nurturing from caregivers, a child’s language development will only continue to thrive and change the world.

Some Final Thoughts on Perspective Taking

This very cool child is Jong, who is now obviously old enough to be in college (but undoubtedly still cool!), and is the author of our final entry on chapter 2. Happy reading!

The second chapter in Galinsky’s book addressed perspective taking skills in children. In this chapter, the author presented nine suggestions to help parents teach and understand their children. The majority of the nine suggestions were simply commonsense to parents. Galinsky stated that perspective taking is important because it helps children to make sense of their own and others’ experiences. After reading this chapter, I found that some of the suggestions were similar to what my parents taught me when I was younger. However, Galinsky’s suggestions helped me to further understand things that could be beneficial towards my work in the field of Child Development.

Of all the suggestions that the author offered in the second chapter, the ones that most stood out to me were suggestions five and seven. Suggestion five talked about the feelings between parents and their children. This suggestion caused me to think back on my younger years and made me realize I had learned perspective taking from my parents. I found that I like putting myself in other people’s shoes. I want to experience the feelings and reactions that others have towards a certain situation. As long as I can remember, my mom has always explained her feelings to me and also wanted me to do the same. This behavior became so ingrained that now whenever I am mad at someone, I have to explain the reason why I am angry. She advised me that the best way to cope with anger was to act as if everything was fine, and then isolate myself by going into my bedroom to scream out loud.

Galinsky’s seventh suggestion was about pretend play and is very important in perspective taking. Children have to pretend in order to experience what others lives are like. The example that was given for suggestion seven was pretending to be mommies and daddies. This example reminded me of my younger years when my siblings and I used to play house together. I remember that my older brother John played the dad, my sister Mai played the mom, my other sister Bee was the grandmother, while the rest of us were either the children or the pretend store owner. Our pretend play would always take place outside in the garden. We would make-believe that the sand, water, grass, and everything else we could find was the food; we pretended to cook and eat it. It was just a part of being a kid, but I remember we would get in trouble all the time because we never cleaned up after ourselves. However, in today’s society, things are different because you hardly see any children playing house outside anymore. In this generation, I tend to see more boys into video games and girls into make-up.

In conclusion, perspective taking will always be a part of daily life, no matter the age of the person, because we continue to use these skills throughout life. In other words, we must learn perspective taking ourselves in order to understand it and teach it to our children. Reading the chapter about perspective taking has led me to conclude that it will be beneficial for me when working with children in the future.