This document is a reflection paper by Norma Jean Robinson for her Child Development 149 class. It summarizes her experience taking the class and highlights several art projects she completed for assignments, including self-portraits, sculptures, paintings, and musical instruments made from recycled materials. It also reflects on how children's interests in play and creativity have changed with technology over time.

1. NORMA JEAN ROBINSON- STUDENT
MALCOLM X COLLEGE/FALL 2012- KREATIVE ACTIVITIES 4 YOUTH BLOG
CHILD DEVELOPMENT 149/CREATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
WEDNESDAY/ ROOM 3462/INSTRUCTOR: BERNICE SHELTON

2. Child Development 149
Assignment Blog on
Microsoft 2010 PowerPoint
By: Norma J. Robinson
• Norma J. Robinson 09/12/2012
• Child Development 149-E/EX Wednesdays/11:00 Am- 2:30 Pm
• Instructor: William T. O’Donnell Room: 3426
• REFLECTION PAPER # 1
• In reflecting back on my childhood, I would have to say that both of my parents had influenced me to become
the creative person I am today. I would always help my mother in the kitchen when she baked cakes, pies,
cookies, custards and biscuits. Spending time with my mother in that kitchen was the most enjoyable moments
of my life. The nurse who would care for my mother at home bought me a green, Betty Crocker oven for my 8th
birthday. Before my mother became terminally ill and bedridden, she would help me create cakes, cookies,
brownies, pies and even candies with my stove. It was not a toy! It actually had an electrical cord and the oven
door did not open until the stove cooled off. It came with baking materials and a variety of mixes to create baking
items with.
• The love of baking never left me after my mother died. However, I found a new interest. I became interested
in drawing, painting and making arts and crafts as I got older. My father was always buying me art materials. My
father did not allow me to play with the children who lived in the neighborhood for fear that I would get hurt. I was
influenced to draw when I had been shown a book which had belong to my mother. She use to doodle on the
inside covers of her books. I was fascinated by her creativity. I began to draw comics of my own. I would just
create characters right out of the blue. I would color these characters with crayons. It did not matter if I had art
paper or not. I would draw on brown paper bags or my notebook paper. I would make giant sized characters
sometimes when I was bored. I would pretend that we were having a tea party and make a lot of giant paper dolls
from brown paper bags or art paper. I would glue the arms and legs to the body of the character and I would just
have fun that way. I grew up alone as a child and I had to find some way to have fun by myself.
• I took my drawings on notebook paper to school and sold them for a quarter to my classmates. The
classmates would ask me to create them something like I had created myself. I joined an art club when I was in
the 7th grade. In high school, I studied two years of Commercial Arts and participated in many art festivals
throughout my high school years. I received many certificates of awards and even trophies for art and designed
a t-shirt jersey for my graduating class of 1981. I also did artwork for the school newspaper and yearbook.
• Art has been my favorite subject for many years, although I did attend culinary art school to venture back into
the field of cooking. My father taught me how to cook some foods. My mother taught me about baking and
creating desserts and influenced me in the area of visual arts where my talent which continues to develop.
• In conclusion, when thinking about how I viewed my interest in play as a child and the way which I think about
play these days is really to say that technology has created the way that toys are created today from my years as
a child. Children today, tend to have a lot of interest in the interest in electronic video games or toys that
generate sounds, lights or that can provide movement such as dancing and singing dolls or those that can even
talk. Virtually everything in this 2000 era has some form of computer chip in it or it is made very differently from
when my parents bought me toys. Children watch more television now and the things shown on there are not
always age appropriate for all children to view. The commercials and even the cartoons are not really adequate
for young children to view. However, the media still shows it on those children televised networks. My childhood
interest in learning about baking or art has excelled over the years. I still find enjoyment doing these same
things. But, now I am teaching my children and grandchildren about those same things and it is fun for all of us.
•
This was a reflection paper
produced for my Child
Development 149/Creative
Activities for Young Children course
on 09/12/2012.

3. Week: 4 Role of the Teacher: Chapter 5
Children’s, Teacher & Creative Activities: Drawing, Coloring
and Painting. 09/12/20012
I created this self-portrait of
myself as an assignment
for my Child Development
149 class at Malcolm X
College. This class is
called, “Creative Activities
for Young Children.”

4. Week: 1 What is Art?
08/22/2012
Get to know your lab

5. Week: 2 Creative Problem Solving
08/29/2012
The Egg Drop Experiment:
This was a class project.
We were broken into
groups. Our group had to
come up with a package
that we could pack an egg
inside of which would not
break upon being dropped
from an high level to the
ground. Only three eggs
survived the fall.

6. Week: 3 Process vs. Product
09/05/2012
The Development of a
class sculpture:
Our class put together a
sculpture made from
recyclable materials.

7. Week: 5 Painting
09/19/2012
This work of art was also
was produced by me for
the creative activities for
young children’s course. It
was something that our
instructor told us to
create based on how we
we were actually feeling
on that particular day. I
felt happy and overjoyed!

8. Week: 6 Art Inside and Out
09/26/2012
This work of art is more than
just art! It is an actual topic
about a science area being
created for youth. In class
we were told to create a
subject area in which we
would discuss and describe
something that would be of
interest you young people. I
chose the science area to
talk about the life cylce of
plants and how they
develop into what they are.

9. Week: 7 Art and Society
10/03/2012
Homemade Fish
Aquarium:

10. Week: 8 Making Music
10/10/2012
This class project was
about creating a music
instrument from recyable
materials. I made some
maracas instruments from
two Tropica orange juice
bottles and decorated
them by use of lady bug
red and black designs.

11. Week: 9 Singing and Dancing with
Young Children: 10/17/2012
• Norma J. Robinson
10/17/2012
• Child Development 149
Week # 9
• B. Shelton
• THE LIBRARY SONG:
• Can you tell me how to get,
• How to get to the library?
• Everyday, children are learning their A BC’s,
• Can you tell me how to get,
• How to get to the library, This ?
• the place where we all be,
• It’s a place where children get to read,
• We put letters together,
• Then create words we can spell,
• There’s a story for everyone,
• Find a book today, when you get to the library.
• Can you tell me how to get,
• How to get to the library?
• How to get to the libray?

12. Week: 10 Constructive Play Froebel’s
Gifts: 10/24/2012
• We actually created
music instruments from
recyclable materials.
Mine were a pair of
black poka dot on red
covered juice bottles
with beans in them. I
had to go before the
class and make up a
song.

13. Week: 11 The Art, The Craft:
Halloween Celebration: 10/31/2012
This was the game
creating or playing day.

14. MY FIVE SENSES
Written
by:
NORMA J. ROBINSON

15. Child Development 149
• Norma Jean Robinson 10/29/2012
• Child Development 149
• Instructor: B. Shelton
• THE MEDICATED CHILD DOCUMENTARY PAPER:
• Documentary Produced, Written and Directed by: Marcela Gaviria
• Writer: Will Cohen
• Original Source: FRONTLINE
• http://www.pbs.org/wgh/pages/fronline/medicatedchild/View/In
• In observing the documentary on the children who were said to need medication to treat their behavioral problems, I am overwhelmed with much grief after viewing the documentary
about children like Jacob and Jessica. They monitored these two children from very young ages as more and more meds were added to their daily lives.
• In 1993, in Los Angeles, California, Jacob was one of the first to be interviewed by Frontline for this documentary during his second birthday celebration. He was running around playing
like children always does. From just watching him at that time, I could not understand why he had to be placed on any meds! He was a normal child just doing what two year olds do! By the age
of three years old, it was stated that a teacher said that Jacob was hyperactive and he had no impulse control. Ron and Iris Solomon, his parents argued this fact with the teacher, yet by the age
of 4 a pre-school teacher even suggested medication for him as if a chemical situation was going on. This child by the age of nine had developed a mood disorder. At ten years old, Jacob had
been taking eight different prescribed medications! He had developed side effects from each of the medications in which he had been given. This was very sad to watch a child experience this!
He was hospitalized and was taken off of all meds! However, it was said that within a 24 hour time frame, he was diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder and was placed immediately on meds for
this! This child had been experimenting with the different drugs, because he went through all kinds of disorders after taking each of them. By the age of 13, Jacob was waking up with a stiff
neck and his neck would roll uncontrollably! At age 16, Jacob had extreme anxiety and mood swings and had to take more medications for them. If I was the parent, I would have brought a
legal case against the doctors who prescribed these meds to their son!
• Now, the girl Jessica, she was diagnosed as being bipolar like at the early age of 4! According to the Food and Drug Administration, there wasn’t enough research being done on
medication for children with a bipolar disorder. As a matter of fact, the research was only done on medication for adults with the bipolar disorder. In other words, these children are taking
adult medication and it is bringing on side effects and or killing them! This girl was interviewed saying morbid things like cutting someone’s head off and her parents were in the room with her
as they would agree that she had behavioral problems. They mentioned that she was withdrawn from the world as she didn’t want to get out of her bed some days, and that she was extremely
depressed more than often. She was most likely be similar to Jacob, and have to take one drug after another to make her feel better! According to the doctors and the administrator in this
documentary, children still have a long way to go before the research is definite on what works for children with ADHD, ADD, or any type of behavioral disorder. It is sad, because too many
children have died due to the fact the proper research has never actually been done to find out what can actually work for children of certain age groups. Also, in knowing that boys and girls are
usually defined differently, should they be given the same meds for these various disorders? Men and women don’t take the same medications as for example, men take different vitamins from
women because something in our bodies functions differently! They should think long and hard about the fact that child in different age groups respond to medication differently also. I just
pray that they find a solution to help all children who need help with their problems. Too many children are suffering due to a lack of research! It is really beyond sad! The FDA, even admitted
that there were no clinical trials being ran on children’s medication for any of the mentioned disorders on this documentary. The behavioral modifying medications created more problems than
one can begin to realize. In 1997, the former President Clinton’s Administration offered a lucrative patent incentive to clinical studies to force them to enforce them to do research on children
medications. The End~
•
•
• References Cited:
• Documentary Produced, Written and Directed by: Marcela Gaviria
• Writer: Will Cohen
• Original Source: FRONTLINE
• http://www.pbs.org/wgh/pages/fronline/medicatedchild/View/In
•