Chapter one

    I am a parent and like most parents I carry a dream for my children. I hope for them to grow to be sound adults; to be kind, insightful, to think outside of the box and to think beyond their own existences. Prior to having children I believed that the way a child turned out was based solely on the way that they were brought up, the way that they were parented.  I previously thought that by simply setting a good example and parenting to the best of my ability that I could pretty much assure that my daughters would develop these characteristics. Although parenting and support systems contributes largely to human development, I now know that there are many other contributing factors.      After reading this week’s information I found Bronfenbrenner’s theory very fascinating. I find the ecological system to be simple, logical yet thought provoking at the same time.  One concept that relates to this theory that is of interest to me is that the different experiences a person has in there systems could result in different development. My daughters are very similar in many ways, such as their mannerisms and behaviors; I believe this is based on their genes. They live together, share a room, and share their lives together. Yet their microsystem and mesosystem will differ from each other due to their age gap. The changes that took place in their 4 year age differences could ultimately have an effect on their devolvement.    I also found the article "The Identity Dance to be interesting. Although it focused on identical twins, it was still something that could be relative to siblings, and how it is both genes and life experiences that shape an individual.