Introduction

My name is Lucinda L. Davis.  I was born in Albemarle County, Virginia.  I am the youngest of 10 children.  I am also a twin.  My mother had two sets of twins.  She started out with twin boys who died.  One was stillborn and the other died a few months later.  She ended up with twin girls.  I was premature and had to stay in the hospital for a month.  My sisters and brothers said they were surprised to come home and find another baby in the house.  They wondered where I had come from.  I contribute my survival at birth from that fact that unlike my brothers whom she had at home, she had my twin and me in a hospital.

I do not plan on teaching at the high school or elementary levels although I am homeschooling my 11-year-old granddaughter.  This is not for the long-term.  I was dissatisfied with the quality of education and the favoritism that goes on in the public school system.  I want her to have a better start.  I would prefer teaching at the college level.   As a child, my first choice of profession was nursing.  Then as I began maturing, my interested became law.  I started my college career in my forties.  I felt I was too old to go to law school even though I was told by a lawyer at the University of Alabama that I should after he read over my divorce decree I wrote.  I did not have the confidence to pursue that career.  I believe I am a good teacher.  I teach breast and cervical cancer awareness classes for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  I also taught for 6 months at the early head start center.  I was a Sunday school teacher for over 15 years.  I have a master's degree in counseling/psychology.  I hope to teach in that field at the college level and maybe also open up my own practice.  My twin always say that its a good field for me because I am always trying to analysis somebody's mind.

Something funny that happened in my life was for 16 years I thought I was the first born twin.  That is what my mother said.  I went to school in New York and had to get my birth certificate.  It said that I was the second born twin.  I called my mother and she said "you are."  Then I said that is not what my birth certificate says.  She answered with "well, I don't know."  I told my twin that she could be "Lucinda" and I could be "Linda," but we were not going to change now. 

I chose this video because it shows how much influence we have on the young mind and how important it is to start teaching and training at a young age.  We have a lot of miss opportunities in the lives of those we touch.  We need to take advantage of those opportunities to instill good moral values, help to develop good character and a well-rounded child.  It is never too young to learn. The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go then when he gets old, he will not depart.  So let us start training up our children to go the right way.

Questions:

1. There has been controversial concerning learning programs geared towards infants and toddlers. What age should you start teaching children?

2. Can you overload children with too much information?

3. Should you give children the opportunities then let them decide if they want to engage in those activities?

4. The Headstart centers have a "child-lead" philosophy to their program. The system just provides a safe environment for the child to explore and learn on its own. Instead of showing them how and what to draw, you give them a piece of paper and whatever they wish to write with and let them draw whatever comes to mind. Do you think children need more guidance in learning?