Science Collides With God

As many of you know, my major in college is Early Childhood and Elementary Education ages Birth through 6th Grade. I'm currently taking a Child Development course and an Infant and Toddler Development course. The Child Dev course is the prereq for Infant/Toddler Dev but my advisor/education teacher said he thinks I can handle it and has allowed me to take them at the same time.

At this point in the semester, both classes are looking at the same time frame in the life of children: prenatal through 3 months of age. We have been watching some amazing videos that require a log in for the site the school uses. However, I've found two segments on YouTube and I'm sharing them here. (Please feel free to find the Films on Demand website and see if you are able to sign up.)

There is one such video called "Horizon: The Nine Months That Made You (from BBC Two)." It is an outrageously interesting video that relates the nine months we spend in the womb to future health problems. For instance, low birth weight but high body fat at birth will almost certainly lead to Type 2 Diabetes regardless of the choices you make as an adult. Don't dismiss this information as hooey right off the bat.

The only two segments I could find are not related to the mentioned study (I will absolutely find out all I can and share it with you), but they are interesting on their own merits.

Pre-pregnancy and prenatal care is so vital to create healthy adults. It's amazing the things that science can discover given the curiosity and drive of the human mind.



Is Our Future Determined From Birth? - Horizon: The Nine Months That Made You, BBC Two
The above video is about Dr. Barker who first made the connections between low birth weight and future health problems.



The Personality Question - Horizon: The Nine Months That Made You, BBC Two
The above video is about a doctor's study on personality from the womb to childhood. It's funny and adorable. It's also incredibly thought provoking.

Note: If the videos don't work, please let me know.


I've titled this post, "Science Collides with God" because I personally take away some spiritual implications. If you don't, that's fine. As science progresses, it continually finds itself hitting a wall of unexplainable things. As humans continue to evolve (yeah, I said it, Christian and all!), we will continue to push those boundaries between science and God. We are closer than we were in the Middle Ages and we aren't as close as we will be in 300 years.

If you are not religious or spiritual and you clicked this post anyway, thank you. I hope you enjoyed these short clips and I hope you take away how important it is to take care of our children from before they're even a twinkle in our eyes.

Ultimately, what do you think of the studies presented here?

Citation:
The Nine Months That Made You: Pregnancy and Human Development. Films Media Group, 2011.Films On Demand. Web. 09 February 2013. < http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=10690&xtid=48258 >.

I haven't forgotten about you...

... But I just haven't had the time or inspiration to post anything.

However, I've decided that it doesn't matter right now. I have to write something or explode. I'm not taking an English class this semester so I don't have a major creative outlet. I do have some awesome news, though!

I've been invited to join the Honor Society also known as Phi Theta Kappa. Phi Theta Kappa is the national honor society for two-year colleges. This a big deal for me because I've never been in an honor society. High school was nothing more than a prison in which to bide my time and pray for release.

I have also gotten permission to take the next education class in addition to its pre-requisite I'm currently taking. So next semester I will be a little bit ahead of the game. Both classes require 15 hours of observation of infants/toddlers and preschoolers making it a total of 30 hours (they can't both count for the same time unfortunately). I've also joined the education club at school giving me some great experience and resume padding.

And finally, I'm also tutoring with my school's Learning Center. I'm part of a new program called "Supplemental Instruction." The developmental math class can be taken as a regular class or as a "lab" class where you work at your own pace. Because the teacher spends so much time grading and students can have questions on any of the 6 chapters, the school has decided to put tutors in some of the lab classes and see how it works. For me, it's a wonderful opportunity to work on my teaching skills. For the students, they get another person to help them instead of having to wait for the however many people in front of them to get their turn.

Basically, I'm at school from 9am to 5:30pm almost every weekday. That doesn't include study time and homework time or my one online class. 19.5 credit hours, 30 hours of observation (over the course of the semester), 10 hours/week for work study, 9 hours/week for tutoring, one hour a month for club meetings (not counting the events that we schedule and participate in like the three day conference), and all of the extra-curriculars that go into being a member of the Honor Society. And no way on earth could I forget my kid, that loud, rambunctious 3-year-old.

I think I might have my hands full.

In the time since I last mentioned anything about my life:

- I edited a book for classmate. She is self-publishing and it will be available in paperback and ebook format in 6-8 weeks. It's a Christian novella about a girl who is in the depths of her personal hell. Through the love of God and His followers, she is brought to know Christ and the forgiveness He offers.

-I tutored a gentleman who is studying for his physician's assistant boards. It was wildly unsuccessful. His ad said he needed someone to grade practice tests and write out flashcards. That is NOTHING near what he asked me to do. But he and I agreed that I couldn't continue due to my own obligations and my ignorance of the material.

-Christmas happened. It was sad in one way and happily glorious in every other way. I can't wait until a Christmas comes where I can actually buy gifts for my son and any other family who may be with me.

-New Years happened. I believe I was asleep before 11pm.

-I worked at the college over the break despite the job being for work study. Usually the job ends when finals start and doesn't start again until the next semester but they got permission to let me work over the break. It was mostly fun and at times boring.

THE most exciting part of what's been happening:

ICK IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One day I said, "We don't have any diapers for the daytime, only for the nighttime." He took it in stride and had ONE accident and ONE purposeful poop in his undies.

Last weekend I let him nap in his undies. SUCCESS! The last three nights he's slept in his undies. SUCCESS!!!!

I cannot be ANY happier! I have a HUGE bag of unused diapers and I know just who to give it to! I can finally get those nasty things out of my house!

The length of this post is why I should never go months without writing. Thanks for sticking around. Those of you who read this are my inspiration for continuing the work that is college, especially for a single mom and a woman who is older than most of her instructors. You are my inspiration for overcoming my fears of inferiority and knowing that I *can* do this. Not just for me but for my adorably obnoxious son! So thank you for reading and giving such wonderful encouragement.