Developmental Parenting Assignment

In this course we examine the theories and stages of Childhood Development as they relate to parenting. You are going to write a paper on any stage of Childhood Development that interests you (birth to age two, 2-5 years old, elementary school, early adolescence, etc). You will need to apply the theories and concepts learned in your textbook as well as incorporate information from 2 other sources. The APUS library will be a great place to start this research as well as the sources listed at the end of the syllabus.

The introduction should be a brief summary of what you are going to write about. Your introduction should briefly describe the stage of development you chose and explain why you chose it.

The body of your paper should back up your introduction. Use your research to thoroughly discuss/explain the stage of development you chose by discussing the physical, mental, emotional, etc. changes that occur during that stage. You must also answer these questions:

  • Why is childhood development important to understand when it comes to parenting?
  • Describe and give examples of effective parenting techniques for this developmental stage.
  • In your opinion, what are the most challenging behaviors of this stage?
  • Explain how you (or any parent) can apply the parenting techniques/styles from the books to those challenging behaviors.
  • What do you think is the most important aspect/concept and/or theory of the stage you chose and why?
  • Your conclusion should summarize your paper as well as answer: What is the most interesting thing you learned from writing this paper and why?

This paper will be a minimum of 3-5 pages long, not including title and reference pages.

APA format required. Your textbook is the main source for this paper along with two other scholarly sources.

The CHFD331 Parenting Course Guide in the library is a good starting point http://apus.campusguides.com/content.php?pid=484563

You may not use Psychology Today, Redbook, Wikipedia, WebMD or similar sources for your material.

This paper must be submitted as a Word doc.

 General Writing Requirements

Use appropriate APA formatting, in-text (parenthetical), and Reference citations.

APA formatting guides are available in our class Resources link. APA tutorials are also available on the APUS Library page. We highly advise taking the APA tutorial available in the APU library.

  •  APA formatting requires a separate cover page and a separate References page. Neither counts toward the page length.
  • Headings are not required, but include a “running header.” (See the APA formatting guide in the Resources link).
  • Sources must be cited in the body of your paper (in-text or parenthetical citations) and on a page titled: “References” (without the quotation marks).
  • Paraphrases should be used instead of quotes unless the quote is VERY short and necessary for complete understanding or to make a particular point. Place quotes

inside quotation marks and properly cite them. Failure to correctly quote or cite, even if not intended, is plagiarism and will result in a zero on the paper for a first instance and course failure for a second occurrence in any other assignment. Rewrites are not permitted for plagiarized work.

  •  Size 10 – 12 point font in Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier new must be used for all parts of the paper.
  •  One–inch margins are required.