Thoughts on Developmentally Appropriate

An example of an extremely appropriate, hilarious play we recently saw, Jason and the Argonauts performed by the Visible Fictions group from Glascow, Scotland. 

I’ve been thinking about what’s developmentally appropriate a lot lately as Emery’s straddling the end of his elementary school career and beginning his middle school one. For example, I’m quite sure he’s the only one in his class who hasn’t read the Hunger Games trilogy (which I struggle with because my parents never censored my reading). But we’re about to publish an article on the book series in The ALAN Review, and I’m glad we decided to wait on his reading the books or seeing the movies.

The question of appropriateness came up again in regards to our upcoming trip to New York. I would very much like to see the revival of Pippin, but after reading several blogs and reviews on the play (one even titled Mathilda or Pippin?), I decided (well, Victor decided) we would go and see Peter and the Starcatchers instead.

One place where my husband and I disagree on levels of appropriateness is in regards to movies. Emery has seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy multiple times since he was 7. He started watching Spongebob when he was 2.  And Victor thinks he’s ready for Les Mis (I’m not ready for him to be).

I was recently asked what my thoughts were about the ways the common core state standards were being phased into the curriculum at various schools—were these curricula developmentally appropriate? I honestly think that depends on the student. Emery went to a biomedical workshop today and learned about cloning and growing new organs from stem cells—topics with huge ethical considerations that I feel were probably not discussed by the facilitators. (Or might have been, I didn’t ask). 

The truth is, there are students in Emery’s class who are ready to think about Collins’ depiction of a futuristic society, who can understand and appreciate sarcasm (I’m a big believer in the stages of humor development), and can laugh at a good fart joke.

It’s just getting harder to make decisions, especially when he could be exposed to something I don’t find developmentally appropriate for him at this time.

Victor’s Comment

The question is how long do we shelter him when it's obvious other children are moving "forward.'  A couple I know and respect have shown their kids (more or less Emery's age) Les Mis and they really seemed to enjoy the music.

Emery's comment: So in the end since she doesn't know what to do so she does everything.