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I grew up with a single mother and two siblings. I am also part of a blended family on my dad's side, but we see them infrequently. These two dynamics are quite opposite; being in the two households brought about different sets of expectations, environments, and parenting styles. Through both, my family has played a substantial role in shaping my identity. The effect of divorce on my life, along with being the oldest child, led to me abandoning traditional methods of play for my age in attempts to "grow up" faster and help the family. I think developmentally, I was not given opportunities to grow in emotional healthiness and expression, which I am sure also had an influence on my play. On the opposite hand of being forced to mature quickly, when given the chance to play, I was very prone to dive into grand fantasies, as much of our readings have discussed.

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I identify as a cisgender female, and I use she/her pronouns. Being a woman is something I am genuinely proud of, but I believe that we have a long ways to go in the global society on perspectives facing women. I grew up with an extremely strong mother whom instilled a sense of capability in me  both empowered & equipped me to chase my passions & believe in myself. This affected my play and development, as I was naturally courageous and confident due to the identities of being a woman instilled in me. However, as I grew older and noticed the way the world approached women in some really terrible ways, I think the way I viewed my identity shifted a bit. I felt the burden to prove myself, in my play and work.

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I am a follower of Jesus Christ. This is the pinnacle of my identity, and it is the basis for who I am. My play was greatly impacted by this aspect of my identity, for my perspectives have been shaped by my beliefs. For example, being a Christian means inclusivity of all people, and this was the forerunning thought in my interactions with other children, especially in regards to play. My faith has instilled a sense of confidence in me, which was a huge catalyst in my development.

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I grew up in a very conservative setting, but I would identify more as an independent. This brought up many debates and some dissension with certain people around me as I formed my own stances. I believe we should vote based on policy and conviction. The policies and ideologies I stand on are those that I believe will be most loving to our world- both the physical earth and every person living on it. I have always been adamantly passionate about issues of justice, and this had an obvious role on the play I conducted as a child, whether in setting, plot, or conduct. I also think much of my development was impacted by the political environment I grew up in and then finding what I personally believed in.

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My schooling was quite unconventional. I attended every type of school except for boarding school. I spent the majority of my years in the public education system, but I graduated from a private Christian school. I was also homeschooled for sixth grade. Attending such a variety of educational settings allowed me to gain different experiences and interact with people from different walks of life. Fluctuating between very diverse environments to very uniformed settings definitely played a role in my development. I think having multiple experiences opened my eyes to perspectives outside of my own personal experiences. My play was also impacted by the multiple settings I found myself in; in some I would instigate play with roles and fantasies familiar, while in others I was a learner & receiver of new information based on ideas of play foreign to what I had already known.

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grew up in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas. Until I graduated from high school, I had lived in the same house since I was four years old. Because of this, I did not daily experience many different cultures or lifestyles outside of the one I lived. Quite frankly and unfortunately, there was not much diversity in my neighborhood. Because of this, and our relatively assimilated home lives, my peers & I consistently produced familiar subjects and circumstances for play. I know that my development was directly impacted by the presence of my mother in my life and her intentionality to be home with us after school/work and to provide educational & language nutrition, which attributed to aspects of our development. I recognize the privilege it was to have grown up in the comfort that I experienced of my home life.

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I grew up in a middle class family with working parents. (My mother, father, and stepmom all worked at least one job my whole life.) Because of this, I grew up comfortably and never had to guess where I would sleep or if I would be provided a meal. I am extremely grateful for the privilege that this was. This directly impacted my play, as I was provided an abundance of tools to enhance my play, whether that be toys and environments or organized activities. Both of these things also led to an expansion of capabilities, as I had many environments to "broaden my horizons."

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I am white. Because of this, I never had to guess if I would be discriminated against due to my skin color. My skin color was never considered or thought about in the classroom, or any setting where play was conducted, and it was not something I had to be conscious about amidst play. I recognize the privilege of this.

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This weeks readings were truly enlightening! Great reminders of the beauty and importance of curiosity.

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This week's focus on agency was very enlightening for me. It is such a crucial part of development, and many children, tragically, do not receive the chance to practice it. I realized the extent of agency I had as a child, which played a significant role on my development and self image. Agency was enacted in school settings, specifically, for me. I was able to be a part of the gifted and talented program- where we were given the freedom to explore, self educate & process, and conduct projects & experiments. This instilled a sense of capability and a desire for education in me. Having grown up in so many different types of schools, I experienced agency in different ways. My parents gave me tons of agency in the year I was homeschooled, as I conducted a lot of learning for myself and was given the freedom to structure my days as I pleased. The structure of certain public schools I attended restricted agency from all children based on its structure, but I saw some of my peers subjected to this to a greater extent than I was. Specifically, students of color were more apt to be given explicit instruction, restrictions on abilities or had to deal with a shorter temper from the teachers.

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After watching the film “Babies”, I realized how much my cultural influences impact the way I interpret what I deem as agency. I have noticed now that a lot I would have deemed as agency as a child was actually organized play and I was not given the choices and freedoms I thought I was. Watching Hattie and Mari be instructed through playtimes showed me that there can be a difference between play and agency. I realized that what I would have called agency as a child was structured play organized by an older authority figure in my life. Agency doesn’t necessarily look like any certain environment, and the film taught me beautiful lessons of what agency could have looked like as a child in moments I don’t even remember. Whether that’s exploring outside elements, making observations, or leading the charge in activities I created, agency can be used in all environments. Seeing children in other cultures practice agency opened my eyes to what agency truly looked like in my life and ways I could have misinterpreted it before.

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Legos & Queer theory

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I grew up in a predominately white area, so I was very much in the majority in any play setting. I experienced white privilege in this. While my race did not confine my play in any way, my gender certainly did. Many of the toys provided to me in institutional settings were "girl" toys. I was given house appliances and kitchen sets and baby dolls. Many of the toys provided were very domestic objects. At home, I was the oldest child so many of the toys provided were also more feminine themes. However, my mom was quick to instill the idea of play being play in my life. We constantly dressed my little brother up in wedding dresses and grandma nighties, and she would paint his nails with the same glitter she put on mine for fourth of July fireworks. Additionally, we were given gender neutral legos and coloring books and dress up costumes. I did not feel constricted at home to perform for the sake of my gender in the same ways I felt at school.

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I grew up around many friends and family members who had different disabilities and abilities. This was such a gift in my life to learn about the beauty of differences and to have exposure to people whose daily lives looked different than mine, as they taught me of their contributions to society. Unfortunately, it seems like so many people are dehumanized because of the disabilities they have, as others do not understand them and therefore limit/restrict them. The way I experienced this (at only a fraction of what my friends have experienced) was being discredited in classes for my poor vision before I got correction. This made seeing presentations and written instructions very hard, causing teachers to misunderstand my "misbehavior" or incorrect responses..

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I grew up in a very privileged setting, and I grew up as part of what was considered the dominant culture. Because of this, in my day to day life, I was able to just "be" rather than trying to figure out how I could piece my identity and cultural background into the bigger cultural puzzle around me. This only became clear to me as a child when we would go visit my grandparents in Mexico, as I began to see cultural differences between my life in a downtown USA city versus the life of citizens near my grandparents' clinic on the borders of Mexico City. I saw that my normal wasn't the status quo normal across the board, and it helped me to realize from a young age that the power culture of every place is different, much as child development is viewed differently depending on the surrounding culture.

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I think biology has played an integral role in my life. I envision carrying on a lot of aspects, parenting styles, and life ideals from my mom, but I cannot say the same about my dad. My mother had an open, confident approach to parenting  and life. I want to replicate this as a parent or teacher someday! It allowed me to practice agency, as I felt support and confidence through her parenting.

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My family has deep indigenous roots, as my grandfather is fully Cherokee and grew up in Oklahoma. My family has always viewed our relationship with nature as a vital part of our lives, and play within the earth was an essential part of my childhood. My mom encouraged us to be as in tune with nature as possible; we were taught to appreciate and respect the land we live on and to fight to understand its true history.

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Growing up, my parents were hyper aware of how much technology we were able to use. Additionally, I never really saw my mom glued to her phone or any device. If one of her kids was not with her, she would be sure to have her ringer on in case we need to contact her, but other than that she most likely didn’t have her phone attached to her hip. Technology did not become a part of my day today until eighth grade when I started going to a school that used iPads for nearly all of our curriculum. This is a transition, but I believe I was old enough and well developed enough for it not to have a negative, extreme impact on the way I use technology. I would definitely say are use it too much now, but I think most of that is for social sake in our current circumstances. Growing up, technology did not have a huge impact on my development or lifestyle.

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I want to employ children with agency. I will intentionally give room for choice, discovery, and the room to make mistakes. I want to ask questions and be curious in what the child is thinking and discovering. Kids are so capable!!! I want this to be the forefront of every interaction I have. Also, I want to fight for equity in my interactions with children of differing levels of ability, backgrounds, culture, and race. Children's culture should be celebrated and have a large role within their play. Being conscious of this, I want to create environments to be themselves!