Expert answer:Choose a peer who read different articles than you. Analyze their plan for supporting children within this family structure. 150 words or more.Your analysis must answer the following questions:Do you agree with your peer’s thoughts on how Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory influences a child’s development in this family structure? If so, why do you agree? If you disagree, do you feel there is a different model that would be more appropriate? Do you agree or disagree with their statement about how the text supports or refutes the ideas shared in the article? Make sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your thoughts.Make at least one positive observation and offer at least one piece of constructive criticism of their plan.What is the family structure that is discussed in the article? Summarize the article in three to four sentences.Raising children can be hard, but grandparents raising children can be even harder. The rate of children being raised by grandparents has gradually increased from 2000, when they first started collecting data (PewResearch, 2013). Children who are cared for primarily by a grandparent are more likely to be living below the poverty line and have lower median household income than children who are not being cared for primarily by a grandparent (PewResearch, 2013). Many reasons that the children have to live with the grandparent are because the parents get pregnant as a teen, have a disability, are unemployed, or lack education/are in school (PewResearch, 2013).How does the text support or refute the ideas shared in this article regarding children in this type of family structure?The text supports the ideas shared in this article by allowing who ever reads the article to be able to put it into their own perspective. Although the child is being cared for by the grandparent, instead of the parent, at least they are being cared for. The child could be in foster care, or worse, but instead they are being cared for by a family member. Even if they might live in poverty or from a lower income household. It talks about all ethnicities being a part of the study and includes children of all ages living with the grandparent(s). It also supports the years in the 2000’s with data recorded of how many children lived with their grandparents.How would this family structure influence a child’s development according to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory?The family structure of the grandparents would have a lot of influence on the child’s microsystem. As mentioned in Bronfenbrenner’s Theory, the child’s microsystem deals with the child’s home situation. Because the child is being forced to live with a grand parent, the child could end up living in poverty, or come from a lower income home causing stress on both the grandparents and the child.What would you do as a child development professional to help support children and their families from the family structure described in the article? I would want the grandparents to know their options in my classroom. If the grandparent(s) felt the child is getting behind, because of the situation at home, I would want to be notified so I know what to look for in the classroom. I would also let the grandparent know that I am supportive of their situation and am available for afterschool tutoring incase the child falls behind. I would also have support systems and information for the grandparents if they ever needed help, or needed someone to talk to about any situations at home. I don’t want a child to be left out or fall behind in my classroom because of a situation at home they had no control over.Reference:At Grandmother’s House We Stay One-in-Ten Children Are Living with a Grandparent. (2013, September 4). Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org
