Summary: Unequal Childhoods

When it comes to raising a child, families fall into the category of either emphasizing concerted cultivation or accomplishment of natural growth. In Annette Lareau’s first chapter of, “Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life,” she talks a bit about the different families she researched and the various methods the parents are categorizing in about raising their child. Through her observations of these families, she noticed middle-class families practice a particular parenting style known as concerted cultivation, where the parents believe they must promote the growth and development of their child’s abilities and skills. These types of parents often push their kids to join a variety of activities and are very active in their child’s
I feel like placing a kid in soccer was a common thing for Hispanics considering mostly every one of my Hispanic friends had been enrolled in soccer when they were small as well. I continued playing soccer for only two years with a mixed racial team. I didn't join any other activities other than the soccer team when I was little because I was never really any good at sports, but I did enjoy playing them. I always loved playing sports in all of my physical education classes at school as well as when I was enrolled in daycare throughout my whole childhood. I just liked the sense of everyone being together and having fun enjoying each other’s company. I never decided to be a part of a team because I knew I wasn’t athletic and I was very clumsy considering the number of times I've fallen when I ran in my physical education classes. As for clubs and organization, I started to be a part of the AVID program in seventh grade through senior year of high school. Joining the AVID program was my idea because I wanted to gain a better understanding of college. Since my parents never attended, they didn’t know the process of enrolling in college and other factors. The reason I stayed in AVID for so long wasn't just because of the field trips to colleges but also becoming a part of a family with my classmates and getting to know everyone, even more, every year. I believe AVID was the only class that allowed
Because of Stacy’s family being African American her mother was very sensitive to racial discrimination and would often keep an eye on any possible problems because she knows from experience that subtle forms of discrimination will always exist. One incident the girls encountered was when they rode the bus to school. The bus driver would often pick on blacks and tell them to sit in the back and not to open the windows. (Lareau 179-180) I believe the most significant difference between the upbringings of Stacy and I are the parenting styles we were raised in. Although both are moms played an active role in our lives, Stacy’s mom seemed to be much more involved as in pushing for her daughters to participate in activities because she didn’t want them home just watching TV, (Lareau 171) whereas my sister and I had more leisure time to ourselves. Although we weren't enrolled in any activities, we did however attend a daycare for pretty much our entire