Through my studies in early childhood education, I have come to form my own philosophy on child development. In HCCF 467: Philosophies and Theories of Child Development, I took the Teacher Beliefs Inventory which helped me express my individual philosophy on child development. This inventory is a list of 30 statements with which you rate the extent to which you agree or disagree. A certain number of points are assigned to each response given, and then these scores are summed into three categories: cognitive-developmental, cultural-training/behavioral, and maturational-socialization. According to the inventory, if your scores are below 10 points, the teacher does not strongly adhere to any position. None of my scores were more than 10 points apart. I believe the inventory is a valid representation of my beliefs about child development. In studying the many theories of child development, I have discovered that my philosophy of child development is based on behaviorist, cognitive-interactionist, and maturational theories (Peters, Niesworth, & Yankey, 1985). According to the inventory, the highest score reflects one's bias toward one theory. Although my scores did not differ much, the area in which I scored highest was in cognitive development. The statement I strongly agreed with in this category was: “The teacher offers the child situations that lead him to experiment, explore and solve problems on his own. » (Peters, Niesworth and Yankey, 1985) Jean Piaget influenced me with the idea that children actively construct their own understanding of the world around them (Crain, 2005). A Chinese proverb describes the need for practical experiences. “Tell me and I forget, Show me and I will remember, Involve me and I will understand.” In the middle of the article......once the child participated in a song, he was able to tell me that caterpillars become butterflies. By studying these theorists and developing my philosophy on child development, I will be able to enter my own classroom and apply what I have learned to a curriculum that helps children develop to their full potential . Works Cited Crain, W. (2005). Developmental Theories: Concepts and Applications (5th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Isenberg, JP and Jangolo, MR (2006). Creative thinking and arts-based learning: Kindergarten through fourth grade. (4th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Peters, D.L., Neisworth, J.T., & Yawkey, T.D. (1985). Early childhood education: from theory to practice. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. Santrock, J. W. (2005). Children. (8th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.