Child Study

Child Study Project Jennifer Alonso EDUC 250 Ivy Tech Community College

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INTASC STANDARD

STANDARD #1: Learner Development The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing, that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences. Name of Artifact: Child Study Project Date: February 2013 Course: EDUC 250: Educational Psychology Description: For this child study project I directly observed, interviewed, and assessed the cognitive, emotional, and physical capabilities of a four year old female child. Rationale: To document my understanding of Learner Development, I have selected to include my child study project, because it shows my understanding of the way students grow and develop. Through this study I recognized how young children process information and their patterns of learning, through cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas.

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Through this study we will discuss the findings that were done by observing, interviewing, and assessing the cognitive, emotional/social, and capabilities of a female child. The child is four years old with no known medical or special needs. Child seems to be in good health and is taller than most children in her age group. She currently does not attend school. Is an only child to young parents who are both under the age of 25. The mother is Caucasian and the father is Mexican American. The parents are no longer together and share custody of the child. The child lives primarily with the mother, aunt, and grandmother. When mother is at work, child is watched by grandmother, father, or paternal grandparents. Several interviews were conducted while the child was in the fathers care. The examiner is related to the child and interacts with the parents and child frequently. The interviews were conducted in the fathers home. Grandfather and two small cousins were present at the time of interviews. Father stated to the examiner that the child likes to color and also watch movies during the day time. She also enjoys playing with dolls and a play kitchen. Her favorite foods are sweets and spaghetti. She also loves dogs and has several dogs at her mothers home. Child enjoys being with father and mother, and seems to transition well between both homes. Child is a happy girl with a big personality and lots of energy. She seems to get along well and was interacting positively with her cousins. Child has a clear and good vocabulary for her age. PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT The first part of this study will discuss the physical and motor development of the child. The examiner was able to witness the child engaging in activities such as jumping, running, and playing with other children. As the examiner was taking notes, the child asked if she could have a piece of paper and a pen. Child began to draw a picture for the examiner and then stated that it was her. She drew a picture with a circled head, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, hair, a belly, and two

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straight lines coming down for the legs. She also drew another picture with several different stick figures, and stated that it was her family, which included all of her fathers family. The father stated that child rides a bike with training wheels and can also use four wheel skates. She plays on the swing set, and can go up and down the slide on her own. The child is not involved in any sports. Child takes a ballet dance class and seems to coordinate well with the steps. Based on the Early Identification Motor Skills Milestones By: Learning Disabilities Association of America(1999). The child meets the milestones associated with children between the ages of three and four. Which includes, pushing, pulling, steering wheeled toys, rides tricycle, and uses slide independently. Based on Piagets four stages of cognitive development, the child fits into the preoperational stage and has met the abilities acquired in this stage. Including: Language, the child speaks very clearly and has a big vocabulary. Child demonstrates pretend play with the use of her kitchen and assigns people different roles to play in her make believe scenario. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The next part of this study we will discuss the cognitive development, and the findings acquired using Piagets conservation tasks. In the first conservation task the examiner and child sat at a table. The examiner placed two identical glasses filled with equal amounts of water on the table in front of the child. The examiner asked the child if the glasses had the same amount of water or not. The child, while being very excited and giddy said yes, the examiner asked why and child stated I dont know. The examiner then emptied one of the glasses into a shorter and wider glass, and asked the child if they were still the same, the child responded no. The examiner asked why and the child stated I dont know. After this task was completed the child

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decided to pour the water back into the glass and asked the examiner if they were the same, and then began to conduct the conservation task on the examiner. In the second conservation task, the examiner placed two rows of pennies. Each row had 5 pennies and the pennies were equally spaced and the same length. The examiner asked the child if the rows were equal. The child then began to count the pennies: One, two, fifteen, six, and counted all over the place. Then she stated that the rows were the same. The examiner than spaced out the bottom row further, and asked the child if the rows were still the same. The child stated that the bottom row was bigger. Examiner asked why, and the child responded because the row is longer. At the end of this task, the child once again tried to conduct the task on the examiner, by placing the pennies into the glasses and asking the examiner, what cup has the most pennies? After conducting these conservations tasks the examiner believes the child exhibits the stages of cognitive developments that Piaget has outlined in the textbook. This child seems to fit into the preoperational stage which ranges from age 2 through ages 6 or 7. Based on Piagets stages, Ormrod states that children have trouble with conservation. Children fail to realize that if nothing is added or taken away, the amount must stay the same, regardless of changes in the shape or arrangement of items. (pg. 31) The child in this study did not realize that the water and pennies never changed it was only the arrangements and items. Ormrod, also states that children sometimes draw correct conclusions about class inclusion and conservation problems. But they base their reasoning in hunches and intuitions, rather than on any conscious awareness of underlying logical principles, and thus they cannot yet explain why. (pg. 31) The child in this conservation task answered that she didnt know, when asked about her answers.

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SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT In the final part of the study we will discuss the social and emotional development of the child. Emotion: The father mentioned to the examiner about a time when the childs dog was sick. The child would care for it and showed true feelings and emotions for her pet. She took care of the pet and payed extra attention to him. She also cried when the pet had to be put down to sleep. The child has developed a close bond and relationship with her pets. Father also states that child has a close relationship with her cousins. She always talks about them highly and really cares for them. She will talk about their day and the different activities they had together. She tells the father that she loves her cousins and that they are funny. She mentioned that one of her cousins was hurt in a football game and had to go to the hospital. She displayed true concern and was really sad about the fact that her cousin was hurt. While speaking to the examiner she mentioned that she has good dreams about her daddy. She also mentioned that her mommy gets mad a lot because her daddy does not like mommy. Examiner asked child if she believes both parents love her, and she stated yes. She also stated that her grandparents also love her and she loves them too. Moral Development: In this part of the study the examiner gave the child two cookies and gave herself 4 cookies. The examiner then asked the child if she thought it was fair that she only got two cookies. The child laughed and said no. However, she did not seem upset about it and stated if we put our cookies together, we can make a trail. The child then proceeded to gather all the cookies and made a trail with them. The examiner asked the child if she thinks it is ok to hit another child, she stated no, when the examiner asked why it wasnt ok, she stated because

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they will get hurt and kids cry when they get hurt. When the examiner was done asking questions, the child asked the examiner, how does your heart feel? and how do you feel when your legs get hurt? Gender Roles: The father states that the child is the only female child in both households. The childs small cousins are all male and the child seems to be comfortable playing with boys. However, the child spends a lot of time home with her mother, and is used to playing with Barbie dolls and other typical girl toys. The examiner asked the child a series of questions regarding gender. The examiner asked the child what kinds of toys girls play with. She responded girls play with dolls. The examiner asked her what kinds of toys boys play with and she responded they play with guns and airplanes. When asked if boys can play with girl toys and girls play with boy toys, she responded No! Boys cant play with girl stuff. After going over the information and answers obtained about the childs physical and emotional development. The examiner concludes, that based on Eriksons stages of psychosocial development, children in the preschool years can develop initiative through the help of parents and or teachers versus guilt they can encounter when discouraged from pursuing independent activities or are dismissed as silly or bothersome (pg.72) The child seems to exude independence while taking over much of the interview and also conducting an interview of the examiner. The child also seems to be overconfident when answering questions, counting the pennies, and through her drawings. The parents seem to encourage the child and also allow the child to be independent. The child seems to portray moral understandings and meets the moral and prosocial developments associated with her age. Ormrod states, in the textbook Even preschoolers have

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some understanding that behaviors causing physical or psychological harm are inappropriate. By age 4, most children understand that causing harm to another person is wrong (pg.90) The child stated it was wrong for children to hit one another and it would hurt them physically and emotionally if that happened. With regards to gender, the child exhibits thinking and understandings associated with gender schemas. Gender schemas are self-constructed, organized body of beliefs about the traits and behaviors of males or females (pg.123) The child stated that girls play with girl toys, and boys play with boy toys, and was adamant that boys should not play with girl things. As Ormrod stated, in the text, Peers tend to respond more positively to children who act in traditionally gender-appropriate ways and more negatively to those who do not (pg. 123) YOUR REACTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND APPLICATION Through this study I believe that this child is very bright and smart for her age and has met all of the milestones and expectations for a child her age. I would recommend that she get enrolled into a preschool setting where she can further enhance her learning and abilities. I believe that the child is coping well with the situation of having two separate households, one with mom and one with dad. However, I do believe that she is exposed to more personal problems than other children, and that might hurt her in the future. With her parents not living together they need to work twice as hard to maintain a healthy relationship and good communication. Through this task I learned that there are many different factors that can help or hurt the development of children. I believe that this knowledge will help me tremendously throughout my studies and in my educational journey. There is still so much more I need to learn and explore. By interacting with different children, studying, and evaluating them, I can get a better understanding and become more familiar with the developmental stages.

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References Ormrod, J. E. (2011). Educational Psychology. Developing Learners. Seventh Ed. Pearson. New Hampshire. LD Online. Early Identification - Motor Skills Milestones By: Learning Disabilities Association of America (1999). http://www.ldonline.org/article/6045/