Steven Jones

PRISM III ASSIGNMENT

Kadence Highfill Case Study of a Child
EDU 220 12-5-2015
Professor Theri L. Wyckof

Introduction
Kadence is a 10 year old girl who lives with her family in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kadence comes from a low income family. Her mother is a stay at home mom
and her father works as a machinist. Both parents only attended school
through the 12th grade and graduated with high school diplomas. They would
be considered a low figure income level, based on their education
(CareerOneStop, 2015). The socio-economic class (SES) that Kadences
family would fall into would be the working class or blue collar since her
father works in an industry job (Badger, 2014). Kadences nuclear family
consists of her father, her mother, and her older sister Madisyn 11 who is 1
year older than Kadence (Edwards, 2009). Kadence and her sister attend
church with their grandparents and uncle on Sundays. The religion that
Kadences grandparents is Christian Protestant nondenominational (Pew
Research Center, 2015). Kadence attends a middle class elementary school
where she is in the 4th grade.
According to the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs each person has 5 basic needs
that they need to have met (Snowman, 2013, p.252). Kadence has 3 of these
needs met right now living with her parents. Her Physiological needs are
being met by her parents in the house they provide for her to live in along
with her food and water needs. Her safety needs are provide by her parents
so she has no need to worry about those. Her Belongingness and love needs
are provided by her parents, grandparents, uncle and aunt and her sister.
The other 2 needs on Maslows chart have not become an issue as of yet
since Kadence is still a young girl. She has no Self-actualization needs yet. As
far as Esteem goes she has that met some by how well she does in class at
this time. Doing well in school, for example, boosts Kadences self-esteem
because she is proud of what she has done. Both of these 2 higher needs will
become more important the older Kadence becomes.
I chose to observe Kadence because I am her uncle. She comes to church
and spends the night at her grandparents house with her sister almost every
weekend. Since I live with Kadences grandparents I have an opportunity to
observe her outside of her home setting. I can observe her personality, her
traits, and her faults during the course of weeks or months. With my guide of
the theories of Piaget, Erikson, and others from our textbook I can study and
compare Kadences development to other children.

Physical
Kadence weighs around 54 pounds and is 43 inches tall. The CDC Stature for
age and weight chart shows Kadence as slightly shorter than average height
for her age. Weight is also below the regular weight for her age group (CDC,
2000). Snowman text states that during this time in a childs development
for both boys and girls they become leaner and stronger (2013, p 55). The
average child of this age group 9-10 yr olds will grow 2-3 inches in height
and gain 5-7 pounds(2013, p 55). With these growth spurts yet to happen,
Kadence should gain weight and height during this year to match the
average 10 year old girl. Kadence is a active girl in both outdoor and indoor
activities. She does not sit still for anything very long and is constantly
moving.
She eats food all the time during the day to replace energy she has burned
off. Since Kadence is so active she does not become obese like other children
who do not participate in regular exercise. Snowman stated that children
during this time of development can become obese if there is a low level of
physical activity, but Kadence does not fall in this category. Kadence sleeps
about 9-11 hours per night, which is the average for that age group
according to the Sleep Foundation (Sleep Foundation, 2015). Children in this
age group should have attained mastery over their large and small muscle
groups (2013, p 56) Kadence does appear to have full control over both of
these muscle groups. She loves to climb on things like Monkey bars and is
always jumping and running around. She also draws and plays video games,
which shows a control of her small muscle groups. From my observations of
Kadence at this time, she seems to be developing at a normal level
physically for her age.
(R) Emotional:
According to Snowman, the emotional characteristics of the average
elementary grade school child are the following: The child develops a more
global, intergraded, and complex self-image (2013, p 57). Snowman breaks
down this further by putting self-image into 4 categories. First self image is
based more on information gained over time, tasks and settings (2013, p 57)
Kadence relies on these 3 things I have observed. For example, if she is
helping at church with younger children than herself she acts a certain way
because of the setting (the church) and the task she is performing (helping
younger children). The self image during this time is totally different than
when she is at home or playing on a playground. Kadence is more concerned
about her self- image now than when she was 5 or 6. The older Kadence
becomes the more she is aware of her self-image.
The second thing self image is based on is comparison with others. Kadence
will compare herself to her older sister Madisyn on everything. Maddie does

something then Kaddy has to do the same thing. Maddy will say, I got this
score on the game, then Kaddy will come back with an Oh so what, I got
this score. She compares herself with her friends at school also but not to
the degree that she does with her sister. I believe this comparison behavior is
good for Kadences self-image as long as it never gets to an unhealthy
obsessive point.
The third thing self-image is now about emotions and how they are
controlled. Emotionally unlike when she was 3 or 4 when she gets angry or
sad about an event or circumstance she does not throw a tantrum on the
floor, rather she now displays her reactions differently. She still pouts or gets
upset when she is mad or sad but that is to be expected from a 10 year old
girl.
The fourth thing self-image is influenced now is the information and attitudes
that are communicated by others and how competent the child feels in the
areas where success matters. This is now true about Kadences self-image.
How her parents feel about her school grades or how her teacher at school
tells her how she is doing in class matter to Kadence. This is because
Kadences self-image is higher when she does well versus if she has acted
poorly and her elders are not accepting of her performance.
Besides self image another important emotional characteristic is self
confidence. Having a strong sense of self confidence at this age can play an
important role in building a solid sense of self. This confidence also helps
with making friends and can help her handle situations better such as
bullying. The kids who are self-confident are less likely to be swayed by
others and are instead their own persons (About parenting, 2015). Kadence,
from what I have observed, is a self-confident girl. She tends to be her own
person and that confidence helps her with making friends. This self
confidence also keeps her from falling into bad situations. This self
confidence will help her later in life especially during the upcoming teenage
years when peer pressure to do bad behavior mounts.
Intellectual/Cognitive:
There are numerous different views on how a child should develop
intellectually or cognitively from the various psychologists in our Snowman
text. Kadence falls into Piagets Concrete operational development stage. In
this stage the child is capable of solving problems by generalizing
experiences but cannot manipulate conditions mentally unless they have
been experienced before. The child now has a greater understanding of
logic-based tasks, class inclusion and serration (2013, p 27). An example of
how Kadence is in this stage is how she does more complex math problems
from school. I have observed she knows that with math problems she knows
that the problem needs to be done in a particular order to get the right
answer. She then arranges them in that order to solve the problem. This is

relevant step in her mental advancement because certain things in life need
to be done or arranged in a certain order to get the right conclusion.
Vygotsky believed in the importance of psychological tools where cognitive
development was concerned.
These are tools we use to communicate and explore the world around us
(2013, p 33). Kadences uses the psychological tool of writing to show her
understanding of concepts such as English. She uses her memory to solve
problems like 12x12 by remembering the times tables she learned in math.
These tools are relevant because without them Kadence would not be able to
interact with her world and she would not grow mentally as a person. I have
observed her using the psychological tool of memory when we play video
games together. She uses her memory of what happened in the past to come
to the solution on how beat a game problem. Sternberg believed a persons
intelligence was broken down into 3 ways people learn things. Practical
ability, Creative ability, and Analytical ability. He called this concept Triarchic
Theory of Intelligence (2013, p 74).

The concept of how a person learns is relevant because if you know how
Kadence uses her mind to understand new things then you can teach her
easier. From what I have observed Kadence uses the Creative ability the
most when learning and solving a new problem. An example of this is she
uses her imagination when she reads a book and uses her toys to act out the
story. Gardners work in how viewed a persons ability to learn was a theory
called multiple intelligences. He believed that there were 8 different
categories of how people solved problems and some of the careers they were
best suited for (2013, p 75). This is relevant because knowing which category
Kadence falls into for intelligence will help guide her in which field she would
excel at later in life. I have observed she is a mixture of Musical, Bodilykinesthetic and Spatial intelligences. She loves to run; tumble and go on the
Monkey bars at school, all bodily kinesthetic traits. She enjoys singing to the
radio and she makes up her own songs to sing which puts her in the musical
intelligence category. Regarding the spatial aspect, in the last few years she
has shown an interest in drawing and working with clay traits of that
category.
Social/Psychosocial:
In regards to how someones social and psychosocial skills develop and how
they are used the Snowman text has many theories about it. Erikson
described a child going through 5 stages of psychosocial development from
the time they are born until 18 years old. Kadence falls into the Industry
Versus Inferiority model ages 6-11: Elementary to Middle school (2013, p 1819). This stage shows that children need to be encouraged to make and do
things well, allowed to finish tasks and praised for trying. Children not shown

this will feel inferior and may never learn to enjoy mental work or believe
they will never be good at anything. This is relevant for Kadence because if
her teachers are not encouraging her to do her best then she might fail as a
student. I have observed Kadence does well in school and she tells me her
teachers always encourage and help her do well in her studies.
Marcia view social identity as 4 statuses with different attributes for each.
The 4 statuses are Identity diffusion, Foreclosure, Moratorium and Identity
achievement (2013, p 21). This is relevant to Kadences social growth in that
Marcia believed a persons maturity came from the crisis and commitment of
these statuses. Kadence from what I have observed falls into the category of
Identity diffusion. She has not experienced crisis yet and has given little to
no thoughts to her occupation, gender role or values. This will change the
more she grows up and this chart will become more relevant to where her
social maturity lies.
Moral:
Moral growth and opinions on how it is achieved and when it is covered by
many different angles in the Snowman text. Piaget viewed the way a child
responded to the rules of right and wrong was by moral realism or moral
relativism. Moral realism refers to the childs moral thinking from birth until
10 years old. Moral relativism was the thinking from 11 through adulthood
(2013, p 40). This is relevant to Kadence since she is at the end of one moral
thinking model and about to begin another. From what I have observed
Kadence displays both of the moral thinking models attributes. She is aware
of different viewpoints regarding rules, believes rules are flexible and
believes children should obey rules because of mutual concern for others. An
example of this is she knows that her view on how school rules should be
enforced is different than what the teachers viewpoint is. With this
awareness she argues that her view is right and that the rules should be
more flexible to fit the event that is happening. These are Moral Cooperation
traits that Piagets chart shows older children to have. At the same time
Kadence believe s if someone misbehaves at school they should be punished
by an external authority. This trait falls into the Moral Constraint view of
younger child. An example of this is a student hits another instead of them
retaliating against each other an authority figure should intervene and
punish them both.
Kohlberg thought that moral reasoning of a person comes in 6 stages. Each
stage has a moral equivalence of what should or should not happen to a
person who breaks rules or laws (2013, p 41-42). This is relevant to how
Kadence is morally progressing as she grows up. From the behavior I have
witnessed from her I believe she falls under both stage 1 and 3 of Kohlbergs
moral stages. Stage 1 Punishment-obedience involves the physical
consequences of an action determined well or bad. This model applies to
behavior with her parents. Kadence does something bad she knows she

might get a spanking so the punishment deters her from not doing the
behavior. Stage 3 Good boy-nice girl orientation which is the right action is
one that will impress others. Kadence follows this model with teachers at
school and her grandparents. She will impress her teacher by obeying the
class rules or by great behavior at grandmas in hopes of getting praise or
rewards.
Gilligans moral view dealt more with females than males. She argued that
females cared less about separation and independence, instead focusing on
remaining loyal to others through expressions of caring, understanding and
sharing (2013, p 43). This viewpoint is of particular relevance to Kadence
because she is a female and this model shows how morality is expressed in a
woman. I have observed that Kadences moral judgment is that she does
value helping others and cooperation above other things such as
independence. Examples of this are she loves to help animals or serves at
church with her grandparents. Gilligans moral model was geared more
toward adolescent girls so this will take on more importance in the next few
years for her.
Noddings moral view was based on what is called the Care Theory. In this
theory she stated that there is a human desire for goodness, which she
called a moral attitude. Her view was transforming the conditions that makes
caring difficult or impossible (2013, p 44).This is relevant for Kadence in how
she perceives others moral views and how they apply to her. I observed this
with Kadence in how she acts around certain situations in which she is not
sure of the persons moral stance. An example of this is her dad works long
hours and does his best to support the family. Kadence, though, only sees
the lack of him not helping her at home with school work or not being there
to play with her. In her moral view he does not care about her even though
he does by working hard to support the family.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Kadence, in my opinion, is progressing at a normal pace on all
aspects in her development. Physically she is a little smaller in weight and
height than an average 10 year old girl. I am not concerned, though, since
she will probably have a growth spurt this year that Snowman stated that
this age group has at this age. Her motor skills and energy level for her age
are normal. She is not obese and she is getting enough rest every night to
stay at a healthy level. In regards to Maslows Hierarchy, Kadences needs of
safety and all her physiological needs are being met at this time to keep her
physically healthy. Emotionally Kadence has shown that she has a good selfimage. She does like to compare herself to her sister a lot but I believe she
will outgrow this, allowing her self-image to continue to grow normally. She is
a very self confident girl and this trait has helped her make friends and avoid
being bullied in school. Her emotional development is normal at this time
and I for see no problems at home or school to change this.

Maslows requirements of love and belonging are given to her by her parents
and grandparents so Kadences emotional are needs being met.
Intellectual/Cognitive, Kadence is a very creative girl who loves to learn new
things. With her mixture of Bodily-kinesthetic, Musical and Spatial learning
styles she should be able to go into many different fields in her adult life. The
only thing Kadence should work on is her analytical abilities to solve
problems. Certain things like Science and Math need this kind of thinking to
solve problems. With good study habits and help from her parents and
teachers Kadence will continue to grow intellectually. Socially Kadence is
more introverted. She does make friends but not as quickly as her sister.
With encouragement from her family and other people such as her teachers
Kadence will continue to grow socially. I would say socially she is a little
behind other girls her own age. If there is one aspect that Kadence needs to
grow in her development it is her social interactions. I believe, though, that it
is something that will get easier for her the older she gets.
Morally, Kadence is a very caring and helpful person. She is always trying to
do something to help another person or animal. She believes everyone
should be treated fairly and is not a trouble maker at school. Morally she is
progressing above normal for her age group, I believe. This good moral code
will help guide her through the hard teenage years and into adulthood.

REFERENCES
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http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data.com
Edwards, J. O. (2009). The many kinds of family structures in our
communities. In Sonoma County of Education. Retrieved from
http://www.scoe.org/files/ccpc-family-structures.com

Pew Research Center. (2015, May, 12). Americas changing religious

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