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Sebastian's PEPSI screening

Aurora Gallegos Zarate
Edu 220: Principles of Educational Psychology
3/4/2018
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Biography

For my case study, I choose someone I have observed since he was an infant, my

nephew who is six years old, Sebastian Gallegos, soon to be seven. He is my older sister's son,

Maria. My nephew was born on March 8, 2011, he was immediately the favorite of the family

especially for my mother. When he was one month, and a half Sebastian's father was taking care

of him while my sister Maria was at school, my mother got a phone call informing us that

Sebastian had been hospitalized, which was the last thing we expected to hear. As far as we

knew Maria and Raul, Sebastian's father took care of him and loved him. Sadly, we did not know

that Raul was violent towards my sister, she kept it well hidden until Sebastian was in the

hospitalized and police came looking for answers. When arriving at the hospital we were

informed that Sebastian had been shaken to the point of losing consciences and his cheeks were

purple from being sucked on for too long. Of course, police got involved and began to ask

questions about what had occurred, Raul made up a story that he had been cleaning the bathroom

with Sebastian in his arms and accidentally hit Sebastian's head on the corner of the sink. The

doctors quickly destroyed his story with their findings making sure police knew that was a lie.

My sister was devastated however she was not fully off the hook. The bruises Sebastian had

been from Raul sucking on them so hard and left them purple, we can only imagine how much

and how hard he had to suck on Sebastian's cheek to turn that way. As for Maria in the police

eyes Maria did not do any physical damage to Sebastian but failed to speak up, I am assuming it

was her fear of Raul, nonetheless, she was partly responsible. At the end of the day, Raul and my

sister lost custody and my mother was his new caregiver. My mother and I were the ones who

took care of him the most. We would wake up at the break of dawn to him crying, change his
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diaper, we saw him crawl for the first time, we were there. He is now seven years old and many

things have changed in Sebastian's life he has been back with his mother for about six years and

three months and she learned slowly how to take care of him with our mother's help. His father,

however, has been in and out of his life, mostly out due to him being in jail. When his father

came out of jail about 9 to 11 months ago he was present in Sebastian's life as he promised my

mother he would be and not be absent like before. We thought Sebastian had forgotten about his

dad to our surprise when they re-encountered Sebastian ran to him. My sister really hates Raul

for all he has done but for the sake of Sebastian she put up with him. Having to put with him did

not last long Raul stopped calling and eventually stopped visiting. Sebastian has stopped asking

about his dad. He knows he has his dad and he knows he is out there, but he never really asks for

him he hears us talking about him from time to time but simply acts as if he is not paying

attention. Sebastian may not have his father with him but what he does have is loving grandma, a

loving mother and 12 loving uncles and aunts, including myself.

Physical Development

From the incident provoked by his father, Sebastian suffered bleeding from his brain. He

stayed in recovery for about two weeks when he was two months my mother, my brother

Oliberio, and I took him home. His injuries did not stop him from being a regular baby except

him getting checked on by CPS everything was normal. His growth development was regular he

would be entertained by almost anything as you would expect from a baby. He was a chunky

baby but never overweight. His regular check-ups went great the doctors had no complaints. The

more he grew the more active he became. As he was learning to walk he would want to go

everywhere and touch everything. Now that he is close to being seven years old (In three days to

be exact) he is still active but not as much anymore. His teachers have said that he likes to play a
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lot in recess and when we go pick him up he likes to run around before having to go home. He

likes running but what he loves the most is playing with his tablet he got for Christmas. When he

is not glued to his tablet he plays with his 4-year-old cousin Victoria, my niece as well. Their

playing session does not last too long because as kids are they usually have a disagreement that

for them is the end of the world for like 30 minutes. Besides playing with his cousin and his

uncle Artemio he likes to watch Netflix and play with his tablet. In J'Anne Ellsworth chart it

states that one characteristic that may include in a six-year-old is "boys may still wet the bed"

however with Sebastian it is not the case. Surprisingly we did not really have to struggle with

that like we did with my niece Victoria.

Emotional Development

Sebastian is a passionate boy with everything he does. It would be unfair for me to say

that he is only passionate about certain things. Since he was a baby it was obvious he did not like

arguments or screaming from anyone. I remember more than one incident when family members

in our house would get into a disagreement and he would be uncomfortable but as soon as people

would start screaming he would he would get this terrified look and begin to cry. Even now he

does not like confrontation. My mother thought that is was because Maria and Raul would argue

and scream when he was just a little baby. As J'Anne Ellsworth chart says "Seems warm and

enthused when getting own way, but the slightest turn of events may turn on tears, anger, temper

tantrums" Sebastian is this way. His tantrums aren't the kind where he falls to the ground and

screams but mostly him getting upset and pouting. He will pout and go away but not enough so

you would not see him and look at the person he is upset with and say for example "you are

mean." You can say anything to him and nothing will cheer him up, the best thing to do is to give

him space and he will cheer himself up. Although as I said before, he is passionate about things
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that make him happy and things that make him sad. He is not afraid to show what he is feeling

and let people know. Sebastian as young as he is he knows what he likes and what he does not.

Nonetheless, he does not take losing to any games well, he loves to play but hates to lose.

Sebastian is emotional he cries when he sees other people cry in real life or in a movie. When he

was 5 years old he witnessed and experience a loss of a family member my niece of two months

was murdered. Sebastian five years young saw us cry and mourn her death, he would hug us and

cry with us. He was so young and to be honest I did not really expect for him to fully understand

what had happened, he did not but he did understand much more than I thought he would. He

would cry and say he would miss baby jess, my niece was named Jessica. He knew she had died

and was never coming back but, in an hour, as one can expect he would be playing and running

around again. He is a very sweet boy he tells me that when he sees someone making fun of

someone else in school he does not like it and tells a grown up. Even when his mother is playing

with one of our other sisters as if they were "fighting" he will tell her to stop and how that is not

nice. He takes other peoples feelings and feels them himself. For example, we were watching a

movie named A train to Busan during the ending this little girl lost her father due to a zombie

apocalypse and she was crying when I turn to see Sebastian he was crying as well. This has

happened with many movies such as the very famous movie Coco. Sebastian is very cheerful and

sweet but of course, he can be selfish with his toys and be disobedient at times.

Philosophical Development

Sebastian knows that there are rules and that if a grown-up says no to something then it is

a no. He of course, still pouts but at his age, he doesn't throw tantrums for crying unless grandma

is around. My mother spoils him rotten and not by buying everything he wants but in an

emotional way. He is well behaved overall yet at times he does get his way simply because his
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grandma is there, and he knows that. He knows that when his mother, his godmother, Francin, or

I say something he does not like, and grandma is there, there is a good chance of him getting his

way. He is smart about it but sees then again overall, he is well behaved, so it is not a major issue

but an issue nonetheless. As I read my textbook Psychology Applied to Teaching from Jack

Snowman and Rick McCown it mentions Kohlberg's and Piaget's descriptions of the moral

judgment of a child. According to Kohlberg's levels, I believe Sebastian is in level 1 which is

Punishment- obedience orientation where he worries about getting caught. He has lied about

things such as if has broken or misplaced something, so he would not get disciplined. Such as

Kohlberg's level 1 states. Piaget's says "...younger children see rules as absolute & external."

This description I see in Sebastian but not fully. See Sebastian is curious as can be. He will

question why he cannot do something or why he cannot eat this or that. We will explain it to him

and usually, he will be okay and walk away. The answer he will defy the most is "because I said

so" so we do not use it. In Ellsworth's chart on the characteristic of a six-year-old, it reads "petty

theft and lying begin or frequently increase child expresses embarrassment if caught" this is true

for Sebastian. He has taken stuff without permission and when confronted he will not say

anything he will look sad and look at you but will not speak. When asked why he did he still will

not answer and kind of stand there waiting for it to be over. When a grown-up says, "I don't want

you to do this again understand?" He will mumble yes and look down. When someone does

make him speak he will again, mumble what he says, as if he is sad and angry at the same time.

He likes being correct and being praised.

Social Development

As I have mentioned before Sebastian is a cheerful boy. Sebastian is very loved by many

family members and friends. When my sister temporarily lost custody, our mother would go to
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social gatherings and would have Sebastian with her. As to be expected many people would ask

her if it was her son she would say no which left people with more questions since they never

saw her without him. The firsts question would be: where the mom is, which didn't really leave

my mother a choice but to explain the circumstances of her grandchild. For this reason, many

people know Sebastian and when they come over they happily greet him. So, he is not shy. He is

used to people talking to him another factor that comes into play is having aunts that were

teenagers as he was growing up, like myself. I talk to him and play with him, but I never baby

him. I encourage him to always speak up, I have seen children who are so shy that they do not

speak they simply point what they want. Sebastian was starting to get that habit but his

godmother, my sister and I did not allow it. To understand why we care so much about us

wanting him to be social is because we never got that chance. His grandpa, my father was

extremely strict, and honestly, I think extremely is cutting it short. We would be prohibited to

stay after school, go to friend's birthday parties, or even talk on the phone. From personal

experience being closed off in such a way does so much harm than good. It still affects my

sisters and me to this day. Sebastian never met his grandpa he was four years too late. I believe

our attempts have worked so far. We encourage him to ask for what he wants, to have friends

and to be happy. At school when we go pick him up, we hear "by Sebastian" from all his friends.

He plays with his cousins and other children of course always supervised but never restrained.

Just as Erikson's theory suggests "during the elementary and middle school years, help children

experience a sense of industry by presenting tasks that they can complete successfully." A task

that we let him do from time to time is paid for a toy he wants or a candy. We give him the

correct amount of money and he gives to the cashier and receives the change and the receipt. It is

a way for him to understand that he will have to do things on his at times. I am sure at school
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they teach him the same. In Ellsworth's chart it states how a child of this age is: "has difficult

being social" and "often does not like self" I disagree with the one of often does not like self,

Sebastian is very positive of himself, for example, his favorite color is pink and sadly many

people have a problem with that since it is a "girls" color but we have never discouraged

whatever he likes. Plus, many people tell him constantly how cute he is. I have never heard him

hint that he has felt bad about himself. I think he is a very lucky boy. Having difficulty being

social I can see where at times he is doubts a bit, but we always encourage him to do so. At times

we are not successful but that's not common. Another classification under this development is

"child tends to boss others, begins to tattle and eggs others to fighting, then crying and blaming."

Under this statement as I mentioned before he does tell adults if he thinks something goes wrong

and doesn't go to violence.

Intellectual Development

In this area, I believe Sebastian is decent in this area. He is very curious when he is

seeing someone doing something new. He wants to know how things work. I have heard him talk

to his mom about what he has learned in school and tell her "mom did you know that this worked

like this" he is excited to share new things. However, for him to do homework at home is a

struggle. During kindergarten in the middle of the year, his teacher informed Maria and I that he

was falling behind on recognizing his words. His kindergarten teacher told us that if he didn't

catch up he would repeat kindergarten and that is not something we wanted for him. His mother

must go to work and gets home tired she does read to him at night, but Sebastian does not read.

At that time, I was not working and was only going to school, so I had extra time to help

Sebastian catch up on his learning process. During this process, I learned that he could be a

hands-on learner. For example, to help him learn his words I would write an example of how the
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letters are supposed to look and he was supposed to copy them. However, that got him bored

fast. His excuse for wanting to stop studying was that his hand would hurt or his leg something

out nowhere would begin to hurt. So, my next idea was to get him some prizes such as stickers,

cool pencils or a cute notebook that he might like. That worked but I still felt like he wasn't

really intrigued to want to practice daily. As the chart from Ellsworth states that at this age "child

wants to learn to read if not too hard" this goes with Sebastian as soon as things get slightly too

hard he doesn't really want to continue and will say I don't know. Another thing he will say is

"oh I forgot!" so I could give him the answer and call it a day. I am an auditory learner so the

way I wanted to teach him was not the best way. So, I began making games that can be both to

learn and to play. To learn words, I would write words such as "with" or "up and put them on the

floor separated from each other and say you have to find the word and step on it if you are wrong

you lose a point if your right you get points. Seeing him get excited to learn was a huge step. He,

himself would ask me if we were going to study that day. At the end of the school year, he

moved on to first grade where he is now. He is good at math, he likes counting reading not so

much. This year his teachers have not said anything about him falling behind. He likes learning

when it involves hands on. When he sees one of his uncles building something he is right there

asking if he can help. However, having to read he will kind of laugh it off and move on.

Nonetheless from being behind to being at his grade level is good. He also likes telling people

how to do things. He has had toys that can be build up to something different and he just wants

to tell you and show you how to build it. In this category I believe is what he needs more help in.

Putting everything into perspective I believe Sebastian is in a good place meaning his weakest

development is good as well he is not falling behind.

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In conclusion, I believe Sebastian needs a bit of improvement in each category yet again

no child is perfect. Having to do this PEPSI screening made me realized how much a child

changes and developments in each age. I wonder how different he will be a year from now. In

the physical part I recommend for him to not be on his tablet so much. I would believe him being

more active will help clear his mind more and not just be brainwashed with YouTube videos. In

the development of the emotional part I believe him being emotional is not a bad thing however,

him being too emotional can be damaging as well. For example, he needs to learn to lose or not

always getting his way is not the end of the world. When he does get upset a good idea is to talk

to him and explain how him losing or not getting what he wants is okay. In the philosophical

category I believe he can improve of accepting his wrong doings. When he is being lectured he

does not engage when asking him why he is doing it or if he understands. In my opinion I would

not give up until he responds. For the social section I believe he is doing good, however always

make him keep in mind his manners. For the social section I believe he is doing good, however

always make him keep in mind his manners. As for the intellectual part, I strongly recommend

he studies more. He needs to be checked on more regularly. He is a good kid and making sure he

is heading in the right path will be difficult but then again it takes a village to a raise a child.
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Sebastian’s PEPSI chart

HIGH

AVERAGE

LOW

P E P S I
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Resources
Ellsworth, J. (1999). Developing the whole

person.http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/essentials/reading1-1-1.html

Mc.Cown, Rick. Snowman, Jack. (2015). Psychology Applied Teaching 14th edition.

Cengage learning.
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http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year6.html
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