1

Running head: P.E.P.S.I. Screening

P.E.P.S.I. Screening

Jordan Marzka

College of Southern Nevada

 2

Abstract

This P.E.P.S.I. Screening is on Taylinn Marie Marzka-Holman. She is a bright 8-year-old

with a lot of potentials. Upon asking a lot of questions regarding how she thinks feels and acts I

was better able to understand her. I gave her a lot of questions such as situational questions and

informational questions. I studied her as she acted and reacted to certain situations both physical

and mental. When it came to the physical aspect, I played with her rather it was biking or

jumping on a trampoline. I was able to record my findings and see how she compared to her

peers.
 3

P.E.P.S.I. Screening
Biography

Taylinn Marie Marzka-Holman was born on April 26, 2012. She is the second youngest

child in her family. She has three older brothers and one younger brother. Being that she's the

only girl in the house (besides her mom) she takes much pride in the dolls she owns and any

other girl aesthetic in her room and around the house. It would be an understatement to

understand when she is in the room because she demands attention. She is very much a girl

through and through whether it be her playing with her hair and trying to do everyone's makeup

or trying to take everyone out of the house to go shopping at the mall.

She has dealt with a load of medical problems throughout her life. Most notably her

eczema issue and her allergy issue. When it comes to eczema ever since she was born, she has

had several spots of rough skin that she consistently itches to this day. As well as she's allergic to

a boatload of things from dogs and cats to peanuts and Gluten. To say it's been a struggle to find

things that she can eat and enjoy would be very understated.

When she was just a little girl about the age of three, she first learned how to ride a bike.

She has also been able to hit every milestone that a baby should hit such as being able to walk by

the age of 1. And being able to do other things such as talk and sound out words right around the

age of two. she is always looking forward to doing things on her own. As she is referred to in the

house as miss independent, she strives for some kind of individuality when it comes to any kind

of task. She does not like to take no as an answer and looks forward to any situation that she gets

to be in control of.

Overall, Taylinn is meeting most of her standards with the other children. She lacks in the

physical area of health. She is considered overweight by the CDC and is in the 99 Percentile
 4

because of it. She needs more exercise. Other milestones like reading and writing she is doing

excellent, she shows not obvious signs of lacking in the schooling aspect.

Physical

Taylinn Marie Marzka-Holman is eight years old, 4’5” tall, and weighs approximately

108 pounds. The CDC.com (Weight) puts her in the 99th percentile with a Z score of 2.66. While

she is on the high end of the percentile this does not seem to impede our physical as of right now.

Also, the weight could be a factor in the steroids she uses for her eczema because of how bad it

is. The steroids help her retain weight that is not common to other kids her age, so this plays a

factor in it. Eczema in children is common it affects around one in five children under the ages of

two and it causes dry, itchy skin according to pregnancybirthandbaby.org. Dealing with Tallinn’s

medical issues throughout her life her physical abilities have not been impeded to a heavy

margin.

According to PBS, some things to keep her cognitive control in practice would be to do

sports. Taylinn does participate in a Soccer League that she looks forward to on the weekends

and she also participates in a gymnastics club as well. She is very active as she demonstrates to

me the ability to do cartwheels and handstands. So, while yes, the CDC does Peter in the 99

12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

Pyhsical

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1
 5

percentiles when it comes to her BMI, I do not think this impedes her a whole lot as I have

witnessed with my own eyes her ability to maintain exercise links with other kids.

The sleep foundation stated that kids between the ages of 6 to 13 should get a total of 9 to

11 hours of sleep every day. This involves them still growing and them still having to mature and

grow into their bodies as they progress through life. It also says that up to 42.5% of kids take

naps throughout the day Taylinn does not. taking regular naps throughout the day is not a

common thing in her day-to-day life. However, she does sleep for about 10 hours straight going

to bed at about 9:30 at night almost every night and waking up at about 7:30 in the morning.

Emotional

Taylinn Marie Marzka-Holman Is without a doubt a definite character. While her range of

emotions is vast and wide, she definitely exerts her happiness and anger almost regularly. Being

that she's the only girl in the house she takes the initiative of setting rules to her liking and if

someone breaks them that person gets yelled at by her and or she will make a snotty comment to

you. According to Scholastic Taylinn is still in “Erik Erikson calls the age of Industry vs

Inferiority”. She is still visibly learning how to deal with social rules and social constructs such

as saying inappropriate things at the dinner table or making an inappropriate joke or gesture out

in public. At the same time, she is also learning how to be more elaborate and structured with her

interactions and expressions with regular human beings. On top of this, as she is the only girl in

the house other than her mother, she is also one of two other girls in the entire neighborhood that

are roughly close to her age. This brings different challenges such as her not being able to play

with as many people like her brother who has a lot more boys to pick and choose from in the

neighborhood and when she gets in arguments with the other girls, she has to learn that
 6

essentially, she has no one else to play with for the rest of the day because of her actions or their

actions.
12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1

In situations like this, she can visibly be seen stressing out. Just like the Center for

parenting education states at the age of 8 Taylinn is a definite talker. She loves to investigate and

evaluate every situation she can. On the same token, she can be very dramatic with how she acts,

and when she wants attention. About two weeks ago she fell off of her bike she did not realize I

was watching her from behind a wall and as I saw she got up just fine and didn't scream or cry

because she did not think anyone was around her. But a week later essentially, she fell the same

exact way and my parents were outside and she started crying because she wanted their attention.

I did not say anything or call her out on it but it was an observation that I made and took note of.

At the age of 8 Taylinn parents have allowed her to make some “executive decisions” for the

family such as picking where the family goes to eat for the night or choosing what movie we

watched as a family. And as the Holidays come closer, she was the one in charge of making sure

that the Christmas tree went up and it was all decorated with ornaments.
 7

Muchlikeraisingchildren.net has asserted making 8-year-old feel less embarrassed and more

adults helps them become more certain of themselves and makes them feel more of an individual

than an outcast.

Philosophical

Being that Taylinn is 8 years old she understands right from wrong. Just today she

understood the consequences of hitting her brother, yet she did it anyway and had to spend some

time up in a room without anything because of her action. According to parents.com adrenarche

is a sugar hormone that happens before girls enter puberty. And this could play a big role in how

they act. For example, Taylinn is getting close to the age of puberty and her doctors have said

that she will actually start pretty young and pretty soon. With this knowledge given it is safe to

say that her mood swings as of late are nothing short of her just being in the early stages of

puberty. Being able to witness her get easily frustrated at a moment’s notice and want to rip

everything around her up just because she doesn't know any better way to express her anger has

been very noticeable. On top of this, the hormones in her body right now are out of whack

anyway because of her medical situation she takes some medicines that have thrown it off track

just a little bit.

12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1
 8

In Chapter 2 of psychology applied to teaching the textbook restates that Taylinn is in the

industry versus inferiority stage of her life where she has learned to develop a sense of self and

has to learn to finish the task on her own. Tallinn’s moral reasoning is very straightforward at

this age if you do something bad then she considers you a bad person and likewise if you do

something good, she considers you good. While this isn't an issue most of the time this last year

with the election and how my parents and everyone in the house talk about certain people, she

has made statements out in public that would be better suited for inside a household and not for

public knowledge.

During the school day when I ask her how she's feeling most of the time, she responds with

I'm good. Or something along those lines but it depends on what time I ask her. If it's during a

hard subject that she does not like such as math she will say she's mad or she's angry but vice

versa with subjects she is more comfortable with such as English or writing she says she is happy

and she is in a good mood. Her mother has also noticed such things as when it comes to different

times of the day and depending on what she's doing her emotions will vary.

The last middle school thing is that she is started to test her boundaries and learn how to lie

better. Over the last year, she has become better and better at lying 2 our parents to get her way.

According to the child's mind, the reason that children start Lying at this age is to avoid a

consequence, avoid something, forward to test boundaries. I can say in Taylinn case this is

apparent in every single category. she is definitely at the age where she's trying to test the waters

in every situation by asking why when she's told to do something, or she gives the occasional no

when told to do something, but this is all her way of trying to figure out what she can and cannot

get away with. It is common for kids Tallinn’s age too test their limits with things such as lying

because they want to understand the world they live in. Up to this point they have cognitively not
 9

been at a high enough level to make their own choices, but around the ages of 7- 8 they start

becoming more proficient in doing their own things. With more responsibility adds to it that they

want to see what they can and cannot do. So, this is how lying becomes an essential part of their

moral compass. The test the waters of lying to see if they can do it and get away with it. Most

kids do small lies and depending how what happens this can shape them for the years to come.

Social

Taylinn socially is in a tough spot. She deals with being the only girl in the family beside

her mother. In the neighborhood, she lives in there are only two other girls that are her age. And

due to the pandemic, she is not able to go to school and engage with more girls her age. At this

time, she should be active she should be expensive and busy dealing with all types of friendships

learning how to make best friends and learning how to make other types of relationships with

people all around her, but this pandemic has a stunt that a little. She seems to be a little socially

underdeveloped when it comes to engaging with children, but this is due to the situation all

around I believe. To help enable tailing to be more socially active I have taken part in learning

online on what kind of activities I can do to help her period for example friendshipcircle.org

suggests that you may contest out of anything to help establish competitive streaks. So I engage

her in any kind of contest I can think of from a staring contest to a jumping contest, to even

writing art bikes for the longest contest. Anything to help keep her engaged and more attuned to

what's going on around her will be the best for her.

 10

12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1

at times it is frustrating to watch her almost go into herself. The only social time she has

with classmates is during lunch on the zoom meetings and this is especially difficult to watch as

she yearns for the engagement of physical touch and being able to run around with her

classmates, but she is stuck to just a computer screen. In light of this, I take her to the park

occasionally right across the street from us, and every once in a while, if there are kids there and

the parents are willing Taylinn plays with them. this is one of those occasions where you can see

that kids need to be kids and be able to engage with one another and not be cooped up in a house

all day.

Also, you can see it is more apparent that she is all about fairness. She's grasping the

concept of justice in fairness quite well. She's having great concern with what is equal for

everyone in the house and what is not. This comes down to anything rather it is food or

punishments. If she feels like she has been slighted in any kind of way she will make this known

to anyone and everyone who can hear. According to apa.com, this is normal as children tend to

want to be fair and be more objective at this age as they learn about right and wrong scenarios.

Intellectual
 11

Intellectually at this age children should be more fascinated with real-world animals and

other such things as stars and science. While this is true detail to a degree, I feel like she is a little

behind her other classmates in this aspect. When something is too hard from class, she makes an

excuse on why she didn't do it or she learned how to make detours and avert whatever kind of

issue she's having as to not confront it. On top of this, she is also learned how to be more logical

in her thinking.
12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1

Tallinn’s concept of money is one thing that has vastly been approved overtime. Now she's

at the age at which she understands that she must earn money to get items that she wants. So now

she has a job in the house, and she can do extra chores around the house to obtain money. This is

the driving force for her to do things some days. As Amy Morin from a very well family put it

“or many children, third grade marks a growth spurt—physically, emotionally, and mentally”.

This couldn’t be more the case for Taylinn as she is obtaining new information every day and

does not show any signs of slowing down. When it comes to testing at the school list provided

her, she has shown her ability to match what the rest of her class is at. She is reading at a third-

grade level just like she's supposed to be and her math skills are not lacking. While yes, she does

get frustrated you can see that she is taking an interest in learning especially how the teachers

have helped online learning be more fun with little videos and better pop-up presentations it has
 12

kept her more engaged like a YouTube video would. That's the most interesting thing as she

relates a lot of things to YouTube videos.

As Ronald Tumbokon from raises smart kids puts it “tablets and smartphones are great

gadgets for making kids busy and quiet ... but the tendency to be alarmist usually happens when

a new form of media becomes popular with children”. So, the question really is do tablets enable

better intellectual growth for kids, or does it stump their intellectual growth. When I got around

to asking Taylinn what her thoughts of her tablet where she had nothing but great things to say

obviously. She sees her tablet as her escape from any kind of trouble she's having. When she's in

a bad mood or on a bad day she takes her tablet, goes upstairs, and she watched movies on it. But

when I ask her mother, she gives me different responses. Her mother Karen views the tablet as a

distraction piece and a disruptor at times period even though she was the one that originally

introduced her to tablets and smartphones she sometimes regrets this decision as to when taking

the tablet away from Taylinn is almost impossible sometimes.

Recommendations
 13

12/4/2020 https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html#

https://www.mathsisfun.com/data/bar-graph.html# 1/1

Taylinn Marie Marzka-Holman is a very good kid. Physically she's not considered to be

doing quite well. But I do think there is a number of reasons for this. Most notably her

medications help her retain weight that other kids her age do not have to deal with. My

recommendation for physical activity would to be maintaining a good healthy lifestyle of playing

in the park or playing with the neighborhood kids when possible. Taillon is at the stage

physically where she should be mobile and seeking adventure so letting her out of the house as

much as possible will do her a lot of good.

Emotionally Taylinn is in the Industry versus inferiority phase. This is when a child should

be in an expensive model. Sometimes she does take on too much and this often leads to a little

self-destructive mode of herself where she gets overwhelmed and she begins to overdramatize

her failures. I think the best way to avoid this would help her learn how to lose steam and be

more of a Completionist rather than a go-getter. Teaching her how to create a little schedule for

herself will do a lot of good in being able to obtain her ultimate goal of succeeding.

philosophically Taylinn is in the right space. She knows the rights from wrongs, and she

understands fairness and justice. Her more reasoning is very black and white, and she primarily

focuses on herself because she does not understand a bigger worldview. An example of this
 14

would be an occasion where she acts selfish but, in her eyes, she's doing what is right for her best

interest. I think one way this can be altered is by showing her more of the world. Getting her

books and showing her videos of people and places that are not her same situation will help

broader her worldview and help her gain more of an understanding of issues around the world.

Taylinn in social development would be in the same arena as her philosophical

development. She's busy and expensive she's at an age where she's active. She's being less self-

centered but at the same time, she's still dealing with being self-centered. as much as that is an

oxymoron it couldn't be truer to her. She's having to deal with the issues of not exactly having a

best friend but on the same token, the girls in her neighborhood would be a perfect outlet for her

to gain more of a social construct. Along with this the male children in the neighborhood would

also be a good outlet for her. The only issue is around this time I have witnessed that the boys in

the neighborhood have entered the phase of boys stay with boys and girls stay with girls. On

multiple occasions I have seen the boy is not wanting to play with Taylinn simply because of the

fact that she is a girl. While this is frustrating to watch it shows me how her social development

can be stumped because she is consistently hit with nos. My best recommendation would be to

wait until schools open back up so she can actually talk to and engage with more than just a

handful of girls at a time. However, this is unlikely because of the pandemic and not knowing

when schools will reopen, I believe social development is only going to be further if and when

she's allowed back into a public setting with a large-scale number of girls her age around her.

Finally, her intellectual development seems to be at a good pace. Keeping her engaged

with games and other such aspects such as challenges is helping her stay engaged intellectually

and keeping her on the same track as other people in her age group. My best recommendation

would be to continue doing games and contests keeping her intellectually engaged with
 15

everything around her. While her mother sees the tablets as an inhibitor to laziness, I believe that

this is helping to keep her intellectually stable with her peers because she is able to traverse The

Internet and YouTube for educational videos which are helping her learn.
 16

References

(n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://reference.medscape.com/calculator/659/cdc-

weight-for-age-percentiles-for-girls-2-20-years
Amy Morin, L. (n.d.). How Children Grow and Develop at Age 8. Retrieved November 30,
2020, from https://www.verywellfamily.com/8-year-old-developmental-milestones-620729
Beth Arky is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and editor covering parenting, H. (2020, August
19). Why Kids Lie and What Parents Can Do About It. Retrieved November 30, 2020,
from https://childmind.org/article/why-kids-lie/
Child Development by Age. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from
https://centerforparentingeducation.org/library-of-articles/child-development/child-
development-by-age/
Cognitive and Social Skills to Expect From 6 to 8 Years. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020,
from https://www.apa.org/act/resources/fact-sheets/development-10-years
Ellsworth, J. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year8.html
Emma .sharethis-inline-share-buttons{ margin-top:10px; margin-right:-8px; }, 28, W., Emma,
Emma is a 37-year-old mother of two. One of the two, & View all 9 of Emma's posts.
(2016, July 19). 12 Activities to help your child with social skills. Retrieved November 30,
2020, from https://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2011/03/28/12-activities-to-help-your-
child-with-social-skills/
The Emotional Lives of 8-10 Year Olds. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/social-emotional-learning/development-
milestones/emotional-lives-8-10-year-olds.html
How Much Sleep Do Babies and Kids Need? (2020, November 19). Retrieved November 30,
2020, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep/how-much-sleep-do-kids-
need
Learning Resources for Age 8. (2020, November 29). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from
https://www.pbs.org/parents/learn-grow/age-8
Smartphone and Tablet Screen Time: Good or Bad for Kids? (2020, January 20). Retrieved
November 30, 2020, from https://www.raisesmartkid.com/all-ages/1-articles/smartphone-
and-tablet-screen-time-good-or-bad-for-kids
Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching.
{{meta.og.title}}. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from
https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/eczema-in-children