PEPSI CASE STUDY 1

PEPSI Screening Case Study

Emerald Skelton

College of Southern Nevada

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Biography of Subject

Nolan, the subject of this case study, is an 8 year old Cambodian American boy. He

comes from a middle class family, consisting of a stay-at-home, retired veteran father, a

white-collar working mother, a younger sister, and a poodle puppy. At home, English is the main

language spoken, but Khmer is frequently spoken as well. Nolan lives in a quiet apartment

complex, secluding him from the social interactions that are more common for children who, for

example, live in a cul-de-sac and can walk to the neighboring children’s houses and play outside

together. Nolan currently attends elementary school as a 3rd grader and scores with average

grades. He has a few close friends at school, but does not regularly hang out with any of them

outside of the classroom. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, some of his

responses have included engineer and firefighter. Nolan is excellent at running, loves swimming,

and is very fond of cars. When he is not at school, he and his sister frequently spend time at the

houses of other family members, sometimes being dropped off and picked up later by his father.

At his own house and the houses of others, Nolan spends a lot of his time and attention fixed on

his iPad playing video games, rather secluded from other people. When talked to, he usually

speaks with a quiet voice and with few words. His childlike vitality only seems to truly shine

forth when he is surrounded by other children and is playing outside in some form of physical

activity.

Physical Development

According to the weight and height standards for 8 year old boys set forth by the CDC

and WHO, Nolan’s weight, 48 lbs, falls below average, and his height is just slightly below the

average mark, measuring at 49 inches tall. It is likely that his lower-than-average body weight is
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a result of his notably small appetite, which does not appear to have been caused by any external

or environmental factors. A child of Nolan’s age “requires around eleven hours of sleep each

night” (Staff, 2019). However, Nolan is not under a strict bedtime routine and it is not

uncommon for him to sleep at hours in the late night or early morning on weekends. He does not

usually obtain more than eight hours of sleep. Nolan demonstrates an emerging self-sufficiency

that is expected from his age group. This includes being capable of “[dressing] and [grooming]

[himself] completely” (CHOC, 2021), being responsible for brushing his teeth, and keeping a

tidy room. It is also normal that “permanent teeth begin to appear” (SickKids Staff, 2011) during

the school age years. Nolan has begun to grow adult teeth for his two front teeth, and is

continuing to lose his baby teeth steadily. He also “[shows] refinement in his muscle control,

coordination, and other physical skills” (Bhavnagarwala, 2018). Like many boys his age, Nolan

has shown an interest in having strong muscles and enjoys doing push ups in front of the adults

to impress them.

Emotional Development

“The early primary grades will normally be spent working through Erickson’s fourth

stage, industry versus inferiority” (Slavin 2020, pg. 55). Nolan has certainly displayed an

increase in autonomy and the desire to be independent within the past two years of his

development, which has taken on the forms of asking for help from others as little as possible

and doing what he must do without waiting to be commanded to do it. Nolan has displayed a

healthy, balanced self-concept and self-esteem. His interests appear to be rooted in things outside

of himself– his video games, his family, his dog, his homework– and so it does not seem that he

has deeply assessed his own self-identity yet. In an early childhood classroom, social emotional
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learning can be defined as “demonstrating responsibility for self and others, engaging in

cooperative play, sharing materials, and taking turns'' (Quesenberry, 2016). Nolan certainly

meets the standards in each of these categories, and has no apparent conflicts with his peers.

“Relationships with brothers and sisters affect relationships with peers, and routines from home

either are reinforced or must be overcome in school” (Slavin, 2021, pg. 56). In Nolan’s case the

proper manners he has been taught by his parents and the responsibility he has had to take on as

being an older brother has clearly translated well into his interactions with people outside of his

own household. Also, being raised in a household that expects Nolan to maintain a clean room

has caused him to be more conscientious of cleaning up after himself when using anything in the

classroom.

Philosophical Development

“Jean Piaget’s well-known theory of cognitive development suggests that prior to age 11

or 12, most children are not capable of philosophical thinking” (Pritchard, 2020). Whether that

theory is true or not, Nolan does not demonstrate a strong grasp on philosophical questions nor

has he initiated philosophical thought/conversation on his own. According to David Elkind,

Ph.D., “children ages 7 to 12 are still very grounded in the concrete, and are beginning to

develop a greater sense of spiritual identity based on personal experience and religious practice”

(Abel, 2017). It is only natural, then, that Nolan, who is raised in a non-religious household, does

not express thoughts in the philosophical and spiritual realm; these are both concepts that require

much abstract thinking, and are not likely to enter into the mind of a child who is not regularly

subjected to them. However, abstract thought does not only entail metaphysics and religion;

“abstraction can be defined temporally: abstract thoughts are those that relate to long term goals,
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or past or future events” (Dumontheil, 2014). In this sense, Nolan has expressed simple abstract,

philosophical thoughts regarding what he’d like to be when he grows up, memories from when

he was a baby, and anticipation for events upcoming in the distant future.

Social Development

It is apparent that Nolan is “[continuing to refine] a sense of self (fluid and constantly

changing)” (Virtual Lab School, n.d.). Especially when he is surrounded by other children

around his age, it becomes noticeable that he will mirror the speech and mannerisms of them.

This could be because “peer acceptance becomes more important to [a] child than in the early

school years” (Alli, 2017). “Piaget found that by age 6, children acknowledged the existence of

rules, though they were inconsistent in following them” (Slavin, 2021, pg. 50). Nolan certainly

has an understanding of rules and consequences, and is generally very obedient without any

resistance. But when no adults are present and he is surrounded only by children his age, he is

more prone to stepping over some of the manners and politeness that he has been taught.

Intellectual Development

“Eight years old is a time of great vocabulary growth for [a] child” (Cinelli, 2022).

However, with Nolan it appears that his spoken vocabulary has not significantly grown at this

age of his development. There are several factors that may be attributed to this lack of growth.

For one, “oral language development is heavily influenced by the amount and quality of the

talking parents do with their children” (Slavin, 2020, pg. 38). With much of his day spent at

elementary school and at other family members’ houses, and with his mother oftentimes being

away from home due to her full-time job, Nolan does not receive very much quality conversation
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from his parents. Also, “children who speak languages other than English in U.S. schools have

additional challenges” (Slavin, 2020, pg. 38). As mentioned in Nolan’s biography, Khmer is

frequently spoken in his household and with his extended family. With Khmer, Nolan

demonstrates an understanding of basic commands and phrases, but does not demonstrate the

ability to speak it himself.

“Literacy also develops rapidly in the elementary and middle grades” (Slavin, 2020, pg.

39). With his reading abilities, Nolan has demonstrated an increase in phonemic awareness,

phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency, especially from his first grade year to his

present third grade year. Whereas in the past he had pauses between words and needed to drag

his finger along the sentences as he read, he can now read passages smoothly and without

guidance. It is likely that much of Nolan’s improvement in reading proficiency can be attributed

to the reading applications assigned by his school that he uses on his iPad. He also has become

much better at writing, and his improved coordination has led to neater handwriting.

Of all the fundamental subjects, Nolan shows the strongest gravitation towards, and the

most natural ability in, mathematics. When asked to solve basic math problems, he becomes

rather excited and eager to produce the correct answers. The common core math standards for

third graders aim to “[develop] understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for

multiplication and division within 100; [develop] understanding of fractions, especially unit

fractions; [develop] understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and

[describe] and [analyze] two-dimensional shapes” (Common Core State Standards Initiative,

n.d.). Nolan has shown through various homework assignments that he has a good understanding

of fractions and two dimensional shapes, and has the ability to calculate the area of squares and

rectangles.
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Graphs

Physical Development - Using a CDC-certified chart for reference, Nolan’s stature and weight

are represented by the red dots. His stature marks him at approximately the 40th percentile, and

his weight marks him at approximately the 20th percentile.

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Emotional, Philosophical, Social, and Intellectual Development - Standards were judged

according to the following sources: Children’s Health Orange County, VeryWell Family,

WedMD, and the Common Core Standards Initiative.

Recommendations

In regards to Nolan’s physical development, he clearly demonstrates a strong affinity for

physical activity. “Physical activity guidelines for school-age kids recommend that they get at

least 1 hour of moderate to strong physical activity daily” (CHOC, 2021), and so I would

recommend that his parents prioritize enabling him to participate in that daily exercise, which I

recognize can be difficult when living in a difficult-to-navigate-through apartment complex. One

suggestion would be to make more use of the public pool at their complex. I would also advise

Nolan’s parents to create a bedtime routine for Nolan so that he could rest for at least ten hours

every night.
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In my estimation, Nolan is doing well in his emotional development, and the only

recommendation I would give to his parents is to continue encouraging his autonomous desires

without imposing strong expectations that could lead to shame or a lowered self-esteem if not

achieved.

Operating by Jean Piaget’s theory that philosophical thinking does not arise until the age

of eleven, I do not think it would be reasonable of me to suggest a need for improvement on

Nolan’s part.

Since Nolan is in such a malleable stage of his social development, I would highly

recommend that his parents put great care into the people– especially the ones within his same

age bracket– that they allow Nolan to spend time around. Since he is becoming increasingly

more autonomous and spends a significant amount of time at school and other family members’

houses, I think his parents should remain watchful of the speech, mannerisms, and habits that he

may be absorbing from others.

To address Nolan’s below average oral communication skills, I would recommend that

his parents– particularly his stay-at-home-parent, the father– emphasize valued conversation and

talking time with Nolan. This can take the form of asking Nolan about his day at the dinner table,

reading books with him, or simply being more inquisitive in order to set forth critical thinking in

Nolan’s mind. “A recent study focused on how screen time impacts language development in

children, finding that children who spent more time on a screen instead of talking suffered in

their language development” (Take Care Staff, 2019), and so I also would advise greater

screentime limitations for Nolan with his iPad. With less time being spent on his iPad, he would

be propelled to find other ways of entertainment. Ideally, these would include ways that require

more human interaction.

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APA Reference Page

Abel, K. (2020, January 23). Children’s Development of Spirituality. FamilyEducation. Retrieved

February 25, 2022, from

https://www.familyeducation.com/life/social-emotional-development/childrens-developm

ent-spirituality

Alli, R. A. (2017, May 15). Your Child at 8: Milestones. WebMD. Retrieved February 25, 2022,

from https://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/child-8-milestones

Bhavnagarwala, A. (2018, August 15). 8-Year-Old Child Developmental Milestones - What to

Expect. FirstCry Parenting. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from

https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/8-year-old-child-developmental-milestone-what-to-

expect/

CHOC - Children’s Health of Orange County. (2021, June 29). Growth & Development: 6 to 12

Years (School Age). Children’s Health Orange County. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from

https://www.choc.org/primary-care/ages-stages/6-to-12-years/

Cinelli, E. (2022, February 07). 8-Year-Old-Child Developmental Milestones. Verywell Family.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/8-year-old-developmental-milestones-620729
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Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Grade 3 » Introduction.

http://www.corestandards.org/. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/3/introduction/

Dumontheil I. (2014). Development of abstract thinking during childhood and adolescence: the

role of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 10, 57–76.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2014.07.009

Pritchard, Michael, "Philosophy for Children", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter

2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/children/

Quesenberry, A. C., Mustian, A. L., & Clark-Bischke, C. (2016). Tuning in: strategies for

incorporating technology into social skills instruction in preschool and kindergarten. Yc

Young Children, 71(1), 74–80.

Slavin, R. E. (2020). Educational Psychology (13th Edition). Pearson Education (US).

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780135752715

Staff, P. T. (2019, July 23). Physical Development in Children and Adolescents. Child

Development Institute. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from

https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/physical-development-in-children-a

nd-adolescents/#gs.qcpevf
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Take Care Staff. (2019, December 21). Technology's impact on childhood brain, language

development. WRVO.

https://www.wrvo.org/health/2019-12-21/technologys-impact-on-childhood-brain-langua

ge-development

Virtual Lab School. (n.d.). Social-Emotional Development: School-Age Children | Virtual Lab

School. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from

https://www.virtuallabschool.org/school-age/social-and-emotional-development/lesson-2