My Virtual Child, Peyton
Basically, this is all about my virtual child, Peyton. That's all I will be talking about in this...I know it's exciting!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Bonus Assignment
1. Are there any issues you had with your parents, your school work, your friends, or your romantic involvements in the last year of high school that continued to be issues for you in college?
First of all, don’t all teenagers have issues with their parents? I didn’t have a ton of issues with them as most kids did when I was in high school. My school work has always been pretty consistent with me staying on top of things and doing my homework when I was suppose to. My last year of high school is when I had my first real relationship and that continued into my first year of college, but it was no big thing. I really didn’t have too many issues in high school, I’m not saying that I was perfect, but I was very quiet and I only had one really good friend in high school. The only big issue that I had was I had a tough time having a good work ethic. I started working when I was 16 and let me just say I had terrible work ethics. My parents had to help me come to like to work and appreciate what I was working for. By the time I got into college, this wasn’t a problem anymore.

2. Reflect on your own personality, interests and cognitive abilities at the time you graduated high school. How did these personality characteristics and abilities manifest themselves in subsequent years? How have they changed since your high school days, if at all?
Oh my gosh, yes. I think I’m a totally different person than I was in high school. I had to get out of my little bubble. I had to take a speech class, which in high school was my absolute worst fear was having to talk in front of class. I talk to people, I use to never talk to people; I was extremely shy, but I work in a church office so my job doesn’t allow me to be shy. This in my opinion is not a bad thing. I have had to really grow up, I’ve had a lot of things happen in my family and in my life that have made me grow up very quickly and realize that the world does not revolve around me. For example, I am going to be moving away to Chico State in January; meanwhile my grandma has Alzheimer’s and I haven’t been getting the attention that I would like to have because I am moving away. I mean this is just one thing that I have had to go through and learn how to grow up and realize that the world really does not revolve around me. There are too many things that I have gone through to explain it all on here, but I can guarantee that I’m not the same person I was back in high school.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 11:21 AM 1 comment:
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
17 years - 18 years 1 month
1. As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier development?
Not to brag or anything, but the pathways that Peyton is on are great. Physically, Peyton wants to eat healthy and stay in shape. Socially, Peyton did stumble a couple of times with experimenting with sex, drugs, and alcohol, but each of these things only happened once. She also has good stable friends and has always been great with talking to people. Emotionally, she is doing well, I believe she is happy and enjoys life; she does have her ups and downs, but then again, who doesn’t. Her morals I think reflect my own morals and beliefs, we have a good relationship and she is able to talk to me about things whether she’s happy about it or upset or sad. Overall, I think Peyton is doing great and if she wants to move then I believe she’s ready.

2. Describe some specific ways in which you think your parenting mattered for your child’s development, based on evidence from the course regarding the contributions of parents to child development.
There are many different times I can think of that my parenting mattered in my child’s development. I think the most important thing I did was stayed consistent when disciplining her. There was one time when Peyton was around 14 years old and she noticed I was being inconsistent and she was using it against me. So I realized that staying consistent with her is very important. I rarely had a lot of trouble with her not listening to me. Also I believe that I helped her not be so shy. When she was an infant and toddler she was a little too attached to me so I realized I needed to socialize her a little bit more, so I put her in a daycare and she ended up making lots of friends. I encouraged her to bring over her friends, not only to have fun, but it was also a chance to meet her friends and their parents then I know what kind of friends she was making. There was another time when Peyton was 16 and she was experimenting with drugs or so I suspected, she smelled of marijuana one night and she told me she didn’t have any, but even though she said she didn’t have any there were signs that said otherwise. I grounded her for two weeks along with taking away driving privileges; I never had another problem with her experimenting with drugs again; however, when she was 17 she got drunk and called me up to come pick her up. I stayed consistent with her and grounded her and took away driving privileges along with giving her the trust talk and I never had to deal with that again.

3. Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be influenced by factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental events or the general influence of contemporary middle-class American culture.
There were several times that genes or environmental events have come into play. When Peyton was younger she was very shy and sometimes had a temper. When I was younger I was very shy, I believe she got that from me. My ex-husband had a temper when he was younger and when I was married to him, and I believe Peyton got her temper from him. However, I helped her overcome these genetic quirks. There was another time that my ex-husband and I were going through our separation and Peyton was acting out. She was talking back, arguing, not listening and very mad, but because Peyton and I have a good relationship we talked about it and she changed her attitude and actions. There weren’t too many occasions to where genes or random environmental events took play in Peyton’s life. I think I got very fortunate.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 4:52 PM 1 comment:
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
16 years - 16 years 11 months
1. Think about your teen’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses and how they are reflected in his or her school grades and activities from 14-16 years of age. What careers or courses of study might be best suited to your teen’s abilities and interests?
Peyton is very good at English, Science, and Math. English and Science have been her strengths for quite some time now and I think in the long run could come of good use. Some career options that I think she might find interesting is because she loves reading and writing so much maybe she could go into some kind of journalism type major. Because she loves science and has taken to a new liking of Physics I think that maybe she could become a doctor or a nurse or something in that nature. Those are the types of careers that I think Peyton would enjoy doing, but in the end it’s up to Peyton and what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

2. How important have your teen’s relationships with peers been to his/her social development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-16 years of age?
As far as her friends, it seems like she’s able to get out enough to where she’s not an introvert, she likes to go to parties, go camping, or taking trips and stuff like that. I think it’s been good for her to explore these new adventures and it has also helped her become more independent. She has had a couple of problems with a bully that wasn’t being nice to her and picking on her, but so far she has been handling that situation very well and it doesn’t seem to be bugging her all that much. She’s doing very well in school and I don’t think the relationships that she has made have had a bad impact on her when it comes to schooling. She seems to have a very stable emotional well-being and overall seems happy and positive.

3. How has your teen adjusted at 14-16 years of age to typical adolescent issues such as risk-taking, drugs, alcohol, and sexual interests, and how have you responded to your teen?
Unfortunately, I have to deal with all these issues with her. One night she came home and she smelled like marijuana and I asked her if she had any, but I could tell that she was lying and I grounded her for a week because she knows better than that. Another night she was at a party and ended up calling my partner to come and pick her up, but he called me and I went to pick up, again I grounded her and took away some driving privileges because as long as she is under my roof that kind of behavior will not be tolerated. She has also been dating someone for 2 months and has said that she’s in love and has been showing signs of either having sex or wanting to have sex. I dealt with this situation with informing her on what my beliefs are and that I trust that she will make the right decision and that I have taught her good morals and values.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 8:27 PM 2 comments:
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
14 years - 14 years 11 months
1. What activities and experiences at age 12 and 14 years has your teen been involved in that might promote healthy behavioral practices, physical fitness and skill in sports?
I think that it’s good that Peyton is hanging around her friends, for me personally I think that’s healthy for her. When she’s in a bad mood, I ask her if she wants to take a walk with me and usually she says yes and then ends up talking about whatever is bothering her the whole time we are walking. Not only is she getting exercise, but she’s also talking about her feelings and not bottling them up. At this point in her with just starting high school and everything she’s just getting use to everything so at this point she’s not really interested in sports. I think that might change soon though.

2. Have there been any changes in your teen’s behavior toward you or your partner? Why are these occurring and how are you responding?
It’s kind of been on and off type of a thing. She likes to talk to me when I don’t push her to talk. She likes to spend time with me and has told me that I am more supportive and approved of her than other parents are towards their kids. She also mentioned that I was more strict than the other parents; however, that wasn’t really a complain, at least I didn’t take it as that. Peyton does still have her ups and downs when it comes to moods, but that’s just when I give her space and then after some time has passed she usually comes to me to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her.

3. Do you see any examples of how cognitive and physical changes in early adolescence (ages 12-14) relate to your teen's social or emotional behavior?
The only changes I have seen lately is that she’s more moody. Because she is going through puberty and she is also in Middle School right now and there’s a huge change right there. Going from elementary school to Middle School, it’s scary and there is a lot to get use to. Peyton is staying pretty consistent with her behaviors since she was kid. There’s really nothing new to report on this part of her life right now.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 5:14 PM 3 comments:
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
12 years - 12 years 11 months
1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty.
Peyton has definitely started in on the mood swings and doesn’t want to be around me very much. In the summer after her 7th grade year she would get bored and then I would make suggestions; which of course she would turn down right away. However, as the weeks went on she would use my suggestions, but act like it was her idea to begin with. She definitely has those attitudes of being a smart-alec and talking back sometimes. I’m trying to handle this as best as I can, but I know that when she’s in her not-so-good moods I just let her spend time in her room and give her her space. I know that when I was her age I did the same thing and it was best for my parents just to leave me alone until I got over my bad mood.

2. How would you characterize your child at this point in terms of the under-controlled, over-controlled or resilient categories? Have there been any changes since the preschool period and why might they have occurred?
So far I would say that Peyton is still pretty resilient. Even though Peyton had a huge accident 2 years ago, and she has been doing very well with that. She’s made a huge effort to do everything that she needs to to get back on track and be back where she needs to be with school and everything. The definition of resilience is “the ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development.” I believe that’s exactly what Peyton had to do with her development. However, Peyton has always had this determination since she was in preschool and I knew that she would be able to overcome this threat to her development. Peyton use to be really bad with anything that had to do with music, now she’s in the average bracket in that area.

3. Using the 7th grade report card and your own observations, summarize your child’s academic skills at this point. What specific activities might promote some of these skills?
Peyton’s report card says that her reading, spelling, and writing skills are still very strong. She got an A in English, Spanish, Social Studies, and Art. She got a B in Math and in Science. The thing that probably has helped her get an A in English is that she absolutely loves to read and write; I think those are her strongest skills so that would definitely reflect her getting great grades in that area. To be honest though, I’m a little surprised that she didn’t do better in science. I put her in science camps and everything; maybe she’s just burnt out on that subject. Peyton is doing very well in school and I’m proud of her.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 5:13 PM 1 comment:
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
10 years - 10 years 11 months
1. Describe your child’s academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how well these skills are developing. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. What are you doing to help your child?
Since the age of 6 Peyton has been very interested in reading and writing and does very well in that area. Ever since she was little I made sure that I talked to Peyton about everything even when she was a baby; I wanted her to have a good vocabulary and be able to be sociable. I think because of that she is sociable and does very well with reading and talking to people. When she started school she learned and gained more interests in science, because of this interest I enrolled her in some science camps and I think that has been very beneficial to her. Peyton has always been good with math but she never excelled in it, but the report said that she’s at the appropriate grade level. Actually in my surprise Peyton is at grade level for music, I remember when she was in kindergarten she had no musical abilities at all, but I wanted to work with her on that so I enrolled her in some things that got her up to scale on this particular subject.

2. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?
I think that Peyton has two different behaviors when it comes to school and home. At home she cooperates really well and only needs a little discipline when it comes to cleaning up or if she just doesn’t want to do something. In her report card it said that she gets upset in stressful situations but it only lasts a short while. I don’t necessarily see that behavior in her around the house. The only emotional behavior that I’m seeing is the stress thing, I have a feeling that that behavior could be because my partner and I have had some problems and have been arguing a lot more, so that could have an effect on how she’s behaving. That’s the only thing that I can think of that could cause that behavior.

3. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood.
To be honest, I think I have stayed very consistent with how I parent. I try and stay that way to make sure she knows that she’s in a stable and sturdy environment. The only thing that I can think that I changed is that I’m a little tougher on her now than I was when she was in preschool. I believe that if you stay consistent then you’re kids won’t test you as much because they already know what you are going to do if they do a certain thing.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 4:20 PM 2 comments:
Thursday, October 16, 2008
8 years - 8 years 11 months
1. How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child’s verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist’s report at age 8 years, 11 months.
Actually, I’m really surprised in what I read about Peyton’s report back from the psychologist. According to the psychologist, Peyton scored either average or above average on all the different areas. I think she scored above average on vocabulary, comprehension, and similarities. A lot of the math subjects she scored average on; the copying of designs and spatial rotation was above average and the best news of all Peyton doesn’t have any of the typical signs that she has ADD or ADHD. Peyton is really smart when it comes to science and reading. She absolutely loves to read (I have no idea where she got that, because to be honest I hate reading). She can’t get enough of science, that’s why I signed her up for science camp so she can have more fun with it. She seems to grasp concepts really when it comes to math, and she even seems to enjoy it at times. When Peyton was younger she wasn’t very good with instruments or music or anything like; however, she is taking an interest in learning how to play something, we picked the violin. Peyton has very good communication skills and loves talking to people. Because she likes to read so much I think it has really helped her learn vocabulary and it has even helped with her communication. I don’t mean to brag about my kid, but she seems to be doing very well for her age.

2. Describe some examples of your child’s behavior of thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e.g., cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc.)?
Right now Peyton is very into playing sports at school with the other boys and when she comes home she likes to build things. At this age, I don’t think this is a bad thing; actually for me personally, I didn’t want Peyton to be a girly girl because I think it’s good for girls and boys to experience some things that the opposite sex does. I was more of a tomboy growing up, and I love playing sports and hanging out with my dad and older brother. I think my attitude towards this is pretty laid back and so it reflects that if Peyton wants to do something like play catch or play sports, more power to her. I think this will only make her stronger in the end. American attitudes toward this can be kind of 50/50 because some people are worried that if the girl is too masculine then they are going to turn out to be a lesbian or if boys are too feminine then they are going to be gay; I think there are certain limits that you have to draw a line at, like for boys they probably shouldn’t be dressing up in girls clothing, it’s not meant for them and I think it’s only confusing them, for girls it’s the same thing, they shouldn’t wear boys clothing for the same reason. I think this way of thinking all depends on the parents and where you ultimately grew up around. My parents had no choice about me being a tomboy, I was very stubborn and I hated everything that stood for being a girl, luckily I grew out of this and now I’m content with being a girl and I have even found some perks to being a girl.

3. How might your child’s development have been different if she was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures.
I think that there would be a ton of differences. Her memory might be better if she was living in a non-Western culture. According to Berk Australian and Guatemalan kids have a better memory than Americans do. They have to use more of their memory skills than we do because we use strategies and so they don’t learn other techniques like spatial location and arrangement of objects. Americans are so spoiled sometimes, that we don’t realize how easy we have it and sometimes take it for granite. I think that Peyton could have better memory skills if she lived in a different culture. I’m not going to complain or anything because Peyton is either average or above average on all the important skills that she’s learning.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 8:11 PM 3 comments:
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
6 years - 6 years 11 months
1. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?
Peyton is one of the most popular kids in her class, so I would have to say that she’s doing really well in the social aspect of things. Inside the home, she’s very sociable and loves to read and interact with both of us including her little sister. She has a little bit of emotional problems when it comes to getting frustrated. She gets mad for a little bit and then gets over it pretty quickly. She did have some troubles cheating in board games that we would play, but I didn’t tolerate that for very long. I think she has these problems because she sometimes feels neglected because we have to pay a little bit more attention to her little sister, so I think she wants our attention, plus she tends to mimic me; I can react like that sometimes. I make sure that I take care of what’s she’s doing and make sure she knows that it’s not ok to do that.

2. Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4? Give specific examples. Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do?
Her cognitive and language skills are above average I would have to say. She can hold conversations with adults very well and uses big words that you wouldn’t expect her to know what they mean. The only special need I think she needs is that she needs higher reading level books. She loves to read and learn about new things; however, she doesn’t like to do a lot of musical things.

3. Which aspects of your child’s behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior (e.g., at ages 3-4 years) and which seem to be novel for this age level?
The only thing that I notice that has stayed consistent since she was younger was she has always had some type of a temper and she hasn’t gotten over that. For the most part, she’s always been musically challenged and has never been interested in it. The same thing goes for playing sports; she’s never shown any real interest in sports or playing catch, that hasn’t really changed. So far it seems like she has changed all of her other things, she use to be really clingy now she’s independent and on her own. She use to be behind in talking and reading, she has way over passed that and has become above average in those areas. I’m really surprised on how much she has come since just 3 years or 4 years old.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 4:56 PM 1 comment:
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
4 years - 4 years 10 months
1. How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences?
My parenting style is staying consistent with her. I try and choose to do things that match the stage that she’s in. I realized that her moods, needs, and actions vary with every stage that she’s going through. I’m not very easy on her, I believe that if you’re easy on a child, especially at the age, then they will try and test you and see how far they will be able to test their limits with you. I have never liked it when parents would caudal their children when they would make a big fuss about something or if they were really attached to the parent and crying. I think that if you explain to them that you will be coming back in a couple of hours and if they behave during that time then you can go and do something fun like to go to park. I think at that particular age it’s a good learning tool to have a reward or doing something fun like going to the park. I don’t really want to spoil my kid with toys, candy, or electronics or anything like that. I want to raise my kids to play outside whenever they have a chance and to play with cardboard boxes and make the best out of things. My parenting styles really reflect how my parents parented my brother and me. Not to be conceded or anything, but for the most part my brother and I have turned out pretty good. We are willing to change when we need to, we both are hard working, neither one of us is very spoiled, we are both responsible, and we have always had good morals and values. The only real reason my brother and I got in trouble was because we were goofing around. I really take after how my parents raised my brother and me.

2. Describe two specific examples of changes in your child’s behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e.g., improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind).
I would have to say that the biggest change I have seen in Peyton is that she is able to socialize with people and I’m able to let her go on her own. She’s much more independent and likes making friends. In the beginning she was very shy and didn’t want to go to anyone but me or my partner. She’s very comfortable in her preschool that she is attending right now; she’s made a couple of friends and is able to talk really well for her age. Speaking of which that’s another thing that she has really approved with; she has really built up her vocabulary and is even above average on her speaking skills. Before she didn’t even want to really speak and she was below average. It’s amazing how much she has changed in just 4 short years.

3. How would you characterize your child’s personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument.
Peyton is actually laid back for the most part. When I had my second child she responded really well to that, with the occasional feeling ignored and acting out once in a while, but other than that has been adjusting to it very well. She cooperates very well with us when we discipline her or tell her not to do something. She responds very well to others and does really well in preschool and does really well with direction. She’s very independent and likes to learn on her own, I think that’s how she learns best. I guess I would say that Peyton is resilient because she can bounce back really quickly if she’s get out of alignment for a second. For example, when she started getting jealous of the new baby and having little tantrums to get some attention, but my partner and I decided that we would try and spend more time with her and include her in taking care of the baby she went back to acting like her old self when the baby first arrived. It’s very nice to have that in a kid.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 9:12 PM 3 comments:
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
3 years old - 3 years 10 months
1. What activities and experiences that you and your child engage in might be promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest in physical activity?
I make sure that I play and interact with Peyton as much as possible. When she is trying to solve a problem and gets frustrated, I sit down and ask her questions that could help her figure it out on her own on how to solve it. With her last evaluation and all her other ones she has been below average on her motor skills. She needs to be kicking a ball around or playing catch; I need to change that with how I interact with her on that and make sure she gets out more. I try and make all of her experiences rewarding and educational in some way. She seems to learn a lot when I have her do things that I know will help her develop in other areas, but she doesn’t know it; she just enjoys doing it.

2. Describe development of your child’s language and cognitive skills and discuss how these might be affecting his or her interactions with you & your responses.
Peyton is doing extremely well in this particular area because I make sure she gets out and that we do things that interest her and makes her want to learn. She knows how to have a conversation with someone, well for a three year old. She likes to talk and I make sure I ask her lots of questions and always having her explain things to me so then she can build up her vocabulary. It can be somewhat frustrating because now she understanding things better and asks questions that I’m not sure exactly what to tell her or how to answer her. I love talking with her and asking her about everything that she sees and experiences and I think it really helps her develop her cognitive skills.

3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?
Fortunately, Peyton has grown out of her “shy” stage and is now able to interact with kids at her preschool. She can sometimes become the leader of activities that she plays with other kids, but so far that hasn’t become a problem. According to my friend that evaluated Peyton she has a likable personality. She used to have more emotional problems when I would leave her at daycare and now she loves going to preschool and I haven’t had any problems for a while. The way that I took care of that problem is I would explain where I had to go and that I would back in a little bit to pick her up and take her home. I wouldn’t caudal her too much when she would cry so I think that really help her understand where I was. At the moment, I’m not having too many problems with her. She’s being really good lately. According to my friend that evaluated Peyton, also gave me a questionnaire about how I’m well I’m disciplining her and how well I’m helping her develop and on both of those I got that I’m doing about average, so I’m thinking I’m doing something right.
Posted by Brittany Hull at 7:21 PM 1 comment:
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My virtual child part1 final
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My virtual child part1 final Document Transcript * Contents Page no.Question 5. a ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2Question 5. b ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4Question 5. c ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8Virtual Child Report ……………………………………………………………………………………… 9Feedback …………………………………………………………………………… …………… 18Rubric Grading Guide (Self Evaluation) 1 * My Virtual Child: Part 1Q. 5.a. How does your child compare to the typical patterns of development at the followingages (0-4 months, 4-8 months, 9-12 months, and 12-24 months)?Ans. The infant’s years (0-4) monthsFaeza was born pre-mature and she had juvenile jaundice. She underwent neonatal care to treatthe jaundice and to make her able to regulate her body temperature. After five days, Faeza’sApgar score rose from a six to an eight. We know an Apgar score of seven or more indicates ababy in good physical condition (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p 105). Moreover, jaundice in a newborn baby is normal and in most cases, juvenile jaundice disappears after a few days(http://www.californiawebsites.com/neo/). Faeza sleeps virtually all of the time. When she isawake, she calmly examines objects, which indicates her intellectual development is quitenormal; she also gazes quietly at people indicating her social and emotional development (Agesand Stages - Newborn to One Year) . At three months of age, my baby’s physical and intellectualdevelopment is around the norm; her social and emotional development is also above normbecause she cries to signal different states (Kail, R. & Zolner, T. 2009, p 101).4-8 monthsIntellectual development: Upon completion of the object permanence test at her eight monthsof age, it is found that Faeza likes hiding games and is normally able to find hidden objects.However, when the hiding spot changes, her first target is to look in the original spot and whenunable to find it, she gives it up. According to “Cognition Infants and Toddlers” by Robert V. Kailand Theresa Zolner, my baby is around the norm. Also, According to the norms set in thechapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A BriefOverview Birth to 12 Years, Faeza’s intellectual development is up to the norm because sheenjoys throwing objects out of her crib. Her langue development is normal because she soundslike consonant and vowel.Social and emotional development: In accordance with the norms set in the chapter “Ages &Stages – Newborn to One Year” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12Years, Faeza’s social and emotional development is around the norm because she spends agreat deal of time watching and observing, responds differently to strangers and familymembers, responds to distress of others by showing cry, and shows mild to severe anxiety at theseparation from parent. 2 * Physical development: According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year” in thebook titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, children should be able to crawlwell, pull up to stand, and manipulate objects. Faeza is way above the norm in both gross motorand fine motor since she enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects. It seemsthat Faeza is above typical and she is meeting her developmental milestones.9-12 monthsIntellectual development: When the object permanence test was redone at 12 months, she isable to find the objects in the non-common hiding spot. In the chapter “Cognition in Infants andToddlers” of the book titled Children (Kail R. & Zolner, T., p162), it states that “At about 12months, rather than accepting that the object has disappeared, infants will look for a missingobject in several different locations.” Faeza’s activities indicate that she is above the norm sinceshe finds the object instantly. In language development, she pronounced her first clear wordand pointed at object in question. According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to OneYear” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, infants usually saytheir first word at 12 months of age. Therefore, Faeza is in the term of language development.Social and emotional development: Faeza is cautious about new people and situation; she wantsparents to be in constant sight. She has fairly mild to positive reaction to most the situation andpeople. According to http://www.child-development-guide.com/child-development-12-months.html, in a loving environment my child will easily bond with me and a close bondprovides a foundation for future relationships. She is lovely towards familiar people and feelsshy with stranger. This indicates that she is above the norm.Physical development: In accordance with the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year”in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, in terms of physicaldevelopment, my child is a advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling andpulling up to stand and manipulating objects. Faeza is age-appropriate in terms of fine motorand gross motor skills.12-24 monthsIntellectual development: According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Two-Year Olds” in the booktitled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, my child is above average becauseshe knows how to solve problem more than two steps, and to group objects together incategories. In terms of language, her score is above average range on tests of language,comprehension and production, and she provides unusually complete and grammaticallymature sentences in a conversation the examiner and she have about a picture. 3 * Emotional and social behavior: In the chapter “Social Behavior and Personality in Infants andToddlers” In the book titled Children (Kail R. & Zolner, T., p208) it is said that children beginreferring to themselves as “I” OR ‘me” between the ages of 18 and 24 months. According to this,Faeza is at the norm because she frequently calls herself “me”.Physical development: In terms of physical development, my child is above the norm, especiallywhen it comes to gross and fine motor skills. This is because at two years old (24 month), she isable to do balancing and skipping and also enjoys that. In accordance with the chapter “Ages &Stages – Two-Year Olds” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years,the average child does balancing and skipping at age of 3 years.It seems that Faeza’s birth was quite typical and that she is meeting his developmentmilestones.Q. 5. b. What health or safety concerns might you have for the following ages (0-1 year) and (1-2years)?Ans. Specific health and safety consideration that I will have to consider with Faeza during thefirst year of age are: 1) SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p107): Babies are more vulnerable to SIDS, if they are born pre-maturely or with low birth weight. Faeza was born as a premature baby with low birth weight. I always remove pillow and soft blanket from her crib, because those can cover her crib and face that may cause choking or breathing hazards. 2) Breast feeding. “Breast feeding is the best way to ensure that babies get the nourishment they need. Breastfed babies also are ill-less often because breast milk contains the mother’s antibodies.” (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p107). I would like to prefer to give Faeza breast feeding because it is healthier. When I give her breast feeding I would take precaution about some important things, such as cleanliness. 3) Immunization: I would like Faeza to stay healthy and keep away from infections. Currently, there are 12 serious infections /communicable diseases that can be prevented through routine immunization, which can be started in infancy. (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p123) 4) The Common cold: The health issue that I have to greatly consider during the infancy year is the common cold. Some ways I could address the common cold issues and try to prevent them by modeling and encouraging my baby to cover her mouth when coughing and sneezing, and discard used tissues. I could also address the issue of the common cold by keeping her away from sick people. ((Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p172) 4 * 5) Introducing new foods: Another specific health consideration I will have to consider is her digestive upsets. According to a doctor’s advice (refer to http://myvirtualchild.com/), I could address this issue by checking out new food items for a few days, which will test for allergies.During 1 to 2 years:1) Indoor safety consideration: Since Faeza is advanced in her gross motor skills and enjoy crawling, pulling up to stand. Some safety considerations I will have to consider are to ensure child- proofing some areas of the home, specially the edges of the tables. This will be because in case she falls back while pulling up, she will not hurt herself. Also, I could place padding under the areas of where she usually pulls herself up, and place items that consider for her to hold. (Ages and Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years).2) Outdoor safety consideration: When Faeza become 18 month old, she started to walk off into a crowd at public places. To ensure safety, I am holding her hand, so that she will not get the opportunity to walk away. Faeza often likes to go to park, and wants to ride many toys. I encourage her always to wear helmet and supervise her activity. (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p363)3) Motor vehicle collision: Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of injury-related death of children in Canada. (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p362). Now Faeza and her father have fun in expensive activities like going to zoo. We take precaution about traffic law and always maintained safety and use car-seat.4) Gastrointestinal infections: Diarrhea: Effective hand washing, strict diapering and toileting routines and food safety every day are the important preventive measures against spread of gastrointestinal infection (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p173). Now Faeza needs to learn toileting routines and I will provide her with toileting routines gently and effectively.5) Burns: Childs are not mini-adults. Their skin is thinner and softer than skin of adults. Toddlers are susceptible to scald from hot tap water, and drinking soups or hot beverages as they cannot realize the danger of hot liquids and other burns hazards. (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p369). So I am very alert about this. 5 * Q.5.c. Think ahead to what might happen to your virtual child in the preschool and school-ageyears, why do you think these things might happen?Ans. “Children in centers can get as many as 8 to 10 colds a year” (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D.,2010, p173). When my child was infant and toddler, she did not encounter many healthconcerns except for the seasonal cold and digestive upsets at eight month and nine month. Myprediction for preschool and school age is that she will not develop a food allergy. Also, I predictthat since the cold and digestive upset have decreased over the months that they may returnduring the growth progress. Due to the greater exposure to other children in child care centre,Faeza generally has positive reactions to new foods and tolerates changes in routines.When it comes to potty training, I predict Faeza will be fully potty-trained by preschool age, withno more accidents occurring at the child care centre. Because at 18 months, Faeza seems nowto have a goal of becoming potty trained, makes it to the potty about 60% of the time.During 0-3 months, Faeza’s gross motor and fine motor skills are around the norm. Her Apgarscore range is from a six to an eight. During the infant period, my child is advanced in her grossand fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects. Intoddlers period, my child was age- appropriate on tasks, such as building a block, model towerand other special fine motor skills, such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solvingpuzzles. She was advanced in her gross motor skill. My prediction for the upcoming years is thatshe will continue to grow and use her gross motor skills to be above the norm in running,climbing and jumping. In regards to fine motor, my prediction is that she will be able to nicelycomplete the building replicated block tower without any help, to color within the lines, andcopy shapes, and create a new picture. While her fine motor skills continue to improve duringthe school year ages, I predict my child will be able to tie up her laces and cut with scissors.According to Dynamic theory, motor development improves many distinct skills, organized orunorganized, over time to meet demands of specific tasks. For example, walking requiresmaintaining balance (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., p134).For cognitive/ intellectual development, I predict my child will be more experimental in herenvironment with objects in her surroundings. Also, I predict she will do excellent in hands-onlearning activities (e.g. at the children’s science museum). I predict it because when she wastoddler, she was about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and groupingobjects together in categories. I predict my child will do very well in math at her preschool andschool age. According to Piagetian Theory, children’s knowledge about the world alwaysinvolves some kind of experience with world, which helps a child to develop more knowledgeand then move through a process of maturation to a higher level of cognitive development (Kail,R. & Zolner, T., p158). 6 * In language development, I predict that Faeza will grow and be able to speak at the abovenormal range of preschool child. Because of during toddler period, Faeza’s language score wasabove average in all aspects of language development; she could follow typical story lines. Theexaminer also noted that her memory was pretty good. I predict my child will handle herpreschool and school age very efficiently. “Language is primarily an intellectual tool forreferential children and primarily a social tool expressive children” (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., p182).In social and emotional development my predictions for preschool and school age is that she willbe less clingy to her mother over the period of when she is in childcare. Also, I think Faeza willbe learning the routines pretty well and she will reasonably cooperative for age at both homeand preschool. She will be less aggressive to adults and others. For emotional aspect, I predictthat she will be much less shy with photograph and mirror- looking, feeling less guilty inaccidental doings, and finally become aware of herself and will build positive self-esteem.I predict that Faeza will be quite interested in her surroundings like music, movies, people, etc.from preschool to school ages. I think she will remember the most memorable and “catchy”parts of her surroundings and will try to repeat over and over again in order to get some kind ofunderstanding of it. 7 * Bibliography:http://www.myvirtualchild.com/raise.htmlhttp://www.child-development-guide.com/child-development-12-months.htmlhttp://www.californiawebsites.com/neo/Robert V. Kail, and Theresa Zolner. Children A Chronological Approach. Toronto:Pearson, 2009.Print.Pimento, Barbara, and Deborah kernested. Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood Settings.USA: Nelson, 2009. Print.“ Ages and Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years” 8 * Virtual child report:When Faeza was 0 months old...Faeza was born about four weeks premature, and a little underweight (four and a half pounds). She seemedhealthy otherwise. A few days of neonatal care were needed to deal with jaundice, and to make sure Faezawas able to regulate her body temperature. After five days, her Apgar score had come up from a six to aneight. You were able to bring Faeza home. The doctors said Faeza should be fine, but they scheduledfollow up visits to check on her growth and responses to the environment. You notice that Faeza getshungry more often than the prenatal pamphlets said (every one to two hours), and has a particularlypiercing cry. You and your partner are coping with it well, but sometimes your nerves are jangled from lackof sleep, and you feel somewhat annoyed with Faeza. Most of the time, though, you are having a good timetaking care of her.You processed this event on: Friday, October 21, 2011 at 23:54:36After only a week with Faeza, you can already feel a hormonal connection. When Faeza cries,you begin to lactate! This will increase if you choose to breast feed, but it will die off gradually ifyou do not.You want Faeza to be active and curious about her environment, so youFaeza sleeps virtually all of the time, only waking when hungry, cold, or wet. She usually driftsback to sleep toward the end of the feeding.After 3 weeks, Faeza is still somewhat lethargic, doesnt want to eat very much, and she stillhasnt gained much weight. You have been to the pediatrician who says it is nothing serious.What kind of diapers will you use? The cloth diapers are more environmentally sound, but a lotmore work than the disposable diapers. And those diaper safety pins are hard to work on asquirming baby!Will you breast feed Faeza?You are starting to notice that Faezas crying is rhythmic and moderately loud when she ishungry, wet, or cold. If she is startled, there is a sudden intake of breath and a loud wail, followedby more deep breaths and loud wails.When Faeza was 3 months old...Faeza is generally calm, in a good mood, and is easy to soothe when upset.You processed this event on: Thursday, November 03, 2011 at 10:03:27The lack of sleep during the work-week has been getting on everyones nerves, and recently youand your partner had some uncustomary arguments. You try getting to bed earlier on weeknightsand sleeping in more on weekends.Faeza is often drowsy, and even when awake spends a lot of time calmly examining objects orgazing quietly at people. What will you do? 9 * Faeza is able to focus her eyes on you. She spends a lot of time studying your face and the facesof anyone who comes close to her.As a family with two working parents, what type of daycare will you choose?At 3 months of age, Faeza is showing more intense interest in her surroundings. Faeza smiles atfamiliar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things (such as a little dog), and isdeveloping lots of cute little habits.You love to hear Faeza make those little "ooo" sounds.As you return to work, how will you feed Faeza?Faeza is getting more curious about the world around her.You notice that Faeza can learn a thing or two so you start working on her baby IQ!Faeza cries often after meals and frequently has diarrhea. What will you do?When Faeza was 8 months old...You try the object permanence test. Faeza is able to find a hidden object, as long as you dont wait too longor distract her in the middle of the search. Faeza really likes this hiding game and shows by her interest thatshe wants it repeated. However, if you hide the object in the same place repeatedly, and then change thehiding place, Faeza has a strong tendency to look in the old hiding place, and then get confused aboutwhere the object is, or forget about it. This curious error was first discovered by Piaget, but researchershave some new explanations for the error.You want Faeza to establish a regular bed-time and sleep through the night. You think shesalmost there.Faeza is sometimes a little reluctant to part from you at daycare and starts crying. She usuallygets over it quickly after you leave.At this point, Faeza is less physically active than other babies you know.You are feeling more pressure at work lately. You have been feeling irritable, not sleeping well,and feeling somewhat depressed lately. Sometimes you are just not in the mood for Faeza, andher crying jangles your nerves. Sometimes you feel like you have to get away for awhile.Faeza is making some different sounds now, and you encourage language and communicationby responding to them. What kinds of sounds do you think they would be?Lately Faeza has had frequent problems with indigestion and diarrhea, and seems prone tocatching colds. Naturally, Faeza doesnt have much of an appetite, and cries a lot during theseillnesses.Faeza is showing some fearfulness around unfamiliar people and clings to whoever is holdingher. What is your typical response?It has become clear that Faeza shows a preference for you over others (especially whendistressed), with your partner a close second. How will your partner become a strongerattachment figure for Faeza? 10 * Faeza sometimes cries when you put her to bed at night even though she is obviously sleepy.You are usually exhausted and have to get up early the next day. How do you typically handle thesituation?You notice that Faeza seems to have little goals that involve two steps of planning ahead, so youencourage these cognitive advances by:As Faeza turns 9 months, the pediatrician has the following to say after a routine physical exam,a few items administered from the Bayley Scales of Infant Intelligence, and some observations ofFaeza in the playroom:Faeza has been ill several times this season from colds or digestive upset. The doctor adviseskeeping her away from sick people, and checking out a new food for a few days to test forallergies.Faeza is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly peopleand to new and interesting activities and then begins to vocalize a lot and make eye contact.Faeza had fairly mild to positive reactions to most of the situations and people in thepediatricians office and the playroom. She cried when given the vaccination, but calmed downrather quickly. The only problem came with a brief separation from you, but that would beexpected.Faeza is advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand andmanipulating objects.How does your babys eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typicaldevelopmental patterns?When Faeza was 12 months old...Virtual Child uses five dimensions of temperament to describe the childs behavior in the first 30 months.These dimensions are random at birth, are influenced by your questionnaire responses, and changegradually over time in response to events and parenting decisions. The five dimensions are activity,sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control. There is behavior geneticand longitudinal evidence for varying numbers of temperamental traits and the five traits used in theprogram are on a lot of lists. Studies also show that temperament changes in response to strongenvironmental pressures.ACTIVITY refers to the physical and mental energy level of the child. Highly active children maysleep less, be more restless, and engage in more physical activity. Less active children maysleep more, enjoy quiet pastimes, and show less interest in vigorous physical activity.SOCIABILITY refers to the childs friendliness and desire for social interaction. Highly sociablechildren are sometimes given the label "extroverted" and less sociable children the label"introverted."EMOTIONALITY refers to the intensity of emotion experienced by the child. Highly emotionalchildren may show more of everything (anger, joy, sadness) and more fluctuation in moods. Lessemotional children may show less extreme emotions and less fluctuation over periods of time.AGGRESSIVENESS VS. COOPERATIVENESS refers to the tendency of the child to beaggressive in social situations with the parent, day-care provider or other children. Highlyaggressive children may be quite resistant to parental demands and throw tantrums or even lash 11 * out at the parent or other children. Less aggressive children tend to be more cooperative, or towhine and fuss rather than actively resist the parent. Research indicates that boys are somewhatmore aggressive than girls, but there is a great deal of overlap between the sexes, and this isreflected in Virtual Child.SELF CONTROL refers to the childs ability to control his or her behavior, delay gratification, planout a course of action, or inhibit responses to a typical situations. This is not exactly the samething as aggressiveness or emotionality. For example, a child with low self control might take acookie when asked to wait, not out of a spirit of lack of cooperation, but just due to low impulsecontrol. Children who are extreme on this dimension may fit typical criteria for attention deficitdisorder with hyperactivity. The Virtual Child has a 5% chance of having moderate to severehyperactivity and a 5% chance of having mild hyperactivity.GOODNESS OF FIT is a concept that is closely related to temperament. It refers to the tendencyof the parent to adapt his/her behavior to the childs temperament. For example, suppose youhave a very active child, and you are trying to promote exploration and learning. Rather than"going against the grain" and attempting to quiet the child down to look at a book about bugs, youmight appeal to the childs active nature and choose to go on a walk and talk about the bugs yousee. Goodness of fit also applies to developmental level. For example, at 6-8 months most infantsare at least somewhat anxious around strangers, so you would want to introduce the child to anew person gradually rather than thrusting the child into the persons arms. Parents desiring tochange their childs temperament, or help their child develop a particular skill, can benefit fromthe principle of goodness of fit, and the related concept of moderate novelty. Parents desiring toencourage growth in their child should introduce moderately novel activities and experiences,because children are more likely to pay attention to and profit from such experiences.You processed this event on: Thursday, November 03, 2011 at 23:48:39Faeza enjoys throwing every toy out of her crib and watching what happens. Faeza seems toexpect you to keep putting them back!A college friend of yours who speaks Mandarin visited and named a few things around the place.Faeza tried to imitate the words but her attempts sounded more like English than Chinese.Faeza still has occasional problems with indigestion, but is tolerating most baby foods as well asseveral bland foods chosen from those that you eat.Faezas first birthday is coming in a few days! You invite all the relatives over and throw a bigparty.Faeza is constantly trying to expand her motor skills so you:At nine months old, Faeza began to understand a few words and point to something she wanted.At twelve months old, Faeza now clearly understands a couple of dozen words. In fact, Faeza justrecently pronounced her first clear word and pointed at the object in question.... Faeza seems tobe as comfortable with Melody as an attachment figure as you and your partner. You are pleasedto have a built-in babysitter. Moreover, Melody is willing to do light housework for the opportunityto live with you while she goes to school.Faeza is able to imitate new words and actions now, so you focus on:You try the object permanence test again. This time, Faeza is able to find the object even afterlong delays and seems to think this is a great game! You set up two hiding places for the objectand hide it under one of the two covers repeatedly. When you switch it to the second hiding 12 * place, she no longer has the problem you saw earlier of searching at the more common of thetwo hiding places. You cant even trick her by hiding it in your hand. Faeza likes this game andwants to play it over and over.When strangers come to visit, they think Faeza is really cute so they want to hold Faeza. Faezausually starts crying if the person tries to get too close. However, after meeting a person two orthree times, you notice that Faeza is staring at the person and manages a shy smile. Typicallyyou:Your partner has received an advancement and a pay raise. The three of you celebrate, andFaeza is very happy, but doesnt have a clue what the party is about.Faeza generally has positive reactions to new foods and tolerates changes in routines. She istypically in a happy or at least neutral mood, making it hard sometimes to figure out if she ishungry, tired, wet, etc. You:Faeza and you seem to be getting more and more in sync. Faeza is happier and more willing totry new things when you are around. You:Faeza learned to walk early (9 months), and even knows how to climb. She is constantly intoeverything! When she does something dangerous, such as running into the street or climbingonto the back of the couch, you:When Faeza was 15 months old...Faeza just turned 15 months of age, and you notice she often studies things in her environment andperforms simple little "experiments" with them, almost like a little scientist. For example, she builds a littlemound of dirt and then studies the effects of pouring water on it.You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 00:35:17When Faeza was 18 months old...One of your favorite cousins, a cheerful and energetic 18 year old named Melody, is staying with you whileshe works to save money for college. She is sleeping in a bed that you have set up in Faezas room, and thetwo are becoming fast friends. She is willing to babysit for you, so both you and your partner have felt lessstressed. You have more time for yourself, your partner, and Faeza.You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 00:37:34Faeza likes to play make believe with cups, dolls, and toy telephones. She sometimes talks toherself or makes the dolls and toy figurines talk to each other.Faeza is sometimes interested in dancing or singing along with music and sometimes doesntseem to notice or care. You teach her some simple preschool songs and try to encourage her torespond to music.Faeza tends to be slow to warm up to new people, but is outgoing and friendly with familiarpeople. 13 * You are showing Faeza how to take care of the growing number of plants you have on the sunnybalcony of your apartment. Fortunately the balcony is child-safe, and there is no danger of Faezafalling.Faeza sometimes takes on problems that are too difficult for her age level. She sometimes getsfrustrated and gives up. When you see this happening, you:Faeza has a tremendous drive to use her motor skills. You have to keep an eye on Faezabecause she will quickly toddle off into the crowd at public places or even into the street!Faeza sometimes likes to explore the different ways that toys and blocks can be stacked ormanipulated, and sometimes just stacks them the same way over and over again.Faeza has shown some interesting new behavior. She acts shy when looking in the mirror, usesthe word "me" a lot, and wants to do things herself. You think the new behavior is a sign of selfawareness, and you have to decide what the balance will be between allowing Faeza to beindependent and teaching her to follow your rules.Faeza has recently become resistant sometimes to your requests for cooperation. For example,she says "no," or refuses things that she accepted before such as food or bath time.Faeza is usually calm and cheerful and seems to tolerate minor problems (hunger, fatigue,stress) easily.Faeza is in a group day-care setting now. She settled in nicely, but in the past couple of weeksshe has been hesitant to part with either you or your partner at daycare. She greets her maincaregiver enthusiastically, but when you try to leave Faeza wants to leave with you. The caregiverkeeps assuring you that Faeza calms down after you leave. What should you do?You notice that Faeza is less clingy lately, and often wants to be put down to explore rather thanto be held. Her favorite places to venture out are the park and the store.Faeza sometimes prefers quiet activities in her room, and sometimes likes more active games orsports.You know that by age two and a half Faeza needs to be toilet trained for daycare/preschool. Youbuy a potty chair, training pants, and a little storybook about a child learning to use the potty.Faezas language skills are developing rapidly, and she wants to talk to you almost all of the time.Faeza seems to know an unusual number of names for things. Sometimes you hear her talking toherself as she plays alone in her room.When Faeza was 19 months old...Faeza is able to imitate actions or words that she has seen or heard days before. This greatly expands herability to learn new things. Faeza also seems to be aware of basic categories, such as big or little, and blueor red. You can tell because of the way she is sorting her toys.You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 01:03:24The preschool that you are considering for Faeza offers low-priced developmental assessments.Faeza is able to enroll when she becomes reasonably well potty-trained. She is 19 months oldnow. Just to find out how Faezas development compares to other children of her age at this 14 * point, you have an assessment done. The early childhood specialist observes Faeza in free playwith other kids and does a little testing of cognitive skills. She reports the following:Faeza was not very aggressive with the other kids, unless one of them tried to grab a toy from herand then she resisted. The examiner recommended that Faeza continue to go to toddler playgroups/daycare to develop her skill in interacting with other children. At home, her general advicefor the toddler negativism that was bound to happen at this age was to use clear and simpleexplanations for rules, warnings and time outs for misbehavior, and encouragements to "use yourwords" if Faeza wanted something.The specialist thought that Faeza was securely attached, but that the communication systembetween parent and child could be improved. She recommended that both parents try to readFaezas reactions more carefully and work on interpersonal communication.The specialist thought that Faeza was slow to warm up to new situations with adults, but that ifyou gave her time, she usually came around.Faeza was cheerful throughout the play sessions and the examination session and rarely becametense or emotional during the period of observation.Faeza scored above average in all aspects of language development, and is ready to be readaloud to more frequently, as she can follow typical story lines. The examiner also noted that hermemory was pretty good and recommended that you frequently ask Faeza to recountexperiences as a way of encouraging more language growth.Describe and give examples of changes in your childs exploratory or problem solving behaviorfrom 8 through 18 months and categorize them according to Piagetian and informationprocessing theories. Note that 8 months is included, so youll need to use the time-line to lookback at 8 months for examplesWhen Faeza was 2 years old...The economy is in a down-turn, and unfortunately your partner has been laid off. There is no immediateprospect of a re-hire. Your Partner decides to go back to school for more advanced training. The familyfinances are taking a real hit and you have had to move into a two-bedroom apartment in a poorer sectionof town. You have taken on a bigger work-load to make up for the financial problems and you both arefeeling stressed out.You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 01:07:37Faeza seems now to have a goal of becoming potty trained and makes it to the potty about 60%of the time. A couple of other parents you know were bragging that their 2 year old was alreadypotty-trained.A side benefit of your partners layoff and enrollment in advanced schooling is that your partnerhas more time to hang out with Faeza. Money is tight, but your partner and Faeza have fun ininexpensive activities like going to the zoo, the petting farm, the childrens museums and thepark.You want Faeza to put on a jacket before going outside to play since the weather is cold. Shesays "NO!" and proceeds to throw a temper tantrum. How do you deal with this behavior? 15 * Cousin Melody continues to live with you and has become one of Faezas best buddies. Melodyplays the guitar and is teaching Faeza to sing along. Faeza seems to be as comfortable withMelody as an attachment figure as you and your partner. You are pleased to have a built-inbabysitter. Moreover, Melody is willing to do light housework for the opportunity to live with youwhile she goes to school.Faezas communication skills are growing by leaps and bounds. She is speaking mostly in threeto four word sentences and her vocabulary is expanding greatly because of her intense desire tolearn new words.You notice that Faeza has some new emotions over the past few months. Some things you havenoticed are shy smiles when asked to be in photographs, looking guilty when she breakssomething, and embarrassment when she has a potty accident. You realize these new emotionsare related to her developing self awareness.Faezas health has improved recently, but she had a couple of colds in the past few months.Since Faeza is two, and the daycare group is only for infants, she has to make a change indaycare. You choose a day care center close to your home. Faeza is initially excited about themove, but within a week is clinging and crying more often and has difficulty cooperating with thedaycare provider.Faeza recently has become good at solving problems that she plans out in her head, such ashow to get toys or other objects that are hidden or out of reach.Faeza is getting much better lately at playing hide and seek and at searching for things aroundthe house. You play lots of hide and seek games. Amusingly, when you find a good spot to hideyourself, Faeza uses that for herself the very next turn!Faeza has a close relationship with you and your partner, and in new situations seems to need tocheck back with you regularly.Faeza was having problems a few weeks ago with the transition from infant care to the toddlercare group but now seems to be adapting pretty well to the toddler group. One of the issues wasmaking a transition from a 3 to 1 child-adult ratio to a 5 to 1 ratio, but Faezas new primarycaregiver is highly skilled and Faeza is building a good relationship with her.She doesnt seem to need a lot support and guidance to get basic things done, such as putting onher slippers.Faeza is toilet trained now, and rarely has any accidents. She is communicating better, but hasdifficulty understanding other peoples perspectives. Faeza knows her gender now, and hasbegun to categorize behavior and objects as suited to boys or girls. She prefers playing with girls,but gets along pretty well with boys. You figure she is ready for a more structured preschoolexperience.You just found out you are pregnant! You are holding off on telling Faeza for a while until thepregnancy become more noticeable. But sooner or later youll have to face the inevitable questionof 3-year old inquiring minds: "how did the baby get in there?"Faeza can remember recent experiences and provide simple descriptions of what happens, suchas a trip to the petting zoo or the amusement park. You are impressed that her memory isworking so well, and you suspect that she has had the ability to remember these experiences forquite some time, but hasnt had the ability to express it until recently. 16 * Faeza is going to be starting in a new preschool program soon, so you take advantage of the factthat a friend of yours is an early childhood development specialist. You ask her to evaluateFaeza, who is 2 1/2 years old. The specialist evaluates Faezas language, motor and cognitiveskills using some developmental scales, and observes Faeza interacting with other children in atoddler play group. This is her report:Faeza was somewhat hesitant in the group of children and spent a few minutes watching thembefore joining in. After a while she latched on to a couple of the other children and had a goodtime. By the end of the session they were smiling and imitating each other.Faeza was generally not very aggressive, but at one point became somewhat aggressive over afavorite toy, and had to be reminded by the group leader to share. The specialist advised you toseek out more group experiences for Faeza.Faeza handled challenging tasks fairly well except for an occasional need for encouragement.Faeza scored in the above average range on tests of language comprehension and production,and provided unusually complete and grammatically mature sentences in a conversation theexaminer and she had about a picture. She recommended several appropriate activities thatmight interest Faeza such as going through a book without pictures and making up a story, orgoing to a childrens museum and talking about the things that interested Faeza there.Faeza is about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and grouping objectstogether in categories. The specialist recommended that you help Faeza "talk through" the stepsin solving problems, and that you expose Faeza to more hands-on learning activities (e.g., at thechildrens science museum).She is in the average range in copying shapes with a pencil, working with picture puzzles andconstructing things out of blocks. The specialist recommended offering Faeza a range of theseactivities to choose from and to go with the ones that seemed of most interest to her.Faeza was above average on nearly all gross motor skills, such as climbing, throwing andcatching a ball, balancing, and skipping and enjoyed these activities quite a bit. The advice was tocontinue these activities, emphasizing Faezas interests and focusing on having fun with them.Faeza was able to focus on the tasks posed by the examiner, but her attention began to wanderafter about 20 minutes. The examiner said this was typical for the age, and took a short playbreak. She recommended that you involve Faeza in preparation for scripted activities such asbath and meal time to help enhance her ability to listen to and follow directions.Have there been any environmental events in your childs first 2 1/2 years that you think mighthave influenced his or her behavior? On what do you base your hypotheses? 17 * Feedback9- Month Pediatricians ReportAs Faeza turns 9 months, the pediatrician has the following to say after a routine physical exam, afew items administered from the Bayley Scales of Infant Intelligence, and some observations of Faezain the playroom:Faeza has been ill several times this season from colds or digestive upset. The doctor advises keeping heraway from sick people, and checking out a new food for a few days to test for allergies.Faeza is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people and tonew and interesting activities and then begins to vocalize a lot and make eye contact.Faeza had fairly mild to positive reactions to most of the situations and people in the pediatricians officeand the playroom. She cried when given the vaccination, but calmed down rather quickly. The onlyproblem came with a brief separation from you, but that would be expected.Faeza is advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand andmanipulating objects.Infant/Toddler Temperament (12 months)Virtual Child uses five dimensions of temperament to describe the childs behavior in the first 30months. These dimensions are random at birth, are influenced by your questionnaire responses, andchange gradually over time in response to events and parenting decisions. The five dimensions areactivity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control. There isbehavior genetic and longitudinal evidence for varying numbers of temperamental traits and the fivetraits used in the program are on a lot of lists. Studies also show that temperament changes inresponse to strong environmental pressures.ACTIVITY refers to the physical and mental energy level of the child. Highly active children maysleep less, be more restless, and engage in more physical activity. Less active children may sleepmore, enjoy quiet pastimes, and show less interest in vigorous physical activity.SOCIABILITY refers to the childs friendliness and desire for social interaction. Highly sociablechildren are sometimes given the label "extroverted" and less sociable children the label"introverted."EMOTIONALITY refers to the intensity of emotion experienced by the child. Highly emotionalchildren may show more of everything (anger, joy, sadness) and more fluctuation in moods. Lessemotional children may show less extreme emotions and less fluctuation over periods of time.AGGRESSIVENESS VS. COOPERATIVENESS refers to the tendency of the child to be aggressivein social situations with the parent, day-care provider or other children. Highly aggressive childrenmay be quite resistant to parental demands and throw tantrums or even lash out at the parent orother children. Less aggressive children tend to be more cooperative, or to whine and fuss ratherthan actively resist the parent. Research indicates that boys are somewhat more aggressive than girls,but there is a great deal of overlap between the sexes, and this is reflected in Virtual Child.SELF CONTROL refers to the childs ability to control his or her behavior, delay gratification, planout a course of action, or inhibit responses to a typical situations. This is not exactly the same thing asaggressiveness or emotionality. For example, a child with low self control might take a cookie whenasked to wait, not out of a spirit of lack of cooperation, but just due to low impulse control. Children 18 * who are extreme on this dimension may fit typical criteria for attention deficit disorder withhyperactivity. The Virtual Child has a 5% chance of having moderate to severe hyperactivity and a5% chance of having mild hyperactivity.GOODNESS OF FIT is a concept that is closely related to temperament. It refers to the tendency ofthe parent to adapt his/her behavior to the childs temperament. For example, suppose you have avery active child, and you are trying to promote exploration and learning. Rather than "goingagainst the grain" and attempting to quiet the child down to look at a book about bugs, you mightappeal to the childs active nature and choose to go on a walk and talk about the bugs you see.Goodness of fit also applies to developmental level. For example, at 6-8 months most infants are atleast somewhat anxious around strangers, so you would want to introduce the child to a new persongradually rather than thrusting the child into the persons arms. Parents desiring to change theirchilds temperament, or help their child develop a particular skill, can benefit from the principle ofgoodness of fit, and the related concept of moderate novelty. Parents desiring to encourage growth intheir child should introduce moderately novel activities and experiences, because children are morelikely to pay attention to and profit from such experiences.19-month Developmental TestingThe preschool that you are considering for Faeza offers low-priced developmental assessments. Faezais able to enroll when she becomes reasonably well potty-trained. She is 19 months old now. Just tofind out how Faezas development compares to other children of her age at this point, you have anassessment done. The early childhood specialist observes Faeza in free play with other kids and doesa little testing of cognitive skills. She reports the following:Faeza was not very aggressive with the other kids, unless one of them tried to grab a toy from her and thenshe resisted. The examiner recommended that Faeza continue to go to toddler play groups/daycare todevelop her skill in interacting with other children. At home, her general advice for the toddler negativismthat was bound to happen at this age was to use clear and simple explanations for rules, warnings and timeouts for misbehavior, and encouragements to "use your words" if Faeza wanted something.The specialist thought that Faeza was securely attached, but that the communication system between parentand child could be improved. She recommended that both parents try to read Faezas reactions morecarefully and work on interpersonal communication.The specialist thought that Faeza was slow to warm up to new situations with adults, but that if you gaveher time, she usually came around.Faeza was cheerful throughout the play sessions and the examination session and rarely became tense oremotional during the period of observation.Faeza scored above average in all aspects of language development, and is ready to be read aloud to morefrequently, as she can follow typical story lines. The examiner also noted that her memory was pretty goodand recommended that you frequently ask Faeza to recount experiences as a way of encouraging morelanguage growth.Faeza was age-appropriate on tasks such as building a block tower to model one made by the examiner andother spatial skills such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solving picture puzzles.Faeza was advanced in her gross motor skills. The examiner recommended that you expose Faeza to avariety of indoor and outdoor activities and let her interests be the guide as to what to pursue.The examiner commented that Faeza was able to concentrate on activities for 10-15 minutes, which wasage-appropriate. Faeza was coming along fine, but she still recommended trying to engage Faezas attention 19 * in something really interesting for longer and longer periods of time, to gradually build up her tolerance forpreschool-type activities. She also recommended getting Faeza to follow simple directions at home,gradually increasing the complexity and length of the directions.Age 2 1/2 Developmental TestingFaeza is going to be starting in a new preschool program soon, so you take advantage of the fact thata friend of yours is an early childhood development specialist. You ask her to evaluate Faeza, who is2 1/2 years old. The specialist evaluates Faezas language, motor and cognitive skills using somedevelopmental scales, and observes Faeza interacting with other children in a toddler play group.This is her report:Faeza was somewhat hesitant in the group of children and spent a few minutes watching them beforejoining in. After a while she latched on to a couple of the other children and had a good time. By the end ofthe session they were smiling and imitating each other.Faeza was generally not very aggressive, but at one point became somewhat aggressive over a favorite toy,and had to be reminded by the group leader to share. The specialist advised you to seek out more groupexperiences for Faeza.Faeza handled challenging tasks fairly well except for an occasional need for encouragement.Faeza scored in the above average range on tests of language comprehension and production, and providedunusually complete and grammatically mature sentences in a conversation the examiner and she had abouta picture. She recommended several appropriate activities that might interest Faeza such as going through abook without pictures and making up a story, or going to a childrens museum and talking about the thingsthat interested Faeza there.Faeza is about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and grouping objects together incategories. The specialist recommended that you help Faeza "talk through" the steps in solving problems,and that you expose Faeza to more hands-on learning activities (e.g., at the childrens science museum).She is in the average range in copying shapes with a pencil, working with picture puzzles and constructingthings out of blocks. The specialist recommended offering Faeza a range of these activities to choose fromand to go with the ones that seemed of most interest to her.Faeza was above average on nearly all gross motor skills, such as climbing, throwing and catching a ball,balancing, and skipping and enjoyed these activities quite a bit. The advice was to continue these activities,emphasizing Faezas interests and focusing on having fun with them.Faeza was able to focus on the tasks posed by the examiner, but her attention began to wander after about20 minutes. The examiner said this was typical for the age, and took a short play break. She recommendedthat you involve Faeza in preparation for scripted activities such as bath and meal time to help enhance herability to listen to and follow directions.Personality TypesThere is evidence that there are three main personality types in childhood and the Virtual Childsbehavior beginning at age 3 and 4 is designed to resemble one of these personality types. Thepersonality types combine some of the temperamental traits with which you are already familiar. Theovercontrolled category refers to a child who is cooperative, and follows the rules, but is shy in socialsituations and anxious and clingy under pressure. The undercontrolled category refers to a child whois uncooperative or even aggressive, does not follow the rules, is not particularly shy in socialsituations, and has a tendency to become distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under 20 * stress. The resilient category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, is friendly,non-aggressive and outgoing, is able to focus on tasks without being too distracted, has goodregulation of his or her emotions, and is adaptable to new situations. 21