EDUC 121-Child and Adolescent Development MyVirtualChild Report Name Meghan re!

eler Date" Decem#er $% 2&12

MyVirtualChild-Middle Childhood 'Age (-11)-Report *

+eneral guidelines" Answer to the questions below for your report. Describe the childs behavior and provide 1 or 2 supporting examples. In addition wherever possible you should relate your descriptions and explanations of the childs behavior to the concepts theories and research covered in class or in the boo!. "ry to base your arguments on research studies and conclusions or a theory that seems well supported by the research in the field. "he questions are below with scoring criteria following the questions. 1. #ased on the evidence from age $ and % years how well is your child adapting to the school social environment and to the peer group& "o what extent does this adaptation seem to depend on personality characteristics that are fairly stable in your child and to what extent does your child seem to be developing novel behavior to cope with these new situations& 'efer to the textboo! for particular points about the responses of children in this age group to the peer group and the school environment. (2 points) a, Alice is doing really -ell adapting to the school social environment and to the peer group, .he consistently -or!s cooperatively in groups% consistently respects rights and possessions o/ others% and consistently demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction, Alice seems to have good /riends at school% and in a/ter- school activities, Alice is much /ocused and -hen she #ecame /rustrated over di//icult 0uestions during her 12 and achievement tests she continued to remain cheer/ul and calm, .he doesn3t sho- any unusual amounts o/ impulsive or distracti#le #ehavior, Alice is e4periencing a stage called moral realism -here she #elieves that rules are created #y -ise adults and there/ore must #e /ollo-ed and cannot #e changed, 2. *ow smart is your child and in what areas& 'efer to the summary of multiple intelligences that appeared at age $ and to sections of your textboo! and the course reader article on multiple intelligences. +ind specific evidence regarding your child,s verbal logical mathematical spatial musical and bodily-!inesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist,s report at age % years 11 months and explain how it ties in to the your course reading material. (2 points) a, Alice is an intelligent little girl, 5er area that needs improvement is her reading and -riting s!ills, Alice has a pro#lem reading printed -ords #ut has no pro#lem -hen she is participating in listening comprehension, Alice is strong in the areas o/ spea!ing and listening and in content !no-ledge o/ social studies and science, .he is developmentally appropriate /or her age -hen it came to the area o/ mathematical pro#lem solving, .he demonstrates strength -hen it comes to areas o/ spatial understanding and visual arts,

.. Describe some examples of your child,s behavior or thin!ing that you thin! are due to typical American gender role sociali/ation and explain why you thin! so referring to the text and lectures regarding gender roles and sex differences in behavior. 0everal examples can be found in the 1irtual 2hild program at ages $ and %. *ow 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 bac!ground attitudes of your own parents etc.)& (2 points) a, Alice is actually more tom#oyish as are most o/ her /riends% they en6oy playing sports -ith her /riend3s #rothers and she plays sports -ith the #oys on the #loc!, Although that -as -hen she -as si4, Alice is very good at holding her o-n conversation -ith adults and uses surprisingly di//icult voca#ulary% this is typical /or girls #ecause they are very e4pressive and so they develop that a#ility #e/ore most #oys to e4press themselves, 7n the playground the #oys tend to play sports and the girls usually hang out in small group interactions, Alice is a#le to play -ith #oth #oys and girls #ut mostly plays -ith the girls, 1 don3t thin! that my attitude to-ard gender roles corresponds to typical American attitudes #ecause 1 thin! that anyone can do and #e anything i/ they put their mind to it, My parent3s raised me to #e -ho 1 -ant to #e so -hen 1 -as younger and #e/ore !ids pitch #ase#all% 1 played #ase#all -ith the #oys not so/t#all -ith the girls and that -as 7, , 1 li!ed to play in mud and my parents never deterred me a-ay /rom my tom#oyish -ays, 3. Describe changes in your childs academic s!ills between ages $ and 14 and assess how well these s!ills are developing. If your child has any problems that affect school wor! such as dyslexia AD*D or low levels of verbal mathematical5scientific or spatial ability. Describe these problems and explain what you and the teachers are doing about them. "he 6th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. If your child doesnt have any academic difficulties describe what you are doing any way to help your child do well in math5science and literacy (reading writing and communicating). (3 points) Alice is doing -ell in everything e4cept her reading% -riting and spelling s!ills% /or -hich she is in special education classes /or to help her catch up, 8e decided to put her in the class around 1st grade and are continuing it through middle school #ecause she is having pro#lems still, Alice -as sho-ing some progress to-ard achieving grade level -or! in the area o/ -ord recognition and comprehension% #ut still had a long -ay to go -ith /luency% spelling and -riting, 6. *ow well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home& Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems that have become apparent between $ and 14 years of age& (0ome possibilities include internali/ing and externali/ing problems AD*D and obesity). 7hy do you thin! these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them& (2 points) Alice is adapting very -ell to social situations in the home and outside the home, .he does not have any #ehavior or emotional pro#lems, .he is one o/ the most popular !ids in

school -ith many invites to visit /riend3s houses, 9he psychologist reported that she had no unusual pro#lems -ith impulsiveness% inattentiveness% or hyperactivity, $. *as your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so why do you thin! it has changed and what effect might this have on your child& 'efer to your textboo! or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood. (2 points) No 1 do not thin! my parenting has changed since the preschool period , 1 #elieve that 1 am an authoritative parent, 8. *as your childs personality type changed since age 3& Are there any personality traits and abilities on which your child closely resembles you& Describe two of them. Do you thin! this comes about because of a 9genetic: resemblance (i.e. your questionnaire responses) or some consistent practices youve followed in your parenting& +or example if you and your child are both highly open to experience and you too! every available opportunity to explore new things with your child is it possible youve taught your child to be open to experience& (3 points) No 1 don3t #elieve that Alice has had much o/ a personality change since age $, .he continues to #e tom#oyish and open minded, 1n terms o/ personality traits that resem#le me 1 -ould have to say her tom#oyish attitude and her attitude to-ards gender roles, As a child 1 loved to play sports -ith the #oys and play in the mud and dirt, Alice is encouraged to play -ith neigh#orhood !ids regardless o/ their se4 this is -hat 1 #elieve encouraged her to #ecome less stereotypical in the roles o/ di//erent genders, %. In what ways have factors from ;icrosystems outside the family from the mesosystem and the exosystem possibly influenced your childs development at ages $ % and 14& +ind four examples of such influences and ma!e clear why you believe they should be categori/ed at the particular level you chose within #ronfenbrenners model. +or example you could choose two microsystems (e.g. classroom and peer group) one mesosystem (parent-peer relations or parent teacher relations) and one exosystem (something affecting the parent directly but the child only indirectly through the parent. (3 points) 7ne /actor that has helped Alice3s development -as the special education teachers -ho spent time -or!ing -ith Alice on her reading% and -riting, .he came out on top o/ the learning disa#ility and graduated -ith outstanding scores and a scholarship to a very prestigious out o/ state school,