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3 Months
Angi is showing more intense interest in her surroundings. Angi smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things (such as a little dog), and is developing lots of cute little habits. This is great for development, because Angi is demonstrating cognitive development. She is able to understand familiar faces and toys, which means she has a working memory. She is also able to give signs of maturity in her emotional development through her little smiles. -
8 Months
Angi is almost able to demonstrate object permanence at 8 months, which would be ahead of schedule or at peak development. Angi is able to find a hidden object, as long as you don't wait too long or distract her in the middle of the search, but if you hide the object in a different place she is unable to find it, because she is looking for it in the old hiding place. This is a sign of memory, which is a cognitive development, but not that of object permanence. -
1 year
You try the object permanence test again. This time, Angi is able to find the object even after long delays and seems to think this is a great game! Object permanence is when a child shows understanding that an object continues to exist even when it is out of sight (pp. 149-150). She is twelve months, which is the tail end when it should occur, but I am not worried as she shows strong growth in many other categories. -
Egocentric Thinking at age 4
At age 4 Angi is demonstrating some egocentric thought. Egocentric thought, "is thinking that does not take into account the viewpoints of others" (pp.223). At her fourth birthday Angi opened her first gift and it was a couple of new shirts, which she did not ask for. So once she opened the gift her face was demonstrating a frown because she desired a new princess dress. During this she was demonstrating egocentric thought, which okay because it is all apart of growing up. -
Initiative-versus-guilt stage at age 5
According to Erikson, "the period during which children aged 3-6 years experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of that action" (pp.248). Angi has been seeking more independence now that she is five and is now trying to do things on her own. She is saying things like "let me do it," but if she does not succeed she feels guilty. As a parent I have been trying to act as positive as I can, and during these instances I am providing direction and guidance. -
Moral Development at age 6
At age 6 Angi has been demonstrating moral development. Moral development, "refers to changes in people's sense of justice and of what is right and wrong, and in their behavior in connection with such issues" (pp. 261). More specifically Angi has been using heteronomous morality in which she believes that there is only one way to play the game of hockey and that every other way is wrong. I have been trying to show in a positive way that there is more than one way to play the game. -
Concrete operational stage at age 7
Angi has demonstrated she is understanding concrete operational stage, which is characterized by the active and appropriate use of logic (pp. 296). Angi applied logical thinking to when I asked her, if I poured one glass of water to another, if it was still the same amount of water in the cup as before even though the cup was smaller. She answered "yes," which is a perfect representation of concrete operational stage of thinking. -
Emotional Intelligence age 8
At age 8, Angi is utilizing emotional intelligence very good and doesn't let emotions get the best of her. Emotional intelligence, is "a set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions" (pp.309). One day at school Angi came home a little upset because another girl said she didn't like her dress. Angi told me that she thought the girl was being mean because she didn't have a dress like hers and she wanted it. This shows emotional maturity. -
Industry- versus- inferiority stage age 9
"Industry-versus- inferiority stage, is characterized by a focus on efforts to meet the challenges presented by parents, peers, school, and the other companies of the modern world" (pp.328). Angi demonstrated this when she built a little tree house in the back yard. She asked for my help in making some of the harder pieces, but the project idea and production was all about her. By doing this she having feelings of mastery and proficiency with a growing sense of competence. -
Self-esteem at age 10
Angi's self-esteem at age 10 is increasing and she is feeling more comfortable in all areas of her life. Self-esteem, "is an individual's overall and specific positive and negative self-evaluation" (pp.330). Angi has been doing dance classes and one night when I was driving her back home she said, everybody thinks I am the best dancer in the class. She loves that people say that, but she wants to keep working hard to be one of the best in the country, which is a great attitude. -
Self- care child age 12
Self- care children are, "children who let themselves into their homes after school and wait alone until their care takers return from work" (pp.341). In order to help Angi gain some independence we have let her go home on her own and wait an hour until I get home. We ask her to get home and eat a snack then to get ready for her dance class, which we take her too right after. 9 out 10 times she is ready to go, but sometimes she show immaturity, but its all apart of growing up.
