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PEPSI Screening Dropbox

Jadelyn Manuel

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220 - 1003

Dr. Vincent Richardson

July 16, 2022

Biography

The individual that was observed for this PEPSI screening is my six year old sister. She

was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She lived in Arkansas for her first 3 years, later moved to

O’ahu and stayed there for only about six months then back to Arkansas. Her family currently

resides in North Las Vegas, Nevada but they are expected to move back to O’ahu due to her

father being in the military.

The constant moving did not seem to affect her much when she was younger because she

does not have a strong recollection of that time of her life but she is aware of the upcoming move

to O’ahu. She has expressed some sadness to the move. The girl does not want to move away

from her older sister. The girl truly loves her older sister and does not want to go from seeing her

role model everyday to not being able to see her role model whenever she wants. She has also

voiced concerns towards going to a new school. Despite her worries, there is a part of her that is

happy to be moving because of being able to see her grandparents and cousins.

The household of the six year old consists of her mother, father, and two siblings. She has

an older sister, age twenty and a younger sister, age two which makes her the middle child.

Being a middle child does not seem to affect her at all. She gets along with both her older sister

and younger sister. Sometimes arguments and minor toy throwing happens but it gets quickly

resolved.

Her parents prioritize family over everything. Any opportunity to have family time, they

will jump the gun. They are quite spontaneous so last-minute road trips do not come as a surprise

for this family. However their method of disciplining and communicating comes across as

controlling and negative. The six year old has gotten more discipline from her parents compared
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to her other siblings due to her inability to follow directions. It has been observed that she has

gradually reacted calmly towards these disciplines.

Physical Development

The girl is six year old that stands at three and a half feet tall at thirty-four pounds. It is

said that “the average 6-year-old is about 45 inches tall and weighs approximately 45 pounds”

(BabyCenter, n.d.). She is not far off from the average height however it is not the same for the

average weight. The weight issue has always been an issue for this child. Doctors have stated

that she needed to eat more but it was not a serious issue. The family has encouraged better

eating habits for her and she has been better at gaining an appetite. She does not always go for

the healthiest option but fortunately she is one of the rare kids that enjoy fruits and vegetables.

A development in the physical aspect includes making “major gains in muscle strength

and coordination” (Healthwise Staff, 2021). The six year old has always been active. It shows

through her dancing and sports. After setting up her Youtube videos on the TV, she dances along

with the dancers intensely. Sometimes she will dance with her mother as she makes TikTok with

trending dances. Other times, she will kick a ball with her older sister at the park and practice her

soccer skills.
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Emotional Development

It has been said that a “child is easily embarrassed and sensitive to other people’s views

and beliefs” (Raising Children Network, 2022). It has been noticed that the six year old is

confident when she is with her family but with new people, she tends to shy away from. The girl

is more conscious of herself when she is surrounded by people she does not see on an everyday

basis and gets easily flustered. When she gets flustered, she will do a quiet whine and hide

herself with her family’s body.

There has been a small breakthrough with the girl’s ability to be empathetic. As children

get older they “shift their focus off of themselves and start to have increased awareness and

concern for others” (Dr. Kimbrough, 2022). Some examples of the six year old showing concern

for others include consoling her younger sister when she cries, hugging her older sister when she

was clearly overwhelmed, helping her father with his tasks around the house, and making sure to

clean up after herself so her mother does not have to. This has been a great milestone for the

child because it was a huge change from a girl who just did whatever she wanted and only

listened to bribes.
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Philosophical Development

“Children learn best in a nurturing, child-initiated play-based environment that fosters

self-confidence, trust, creativity, autonomy and acceptance of individual differences” (Texas

State, n.d.). The six year old does not have a huge friend group but remembering back when she

was going to school, she would talk about her experiences with class projects and activities or

recess with friends. A memorable class project for her was when her teacher would bring in duck

eggs and have the whole class wait for them to hatch. It made her happy to have experienced it

with her whole class. The common goal of the project helped her to get closer to her classmates.

She does tend to stay to herself because she gets shy. However as time goes on, she does open up

and makes an effort to initiate a conversation with other kids.

The parents of the six year old have voiced concerns over her ability to make the best

decisions for herself. The concerns seem to come from a few occasions in which the girl clearly

had a pattern of being sassy after playing with her friends. It should be noted that there is a

“widespread agreement that most children’s capacity to eventually become autonomous is

morally important and that adults who interact with them have significant responsibility to

ensure this capacity is nurtured (Feinberg, 1980). The parents seem to underestimate how

significant their role is in advancing the development of their daughter. It is rare to see the

parents give necessary lessons or talks with the six year old concerning her being her own

person. There has only been a few times where it did happen but it was done very negatively and

with a loud tone. Rather than actually listening to what is being said, it was clear that the girl was

only thinking about how she had done something wrong. All parents must realize that their

words hold a lot of weight towards their children and should be careful on how it is being said. It

leaves a long-lasting impression on children.

Social Development

These days, the girl has expressed wanting for independence. Her parents will sometimes

accept depending on how reasonable the request was. “By age 6, kids are getting more and more

independent from their parents. They will try to show how big they are, and do things that might

be dangerous.” (Alli, 2021). One of the more dangerous requests that she wanted was going to

the park alone with her friend. In most circumstances, going to the park seems innocent.

However the park nearest to her does not have a crosswalk and the parents did not think that she

was ready for that.

One of the things that the girl will have to figure out is associating with a great friend

group that has good intentions for her while being true to herself. Children in the middle

childhood age group “want to be liked and accepted by friends” (CDC, 2021). One instance of

this was when she allowed her friend to buy games off of her tablets after her parents stated on

multiple occasions to ask them first before buying a game. The parents found the charges made

on their card but they were not too angry. They made sure to talk with both their daughter and

their daughter’s friend. The daughter knew what they were doing was wrong but she still went

along with it because she knew it would make her friend happy.
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Intellectual Development

Through these observations, it has been amazing to see how quickly the six year old picks

up on things. One expectation of the middle childhood kids are working on is “developing their

oral language skills, acquiring new vocabulary and sentence structures” (Virtual Lab School,

n.d.). The girl has been saying big words that have caught everyone off guard in a good way. She

has said that she would first hear it from the Youtube videos she watched and would use it in

perfect context. It actually has been catching onto her younger sister, it seems like the six year

old helps her younger sister with developing her speaking skills greatly.

Most children by the age of six are “learning to express themselves well through words”

(MyHealth Alberta, n.d.). There have been a handful of examples that showcase great

communication. The girl has been great at setting barriers. She is not afraid to say when she does

not like something which is admirable at her age. On top of that, she has no problem bringing

awareness to an issue. The only problem is that sometimes she can be a pushover, especially in a

school setting. She will mention how a classmate had made trouble for her in which snitching to

a teacher is reasonable. When asked why she did not tell the teacher, she would respond that she

does not want to get them in trouble. Sometimes she would sacrifice her feeling comfortable just

for other people to be able to walk all over her. This is a work in progress for her.
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Graph
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Recommendations

For physical development, I recommend maintaining physical activities and including a

healthy diet for the whole family. The girl is active as it is but it is best to maintain that active

lifestyle. Parents should encourage a healthy lifestyle. The world is going more digital which is

causing many kids to not go outside as much. To combat that, parents and teachers should

include activities that involve going outside and moving their bodies to get a sweat going. As for

the food aspect, the parents should encourage healthy diets and maybe change the diets for

everyone in the family. She mostly snacks on food most days which seems to ruin her diet so in

hopes of improving that, the whole family should implement healthier options to enhance that

healthy lifestyle.

For emotional development, I recommend parents to work on their patience and tone. She

can be moody which is understandably frustrating but yelling will not solve the problem. She

will respond well if a mature adult can talk to her nicely. Another strategy to add to their

parenting guide is to praise her every time she does something good or helpful. Not only will that

serve as positive reinforcement but will help to increase her self-esteem and confidence.

For philosophical development, parents should give reasonable freedom to their daughter

but give guidance when it is needed. It is inevitable for the daughter to want more independence

as she gets older but to make sure it is done in a safe way, parents must not be too controlling but

also step in when their daughter will be going out of bounds.

For social development, the six year old girl must be able to identify good people for her.

For her to develop that ability or skill, the parents must help in giving common lessons and help

with advancing her common sense. She must not feel pressured to give into other kids’ decisions

for her. She must be able to decide on things that are helpful.
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For intellectual development, the six year old is on the right path but little things will help

in advancing her forward. Hands on learning activities will help immensely with that so even if it

may cause a mess, parents must encourage that kind of activity. Kids are bound to make a mess.

Parents can also turn that mess as an opportunity for kids to develop their good habits.
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References

Texas State University. (n.d.). Philosophy. Texas State. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from

https://www.fcs.txstate.edu/cdc/Curriculum/philosophy.html#:%7E:text=Children

%20learn%20best%20in%20a,each%20child’s%20growth%20and%20education.

The Philosophy of Childhood (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). (2018, November

26). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/childhood/

6-8 years: child development. (2022, March 17). Raising Children Network. Retrieved

July 16, 2022, from https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/development/development-

tracker/6-8-years

6-Year-Old Child Development Milestones. (2022, February 4). Verywell Family.

Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.verywellfamily.com/6-year-old-

developmental-milestones-620703

Your Child at 6: Milestones. (2017, May 15). WebMD. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/child-at-6-milestones#:%7E:text=child%20is

%20unique.-,Social%2C%20Emotional,learning%20to%20cooperate%20and%20share.
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Child Development: Middle Childhood (6–8 years old) | CDC. (2021, February 4).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html

Cognitive Development: School-Age. (n.d.). Virtual Lab School. Retrieved July 16, 2022,

from https://www.virtuallabschool.org/school-age/cognitive-development/lesson-2