Case Study of a

Child Age 6
Briana Hinkell
EDU 220 - 1003
 • Physical Development
• Demonstrates stronger hand-eye coordination.

Overview • Shows off locomotor skills

• Emotional Development
of 6-Year- • Loves to show off talents
• Develops improved self-control skills
Old • Cognitive/Intellectual Development
Developm • Participates in group activities
• Can tell time

ent • Psychosocial/Social Development

• Pays more attention to friendship and wants to be
accepted

• Moral/Character/Philosophical Development
• Starts to understand consequences for negative
behavior
 • May seem “hyper” and fidgety.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Typical • Good large motor skills.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Physical • Interest in “baby” process.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Behavior • Messiness is common.

s • (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Awareness of opposite sex and interest in
body.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
 • Constantly moving on to something new
Typical or making random noises out of no
Physical where.
• (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2015)
Developme
• This kind of behavior is often to be
nt expected from children her age and
According many children release their energy
through nervous habits such as pencil
to chewing, fingernail biting and fidgeting.

Snowman • (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2015)

 Physical Development
Characteristics (Observation)
Meets development milestones:
• James is 46 inches tall and weighs 51 pounds, just above average for a child her age
(Callaway, C., 2019). In terms of physical development, she is above average with her
motor skills and hand eye coordination. James is very active at both households always
having a family member to play with and keep her entertained. James’ teacher has
informed her parents multiple times that she has trouble staying on task during lessons
and she has a sort of play all the time mentality. When doing schoolwork, both at home and
at school, James often tries to move to doing something else or begins to talk out or make
noises. James’ father is very active with her and taught her how to ride a bike and play
sports, but she becomes very competitive when it comes to winning games. James’ parents
have introduced her to a lot of foods in the last year and her appetite has increased. Also
she dresses herself completely and use the restroom properly all by herself.
 • Allow independence with clothing.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
• Have child's eyes examined if problem
persists.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
Physical • Offer appealing varieties in food, but don't
force child to eat anything.
Development • (University of Washington, 1993)
• A sense of body image begins developing
Recommenda around age 6.

tions • (Medline, 2017)

• Fine motor skills may also vary widely.
These skills can affect a child's ability to
write neatly, dress appropriately, and
perform certain chores, such as making
beds or doing dishes.
• (Medline, 2017)
 • Loving and defiant.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Very extreme in emotions.
Typical • (Ellsworth, 1998)
Emotional • Winning becomes very important.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Behaviors • May chatter and fidget constantly.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Falsely sure of self.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
 • According to the text, Psychology
Applied to Teaching, children at this age
are often very sensitive to ridicule and
Typical James is often embarrassed by her name
because people often mispronounce it
Emotional and peers say it’s a boy name
Developmen (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2015).
• According to a 2019 article from World
t According Psychiatry, “divorce is associated with an
to Snowman increased risk for child and adolescent
adjustment problems, including
academic difficulties, disruptive
behaviors, and depressed mood
(D’Onofrio, B. & Emery, R. 2019).
 Emotional Behavior
Characteristics (Observation)
Meets development milestones:
• James struggles with her emotional development due to the many parental figures
she deals with in her life. Due to her parent’s divorce and both of there situations
she is constantly being parented by different people throughout her day. Her
grandparents act as the main strict parental figures so her relationship with them
is not the best. James’ grandparents are often the ones who keep on top of her
schoolwork and discipline her when she acts out. Her grandparents say she acts
out a lot and rarely wants to stay on task when they are trying to do homework
with her. On the other hand, James is very loving to her parents, but it is often in
response to them giving her something and rarely being the ones to punish her.
Another thing that James often struggles with is her name; since it usually is
primarily used as a male name.
 •Be grateful.
•(University of Washington, 1993)
•Don't dismiss fears as unimportant.
•(University of Washington, 1993)
•Try not to appear overly concerned, since an
Emotional increase in nervous habits is temporary and normal.
Deal with the cause of the tension rather than the

Development habit exhibited. Help the child structure time to

include quiet play and rest. Read the child a story.
•(University of Washington, 1993)
Recommenda •Show your love by recognizing positive behaviors.
•(University of Washington, 1993)
tions •Be sensitive about embarrassing things and help
child avoid them.
•(University of Washington, 1993)
•It is important for the child to learn how to deal with
failure or frustration without losing self-esteem.
•(Medline, 2017)
 • Usually still in intuitive stage.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Typical • Practice of logic may be helpful during
a task.
Cognitive • (Ellsworth, 1998)
& • Child really wants to learn to read.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
Intellectu • If child does not feel successful,
emotions will take over.
al • (Ellsworth, 1998)
Behaviors • Mental imagery may be used to begin
integration of ideas.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
 • According to Piaget, during this stage,
young children can think about things
symbolically. This is the ability to
make one thing - a word or an object -
stand for something other than itself.
• According to Vygotsky, private speech
Cognitive & is an important mile marker in a
Intellectual child’s cognitive development because
it’s the moment in a child’s
Development development where thoughts become
According to connected with words, and a child
Piaget & begins exhibiting verbal thinking.
Vygotsky • “Providing youngsters with periodic
breaks, such as recess, increases their
ability to attend to and perform well
on subsequent classroom tasks,” and
this has shown to be beneficial to
Mikael (Snowman, J. & McCown, R.
2015).
 Cognitive & Intellectual
Characteristics (Observation)
Meets development milestones:
James is very smart for her age and can easily become bored with her
schoolwork which may be contributing to her behavior problems. James’
grandparents were very consistent with teaching her new things as a child and
she can read and write very well for her age. James has a decent understanding
of numbers and simple concepts that are on par with the standards set for first
grade students. James is always interested in learning new things but has
trouble staying on task in school if the work is too easy. Based on the guidelines
set for children in her age group, she seems to be well beyond the expectations
set for intellectual development by Ellsworth. Although James is very smart and
knows the material, her schoolwork still suffers because she has trouble staying
on task. At school, James’ teacher has said she is much more focused after lunch
and James’ grandparents often find success in getting her back on task if they
stop and take a short break. According to the expectations set by the P.E.P.S.I
guidelines, “ Concentration of energy is focused on either reading or
 • Do not emphasize language disturbance, since
it is probably only temporary.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
• Reinforce mastered skills and give children
opportunities to be successful in new, simple
activities.
Cognitive & • (University of Washington, 1993)
Intellectual • Provide opportunities for child to make change
(e.g., in restaurants, stores) and to print own
Development name and short names of favorite people and
objects.

Recommendat • (University of Washington, 1993)

• Language delays may be due to hearing or
ions intelligence problems.
• (Medline, 2017)
• Early school-age children should be able to use
simple, but complete, sentences that contain
an average of 5 to 7 words.
• (Medline, 2017)
 • Has difficulty being social.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Child tends to boss others and begins
Typical to tattle.

Psychosoc • (Ellsworth, 1998)

• Often does not like self.
ial & • (Ellsworth, 1998)
Social • Child insists on being right and always
“knowing”.
Behaviors • (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Reverts to poor manner and rudeness.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
 • It is uncommon to be friends with
Typical the opposing sex at this age.
Psychosoc Usually at this age your group of
friends would all be the same sex.
ial & • (Snowman, J. & McCown, R.
Social 2015).
Developm • According to J’Anne Ellsworth’s
screening guidelines she says
ent children at this age may become
According “street wise”, and I think this is an
excellent way to describe James.
to Erikson
• (Ellsworth, J.).
Psychosocial & Social Characteristics (Observation)

Meets development milestones:

James is very social and wants to make friends with almost everyone.
Most of James’ friends at school are male, which is uncommon for most
children in her age group. Although James tends to be very social, she is
also very independent and does not really have a single close friend or
best friend. At school James seems to have a lot of friends but does not
create a strong bond with those friends and none of her friendships
really extend beyond school. Outside of school James plays with her
family for the most part but also has some friends through her mother’s
friends’ children. James’ mother’s friend’s children are all younger than
James; four and five years old. When James plays with those children,
she is very bossy and is always the leader of every situation. James is
very rough and aggressive with the boys in the family and likes to
 • Child needs reassurance.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
• Don't shame child for interest in sexual
differences or for touching self.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
Psychosocial • Rejoice and give opportunities for group
& Social play.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
Development • Help child learn the value of individual
Recommenda differences.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
tions • Encourage child to find enjoyable
activities at school.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
• Allow and respond to child-initiated
conversation.
• (University of Washington, 1993)
 • Sways to extremes of egocentricity.
Typical • (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Specific rules and consistent
Moral, consequences help.

Character • (Ellsworth, 1998)

• Petty theft and lying begin or
& frequently increase.
Philosophi • (Ellsworth, 1998)
• Unaware of second person perspective.
cal • (Ellsworth, 1998)
Behaviors • Needs help overcoming own rigidity.
• (Ellsworth, 1998)
 • “A child entering school is at a
point in development when
behavior is dominated by
intellectual curiosity and
performance. ‘He now learns to
Moral, win recognition by producing
Character & things…He develops a sense of
Philosophica industry’”
l • (Snowman, J. & McCown, R.
Developmen 2015).
t According • According to Kohlberg, eventually
to Kohlberg the child learns not only to respond
to positive consequences, but also
learns how to produce them by
exchanging favors with others;
which helps create Stage 2 in his
model.
 Moral, Character & Philosophical
Characteristics (Observation)

Meets development milestones:

James’ philosophical development has skyrocketed recently but in a
negative way as she has realized how she can manipulate situations to
get her way. James often acts out, but it generally seems like a means to
gain attention from her parents. She is very smart, and she has set the
standard high for herself, so it became hard for her to gain positive
recognition from anyone but her teacher in academics and she has
resulted in doing negative things to gain others attention. When James
is asked why she acts out, she seems to know what she did was wrong,
but she does it anyways. James is not receiving any attention from her
family for the positive things she is doing in school, she has resulted to
a new industry in gaining negative recognition. Since James is not
receiving the positive attention she wants, she has found a way to
 • Do not be shocked by the child's
untruthfulness. "Lying" is not a trait to
come down hard on at this age. Help
the child learn to accept responsibility
Moral, for own action in a positive, caring
manner.
Character & • (University of Washington, 1993)
Philosophical • Acknowledge child's attempt to act in
Development accordance with own beliefs. Don't
punish for inability to always behave
Recommenda properly. 
• (University of Washington, 1993)
tions • Parents should show forgiveness and
punish in a way that is related to the
behavior.
• (Medline, 2017)
 References
Ellsworth, J. A. (1999). Teaching Respect for Self and Others - Age 6.
Retrieved from
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year6.ht
ml
School-age children development: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002017.htm
Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching, 14th
ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
University of Washington. (1993). Child development Guide. Five to Six
years. Retrieved from
http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/cdevguid/c
dg07.htm