Case Study

The subject of this case study is a four (almost five) year old African American
boy, Adam. He has been enrolled in private Montessori school for about two and a half
years. His mother has her Ph.D. in Education; his fathers level of education is
unknown, but he is employed full time at _________. Presumably, based on the amount
of tuition to the school and the mothers level of education, Adams family is part of the
mid to high socio-economic status bracket. Adam is an only child, and both parents
work full time; he is at school from about 7:30 to 5:30 every day. Adam was transferred
into our class at the request of his mother, who was upset by the suggestion of his
previous teacher that they may want to have him tested for potential developmental
issues. There is certainly something different about Adam, but it is very difficult to
pinpoint, because at times he seems like he meets all the norms but at other times, it
seems like he is far behind the others.
Children within the early childhood stage of development are experiencing what
Piaget considered the pre operational stage; which is characterized by an increase in
symbolic activity, i.e. make-believe play, mental representation. Children also grow in
their ability to interact and communicate with others during early childhood. The preoperational stage is also characterized by egocentrism, which is a young childs

tendency to believe that everyone elses views and thoughts match their own. This
tendency decreases as the child moves through the pre operational stage, which is seen
in the increase of interaction and play with other children.
It seems that Adam struggles a little in terms of physical development. He has
reached many fine motor milestones, such as zipping his jacket, copying shapes and
some letters, using a fork and cutting along a line (for the most part). His drawing skills
are appropriate for his age, as he has moved beyond the tadpole figure drawing.
Gross motor skills seem to be more under-developed. Although he seems proficient in
walking up and down steps, galloping and throwing a ball, he has a hard time with any
hanging bars and skipping. When asked to throw a ball to me, Adam threw it above his
head three times; interestingly, though, later on I saw him successfully throw the ball into
a basketball hoop. A future educator or caregiver may need to give Adam more
chances to develop more strength in his hands, and more opportunities to develop
physical coordination.
At a glance, Adam seems socially behind. He mostly keeps to himself during
times of free play. He occasionally sits with other children during class times and
engages in short conversations about class work. Adult interactions must be prompted
by the adult, almost always; and child interactions, in general, must be prompted by the
other children. Socio-dramatic play was observed, but much less frequently than with

the other children. When Adam is doing work alone, there are faint traces of private
speech, such as moving his lips. He does not describe himself in terms of emotions or
attitudes whatsoever; instead, when asked to tell about himself, he talked only about his
love for t-ball. When shown the image of a sad child, he suggested a cause for her
negative state, and when asked how to comfort a scared friend, he suggested getting
him a popsicle. It seems as though Adam is showing a normal amount of empathy for
his age. However, Adam is rather stoic and rarely shows much in terms of positive or
negative emotion. Since joining our class, he has certainly become more social
(according to his last teacher, he hardly spoke at all in her class) and is becoming more
vocal when someone does something to bother him.