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Amber Adams
Karla Henderson
Child and Adolescent Development
October 2, 2013
My Virtual Child-Report 2-Early Childhood (Age 3-4)
1. What activities and experiences have you and your child engaged in
that might be promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest
in physical activity?
Kaylee and I will sing songs together that she learns in preschool.
Kaylee is also watching educational TV. I explain to Kaylee how she
should act when out in public to avoid a tantrum. I will also answer
any questions that she might have. Kaylee and I will sometimes play
catch or basketball to improve on her physical activity.
2. Describe the development of your childs language and cognitive skills
and discuss how these might be affecting his or her interactions with
you and your responses?
When Kaylee was three, she was struggling with her language
skills. She was using two or three word sentences, but will
sometimes use gestures. Kaylee has been improving on her
language and cognitive skills a little at a time. With her watching
educational TV is helping her in these areas. She is able to tell a

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story about something, but will occasionally forget some details.

Kaylee is becoming advanced in her thinking ability. She is
understanding games and counting more and more.
3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and
outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional
problems at this point? Why do you think there problems are occurring
and what are you doing about them?
Kaylee is starting to adapt to social situations, but occasionally
forgets. She has a baby sister and Kaylee will get jealous sometimes.
She will take toys away from her sister and will tend to get whiny when
she doesnt get her way all the time. She is usually well behaved at
home. Kaylee sometimes will need to receive a reminder to not talk to
her friends during a specific time at school. She will get upset if she
cant communicate something. She will occasionally misbehave at
preschool, but I think it is because she is attending a new preschool.
Kaylee has temper tantrums in public often, but I explain to her how
she needs to act in public.
4. How would you characterize you parenting style (e.g. authoritative,
authoritarian, permissive, or variations or combinations of these styles)
Refer to the book or lecture descriptions to justify your classification.
How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy?
I think my parenting style is a combination of each one. If Kaylee
does misbehave she will sometimes go to timeout. There are also
some things she doesnt get into a lot of trouble because she is

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still young and might not understand something. I will usually

explain to her what she did wrong then if she continues to do it,
she will have consequences. I dont think my parenting style has
changed a lot since infancy. Some things she will get in trouble
for but others she wont. It depends on what she did wrong that
will determine if she gets a time out or an explanation of what
she should and shouldnt do.
5. Describe three specific examples of changes in your childs behavior at
age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability
since the period of infancy (e.g. improvements in symbolic thinking,
reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind).
Kaylee is becoming more curious about things around her. She
tends to ask several questions about things she is interested in.
Kaylee is learning something new every day. She is able to count
up to 80 or more. She will count anything that is in sight of her.
She has recently learned how to write her name and read. Kaylee
also has learned letters and the sounds from watching TV and
songs from preschool.
6. How would you characterize your childs personality? Would you say
that your child is primarily over controlled, under controlled, or
resilient? Support you argument.
I think Kaylees personality is over controlled. She gets along
with her friends at preschool. She tends to be clingy to certain

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people, but slowly adjusts to the situation and gets over it.
Kaylee does get upset or frustrated when she cant communicate
something or doesnt get what she wants. Kaylee also tries to
please people around her.
7. Look for evidence of continuity as well as discontinuity in your childs
behavior from infancy through early childhood. Give an example of an
aspect of ability or personality that has remained fairly stable. Give an
example of an aspect of ability or personality that has been unstable.
Why do you think change occurred in one area and not the other?
Kaylee has always tried to please people around her. She is
starting to figure out how she should act when out in a public
setting. Kaylee will also cling to people, but is slowly growing out
of that phase. I think the reason why she is clingy to people and
shy is because she has had to attend different preschools and
she is meeting new people.
8. Your Virtual Child is growing up basically in an average American
cultural setting. Based on what you have learned from the course, how
specifically might your childs behavior be different if she was raised in
a different culture? Alternately, if you are familiar with a different
culture (e.g. you or your parents were raised in a country outside
America with very different cultures), you can describe how your
parenting or your childs behavior might be different within that
cultural setting. As a third option, describe and give examples of how
your parenting style, or and other aspect of your parenting, has been

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influenced by your cultural background or other experiences. Describe

the rationale for your clam, and the source of your information (book or
lecture, or your own experience growing up at least partially within a
particular culture).
I think Kaylee would be learning in a different way if she was in a
different culture. I noticed some people of a different culture are
stricter with their learning. She might be even more advanced
because some cultures make the children sit there and do their
work. They would be working by themselves. I think a child
should receive some assistance in their learning. Some people
from other cultures would have their children sit there until they
get the work done. I think children should take breaks in between
work because it is stressful to do it all at one time.