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RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI

PEPSI
Susan Smith
Morgan Briscoe

Principles of Education Psychology

EDU 220-2001
Dr. Rochelle Hooks

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Biography
Susan Smith was born September 12, 2005. She was born to an Hispanic
mother and a Caucasian father. Susan has two older siblings both of a different father
than hers. She has one brother Bill, at the age of 18 and a sister Meagan, at age of 21.
Her mother speaks Spanish to her older siblings. Susan does not know any Spanish.
Both of her parents work full time in the hotel industry. They live in middle upper-class.
Susan was born through a c-section on September 12, 2005.
Susan lives on the south side of Las Vegas. She is in fourth grade. She enjoys
hanging out with her friends and family. Her family is close. Susan talks to her cousins
and friends on the phone frequently. Susan's mother was born and raised in El
Salvador. Her father was born and raised in California. His parents are from Ireland. For
every family event, birthday, or holiday Susan is with her mothers family. They all get
together talk and eat food.
Susan is a girly girl with some attitude. She has no problem making friends but
does not care to make anymore. Susan is closest with her older brother Bill. She
spends time with him and his girlfriend. She gets along with the older kids more than
with new kids her own age. She is the youngest of three, and because of this she is the
baby of the family. Before her cousin was born she was the spoiled one of her family. All
of Susans family is relatively fit. No one in her family is obese. Her brother boxes and
her sister tries to train with him. Susan is very fascinated by everything her brother
does. In her free time she plays with friends, does arts and crafts, watches YouTube,
and plays Mine Craft. Susans family while catholic does not attend church.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Physical
Susan is four foot eight inches and weighs about 65 pounds. She stands with
kind of with the child like body with a belly. Compared to her other classmates she is
average height and weight. Susan keeps up when playing outside. She does not tire out
easily. Susan does have asthma, along with her mother and sister. Susan was born
through a c-section.
Susan has yet to show any signs of puberty even though she is moving into
adolescence. She has a regular bed time that is monitored by her parents and older
siblings. Susans teeth are large and crooked. Both of her older siblings had braces she
should follow. She still has a few baby teeth. Susan has the most beautiful freckles on
her face. She wishes that they were not there and asks for bleaching lotion to dispose of
them. Her big sister, Meagan, being the great older sister she is told her that they were
angel kisses. When her sisters friends commented on how pretty Susans freckles were
she began than to accept them as she told her older sister so.
The motor skills of 9-year-old children are smoother and stronger than when they
were younger. This increased body control allows 9-year-olds to work on strengthening
physical skills such as speed and strength in sports and other physical activities such as
dance (Lee, 1). Susan does not show any signs of clumsiness. When active Susan
keeps up and is not in any physical sports.
I would recommend that Susan would do more physical activity and to put braces
on her as soon as possible. Keeping up with the cleaning would be the responsibility of
the family to make sure she keeps up with a daily cleaning routine. Susan has shown an
interest in sports but has not yet been enrolled in any.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Emotional
Susan is a very sassy sarcastic girly girl. All of those describe her. She is also
very emotional but will not admit it. Susan always has to put her two cents in. She can
easily be put off and become emotional though. On a trip to California she met her older
siblings other half sister of the same age and with high emotions Susan gave this little
girl dirty looks. Susan very rarely gets along with children her own age when introduced
too. In the classroom she gets along with everyone very well though. She did not show
any signs of negativity towards other children.
It is only when I believe Susan feels like her relationship with her siblings is being
threatened that she becomes defensive and her attitude becomes enhanced. When she
has attitude with children she is being introduced to her sister pulls her aside and tells
her that she is her sister and no one can take her away. Meagan tells Susan that she is
going home with her at the end of the day and no one can take Susans place. Susan
then calms down but still remains reluctant to socialize with unknown children.
According to Erikson the amount of importance given to the parents decreases at
Susans age. This is seemingly true. Her siblings being significantly older and still at
home are very parental towards Susan. She is showing signs of rebellion but not to any
extreme. She still tries and most of the time succeeds in getting her way with everyone
in her family. Personal and social development for elementary school children also
includes the important ideas of self-concept and self-esteem (Slavin, 57).
Susan is very much an emotional girly girl. I believe this comes with her being the
baby of the family. She often becomes the center of attention and rarely does not get
her way.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Philosophical
Susan likes to test the water with her family members. If she can get away with it
without having to do anything she will. When asking for help Susan will see if she can
get you to give her the answers. Susans sister Meagan likes to sit down with her and
actually help her understand everything that she is doing. Meagan will double check that
Susan is doing everything correctly and does not sign off on anything that she knows
Susan has not done. Susans mother likes the encouragement she gets from her older
sister.
Susan knows that there are repercussions to her actions especially with her
sister. Meagan will try to implement punishment when needed. One example would be
when Susan did not follow Meagans instruction to wait for her brother to take her to her
friends house and Meagan took away her iPad as punishment. Susan then commented
that she did not walk to her friends house as she rode her bike. Meagan did not
Susan get away with that technicality.
Piaget observed that children at this age tend to base moral judgment on the
intentions of the actor rather than on the consequences of the action (Slavin, 53). Susan
saw her getting to her friends house on the bike as an okay action because she was
not walking. Meagan saw it as her sister going down the street safely with parental
supervision and knowledge of her war bouts. Susan follows the post conventional level
of Kohlbergs moral reasoning. She has an understanding of what is right and what is
socially acceptable.
I think that Susan being the youngest child and no definite moral code she gets
away with a lot but at the same times she knows what she is doing.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Social
Susan has her group of friends that she gets along with fairly well. Susan loves
hanging out with her older siblings and family. She understands the obligations of family
time but to an extent. I observed Susan at a family gathering and she like always follow
suit with the older family members. She asked her cousins to stay the night and when
she found out that her older cousin could not stay she said that she no longer wanted to
stay either. Susans younger cousin was devastated and made a scene. Susan did not
seem impacted by the situation.
Susan has a lot of older friends. Her friends are not significantly older just a year
or so ahead. She seems to get along with the older crowd better or at least more
tolerably. Susan I can tell compares herself to others. She points out that she needs to
lose weight and that she wants to get rid of her freckles. The primary grades give many
children their first chance to compare themselves with others and to work and play
under the guidance of adults outside their family (Slavin, 58). The key word regarding
personal and social development is acceptance (58).
Susans mother and sister do a wonderful job at letting Susan feel accepted and
not judged. Susans mother when talking down about Susan speaks in Spanish to the
older siblings. Susan knows that she is being talked about. She sometimes asks
questions about what is being said or she merely scolds them and listens.
I think that Susans sister and mother do an amazing job at trying to make her
feel good about herself but I know that Susan wants more of an acceptance from her
peers than anyone else.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Intellectual
When observing Susan in the classroom setting she followed along and kept up.
When at home Susan seems to get amnesia about what she learned. She tries to work
in and see if she can convince her mother or father to do her assignments for her. When
sitting with her sister Susan seems to remember what was taught and no longer needs
help.
Susan is a smart girl but lacks motivation. When asked if she wants to succeed
greater than her siblings she said no because she did not want to finish her homework.
At school in reading groups Susan seems comfortable and understanding. Her teacher
comments that Susan is a good student. When watching Susan do math online she
seems to get the idea of everything. She usually fiddles until she gets it or until
someone points out directly what to do.
When asked about reversibility with adding Susan looked at her sister as if she
was dumb. When asked about whether the same amount was in a cup and a bowl
Susan looked puzzled and questioned her answer but in the end stuck with her correct
answer.
Children at this stage can form concepts, see relationships, and solve problems,
but only as long as they involve objects and situations that are familiar (Slavin, 34).
While working with Susan on her math I used food as a visual aide to help her
understand. She seemed to get a better understanding when using objects to
understand or count.

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
PEPSI Graph
7
6
5
4

Average
Susan
Above Average

3
2
1
0
Physical

Emotional Philosophical

Social

Intellectual

RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI

Recommendations
Physically Susan is normal with her peers. She does not have any disabilities in
physical activity. I would suggest that she does get involved in sports though. This will
help get her out of the house and socialize. I think that physical activity can keep her in
shape especially with the preteen years that are coming.
Emotionally Susan kind of struggles compared to her peers. She does not like to
be introduced to others and becomes jealous if attention from her family is not directed
towards her. I think that socializing her and having her sign up for a sport again can help
her become more open to meeting new people. Susan is very good at group work in the
classroom and recess but she struggles with meeting new friends of the same age
group. Susan needs to be taken out of her comfort zone and almost be forced to
socialize. I know that she is capable of doing so.
Philosophical development according to the text Susan is on track. I think that
maybe implementing more rules at home would help maybe keep her out of trouble in
the future. It needs to start with the parents. Susan knows how to get her way with them
and knows not to mess with her older sister when it comes to rule breaking. I think it is
scary to think about when her siblings are moved out and there is no one to help guide
her she will rebel against her parents. Keeping her in extra curriculum activities should
help her to stay on the right track.
Social goes hand in hand with Susans emotional development because it is her
emotions that hold her back from socializing. Susan is great with older kids and her

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RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
family and close peers but again she is stubborn when it comes to being around new
children in her own age group.
Intellectually Susan is doing average work. She is not showing any signs of
exceeding what is asked. Being pushed at home would be a good start to make sure
that she meets and even exceeds the norm.

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RUNNINGHEAD: PEPSI
Work Cited
Physical
Lee, Katherine. "9-Year-Old Child Physical Development." About Parenting.
About.com, n.d. Web.
Emotional
Slavin, Robert E. "Chapter Three." Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 50+. Print
Philosophical
Slavin, Robert E. "Chapter Three." Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 50+. Print
Social
Slavin, Robert E. "Chapter Three." Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 50+. Print
Intellectual
Slavin, Robert E. "Chapter Two." Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 35+. Print