PEPSI Project

PEPSI project

Alexis Hilpipre

Education Psychology

Professor Kenney

July 26, 2011

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PEPSI Project

Abstract

Through this PEPSI project paper you will learn all the different elements that create a

child in kindergarten. When a child enters kindergarten they are at the age of five and six years,

they will be developing in many different areas. These students will be changing in all the

following areas: physical, emotional, behavior, moral, social behaviors, intellectual, and

academic. In this paper you will have a better hindsight on each component.
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PEPSI Project 1

PEPSI Project

Behavior

At a young age, children will demonstrate verbal and non-verbal cues to send a message

to their fellow classmates or adults that they are happy or upset. According to Stan Goldberg

MD, these signals are very important to observe. Goldberg states, non-verbal, verbal cues could

be posture, face expression, body language and physical action so be aware of the signs.

Goldberg says all these cues can be observed and used as antecedents. Goldberg claims that

consequences for a child should be related to the specific behavior and age appropriate. B.F

Skinner created the operant conditioning. Operant conditioning uses positive reinforcement,

negative reinforcement, extinction reinforcement, and punishment reinforcement. Skinners

theory was through the operant conditioning, children would demonstrate the desired behavior.

Stan Goldberg says, Children in kindergarten display certain behaviors, only when ask

to do a certain tasks. Goldberg gives example of tasks that some children have a difficult time

performing, such as: cutting with scissors, coloring a picture, and writing the letters of the

alphabet. Those are all examples of fine motor skills.

In order to have the students perform these fine motor tasks without becoming frustrated

is by using the Ivan Pavlor theory of Classical Conditioning which will assist the student in

completing the tasks given. You do not want a child in kindergarten to dislike doing certain fine

motor tasks at a young age. Pavlor states, A stimulus (us) elicits an unconditioned response

(ur) ; a stimulus will naturally elicit or being about a reflexive response. In order for a student to
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not become frustrated with doing a fine motor task, Parvlor says, That natural and

unconditioned

stimulus must become a conditioned stimulus. In order to get the desired behavior a

conditioned stimulus must be developed.

When a child enters kindergarten, the way they adjust to the new environment has a

tremendous impact on their level of success in school. Children who adjust to attending school in

a positive manner will have a better chance of performing to higher standards in school. There

are many factors to the way children psychologically adjust to a school environment differently.

Ladd Birch states, Relationships with classroom peers, teachers, classroom participation, and

low socioeconomic. Children who enter school having a higher cognitive and linguistic

maturity are most likely to establish relationships with their peers and teachers easier than others.

Students who come from a family of low socioeconomic status will have increased

stressed and diminished resources. Among socioeconomic status, demographic has a huge

impact on a child. Such factors include: single parents, larger families, amount of income, and

the violence in the child neighborhood. All these factors can contribute to a child behavior.

Students who are in kindergarten observe, learn, and model the behavior they see. Being rejected

by their peers or teacher may cause maladjustment. If a student becomes maladjusted, this may

also cause the child to display unwanted behaviors. Negative events in a childs life at this age

may be used as predictors of how they will behave.

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Intellectual

------Dr Howard Earl Gardner developed the Multiple Intelligence in which children are

categorized in seven different ways. Gardner viewed intelligence as a capacity to solve

problems. Gardner believes that everyone learns form one of the seven intelligences. The seven

intelligences are the following: linguistic intelligences (word smart), logical intelligences

(mathematical smart), spatial intelligences (picture smart), body- kinesthetic intelligences (body

smart), musical intelligences (music smart), interpersonal intelligences (people smart),

intrapersonal intelligences (self smart), and naturalist intelligences (nature smart). Gardner says,

Students think and learn in many different ways by figuring out how getting an education will

benefit them academically. Educators need to gain knowledge on how each one of their students

learn, how quickly they can learn lessons, and what their strong points are. Teachers need to

develop approaches that will meet the range of each students ability in the classroom.

In kindergarten children are usually around five or six year olds. According to Jean

Piaget, there are different stages of development that children will go through. In kindergarten,

children will be in the Preoperational stage. Children in this stage start will rapidly start to grow

intellectually. Piagets states, At the Preoperational stage, a child will use symbols to represent

things and their vocabulary will begin building. Children in this stage mature by exploration

and experiences. According to children first, a curriculum guide for kindergarten, kindergarten

children start developing new words for example names of dinosaurs.

Kindergarten children use their new found vocabulary words which will help them

establish new friendships among their peers. Children at this age develop visual and auditorial

memory that enables them to communicate verbally with their peers. Vygotsky states that,

Language is necessary for the understanding of intellectual development.

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A kindergarten student zone of proximal development is another way a teacher can assess

a students intellectual ability. Not all children in kindergarten can perform on the zone of

proximal, but children who cannot perform on a zone of proximal level need a teacher to

implement the saffoldin method. In which a student will receive support and eventually will be

able to independently grow intellectually. Vygotskys theory is that language acquisition and the

environment of the classroom are important essentials to apply to children in order to mature

intellectually.

Academic

Children should be taught the appropriate curriculum at a young age. Lilian G. Katz says,

That children in kindergarten should be learning a variety of things such as: cooperate learning,

motor skills, learning the alphabet, and all the pronunciation for each letter in the alphabet.

Kindergarten students should be able to indicate all of their colors. They should also be able to

share with peers, ask questions, and having the ability to use all five senses.

Children at this age need to acquire the ability to be responsible with certain tasks that are

given to them by the teacher. Students in kindergarten should be able to demonstrate receptive

and expressive language skills in the classroom. David H. Arnold has a different opinion on how

academic success should apply in the classroom. Arnold states that, Education achievement can

improve when issues like aggression and disruptive behavior stops. Things that may contribute

to a child performing poor academically include: frustration with certain tasks, not interested in

the assignment, low self esteem, and poor attention skills. All these things can cause a child to

have behavior problems in school.

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A teacher needs to observe the problem that causes the child to act out and misbehave.

Once that is achieved, the teacher must create an intervention plan that will promote academic

success. While working as a team, the teacher and student will work on the following things that

are essential elements that will lead to the student excelling. The following things in the student

education progression are: building positive relationships, attention, encouragement/praise,

motivating the student, and decreasing inappropriate behaviors. Reprimanding for misbehaviors

will be a superb contribution to setting reasonable goals for the student achieve.

Parents need to promote an academic interest with their child. Children in kindergarten

will be taught the letters of the alphabet. Parents need to start encouraging reading daily to their

child. Arnold shares an example of how to some parents will dress up in a costume such as little

Red Riding Hood and read to their child. By giving their child a visual understanding and acting

the book out will motivate the child to want to continue reading, which will hopefully keep them

interested in reading.

Kindergarteners are in the preoperational stage of development and they are unable to

self-regulated learning. Arnold claims that, Teachers need to motivate and praise students.

Teachers must focus on the students success and not failures. By concentrating on the negatives

and the positives may lead the child to perform poor academic status. Arnold says, At a young

age we went kids to have endless opportunities in life and acquiring an education is the key

component to success.

Socially Emotional

At a young age, childrens learning is achieved by play. Children will be physical, social-

emotionally, and intellectual. Through play, children are able to interact with other children and
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adults which will make them be able to problem solve and learn to cooperatively work with

others. Children entering into kindergarten will engage and demonstrate many different types of

play, depending on the childs environment.

In Piagets theory there are four types of play children can express such as: solitary,

parallel, associative, and cooperative play. Solitary play is the lowest of social play. Parallel play

is when a child does the same activity as their peers, but isolates themselves from anyone around

them. Associate play typically takes place in kindergarten when a child will play with another

child who is sitting next to them, while taking turns with the same activity. Cooperative play is

the highest level of play; it represents the childs social and cognitive maturity. In this play,

children are highly, socially interactive. Piaget says, Through play, children develop Schemas

is what he considers a way children learn.

In kindergarten a parent want their child to be able to demonstrate cooperative play, so

their child will acquire social skills. Kindergarteners will learn what Pekik and Hanewinkel call

life skills. For example, self-awareness and empathy, how to deal with stress and difficult

problems, communication and social competence, creative, independent thinking, and the ability

to solve problems; all of these things above are indispensable skills that will provide the

appropriate interaction in school. Pekik and Hanewinkel conducted research among all these life

skills and have shown students who can master all these skills how they will be resilient,

successful, and happy in life. Each life skill has an important factor in helping children develop

in a positive way.

Performance at this age, we want children involved in games with other children, so they

can express their experiences with the activities, in which they had to learn how to ask other
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children if s/he may participate in the game. By monitoring the child interactions with other

peers, one can evaluate a child to see if its positive or negative, self-control, and thoughtfulness

is a difficult skill at this age, but it must be implemented in a child. Kindergarteners have a

difficult time following the rules and boundaries. Kindergarteners are happily energetic at this

age. They must properly learn how to apologize if they hurt or damage another child. Children

will learn to respect their classmates, objects, or materials that do not belong to them.

Kindergarteners also need to share enjoyment for their peers success and not just for their own

accomplishments in order to learn important teamwork life skills. Self-assertiveness gives a child

a chance to tell their peers or adults about their experience during the day. By using self-

assertiveness can speak up when an adult or peer treats them wrongly.

Just because a child is young doesnt mean they should be treated disrespectfully. Having

a child able to use self-assertiveness is extremely important in order to solve problems when they

arise. At this age, the Neocortex is not fully developed. The Amygdala is fully developed, but the

Amygdala needs to be taught how to deal with certain situations. When children in kindergarten

become stressed with their peers or tasks given to them they become irritable. They might not

follow directions that they are being told to pursue. Children may begin to cry because they are

flustered and cant figure out a solution to their problem.

Children need to be given tasks that they may work in a group, in which they can work

together to achieve the common goal by getting a second opinion, a helping hand, or by helping

one another stay emotionally balanced and not become frustrated. Kindergarten is the

development level for all these life skills that will improve as the student ages.

Moral
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Children in kindergarten are unable to see any other peers or adults perceptive because of

their age and their Neocortex ability. Moral realism is one reason more children are concerned

about the outcome of their actions rather than the intention of doing the act. Kids at this age are

egocentric. Kindergarteners are egocentric it is very difficult to play cooperative activities

because the rules may not seem fair to them when playing a game.

When a child feels like they are being treated unfairly, behavioral problems will occur

which should result in a time out. Piaget states, School should emphasize cooperative decision

making, problem solving, nurturing, moral development, and working on common rules to

fairness. Teachers need to be explicit to students when explaining games and the rules. By

asking the students questions after the having explained the game may help the children to have a

better understanding.

Kohlberg believes in the bag of virtues should be practiced within the school element.

The bag of virtues initial honesty, kindness, patience, and strength. Teachers need to practice

these virtues by rewarding their students in kindergarten when one has occurred. Gratification for

demonstrating the appropriate virtues will increase a positive bag of virtues. The goal of moral

education is to encourage individual students to develop to the next level of moral reasoning.

Towards the end of kindergarten children must be pushed into different environments so

they can encounter different situations that may occur in another environment. This process is

called equilibration, through this process morel development will take place. Teachers have a lot

of challenges to help their student promote positive morals within themselves.

Carol Gilligan believes that mortality morality within individuals has to do with their

gender. Gillian emphasizes on gender differences between two orientations. Morality of care
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interconnectedness and presumable emerges in girls. Girls are more connected in identify

information with their moms. Boys on the other hand, attach relations with their moms;

subsequent masculine identifies formations that boys separate relationships with their moms. No

matter what the gender, a student must understand how morality plays a big factor in their lives.

Teachers and parents need to instill morality in every student so their conscience of their actions.

Physical

Kindergarten students should be able to displace certain physical abilities independently

such as: walking up and down stairs, using the bathrooms by themselves, drinking water,

fastening their own clothes, and sitting in a certain place for at least fifteen minutes. Doctor

Rothberg says, Children in the pre-optional stage of development will experience their body

changing. Their arms and legs will stretch, catch up, and balance out their bodies.

Kindergarteners lose their body fat and their growth motor muscles expand which allows

the kids to play. Children at this age are expected to grow two-three inches in height a year.

Children will also experience losing their baby teeth. A major issue among children in

kindergarten is obesity. Obesity is becoming a tremendous concern with childrens health at such

a young age. Parents need to teach their children the importance of maintaining a healthy

lifestyle.

Rothenberg says, 13.5% of children who are diagnosed with obesity in preschool.

Obesity in children can lead to diabetes or risk of cardio vascular problems. Children, who are

overweight, may be bullied, teased, or ignored. Children who are obese can also be at risk for

self esteem issues, depression, or mental illness. Children in kindergarten will be taught a lot of

skills which will make them capable them to grow and participate in sports if they choose to.
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Physical education teacher will cover the following criteria during a school year:

balancing, eye and hand and coordination, special awareness, cooperative learning, jumping and

landing, pathway and direction, throwing and catching, and locomotive movement. All of the

above are vital skills that children need to know. These are all basic skill building tactics that will

improve over time. Children who enjoy participating in physical education might find joy in

playing sports. Getting a kindergarten student who is obese involved in a sport will eventually

develop their weight level and build a healthy metabolism. Also, it may help the child later in life

who wants to get involved with sports because their talents will be started at an early age that

will build up their skills and confidence level in themselves. Sports are a splendid way to get a

child to interact socially, emotionally, and physically. It can boost ones self-esteem in a great

way and give them the confidence they never had or ever wouldve had having not played sports.
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Work cited

Arnold, David. (1999). Promoting academic success and preventing

disruptive behaviors. Journal of community psychology , 1(1), 13.

Gilligan , Carol . (1998). Children Moral Reasoning. (1998). Children

development . New York: DCAP publishing.

Goldberg, Stan . (2005). Ready to learn your preschooler succeed . New

York: Oxford University Press.

Lilian G. Katz L. G. (1989). Pedagogical Issues In Early Childhood Education. ED 321

840.

Pekik and Hanewinkel . (1991). Cooperative learning in the early childhood classroom.

Washington, DC: National Education Association of the United States.

Winsler , Adam . (1997). George Mason University's Online Resources for

Developmental Psychology. (1997). Washington D.C: George Mason University's.