A Case Study of a Child

Age 8
Kacie Gottenborg
EDU 220-1001-1002
 Typical Physical Behaviors for Boys and Girls
• Growth rate slows

• Requires around eleven hours of sleep each night

• Needs frequent rest

• Establishes preference for one side of the body over the other

• Has established which hand to use

• Girls mature faster than boys

• Coordination is not fully developed

• They run, jump, slide, climb, and dance

• They play ball, tag, and catch

• They dress and undress themselves completely

Child Development Institute (2015)

Typical Physical Development by Snowman
• Extremely active

• Energy is often released in the form of nervous habits, such as pencil chewing,
fingernail biting, and fidgeting

• Becomes easily fatigued

• Needs rest periods after strenuous activities and mental exertion

• Large-muscle control is superior to fine coordination

• Excellent control of their bodies and develop a high confidence level in their
skills, resulting in more dangerous activity

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

 The 8-year-old’s Physical/Behavioral
Characteristics That I Observed
The 8-year-old girl I observed is in third grade and fits
the typical pattern of physical/behavioral development.
She is very active and often times has trouble sitting still,
which results in her fidgeting a lot. It’s typical of her to
play with her hair or put her feet on the table when she
is sitting for long periods of time. She is very lean due to
her extreme physical activities and loves to play outside,
especially during recess at school. Also, she is slightly
taller than most boys in her class. She has no trouble
falling asleep at night because of how active she is during
the day. I believe it would diminish her spirits if she were
to be forced to stay in the same place for too long. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Overall, she seems to be developing normally for

children her same age.
 Physical Development Recommendations
• Assist in changes to activity to avoid over-exhaustion and be aware of the child’s
physical limits
• Be patient. The child may not be unhappy or dissatisfied, but is going through a stage
• Provide opportunities and materials for drawing and printing because although many
children, especially boys, have difficulty manipulating a pencil, drawing and printing
interests them
• Keep a first-aid kit handy because they are destined to try more dangerous activities
• Do not draw attention to awkwardness
• Do not force children to stay seated for too long and promote small activity to keep
them moving throughout the day

University of Washington. (1993)

 Typical Emotional Behaviors of 8- year-old
Boys and Girls
• May complain a lot

• May withdraw or not interact with others, in an attempt to build a sense of self

• More settled and quiet

• Worries about many things

• Girls show more fear than boys

• Is fearful of being alone

Child Development Institute (2015)

University of Washington. (1993)
 Typical Emotional Development by Snowman

• Sensitive to criticism and ridicule

• May have difficulty adjusting to failure

• Eager to please

• Sensitive to the feelings of others

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-NC-SA

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

The 8-year-old’s Emotional Characteristics
That I Observed

The 8-year-old girl I observed fits some of the typical emotional

characteristics for her age group. She is very sensitive to
criticism and requires a lot of positive praise. She is not a
sarcastic young girl in fact, she is very mature for her age and
acts like a young adult. She enjoys helping around the house,
always has her homework done when she is supposed to, and
enjoys having the responsibility of keeping her room clean and
also, keeping an eye on her younger brother. Although she is
typical in these aspects, she is atypical when it comes to the
possibility of being reserved and quiet or not interacting with
others. She has many friends, is very out-going and talkative,
and in my observation of her, I believe she has no fear because
she is always wanting to try new, challenging things.
 Emotional Development
Recommendations
• Provide sympathy

• Provide support and reassurance

• Provide positive reinforcement and avoid sarcasm and ridicule

• Assign jobs that promote responsibility since 8-year-olds are eager to please

• If teasing occurs between children, explaining to them how much it hurts the
other person’s feelings and asking them to imagine how they would feel if
someone were doing the same to them might help

• Show sensitivity

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

University of Washington. (1993)
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017)
 Typical Cognitive/Intellectual Behaviors
• Eager for learning; uses reflective thinking

• Good attention span

• Can solve more complex problems

• Has hobbies

• Likes to collect things

• Favors reality

• Likes to be challenged, work hard, and enjoys taking the time to complete a task

University of Washington. (1993)

 Typical Cognitive/Intellectual Development by
Piaget and Vygotsky

• According to Piaget, a child 8 years of age is in the concrete operational stage.

Children are capable of mentally reversing an action but only from things they’ve
directly experienced (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013, p. 27)
• Peer interaction is more likely to stimulate cognitive development than
interactions with adults
• According to Vygotsky, how we think is both from social and cultural forces.
Typically, a child’s thought process is shaped to reflect the culture’s values
(Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013, p. 32)
• Culture passes on important psychological tools and children gain more knowledge
by what is taught to them by those who are more knowledgeable, rather than
interacting with peers who have the same intellectual abilities

(Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013)

 The 8-year-old’s Cognitive/Intellectual
Characteristics That I Observed
The 8-year-old I observed is very smart. I would
constantly catch her thinking quietly to herself
and it was a wonderful thing to witness. With the
wheels spinning in her brain, I know there was
problem solving and creative thinking going on in
her mind. Just like Piaget’s Cognitive Theory, I did
notice she is unable to see the alternatives in
certain aspects of her every day life. She is unable
to see the other side of a situation unless she has
experienced it personally. Even so, she has a great
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
memory, is an excellent reader, and enjoys under CC BY-NC-ND

learning. She also has an impressive stuffed

animal collection that she favors and likes to re-
organize and make neat every day.
 Cognitive/Intellectual Development
Recommendations
• Ask thought provoking questions

• Stimulate thinking with group discussions, riddles, thinking games, and open-ended stories

• Let the children make decisions

• Encourage them to pursue hobbies and interests

• Give them biographies and stories dealing with reality to read

• Challenge them and give an appropriate amount of time to finish tasks

• Have conversations with them

• Respond to them in a predictable way

University of Washington. (1993)

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017)
 Typical Psychosocial/Social Behaviors

• Avoid and withdraw from adults

• Prefers more responsibility and independence
• May be aggressive in order to solve problems
• Participates in loosely organized group play

University of Washington. (1993)

 Typical Psychosocial/Social Development by
Erikson
• According to Erikson, personality development occurs
in stages as one successfully completes a series of
psychosocial crises. At the age of 8, a child is in the
Industry Versus Inferiority stage. At this stage, as long as
a child is encouraged to do things well, helped to
persevere, given time to finish tasks, and praised for
trying, industry will result. But if the child is criticized
too often or unsuccessful in their efforts, feelings of
inferiority will result (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013,
p. 19) This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-
SA
• Avoid competition with a limited number of rewards

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

 The 8-year-old’s Psychosocial
Behaviors/Characteristics That I Observed
The 8-year-old girl I observed enjoys activities with her
peers. Often times, when she is in a small group of kids her
age, she tends to take the lead. At times, this results in
coming off rude or even bossy to those around her. She
does not intentionally do this; however, she just naturally
likes the responsibility of being the person in charge.
Although it may be typical for an 8-year-old to withdraw
from adults or even avoid them, this is not the case for her.
She loves spending time with her parents, follows the
house rules, and has a true appreciation for everyone she
meets. She enjoys asking adults questions and wants to
retain any information she can in order to make herself
smarter and more aware to the world around her.
 Psychosocial/Social Development
Recommendations
• Be understanding and show concern

• Assign responsibilities and tasks, then praise the them for their
efforts and accomplishments for attempting/completing those
assigned responsibilities

• Create routines and make rules at home

• Encourage social interaction when deemed appropriate

• Encourage nontraditional gender-based activities

University of Washington. (1993)

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017)
Typical Moral/Character Behaviors

• May experience guilt and shame

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

University of Washington. (1993)

 Typical Moral/Character Development by
Kohlberg
• Kohlberg believed that moral reasoning continues through fixed stages and moral
development can be learned quickly through instruction (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013, p.
41)

• 8-year-olds are in the first 2 stages of moral reasoning called preconventional morality
because Kohlberg believed that young children do not understand the rules or customs of
society

• Stage 1: Punishment-obedience orientation – “You might get caught.” (Snowman, J. & McCown,
R. 2013, p. 41). The consequences of an action determine whether it is good or bad

• Stage 2: Instrumental relativist orientation – “You shouldn’t steal something from a store, and
the store owner shouldn’t steal things that belong to you.” Obedience to laws should involve an
even exchange. (Snowman, J. & McCown, R. 2013, p. 42)

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013)

The 8-year-old’s Moral Behaviors/Character
That I Observed
The 8-year-old girl that I observed realizes very well that
when she doesn’t do what she is supposed to do there will
be consequences to her actions. She also knows when she
follows the rules she is given, she will benefit from
obeying those rules. When she cleans her room and
watches her younger brother, her parents offer incentives
that she never hesitates to grab. She either gets a little bit
of allowance money, gets an extra snack, or extra play time
outside. These incentives are the driving force for her to
do good. She would prefer to follow the rules and be
responsible, rather than constantly getting in trouble.
 Moral/Character Development
Recommendations

• Acknowledge and support the child’s standards

• Discuss reasonable expectations you require of the child

• Don’t let the child be hard on them self

• Rather than their behavior, focus on their worth; then work on changing the bad
behavior

University of Washington. (1993)

 References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Child Development. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/facts.html (Links to an
external site.)

Child Development Institute (2015). The Ages and Stages of Child Development.
Retrieved from
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/ages-stages/#.WR3Id_QrLrc

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

University of Washington. (1993). Child Development: Using the Child Development Guide.
Retrieved from
http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev
/cd06.htm