EDUC 121-Child and Adolescent Development

MyVirtualChild Report
Name Ashlee Karsteter

Date 10/23/2014

MyVirtualChild- Report 2-Early Childhood (Age 3-4)

General guidelines: Answer to the questions below for your report. Describe the childs
behavior and provide 1 or 2 supporting examples. In addition, wherever possible, you
should relate your descriptions and explanations of the childs behavior to the concepts,
theories and research covered in class or in the book. Try to base your arguments on
research studies and conclusions, or a theory that seems well supported by the research in
the field. The questions are below with scoring criteria following the questions.
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? Refer to
the book and lecture where needed. (2 points)
Kennedy and our family have been attending Mommy and me classes, however
she has started to outgrow those. Now that she is becoming older, she is involved in
dance class with other children her age. Together, as a family, we enjoy taking walks
around the neighborhood and sometimes, Kennedy rides her tricycle along. She truly
enjoys the park: climbing, running, and swinging.
2. Describe the development of your childs language and cognitive skills and discuss
how these might be affecting his or her interactions with you & your responses.
Refer to the text or lecture for descriptions and explanations of each area of skill. (2
points)
My childs language skills are much advanced for her age. In part, I do believe
that is due to having read to her since she was in the womb. Additionally, I believe that
her advanced language and cognitive come from the encouragement we show in playing
and speaking in a more advanced way. We have encouraged that growth. It is nice to be
able to communicate better with her. Once in a while, she will use overregulation, but we
simply restate what she has said so that she does hear the correct terminology. When she
does use a grammatical morpheme, my husband and I restate the sentence that she has
said and then continue on with our conversation. We are sure to speak slowly so that she
hears the correct syntax formed. The only downfall to her speech and cognitive
development, although she does have a balance between the two, Kennedy does tend to
speak more with a referential style rather than expressive.

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 these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?
Refer to the text or lecture as needed. (2 points)
Kennedy just had her Kindergarten screening and the examiner was very
impressed at her young age, she held the ability to all social problems she saw. Kennedy
made several little friends and talks vastly about the children in her class at preschool.
The only social issues that have come out, at all, are the ones that happen occasionally at
my home. I do believe this is due to the new baby that we have. At times, Kennedy does
not feel she gets enough attention. So, in turn, she regresses in her behavior. When this
occurs, I recognize Kennedy needs more attention. And rather than acknowledging the
regressed behavior or acting like a baby, I simply include her in activities more and set
aside more time one-on-one with her. This fixes the problem immediately.
4. How would you characterize your 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? (2 points)
I would describe my parenting style as being authoritative. During her
Kindergarten report, the examiner made comment that based on the responses we gave,
we were in the top fifteen percent for warmth and understanding. But also, she made
remarks, that we were in the top 25 percent for discipline and control. She suggested we
keep doing what we are doing. Kennedy is a very happy, healthy little girl who is a very
well behaved child with dreams.
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). Refer to the book or lecture. (4 points)
We have a new baby in the house and I was really worried about how Kennedy
might react. For the most part, she does exceptionally well taking due care and interest in
the baby. Her new-found ability to reason has been a great help to this. She understands
that if we are playing and the baby is crying, we have to stop for a second. The baby
needs something and then we will resume. It has been a balancing act to make sure
Kennedy receives enough one-on-one attention, but she does reason with us very well for
a four year old. She knows we have to try everything on our plates at dinnertime so that
we are healthy and strong. She is a picky eater, but she does try.
Kennedy can now hold an at-depth conversation with adults. For the most part,
she stays focused and understands turn-taking very well. My child understands that
communication happens through the development of language and cognitive skills. She
is working on the correct usage of the be verbs with few grammatical morphemes. She

does talk a little to the referential style side of the coin instead of expressive; this may be
due to the fact that while we used infant-directed speech in her younger days, we always
spoke with clear thoughts.
Kennedy is a hands-on learner, for sure! She very much enjoys asking questions
and then discovering. We have recently started taking her to the Childrens Meuseum,
Zoo, Nature Hikes, Aquarium, etc. for her to learn and discover. Through these
discoveries, she is learning greatly about the world around her and the various organisms
that come to play.
6. How would you characterize your childs personality? Would you say that your
child is primarily over controlled, under controlled or resilient? Support your
argument. Recall that the Virtual Childs behavior at age 3 and 4 is designed to
resemble one of three personality types. The personality types combine some of the
temperamental traits with which you are already familiar. The over controlled
category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, but is shy in
social situations and anxious and clingy under pressure. The under controlled
category refers to a child who is uncooperative or even aggressive, does not follow
the rules, may or may not be shy in social situations, and has a tendency to become
distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under stress. The resilient
category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, is friendly, nonaggressive and outgoing, able to focus on tasks without being too distracted, has
good regulation of his or her emotions, and is adaptable to new situations. Refer to
the course reader and lecture. (2 points)
My child, I am proud to say, is resilient. She is well behaved, but is very friendly
in social situations making friends quite easily. During her Kindergarten screening, the
examiner was highly impressed by her young age, and her ability to do and complete
anything that she was asked. Rarely do we have an outburst of misbehavior, as we are
consistent with our child. She knows and understands the rules and does not break them.
They are age appropriate and we have no problems. As she gets older, she is becoming
more outgoing and developing more friendships. My husband and I are encouraging
those developments while fostering time in which she can spend with her friends; either
at our home or play dates in the park.
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? Refer to the book or lecture with regard to reasons for
continuity or discontinuity. (4 points)
Kennedy has shown continuity in her personality development by being
communicative and verbal. She has always been ahead of the game in language and
cognitive development. She will talk to whoever will listen and can hold a conversation
she has been able to do that for a while now, beyond the development curve. I believe
this is due to the encouragement we have given her to continue the language

development. Just because she was advanced in the department- we, as parents, did not
stop reading, exploring, and communicating.
She has shown discontinuity in her behavior around strangers and animals,
especially dogs. At one time, Kennedy was terrified of all dogslarge or small. After the
advice of the pediatrician, we worked with Kennedy on her fear, and now we have a dog.
We eased her into dogs starting with the little ones that appeared that she could control
easier. Her apprehension around unknown people has passed as well. We have talked
and demonstrated that mom and dad would not leave her in the care of someone we did
not trust. Occasionally, she begins to act shy, but warms up quickly without problem.
Unlike her screams for hours on end in the previous years, the social anxiety seems to be
diminished. I believe this behavior changes comes after the care and concern
demonstrated by those around her. We sought answers and acted appropriately.
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?
Alternatively, if you are familiar with a different culture (e.g., you or your parents
were raised in a country outside America with a very different culture), 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 any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural
background or other experiences. Describe the rationale for your claim, and the
source of your information (book or lecture, or your own experience growing up at
least partially within a particular culture).
(4 points)
I grew up in a very American culture setting. My mother is an elementary teacher
while my father is a mortician. We were your typical middle class family. We went to
preschool, but did not stay for daycare. My mother had us watched in a home by one of
her close friends during the school year. My parents were very authoritative. We knew
was expected and my parents did not take no for an answer. They recognized that you
did not always succeed at a task the first time, and as long as you were providing effort
they were okay with that. From an early age, my mother taught me how to communicate
well with people, especially little ones. My brother and I were taught to be able to get
along with anyone, and that concept has helped us growing up. The other thing my
parents taught me was the importance of understanding how a child develops so that you
can set fair expectations for that person. Because of how my parents taught me, I feel
that MyVirtual Child is healthy, happy and content. Just as I was when I was little. All
her needs are provided for and she knows that. My husband and I are warm and
comforting when need be, but also have expectations and rules that Kennedy must meet.
This is due to how my parents taught me how to parent. But more importantly, my
parents taught me how to be an active, productive member of society who is happy and
healthy. That is what I hope to teach my children. In America, unlike other cultures, we

treat children with respect first if we expect them to give it to the adults. They must first
be shown what respect is.