Family Health Services: U3 Obs#3 (6-12 Years old)

Unit 4 Observation Paper

Class/section:

FHS 1500-004

Name:

Sandra Gaete Fuentes

Assignment:

Observation # 3

Background Information
Childs age:
Childs name:

7 Years old
Isabella

Location:
Heights, UT

The Gundersons house. 1700 E Fort Union Blvd. Cottonwood

Brief Description:

There were 2 girls and 5 boys; all neighbors at a birthday party;

all ages between 2 and 7.

Physical Development
Isabella is seven years old girl. She is from Mexican heritage, probably first
generation American. She is thin and seemed a little underweight for her age. She
was of a normal height for girls of her age. She was capable to perform various
physical activities; she runs, jump, ride bikes, squats, stands and pretty much
anything else. She had no disability or serious illnesses. Because she is from the
neighborhood, I learned she comes and plays outside most of the time. She also has
five more siblings, and apparently, they all seem to get a good amount of outside
time. I believe Isabella has a good health overall. I mostly saw her eating candy.
Sometimes she ate fruits. She liked juice over water. I believe she is not involved in
sports in school for what she was able to tell (Berger, 2014, p. 246).
Isabella fits many of the descriptions mentioned in the textbook about
physical development in middle childhood. She seems like a very strong girl,
healthy and full of energy. I dont believe Isabella does any school sports like said
before. Every day, she mentioned, she arrives home after school and comes directly
to the neighbors house to play with the boys. I do understand her siblings play
videogames at home and watch a great amount of TV. Even though, I can see
Isabella eating too much candy for her age, she is not overweight. However, she
does have a very developed pestering power when it comes to candy and sweets
(Berger, 2014, p. 248). I believe she is capable of self-care as well.

Family Health Services: U3 Obs#3 (6-12 Years old)

Cognitive Development
Isabella said she was in second grade. She is a girl that one is able to have a
conversations and can understand exactly what is asked. She says she has good
grades. When I asked her what subject she liked the most, she answer she liked
math. When I asked why, she replied because she wants to be smart. Isabella has a
smartphone and sometimes she was playing with it at the birthday party. She seems
like a very smart girl, but she becomes shy when you ask her important stuff like
has she done her homework or when asked the why of certain things. She was able
to read some things. She said she knows how to read, however she confused some
letters and some of the pronunciations. At home, I understand their first language is
Spanish and she speaks fluent English. I believe she has a good reaction time,
especially when its referenced to the book when to stay quiet or say a witty remark,
she did all of that(Berger, 2014, p. 256) .
I believe Isabella has a good memory. Sensory memory, working memory and
long-term memory work really well. I believe she has mastered the strategies to
remember information. She is able to recall things that happened time ago. I believe
Isabela has an extensive vocabulary. Like mentioned before, she is able to
understand a serous conversation and she is able to express herself very well. I
have seen Isabella using codes and changing style of speech between her peers
and other adults. When surrounded by kids her own age, she uses mostly slang and
informal English and Spanish. When surrounded by adult, she uses more formal
English and Spanish (Berger, 2014, p. 260).

Social/Emotional Development
Isabella is a very independent child. She is able to come to the neighbors
house through her yard or through the sidewalk that goes directly to the street
(Berger, 2014, p. 284). She has a younger sibling, and she cares for him sometimes.
They both go to the same school. Apparently, her family is from low SES. Her father
works, her mother stays home and cares for the house and all the children. Her
family shares the home with another family, probably because is easier to pay rent
and have a decent place to live. She can tell time partially well, she understood that
by eight she had to be back home. Talking to Isabella, she was able to tell me she
was bullied sometimes at school, and that she didnt have many friends. She played
alone at recess. I believe Isabella understands right from wrong, but I believe this
has been a culturally induced. Isabella was caught in some lies protecting her little
brother when he was trying to take a toy that didnt belong to him. She doesnt do
hard work or any child labor, but when asked she mentioned she helps her mom at
home most of the time.
I can see Isabella has self-acceptance (Berger, 2014, p. 285). . She voiced
several times that she can do different things and felt proud about it. It is hard to

Family Health Services: U3 Obs#3 (6-12 Years old)

describe family structure in Isabellas home, but I see she loves her mother and
father and her siblings as well. In the case of Isabellas morality, she could fall in
Kohlbergs three levels and six stages of moral reasoning. In my opinion, she would
be in level one, stage one.

Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.