School age 6-12 years

The child I observed was named Sabrina, age 9. She is a child that lives in my
neighborhood and generally can be found playing in the streets after school. In regards to
physical development Sabrina is about 110 and stands about 4'5". She classifies as overweight,
according to the Body Mass Index chart. "Childhood overweight is usually defined as a BMI
above the 85th percentile of children that age"(Berger, 2014, p247). In my observations of her, I
have also seen her family who also has BMI higher than "normal". This leads me to believe that
her physical development is highly influenced by genetics when it comes to weight. "More than
200 genes affect weight by influencing activity level, food preferences, body type, and
metabolism" (Berger, 2014, p248). I believe her case is dependent on metabolism rather than
activity level as she is rather active.
Sabrina demonstrates informal code when she interacts with children her age who are
also in our neighborhood. She can be heard saying things like "LOL" and "BFF" when playing
with other children. "Many children use code in text and speech dialect or vernacular (used on
the street) with numbers(411), abbreviations(LOL), and emoticons(:-D), as well as spelling that
teachers might mark wrong but that is pragmatic(r u ok?)"(Berger, 2014, 260). Sabrina also
displays multiple intelligences in my observations. I have noticed her engaging 5/9 of these
intelligences being linguistic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and naturalistic.
Although she has not displayed all of them, that doesn't mean they still aren't there. "Although
every normal person has some of all nine intelligences, Gardner believes each individual has
highs and lows" (Berger, 2014, p270).
Sabrina often compares herself to people around her or she knows of(like famous singers
or cartoon characters). She has talked about playing football and basketball with other children
but is sometimes shut down by the other children because "those sports are for boys". "Children
also compare themselves with peers of the opposite sex and become aware of gender
discrimination; for example , girls complain that they are not allowed to play tougher sports, and
boys complain how teacher favor the girls"(Berger, 2014, p286) Sabrina currently lives in an
extended family, with her grandmother, mother, and herself, all of course being three separate
generations. Her mother is disabled, so I am sure this affects family income and having an
extended family household can be beneficial to them. "Extended families save on housing costs,
and child care which makes them more common among low-income households and nations.

Sources
Berger, K.S.(2014).Invitation to the life span(2nd d.). New York, NY: worth publishers