Amy Judy

EDUC 200
Case Study
November 30, 2010

I:

GENERAL INFORMATION

II:

Name:
RYAN
Age:
8 years, 4 months
Birth date:
July 12, 2003
Resides with: Both mother and father
Siblings:
None
Physical description: Height: 4 foot, 4 inches Weight: 110 pounds, no birthmarks

BACKGROUND
I interviewed both his mother and father for the information contained in this section.

Birth weight: 6 pounds, 9.2 ounces. Mom experienced gestational diabetes with
pregnancy. She had to monitor her diet closely with very limited sugar intake. She stated
that she was in labor for 18 hours and had to be given a drug to jump start labor as the
babys heart rate significantly dropped just prior to her pushing. Doctor Wheeler had her
epidural turned off when the heart rate dropped.
AGES FOR DEVELOPMENTAL FIRSTS:

III:

Crawling: May 17, 2003, approximately 10 months. Mom says that Ryan only really
crawled one time, then he began pulling up on furniture.
Sitting: Sat up on his own by December 18, 2003 at 5 months of age.
Walking: June 4, 2003 at approximately 11 months of age. Walking all by himself on
July 3, 2003.
Talking: January 19, 2003 at 6 months of age he was saying Dada.
Toilet Training: Ryan was almost 3 years old before he was completely toilet trained.
His father was overseas with the military and his mother waited until he returned so that
he could assist with this.
PRE-SCHOOL HISTORY

When I interviewed Ryans mother about his preschool history I found out that his father
was deployed overseas with the military at the time Ryan was about 18 months of age and
returned just after Ryan had turned 3 years old. Ryans mother stated that this time was
particularly hard on her, but Ryan really doesnt remember anything. Ryans mom did not have to
work and considers it a real privilege that she got to spend her time with Ryan through his early
years of life. She did state that she relied heavily on her parents for help with Ryan. They would

assist her with things like taking Ryan to doctors appointments or watch him when she just
needed a break. Thusly, Ryan developed a close relationship with his grandparents that continues
today.
At 4 years of age, Ryan attended pre-school at Alderson. Ryan enjoyed going to school
after overcoming his separation anxiety from his mother. He was able to socialize with his
classmates. During this time, according to his mother, Ryan had a difficult time expressing his
emotions of sadness and anger. Ryans father suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after
returning home from Iraq, and has tendencies of becoming overwhelmed which leads to yelling,
or often times either throwing or kicking objects when he becomes frustrated or angry. When
Ryan started having tantrums, he would mimic his father and yell and throw things too. Ryans
mother continues to work with Ryan on how to express his emotions in a more productive
manner and Ryans father has sought treatment for this to try to stop this cycle.
By the end of pre-school Ryan was able to hold a pencil and write his first name. When I
asked mom if she had considered holding Ryan back another year before enrolling him into
kindergarten due to his age and date of birth (July 2003) she said, rather forcefully, no!
IV:

SCHOOL HISTORY

Ryans mother enrolled him in Smoot Elementary School at the age of 5, even though the
kindergarten teacher suggested to her that it would probably be in his best interest to sit out
another year to allow for further developmental growth and maturity. Mom stated that she was
very adamant in the fact that Ryan attend kindergarten when he was 5, so against the advice she
had received, she enrolled him. According to Ryans mother, he was successful in kindergarten
and proceeded to the first grade. In first grade things went well for Ryan up until the middle of
the school year. Ryans teacher had approached his mother saying that Ryan wasnt completing
his assignments. He would answer one or two of the questions, but then just quit. Mom is unsure
why that happened. She told me that she worked very diligently every night after school that year
to get him caught up with his class. She felt as if he was capable of doing his work, but lacking
in motivation. He struggled with reading and particularly math, but was able to move forward to
the second grade. In the second grade mom saw Ryan developing a bad attitude towards school.
He would tell her that he didnt like school and sometimes he would get very upset and cry in the
mornings before going to school. Mom chalks this up to the poor relationship that Ryan had with
his second grade teacher, she also indicated that there was a huge lack in parent/teacher
communication and Ryan struggled more so with math than any other subject. By the end of that
school year Ryan absolutely disliked school and his teacher, but on a positive note he moved
onto the third grade and joined Cub Scouts which helped him meet new friends and get to know
his fellow classmates to develop his peer relationships.
Ryan is currently in the third grade and has done a complete 360 in his attitude towards
school. Although his mother and his teacher have to keep him motivated to do his work, he no
longer cries in the mornings before coming to school. Upon speaking to Tina Coughlin, Ryans
teacher, she stated that Ryan still struggles with his math lessons more so than anything. She also
finds it difficult to keep Ryan motivated to do his work. She feels as if she had to constantly
stand over Ryan to make sure he is completing his assignments. Ryan presents no discipline
problems in class. Mrs. Coughlin had given him a red slip for excessive talking before, but that
is the extent of his negative behaviors. Mrs. Coughlin also noted that Ryan has many friends

within his class; however, she had noticed that he will occasionally have difficulty with taking
turns or sharing with his peers.
V:

OBSERVATIONS OF CHILD

I began my observations of Ryan in September 2010 when I attended a Labor Day picnic
at his home. Ryans mother and father were there as well as a few of his cousins. I spoke with
Ryan briefly because he was too busy playing football with his family. I asked him how he
thought school was going so far. I was happy to hear that he was excited to be in the third grade
and so far, he liked his teacher. Ryan had fun playing with his cousins, but I did note when one
cousin wanted to quit football and play something else, Ryan wasnt too happy. He pouted for a
while, but got over it. Ryan also didnt share his toys without being prompted to do so by his
mother. I never heard him say please or thank you or use any manner for that matter.
My next observation of Ryan was at the school on October 15, 2010 for the fall festival.
He was in a very good mood and enjoyed playing the different games that were set up for the
students. He was with a group of his friends and they all stayed together as they walked around
the school gym winning different prizes.
On October 29, 2010, I helped the third grade prepare for the annual Halloween parade.
Of course the entire class was wound up and it was very noisy. I helped Ryan finish putting his
costume on, didnt receive a thank you and we headed out to the parade line up. The parade was
about a mile long, and about of the way through, Ryan was pretty fatigued. He had removed
his mask and his cheeks were flushed. I just wonder how much physical activity he is exposed
too. Later that evening was the Cub Scouts Halloween party. Ryan had decided to change
costumes and was an army guy, just like his dad. It is quite obvious that Ryan looks up to his
father and wants to be like him. He had a good time eating pizza, candy, and playing games with
his friends. I did note that Ryan seemed very impatient and even cut the line to get to the front a
few times when waiting to play a certain game.
November 9, 2010, I was in the classroom today and assisted the students in purchasing
books at the book fair. Ryan purchased a few books and seemed genuinely excited about getting
to read them. I also stayed and ate lunch with the third grade. Ryan had cold lunch that day and
doesnt really talk much during lunch time. A few of his friends sat with him, but he didnt pay
much attention to them either.
On November 10, 2010, I went to the schools Veterans Day program. I knew that this
would be a big day for Ryan as his father in an Iraq War Veteran and was scheduled to be there to
be recognized for his service. I went to the third grade classroom to speak to Ryan. He was at his
desk finishing coloring a heart that said I love the USA. He told me he was going to give it to
his father. When we walked into the gym for the program, I literally saw Ryans eyes light up. He
is very proud of his father, and says that one day he wants to join the Army and protect our
nation. He shook his dads hand and for the first time I heard Ryan say thank you.
November 12, 2010, I was able to observe Ryan in the classroom. Right off the bat, I
noticed that instead of writing down his new list of spelling words, he was up, out of his seat,
sharpening his pencil, and then he went and got something out of his book bag. When he finally
sat down to do spelling it was time to move onto the next subject. Mrs. Coughlin does her best to
try to keep Ryan on task, but she cant stand over him constantly.

I was able to do a reading with a small group of third grade students. Mrs. Coughlin gives
each student the option of passing if they do not want to read aloud. Ryan was in my group and I
could only get him to read one or two sentences aloud. He is a good reader, just lacking in selfconfidence. I did notice that during the social studies lesson, again, Ryan wasnt on task, so I
went over and got his social studies book out for him so that he could follow along. Im not sure
if this helped, or just made him mad, but he did pay closer attention.
Computer lab equals controlled chaos. The third grade students were writing their first
story to submit to West Virginia Writes. The topic was The Perfect Day. I am not sure how Mrs.
Coughlin does it, everyone had a question. I was able to help, but the students are supposed to
write their story all by themselves to be accessed. Ryan told me that he was having trouble
coming up with ideas so on scratch paper we did some brainstorming on his idea of a perfect day.
He was able to come up with the required three different ideas for his story. I hope he does well!
All in all Ryan is a good kid; I think that he lacks motivation to do his school work. Mrs.
Coughlin says that she hates to label students as lazy, but Ryan can often times appear to be lazy
and she has had to find different incentives to keep him on task, and for now they seem to be
working. I will continue to volunteer in her class, I have really enjoyed meeting all of her
students, and I want to continue to monitor Ryans successes.
IV:

SUMMARY

In my observation of Ryan at his home and in a school setting I did see him using
symbols while engaged in play, Piagets second stage of cognitive development, pre-operational
thought. At school during recess I observed Ryan with a group of three or four other boys. I
heard Ryan say that he would be the robber this time, but he wanted to be a cop the next time.
Cops and robbers, a game that even I used to play with my brothers. They used their fingers for
guns and took off running around the playground. Ryan had to take a break after one round of
the game. His cheeks were flushed and he appeared to be out of breath. Im not a doctor, but
Ryan does seem to be overweight for his age.
In the classroom, Ryan isnt very vocal. I had observed Ryan in his social studies class,
which is something they do in the mornings. Im not sure if Tyan caught any of the lesson as he
was up wondering around the classroom. He sharpened his pencil, went and got something out of
his backpack, then finally when he did sit down he didnt even crack his social studies book. In
comparison, when I observed Ryan in his home environment I noticed that he didnt have many
responsibilities, such as picking up his toys or taking his dishes into the kitchen when he was
finished eating. His mother cleans up behind him, and he knows she does. This was obvious at
the Labor Day picnic that I attended. Every toy, every cup and plate he used, he would just walk
away and like clockwork, mom came behind him to pick up after her son. Ryan has no siblings
and I can see that his mom does most everything for him. The entire point that I am trying to
make with these two observations is that since Ryan is babied at home, I wonder if his lack of
responsibility had affected him at school, and example of Lev Vygotskys sociocultural view of
cognitive development. In addition, I have also noticed a lack of general manners such as saying
please and thank you, or excuse me if you burp. Maybe the burping is just a boy thing, but not
saying please and thank you, I confess that I was disappointed. The one thing that I did see Ryan
do for himself was when he became hungry, he went into the kitchen and fixed himself some
microwavable macaroni and cheese.

Ryan has struggled in math previously and although Mrs. Coughlin has seen some
improvements, when solving word problems Ryan has a great deal of difficulty. When I worked
with him one day, I figured out that Ryan is a visual learner, he needs to see objects before him,
not just read about them in the problem. By using a few Lego blocks, he was able to see the
addition or subtraction word problem and find the solution.
I was also fortunate enough to work with a small group of students in reading. Ryan was
in my group. Mrs. Coughlin was specific with her instructions as she will allow a student to say
pass if they do not wish to read aloud. As we went around our circle taking turns reading, Ryan
would only read one or two sentences then say pass. Perhaps the story didnt interest him;
perhaps he wasnt having a good day. Mrs. Coughlin stated that she has a difficult time keeping
Ryan on task, and believes that he is a bit lazy. I wondered about that too. Again, could it be
because Ryan isnt responsible for his own belongings, let alone any chores? Something else that
crossed my mind is the fact that Ryans birthday is July 12 th, and his mother, against advice from
the kindergarten teacher, sent him to school anyway. Could this account for his immaturity? My
fear for Ryan is that when or if a teacher decides to retrain him it will be in the seventh or eighth
grade, which will be a huge blow to his self-esteem.
In conclusion, Ryan can be a very sincere, sweet child. I know that he is fully capable of
learning; it is just a matter of trying different techniques to help him see the problem and/or
keep him on task. The level of immaturity and lack of responsibility concerns me, and I sincerely
hope that these issues are dealt with by his parents sooner rather than later.