PEPSI SCREENING

PEPSI Screening
Angelina Tang
EDU 220
1 May 2016

PEPSI SCREENING

Biography of the child:

The child being observed is 10 years old and just happens to be my
cousin (male). He is in 5th grade and is pretty smart. I spent a lot of time with
him while he was growing up, up until I had to move here to Las Vegas. When
he started preschool, everything seemed to be fine with him. When he got to
elementary school, things slowly started to change a little. As school started
and he started getting homework, his parents and I both noticed that his
attention span was little to non-existent. It was me who had to sit with him to
do because the homework was in English and his parents do not speak or
understand it. What would normally take 20-25 minutes to complete was
taking a little over an hour to complete. As the years went on we started
noticing that his attention span was not only happening at home with
homework but it was also occurring in the classroom. His teachers were
sending notes home letting us know of the behavior that was going on. Some
of the teachers thought he may have a learning disability that led to him not
really caring about wanting to learn. He is a smart kid; he just gets distracted
very easily. Mom and dad talked to teachers and counselors about what the
issue may be, but there was no solution or help there. His parents started to
get worried and they were doing the best they could. Teachers and school
staff started saying maybe he had ADHD and that he seeks medical help. He
was put into an afterschool program which was said was going to help him
better understand concepts being taught and also receive help with his
homework, since mom and dad do not understand English. However, over

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the years the lack of help and the lack of want from the directors has led him
to just be in an afterschool fun program with little dedication to school
material and to help with homework. It is just a playtime program now. I have
seen for myself what the program consisted of when he was first enrolled
and what it is now as the years have gone by. I have talked to my aunt and
uncle about removing both of the kids from the program and writing a
complaint but both decided that if this year things did not work, the boys
would be removed.
Developmental Areas:
Physical Development
Mom and dad are concerned that Omar is spending way too much time
indoors watching T.V. They try to encourage him to go outside and play with
his younger brother who is 2 years younger than him. They live in a 3bedroom apartment so they really do not have a front or backyard. The little
area that they had to play and explore has been used to build new
apartment complexes. When he does choose to go outside, because he now
tries to make his own decisions, he likes to play soccer or anything that has
to do with moving a lot. According to WebMD, by this age many children
have good control of both large and small muscles and may have an interest
in activities that require coordinated physical skills- strength, endurance, and
balance. All of these are things that he enjoys doing. At 10 years of age, he is
standing at about 51. His parents (more so his mom) were concerned that

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he was this tall for his age. But looking down his dads family history, a lot of
his uncles are pretty tall.
Emotional Development
WhilespendingsometimewithOmar,Irealizedthatheisaveryemotionalkid.When
somethingdoesnotturnoutthewayhewantsorexpectshestartstogetfrustratedtothepoint
whereheisintears.HewasmakingadrawingofhisclassmascotandashewasdrawingIwas
justobservinghimnotreallysayingmuch.WhenIaskedhimwhatitwashelookedatmelikeI
wasdumb.Hethenproceededtotellme,andasIwastryingtounderstandIwasasking
questions.WellthemoreIaskedthemoreupsethewasandcrumpledhispaperandlefttohis
room.Hisparentsbecamealittleworriedwhentheysawthathewasshowingthissortof
behaviorbecauseofhisage.Chapter2ofourtextunderEriksonsstagesofpersonal
development,itstates,Failureneednotbereal;itmaybemerelyaninabilitytomeasureupto
onesownstandardsorthoseofparents,teachers,orbrothersandsisters(Slavin,50).Inoticed
thatwhenhehastheenergyandwantstobeoutside,helikestobearoundhisfriends.Every
onceinawhileIwouldlookoutandseehimbyhimselfbutforthemostparthewasaround
fellowneighbors.Ialsonoticedthathestartschallengingauthority;somethingIthoughtdidnot
happenuntilchildrenwereinlatemiddle/earlyhighschool.
PhilosophicalDevelopment
WhileIwasobserving,InoticedthatOmarlikestobreaktherulessometimes.Indoing
soIrememberedbacktochapter2inourtextaboutPiagetsstagesofmoraldevelopment.Omar
seemstobefallingundertheautonomousmoralitystageatthismoment.Ihaveseenhimalsodo
somethingthatisbadandkindoflaughaboutitwhenhegetscaughtandtellshismom,it

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wasntthatbad.Momdoesmostofthediscipliningheresincesheisaroundhimmoresothan
dadbecauseofwork.Heisnotnecessarilybeinginfluencedbyhispeers,buthedoesmakesome
ofhisdecisionsbasedonwhathethinkshisfriendsmaylike.InKohlbergsstagesofreasoning,
hefallsunderstages2and3.Hisdecisionschangeasheisexposedtomorepeersandbecomes
moresocial.Whenheisalone,herespectshisparentsandmakeschoicesthatwillhaveno
consequencessometimes.Piagetobservedthatchildrenatthisagetendtobasemoral
judgmentsontheintentionsoftheactorratherthanontheconsequencesoftheactions(Slavin,
52).Heknowstherearerulesbuthealsonoticingthathehasasayandisexperimentingwith
howfarhecangowithitandseeifitwillbenefithiminanywayasortofwhatsinitforme
stage(AskDrSears).
SocialDevelopment
Our text states Self-concept includes the way in which we perceive
our strengths, weaknesses, abilities, attitudes, and values. Self-esteem refers
to how we evaluate our skills and abilities (Slavin, 57). Omar knows what
some of his strengths are and they are not necessarily in academics. He
excels in extracurricular activities but does below average when it comes to
school. His social skills are definitely there. He does get a little embarrassed
when he is put on the spot but other than that you can say he is a social
butterfly. As he is exposed to more things out of the home, he becomes
influenced by his peers a little. According to Kidcentral children at this age
begin to develop their own point of view, which is sometimes different from
parents ideas, may be quite sensitive and overly dramatic, and like to do
things hands on and in groups. These are all things that I see Omar

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developing in. It should not be of a concern that there is a lack of growth in

this area.
Intellectual Development
According to Piagets stages of cognitive development, for Omars age
he should be in the concrete operational stage (Slavin, 33). Talking to my
aunt in regards of Omar she informed me that there are times when he does
not want to do anything because he just does not want to. There are other
times when hell ask his brother if he needs help with anything or wants to
do something. Although he is not the best when it comes to academics, he
excels in other areas of development. His thinking is decentered at times and
is a bit less egocentric. It takes him a few times to grasp information.
Sometimes I have to explain it to him in English first so he hears it and then
translate it into Spanish for him to better understand (Spanish is the primary
language spoken at home between parents and the children). There is a lack
of development in this area I think because he is trying to understand
concepts in both English and Spanish and it is just messing with his thinking.
His math skills are good but his English and writing skills not so much.
Development Graph:

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Figure1:Omarschartshowingwhereheliesinthedevelopmentalstages.Thisisjustbasedof
whatIhavegatheredfromobservinghimandnotesandchapterreadingputtogether.
Recommendations:
IfthereisanythingIhavelearnedfromobservingmycousin,itisthatdefinitelychildren
dodevelopatdifferentrates.Thereareareasinwhichheexcelsinandareasinwhichheneedsa
littlehelp.Idonotthinkthatthehelpheneedsisanysortofmedicalhelpbut,helpinregardsto

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gettingsomesortoftutoring.Whenhefirststartedwiththeafterschoolprogramhewasdoing
verywellwithhishomework,butinrecentyearstheinstructorshavechangedandsohasthe
courseoftheprogram.IthinkitisinOmarsbestinterestthatmomanddadpullhimoutofthe
programandlookforlikeaSylvanLearningCenterandenrollhimthereforwhathereallyneeds
helpin.
Asfortheteachers,IthinkOmarneedsalittlemorehelpandguidancewhenitcomesto
classwork.Youneedtogivehimcleardirectinstructionsinorderforhimtounderstandand
completetheassignments.Hetendstogetdistractedeasilyanditisuptotheteacheronhow
he/shehandlesthesituation.Yellingathimtellinghimtogetbackontrackisntgoingtodoit.
Findawaytointegratehimbackintotheconversationoractivity.Duringgroupactivities,give
himroleswherethereisnottoomuchresponsibilitybutthatheisstillcontributingtothegroup.

References
5StagesofMoralGrowth.AskDrSears.com.2016.Web.28April2016.
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/disciplinebehavior/moralsmanners/5stages
moralgrowthchildren#.

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Milestonesfora10yearoldTopicOverview.WebMD.WebMD,09September2014.Web.
27April2016.http://www.webmd.com/children/tc/milestonesfor10yearoldstopic
overview.
PiagetCognitiveStagesofDevelopment.WebMD.WebMD,07July2015.Web.27April
2016.http://www.webmd.com/children/piagetstagesofdevelopment?page=2.
SocialandEmotionalDevelopment:Ages810.Kidcentraltn.com.Web.29April2016.
https://www.kidcentraltn.com/article/socialandemotionaldevelopmentages810.
Slavin,R.E.(2015).EducationalPsychology:Theoryandpractice.(11thed.).pp33,50,52,57.
JohnHopkinsUniversity.Pearson.