EDUC 121-Child and Adolescent Development

MyVirtualChild Report
Name ________Delani Strub_________

Date____Nov 18, 2014___________

MyVirtualChild-Middle Childhood (Age 6-11)-Report 3

1. Based on the evidence from age 6 and 8 years, how well is your child adapting to the
school social environment and to the peer group? To what extent does this adaptation
seem to depend on personality characteristics that are fairly stable in your child, and to
what extent does your child seem to be developing novel behavior to cope with these new
situations? Refer to the textbook for particular points about the responses of children in
this age group to the peer group and the school environment. (2 points)
a. From the evidence, he is doing quite well with adapting to social environments.
He is less impulsive than he was in preschool and more social in his school. He is
less aggressive as well.
2. How smart is your child, and in what areas? Refer to the summary of multiple
intelligences that appeared at age 6 and to sections of your textbook and the course reader
article on multiple intelligences. Find specific evidence regarding your child's verbal,
logical mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your
observations of your own child as well as the psychologist's report at age 8 years, 11
months and explain how it ties in to the your course reading material. (2 points)
a. My child is above average in nearly all aspects of school such as language arts,
math, and science. He loves science and does lots of after school activities within
the subject area. In math, he is two grades ahead of his peers. In verbal
comprehension, he is doing well but is still above average. I believe this has to do
with my parenting in that I let Derek choice what he wants to read and what areas
he wants to learns more in at home.
3. Describe some examples of your child's behavior or thinking that you think are due to
typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so, referring to the
text and lectures regarding gender roles and sex differences in behavior. Several examples
can be found in the Virtual Child program at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude
toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a
discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e.g., cultural background, attitudes of your
own parents, etc.)? (2 points)
a. Derek is kind of following gender stereotypes but I try not to reinforce that. He
does hang out with more boys and is doing mostly manly things but he also
likes to play with his sister, where I try to get him to do thing she wants to do.
Personally, I dont like to follow gender role stereotypes and I believe that gender
roles arent really all that important. This comes from my experiences where my
sister broke gender roles and participated in a typically all-male sport, wrestling,
and where she also wanted to be an engineer.

4. Describe changes in your childs academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how
well these skills are developing. If your child has any problems that affect school work,
such as dyslexia, ADHD, or low levels of verbal, mathematical/scientific or spatial
ability. Describe these problems and explain what you and the teachers are doing about
them. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate
your own observations. If your child doesnt have any academic difficulties, describe
what you are doing any way to help your child do well in math/science and literacy
(reading, writing and communicating). (4 points)
a. The only thing my child is low in is music and I believe that is to do with not
really reinforce the need for it. He is great in math and science because he loves it
and I try to take him places like the Natural History and Science Museum. I also
try to help him research things that he finds interesting on the internet or within
books. With literacy, I try to read books that he is reading, so that we can talk
about them together , and I also try to suggest books that I think might interest
him.
5. 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 that have become apparent
between 6 and 10 years of age? (some possibilities include internalizing and externalizing
problems, ADHD, and obesity). Why do you think these problems are occurring and what
are you doing about them? (2 points)
a. He can become stressed and upset easily when he believes something isnt done
right. This might have to do with my high expectation for him and that I believe
he can do better. He may believe that his best is the only best because thats all he
knows.
6. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has
changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture
notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood. (2
points)
a. I dont believe my parenting has change. The only thing would have changed in
the inclusion of my daughter, Jasminda. I want to have Derek include her as much
as possible with his activities with his friends.
7. Has your childs personality type changed since age 4? Are there any personality traits
and abilities on which your child closely resembles you? Describe two of them. Do you
think this comes about because of a genetic resemblance (i.e., your questionnaire
responses) or some consistent practices youve followed in your parenting? For example,
if you and your child are both highly open to experience, and you took every available
opportunity to explore new things with your child, is it possible youve taught your child
to be open to experience? (4 points)
a. His personality hasnt changed all that much with the only change being his
aggression which has majorly declined. Since he started elementary school, he is
most outgoing in that he likes to hang out with his friends. This probably has to

do with my trying to get him less aggressive by having a lot of playdates as he

grew up.
b. He is like me in that he is good at math and I think thats it. This may have to do
with me trying to get him more active within his social circle where as I was a
total loner in elementary school. He is different than me because that what I want
him to be because I grew up with like two or three close friend and I believe that
hindered my growth in most social aspects of life and I want my children to be
different that I was and reach their full potential.
8. In what ways have factors from Microsystems outside the family, from the mesosystem,
and the exosystem possibly influenced your childs development at ages 6, 8 and 10?
Find four examples of such influences and make clear why you believe they should be
categorized at the particular level you chose within Bronfenbrenners model. For
example, you could choose two microsystems (e.g., classroom and peer group), one
mesosystem (parent-peer relations or parent teacher relations) and one exosystem
(something affecting the parent directly but the child only indirectly, through the parent.
(4 points)
a. Factors that affected my child come from all sorts of places. In school, he has
friends that affect him socially because they talk about things and do things that I
may or may not think are appropriate for their age group. His friends parents may
let them watch things I may deem inappropriate for them but that they think is
acceptable. Outside of school, I take him to museums, parks, and other places to
help him understand things he is interested in which fosters learning. I also try to
get him to hang out with his sister when he is out with his friends and doing
activities she can do. I help with literacy by reading the same books as him and
have discussion about those books and also suggesting books he may like both
fiction and non-fiction. So there are many factor that affect Derek as he grows up
and they may or may not be helpful for his future endeavors but for right now, he
needs to be well rounded.