Introduction As of the fall semester in 2013 for my school age practicum class 245, I worked on a case study of one

of the children in my practicum class. The child I chose was eight years old, male, in the second grade and had social issues at the beginning of the school year. Child As mother was very supportive of the idea of my case study. Child A had asked about what it was that he and I would be working on because he saw me hand permission form to his mother. After she had read the form she informed him that he was a, lab-rat, and that I would be watching him work like the scientists on TV. I quickly explained to Child A and his mother that he was not a lab-rat but I would be watching him as he developed academically. Social Emotional The beginning of my case study showed that Child A tended to keep to himself rather than interacting with the other students in his class. I asked Child A about his friends and he told me that most of his friends were in different classrooms. The same day I asked this question Mrs. Jones, his classroom teacher, decided to place the students into groups. Child A was placed into a group of five; himself, two other boys and two girls. After the change in seats, from rows to groups, Child A started to come out of his sell and continued to receive good grades on his school work. However, the school that Child A attends does not offer the option to skip grades until the third grade which would not be for another year. Child As mother has talked to me about this option and she has said that she probably will not allow Child A to skip a grade because then he would, be with children who have already started to mature and Child A will still be learning who he is and where he stands in life.

Personal Care Child A has only entered into the fourth stage of Erik Eriksons within the past two years; the fourth stage continues until puberty. Child A has already left the first three stages of trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt and initiative vs. guilt. I believe, from the knowledge I have gained in the four years I have been learning about early childhood, that Child A has left each stage with the positive rather than the negative. This fourth stage focuses on industry vs. inferiority; this is basically the time where children are learning their own capabilities. This stage is vital when it comes to developing self-confidence. (Erikson, 1994) Science The school had introduced a school garden found near the playground area. Child A was chosen one day to water the garden in the morning. He seemed to really enjoy being outside and working in a natural environment. During recess, when it is warm enough for the students to go outside, Child A tends to gravitate towards the garden area. I believe that he would do well with his own personal garden. English/Language Arts After, roughly, four weeks of my observation Child A felt comfortable enough to talk to me about different things and to sit with me during reading time. Reading time and free read seemed to be Laynes favorite times of the day. I spoke with multiple people in Child As life, such as previous teachers, friends, his mother and himself about Child As enjoyment in reading. I was told that he excelled in language arts subjects. After the beginning of the year testing it

showed that Child A was reading at a third grade to beginning fourth grade reading level. Child A has said that chapter books are his favorite books to read because, The stories last longer. I had asked his mother how she felt it would be best to encourage him and she told me that some sort of reward worked best when it came to Child A. I decided that giving him a higher level reading book would be the best reward to give him because most of the books offered in the classroom were only a second reading level. Social Studies I had a copy of the book Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and this book was suggest for third to fourth grade readers; I felt that this would be a good reward. Child As mother was very happy about the book going home because she encourages reading and reads with her children as much as she can. Child A himself enjoyed the book because it was slightly challenging to him and was as he called it, Super cool. He has dyslexia and ADHD but he saves the world! I had been unaware that his younger brother was thought to have dyslexia and was, at the time, having some tests run to see whether or not it was dyslexia or some slight mental delays. His mother spoke with me, on the phone, a few days after I had sent the book home and she told me that she had never heard of the book before but that she intended to start reading them all with her children to help them cope with the idea of dyslexia and to get them used to thinking in different ways. Mathematics Jean Piaget is an early childhood theorist that I like to use to figure out what stage of life a child is at. Jean Piagets developmental stages are set in the order that follows: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. The reason I look to

Piagets theory is because the ages he describes for each stage, while not set in stone, are very close to the ages given. Child A is in the concrete operational stage which starts roughly at six years of age and continues until early pubescence. This stage means that he is going from thinking in specifics to thinking in a general way. I have seen him using this type of thinking so I know that he is developmentally where Piaget would place him age wise. Child A was reading a book about alligators when he turned to me and asked, Did you know that alligators are a type of reptile? And that geckos are a type of reptile too? That means that Ares, thats my pet gecko, is related to alligators because theyre both reptiles.(Opper, 1987) About halfway through my case study of Child A I slightly regretted choosing him as my case study because he was so developmentally on point and his anti-social behavior had changed from reserved into a social butterfly. I felt as though my study would all be one note of him excelling in everything he did. After speaking with my professor I realized that I could show how he was advanced in his grade and reading level to a point where it had been considered to move him in grades within the next few years. Fine Arts Child As personality tends to boarder quiet and fidgety. He told me that he does not like sitting still and that he did not like talking because he would not hear what everyone else had to say. He also said that not talking made it easier for him to hear the teacher. His thoughtfulness intrigued me because most eight year olds do not think about being quieter so that others can be heard. I asked his mother about this and she said that Child A had always been a quieter and more thoughtful child. I think that his lack of speech is made up for when it comes to recess time or if someone asks him a question about a book. If either of these things happens to be in motion

he enjoys speaking. I believe that Child A is very passionate about books and might one day find a career having to do with reading or writing books. Physical Development Child A was always the first to volunteer to play games or do activities in gym class. He enjoyed jumping rope the most and would always get excited when the jumping ropes were put out to work with. He was a very active child in gym and at recess. He enjoyed playing basketball with other boys during recess. One time when he was playing basketball alone some boys from another class took the ball from him. He went to the teacher who had recess duty that day and told her what had happened. After the teacher had spoken to the boys about what they should have done instead of taking the ball from Child A, the boys and Child A started playing together. Final Assessment Summary As I finished up my last week of studying Child A I was told by his teacher that they would begin the middle of the year testing in a few weeks. I asked her if she thought Child A would still be where he needed to be and she told me that she would be, very surprised if his scores dropped below average. So I believe that he has maintained his above average scores and will continue to do so for the rest of the year. He continues to excel in the reading, English, language arts areas of the curriculum provided by the school.

Parent Teacher Conference https://www.dropbox.com/s/2wzs33zcqpl89iq/20131025_132929.mp4 Child A Reads A Book About Birds Of Prey https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5ujbjoyhncpn0r/20131031_100626.mp4 Child A Uses Fine Motor Skills To Make A Paper Fan https://www.dropbox.com/s/fs13897eghfrue7/20131031_111342.mp4 Child A Receives A Conduct Ribbon https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8hny13tg8rougs/20131031_131735.mp4

References Erikson, E. H. (1994). Identity and the Life Cycle. W. W. Norton & Company. Opper, S. (1987). Piagets Theory of Intellectual Development. Pearson.