PEPSI Case Study:

Understanding the Five Areas of Child Development

College of Southern Nevada
May 11th, 2019
 Abstract
Children are constantly developing. It is important for educators to be able to identify
and understand the different stages of child development. In this paper I will discus the
stages of development that a child experiences throughout their life. This paper
observes and studies a child that demonstrates certain behaviors within the five stages
of child development.
Introduction
Isabel Berumen is a 10-year-old girl that is a part of my mothers’ side of the family.
With help from her mother, I was given the opportunity to babysit Isabel and observe
her for the past four weeks or so. I was able to analyze how she demonstrates the five
areas of development, which are: Physical, Emotional, Philosophical, Social, and
Intellectual. Isabel’s mother is a single mother so I was able to help her out with
babysitting Isabel and in return she would let me observe her for the purpose of my
case study.
Physical
Physical development is very crucial at a young age. Isabel is a part of the
middle childhood developmental area. The age range for middle childhood is around
eight to fifteen years old. During this age span, children are still developing, and their
bodies begin to change quickly. According to the video by Kanopy titled: Middle
Childhood: Physical Development, children go through puberty from the ages eight to
fifteen. Girls tend to go through puberty from ages eight to fourteen, and boys from ages
nine to fifteen. Children are developing body hair at this age, losing the last of their baby
teeth as well (Kanopy). From my observations, Isabel is not far from the puberty stages.
Her mother says that Isabel is already starting to develop breasts which is a sign that in
the next two years, Isabel is going to hit puberty. During the Middle Childhood stages,
children are developing motor skills which include running, climbing, stamina, turn
taking, role playing, etc. Their reaction time and hand-eye coordination also begin to
establish. Isabel loves to play outside. She constantly loves to play hide-and-seek with
me throughout her large backyard. Isabel loves to imagine that we are hiding in a castle
which plays into the role-playing aspect of development.
Emotional
I am very interested in Isabel Emotional developmental level. Isabel has experienced a
separation of her parents at a young age. Not a divorce but a deportation. Isabel’s
father was deported a year ago. Even though Isabel is very young, and we think that
this situation is not going to affect her so much, I worry that in the future, this can affect
her greatly. In the video, Middle Childhood: Social and Emotional Development, Erik
Erikson children can develop a feeling that they are intelligent and skillful if they receive
encouragement and praise in response to their behavior. Children who don’t receive this
sort of kind positive encouragement and experience repeated failure may feel inferior
and/or incompetent as to other children (Learning Seed). During middle childhood,
children begin to understand what kind of situations create different emotional states for
them. From my observations with Isabel, I don’t see any signs of her parent’s situation
taking a toll on her. Her mother is doing an amazing job keeping her attention towards
other matters.
Philosophical
Philosophical development is a very important sage of development. This is
where children develop questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason etc. One
may not notice, but children pick up on everything as they are constantly observing
others. Listening to learn new information. As I mentioned before, Isabel doesn’t show
sign of her parent situation taking a toll on her but that does not mean that she does not
understand the situation. From what I have picked up, Isabel is a very smart girl. She
knows that for now it is just her mother, her sister and her but she is very grateful for the
people around her which is very surprising for her age.
Social
During middle childhood, children have a strong desire to find their place in the world.
With this, they develop self-concepts and self-esteem. Self-concept being, one’s
definition or description of attributes and self-esteem being an evaluation of attributes.
Self-esteem seems to be a huge part of the social development stage. Social Learning
Theory suggest that people learn from each other through observation, Imitation and
modeling (Learning Seed). I think that Isabel’s mother is doing an amazing job at being
a role model for Isabel to follow. Demonstrating the importance of family and working
hard.
Intellectual
Isabel is very smart and aware for her age. Her intellectual development seems
to be a little more advanced than other. Per her mother, Isabel is a part of the Gifted
and Talented Educators program at her school which specializes in targeted learning for
students a little more advanced or that think a little more advanced than their age group.
Her love of role play also takes place in her intellectual development. Isabel is also
bilingual in Spanish and English which is very useful for her to communicate with her
mother and father. During this age, children should develop the skill of logical thinking
which helps them understand conversations and problem-solve (Intellectual).
 References
Kanopy. (2014). Middle childhood. Physical development.
Learning Seed. (2008). Middle Childhood - Middle Childhood: Social & Emotional
Development.
Intellectual and Cognitive Development in Children and Teens -. Retrieved from
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/intellectual-and-cognitive-
development-in-children-and-teens/