Contents

Page no.

Question 5. a ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

Question 5. b ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4

Question 5. c ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Virtual Child Report ……………………………………………………………………………………… 9

Feedback …………………………………………………………………………… …………… 18

Rubric Grading Guide (Self Evaluation)

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My Virtual Child: Part 1

Q. 5.a. How does your child compare to the typical patterns of development at the following

ages (0-4 months, 4-8 months, 9-12 months, and 12-24 months)?

Ans. The infant’s years (0-4) months

Faeza was born pre-mature and she had juvenile jaundice. She underwent neonatal care to treat

the jaundice and to make her able to regulate her body temperature. After five days, Faeza’s

Apgar score rose from a six to an eight. We know an Apgar score of seven or more indicates a

baby in good physical condition (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p 105). Moreover, jaundice in a new

born baby is normal and in most cases, juvenile jaundice disappears after a few days

(http://www.californiawebsites.com/neo/). Faeza sleeps virtually all of the time. When she is

awake, she calmly examines objects, which indicates her intellectual development is quite

normal; she also gazes quietly at people indicating her social and emotional development (Ages

and Stages - Newborn to One Year) . At three months of age, my baby’s physical and intellectual

development is around the norm; her social and emotional development is also above norm

because she cries to signal different states (Kail, R. & Zolner, T. 2009, p 101).

4-8 months

Intellectual development: Upon completion of the object permanence test at her eight months

of age, it is found that Faeza likes hiding games and is normally able to find hidden objects.

However, when the hiding spot changes, her first target is to look in the original spot and when

unable to find it, she gives it up. According to “Cognition Infants and Toddlers” by Robert V. Kail

and Theresa Zolner, my baby is around the norm. Also, According to the norms set in the

chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief

Overview Birth to 12 Years, Faeza’s intellectual development is up to the norm because she

enjoys throwing objects out of her crib. Her langue development is normal because she sounds

like consonant and vowel.

Social and emotional development: In accordance with the norms set in the chapter “Ages &

Stages – Newborn to One Year” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12

Years, Faeza’s social and emotional development is around the norm because she spends a great

deal of time watching and observing, responds differently to strangers and family members,

responds to distress of others by showing cry, and shows mild to severe anxiety at the

separation from parent.

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Physical development: According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year” in the

book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, children should be able to crawl

well, pull up to stand, and manipulate objects. Faeza is way above the norm in both gross motor

and fine motor since she enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects. It seems

that Faeza is above typical and she is meeting her developmental milestones.

9-12 months

Intellectual development: When the object permanence test was redone at 12 months, she is

able to find the objects in the non-common hiding spot. In the chapter “Cognition in Infants and

Toddlers” of the book titled Children (Kail R. & Zolner, T., p162), it states that “At about 12

months, rather than accepting that the object has disappeared, infants will look for a missing

object in several different locations.” Faeza’s activities indicate that she is above the norm since

she finds the object instantly. In language development, she pronounced her first clear word

and pointed at object in question. According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One

Year” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, infants usually say

their first word at 12 months of age. Therefore, Faeza is in the term of language development.

Social and emotional development: Faeza is cautious about new people and situation; she wants

parents to be in constant sight. She has fairly mild to positive reaction to most the situation and

people. According to http://www.child-development-guide.com/child-development-12-

months.html, in a loving environment my child will easily bond with me and a close bond

provides a foundation for future relationships. She is lovely towards familiar people and feels

shy with stranger. This indicates that she is above the norm.

Physical development: In accordance with the chapter “Ages & Stages – Newborn to One Year”

in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, in terms of physical

development, my child is a advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling and

pulling up to stand and manipulating objects. Faeza is age-appropriate in terms of fine motor

and gross motor skills.

12-24 months

Intellectual development: According to the chapter “Ages & Stages – Two-Year Olds” in the book

titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years, my child is above average because

she knows how to solve problem more than two steps, and to group objects together in

categories. In terms of language, her score is above average range on tests of language,

comprehension and production, and she provides unusually complete and grammatically

mature sentences in a conversation the examiner and she have about a picture.

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Emotional and social behavior: In the chapter “Social Behavior and Personality in Infants and

Toddlers” In the book titled Children (Kail R. & Zolner, T., p208) it is said that children begin

referring to themselves as “I” OR ‘me” between the ages of 18 and 24 months. According to this,

Faeza is at the norm because she frequently calls herself “me”.

Physical development: In terms of physical development, my child is above the norm, especially

when it comes to gross and fine motor skills. This is because at two years old (24 month), she is

able to do balancing and skipping and also enjoys that. In accordance with the chapter “Ages &

Stages – Two-Year Olds” in the book titled Ages and Stages - A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years,

the average child does balancing and skipping at age of 3 years.

It seems that Faeza’s birth was quite typical and that she is meeting his development

milestones.

Q. 5. b. What health or safety concerns might you have for the following ages (0-1 year) and (1-2

years)?

Ans. Specific health and safety consideration that I will have to consider with Faeza during the

first year of age are:

1) SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p107): Babies are

more vulnerable to SIDS, if they are born pre-maturely or with low birth weight. Faeza

was born as a premature baby with low birth weight. I always remove pillow and soft

blanket from her crib, because those can cover her crib and face that may cause choking

or breathing hazards.

2) Breast feeding. “Breast feeding is the best way to ensure that babies get the

nourishment they need. Breastfed babies also are ill-less often because breast milk

contains the mother’s antibodies.” (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., 2009, p107). I would like to

prefer to give Faeza breast feeding because it is healthier. When I give her breast

feeding I would take precaution about some important things, such as cleanliness.

3) Immunization: I would like Faeza to stay healthy and keep away from infections.

Currently, there are 12 serious infections /communicable diseases that can be

prevented through routine immunization, which can be started in infancy. (Pimento, B.

& Kernested, D., 2010, p123)

4) The Common cold: The health issue that I have to greatly consider during the infancy

year is the common cold. Some ways I could address the common cold issues and try to

prevent them by modeling and encouraging my baby to cover her mouth when coughing

and sneezing, and discard used tissues. I could also address the issue of the common

cold by keeping her away from sick people. ((Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p172)

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5) Introducing new foods: Another specific health consideration I will have to consider is

her digestive upsets. According to a doctor’s advice (refer to

http://myvirtualchild.com/), I could address this issue by checking out new food items

for a few days, which will test for allergies.

During 1 to 2 years:

1) Indoor safety consideration: Since Faeza is advanced in her gross motor skills and enjoy

crawling, pulling up to stand. Some safety considerations I will have to consider are to

ensure child- proofing some areas of the home, specially the edges of the tables. This

will be because in case she falls back while pulling up, she will not hurt herself. Also, I

could place padding under the areas of where she usually pulls herself up, and place

items that consider for her to hold. (Ages and Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12

Years).

2) Outdoor safety consideration: When Faeza become 18 month old, she started to walk

off into a crowd at public places. To ensure safety, I am holding her hand, so that she

will not get the opportunity to walk away. Faeza often likes to go to park, and wants to

ride many toys. I encourage her always to wear helmet and supervise her activity.

(Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p363)

3) Motor vehicle collision: Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of injury-related

death of children in Canada. (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p362). Now Faeza and

her father have fun in expensive activities like going to zoo. We take precaution about

traffic law and always maintained safety and use car-seat.

4) Gastrointestinal infections: Diarrhea: Effective hand washing, strict diapering and

toileting routines and food safety every day are the important preventive measures

against spread of gastrointestinal infection (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p173).

Now Faeza needs to learn toileting routines and I will provide her with toileting routines

gently and effectively.

5) Burns: Childs are not mini-adults. Their skin is thinner and softer than skin of adults.

Toddlers are susceptible to scald from hot tap water, and drinking soups or hot

beverages as they cannot realize the danger of hot liquids and other burns hazards.

(Pimento, B. & Kernested, D., 2010, p369). So I am very alert about this.

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Q.5.c. Think ahead to what might happen to your virtual child in the preschool and school-age

years, why do you think these things might happen?

Ans. “Children in centers can get as many as 8 to 10 colds a year” (Pimento, B. & Kernested, D.,

2010, p173). When my child was infant and toddler, she did not encounter many health

concerns except for the seasonal cold and digestive upsets at eight month and nine month. My

prediction for preschool and school age is that she will not develop a food allergy. Also, I predict

that since the cold and digestive upset have decreased over the months that they may return

during the growth progress. Due to the greater exposure to other children in child care centre,

Faeza generally has positive reactions to new foods and tolerates changes in routines.

When it comes to potty training, I predict Faeza will be fully potty-trained by preschool age, with

no more accidents occurring at the child care centre. Because at 18 months, Faeza seems now to

have a goal of becoming potty trained, makes it to the potty about 60% of the time.

During 0-3 months, Faeza’s gross motor and fine motor skills are around the norm. Her Apgar

score range is from a six to an eight. During the infant period, my child is advanced in her gross

and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects. In

toddlers period, my child was age- appropriate on tasks, such as building a block, model tower

and other special fine motor skills, such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solving

puzzles. She was advanced in her gross motor skill. My prediction for the upcoming years is that

she will continue to grow and use her gross motor skills to be above the norm in running,

climbing and jumping. In regards to fine motor, my prediction is that she will be able to nicely

complete the building replicated block tower without any help, to color within the lines, and

copy shapes, and create a new picture. While her fine motor skills continue to improve during

the school year ages, I predict my child will be able to tie up her laces and cut with scissors.

According to Dynamic theory, motor development improves many distinct skills, organized or

unorganized, over time to meet demands of specific tasks. For example, walking requires

maintaining balance (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., p134).

For cognitive/ intellectual development, I predict my child will be more experimental in her

environment with objects in her surroundings. Also, I predict she will do excellent in hands-on

learning activities (e.g. at the children’s science museum). I predict it because when she was

toddler, she was about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and grouping

objects together in categories. I predict my child will do very well in math at her preschool and

school age. According to Piagetian Theory, children’s knowledge about the world always

involves some kind of experience with world, which helps a child to develop more knowledge

and then move through a process of maturation to a higher level of cognitive development (Kail,

R. & Zolner, T., p158).

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In language development, I predict that Faeza will grow and be able to speak at the above

normal range of preschool child. Because of during toddler period, Faeza’s language score was

above average in all aspects of language development; she could follow typical story lines. The

examiner also noted that her memory was pretty good. I predict my child will handle her

preschool and school age very efficiently. “Language is primarily an intellectual tool for

referential children and primarily a social tool expressive children” (Kail, R. & Zolner, T., p182).

In social and emotional development my predictions for preschool and school age is that she will

be less clingy to her mother over the period of when she is in childcare. Also, I think Faeza will

be learning the routines pretty well and she will reasonably cooperative for age at both home

and preschool. She will be less aggressive to adults and others. For emotional aspect, I predict

that she will be much less shy with photograph and mirror- looking, feeling less guilty in

accidental doings, and finally become aware of herself and will build positive self-esteem.

I predict that Faeza will be quite interested in her surroundings like music, movies, people, etc.

from preschool to school ages. I think she will remember the most memorable and “catchy”

parts of her surroundings and will try to repeat over and over again in order to get some kind of

understanding of it.

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Bibliography:

http://www.myvirtualchild.com/raise.html

http://www.child-development-guide.com/child-development-12-months.html

http://www.californiawebsites.com/neo/

Robert V. Kail, and Theresa Zolner. Children A Chronological Approach. Toronto:Pearson, 2009. Print.

Pimento, Barbara, and Deborah kernested. Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood Settings. USA: Nelson, 2009. Print.

“ Ages and Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years”

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Virtual child report:

When Faeza was 0 months old...

Faeza was born about four weeks premature, and a little underweight (four and a half pounds). She seemed healthy otherwise. A few days of neonatal care were needed to deal with jaundice, and to make sure Faeza was able to regulate her body temperature. After five days, her Apgar score had come up from a six to an eight. You were able to bring Faeza home. The doctors said Faeza should be fine, but they scheduled follow up visits to check on her growth and responses to the environment. You notice that Faeza gets hungry more often than the prenatal pamphlets said (every one to two hours), and has a particularly piercing cry. You and your partner are coping with it well, but sometimes your nerves are jangled from lack of sleep, and you feel somewhat annoyed with Faeza. Most of the time, though, you are having a good time taking care of her.

You processed this event on: Friday, October 21, 2011 at 23:54:36

After only a week with Faeza, you can already feel a hormonal connection. When Faeza cries, you begin to lactate! This will increase if you choose to breast feed, but it will die off gradually if you do not.

You want Faeza to be active and curious about her environment, so you

Faeza sleeps virtually all of the time, only waking when hungry, cold, or wet. She usually drifts back to sleep toward the end of the feeding.

After 3 weeks, Faeza is still somewhat lethargic, doesn't want to eat very much, and she still hasn't gained much weight. You have been to the pediatrician who says it is nothing serious.

What kind of diapers will you use? The cloth diapers are more environmentally sound, but a lot more work than the disposable diapers. And those diaper safety pins are hard to work on a squirming baby!

Will you breast feed Faeza?

You are starting to notice that Faeza's crying is rhythmic and moderately loud when she is hungry, wet, or cold. If she is startled, there is a sudden intake of breath and a loud wail, followed by more deep breaths and loud wails.

When Faeza was 3 months old...

Faeza is generally calm, in a good mood, and is easy to soothe when upset.

You processed this event on: Thursday, November 03, 2011 at 10:03:27

The lack of sleep during the work-week has been getting on everyone's nerves, and recently you and your partner had some uncustomary arguments. You try getting to bed earlier on weeknights and sleeping in more on weekends.

Faeza is often drowsy, and even when awake spends a lot of time calmly examining objects or gazing quietly at people. What will you do?

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Faeza is able to focus her eyes on you. She spends a lot of time studying your face and the faces of anyone who comes close to her.

As a family with two working parents, what type of daycare will you choose?

At 3 months of age, Faeza is showing more intense interest in her surroundings. Faeza smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things (such as a little dog), and is developing lots of cute little habits.

You love to hear Faeza make those little "ooo" sounds.

As you return to work, how will you feed Faeza?

Faeza is getting more curious about the world around her.

You notice that Faeza can learn a thing or two so you start working on her baby IQ!

Faeza cries often after meals and frequently has diarrhea. What will you do?

When Faeza was 8 months old...

You try the object permanence test. Faeza is able to find a hidden object, as long as you don't wait too long or distract her in the middle of the search. Faeza really likes this hiding game and shows by her interest that she wants it repeated. However, if you hide the object in the same place repeatedly, and then change the hiding place, Faeza has a strong tendency to look in the old hiding place, and then get confused about where the object is, or forget about it. This curious error was first discovered by Piaget, but researchers have some new explanations for the error.

You want Faeza to establish a regular bed-time and sleep through the night. You think she's almost there.

Faeza is sometimes a little reluctant to part from you at daycare and starts crying. She usually gets over it quickly after you leave.

At this point, Faeza is less physically active than other babies you know.

You are feeling more pressure at work lately. You have been feeling irritable, not sleeping well, and feeling somewhat depressed lately. Sometimes you are just not in the mood for Faeza, and her crying jangles your nerves. Sometimes you feel like you have to get away for awhile.

Faeza is making some different sounds now, and you encourage language and communication by responding to them. What kinds of sounds do you think they would be?

Lately Faeza has had frequent problems with indigestion and diarrhea, and seems prone to catching colds. Naturally, Faeza doesn't have much of an appetite, and cries a lot during these illnesses.

Faeza is showing some fearfulness around unfamiliar people and clings to whoever is holding her. What is your typical response?

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It has become clear that Faeza shows a preference for you over others (especially when distressed), with your partner a close second. How will your partner become a stronger attachment figure for Faeza?

Faeza sometimes cries when you put her to bed at night even though she is obviously sleepy. You are usually exhausted and have to get up early the next day. How do you typically handle the situation?

You notice that Faeza seems to have little goals that involve two steps of planning ahead, so you encourage these cognitive advances by:

As Faeza turns 9 months, the pediatrician has the following to say after a routine physical exam, a few items administered from the Bayley Scales of Infant Intelligence, and some observations of Faeza in the playroom:

Faeza has been ill several times this season from colds or digestive upset. The doctor advises keeping her away from sick people, and checking out a new food for a few days to test for allergies.

Faeza is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people and to new and interesting activities and then begins to vocalize a lot and make eye contact.

Faeza had fairly mild to positive reactions to most of the situations and people in the pediatrician's office and the playroom. She cried when given the vaccination, but calmed down rather quickly. The only problem came with a brief separation from you, but that would be expected.

Faeza is advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects.

How does your baby's eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typical developmental patterns?

When Faeza was 12 months old...

Virtual Child uses five dimensions of temperament to describe the child's behavior in the first 30 months. These dimensions are random at birth, are influenced by your questionnaire responses, and change gradually over time in response to events and parenting decisions. The five dimensions are activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control. There is behavior genetic and longitudinal evidence for varying numbers of temperamental traits and the five traits used in the program are on a lot of lists. Studies also show that temperament changes in response to strong environmental pressures.

ACTIVITY refers to the physical and mental energy level of the child. Highly active children may sleep less, be more restless, and engage in more physical activity. Less active children may sleep more, enjoy quiet pastimes, and show less interest in vigorous physical activity.SOCIABILITY refers to the child's friendliness and desire for social interaction. Highly sociable children are sometimes given the label "extroverted" and less sociable children the label "introverted."

EMOTIONALITY refers to the intensity of emotion experienced by the child. Highly emotional children may show more of everything (anger, joy, sadness) and more fluctuation in moods. Less emotional children may show less extreme emotions and less fluctuation over periods of time.

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AGGRESSIVENESS VS. COOPERATIVENESS refers to the tendency of the child to be aggressive in social situations with the parent, day-care provider or other children. Highly aggressive children may be quite resistant to parental demands and throw tantrums or even lash out at the parent or other children. Less aggressive children tend to be more cooperative, or to whine and fuss rather than actively resist the parent. Research indicates that boys are somewhat more aggressive than girls, but there is a great deal of overlap between the sexes, and this is reflected in Virtual Child.

SELF CONTROL refers to the child's ability to control his or her behavior, delay gratification, plan out a course of action, or inhibit responses to a typical situations. This is not exactly the same thing as aggressiveness or emotionality. For example, a child with low self control might take a cookie when asked to wait, not out of a spirit of lack of cooperation, but just due to low impulse control. Children who are extreme on this dimension may fit typical criteria for attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. The Virtual Child has a 5% chance of having moderate to severe hyperactivity and a 5% chance of having mild hyperactivity.

GOODNESS OF FIT is a concept that is closely related to temperament. It refers to the tendency of the parent to adapt his/her behavior to the child's temperament. For example, suppose you have a very active child, and you are trying to promote exploration and learning. Rather than "going against the grain" and attempting to quiet the child down to look at a book about bugs, you might appeal to the child's active nature and choose to go on a walk and talk about the bugs you see. Goodness of fit also applies to developmental level. For example, at 6-8 months most infants are at least somewhat anxious around strangers, so you would want to introduce the child to a new person gradually rather than thrusting the child into the person's arms. Parents desiring to change their child's temperament, or help their child develop a particular skill, can benefit from the principle of goodness of fit, and the related concept of moderate novelty. Parents desiring to encourage growth in their child should introduce moderately novel activities and experiences, because children are more likely to pay attention to and profit from such experiences.

You processed this event on: Thursday, November 03, 2011 at 23:48:39

Faeza enjoys throwing every toy out of her crib and watching what happens. Faeza seems to expect you to keep putting them back!

A college friend of yours who speaks Mandarin visited and named a few things around the place. Faeza tried to imitate the words but her attempts sounded more like English than Chinese.

Faeza still has occasional problems with indigestion, but is tolerating most baby foods as well as several bland foods chosen from those that you eat.

Faeza's first birthday is coming in a few days! You invite all the relatives over and throw a big party.

Faeza is constantly trying to expand her motor skills so you:

At nine months old, Faeza began to understand a few words and point to something she wanted. At twelve months old, Faeza now clearly understands a couple of dozen words. In fact, Faeza just recently pronounced her first clear word and pointed at the object in question.... Faeza seems to be as comfortable with Melody as an attachment figure as you and your partner. You are pleased to have a built-in babysitter. Moreover, Melody is willing to do light housework for the opportunity to live with you while she goes to school.

Faeza is able to imitate new words and actions now, so you focus on:

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You try the object permanence test again. This time, Faeza is able to find the object even after long delays and seems to think this is a great game! You set up two hiding places for the object and hide it under one of the two covers repeatedly. When you switch it to the second hiding place, she no longer has the problem you saw earlier of searching at the more common of the two hiding places. You can't even trick her by hiding it in your hand. Faeza likes this game and wants to play it over and over.

When strangers come to visit, they think Faeza is really cute so they want to hold Faeza. Faeza usually starts crying if the person tries to get too close. However, after meeting a person two or three times, you notice that Faeza is staring at the person and manages a shy smile. Typically you:

Your partner has received an advancement and a pay raise. The three of you celebrate, and Faeza is very happy, but doesn't have a clue what the party is about.

Faeza generally has positive reactions to new foods and tolerates changes in routines. She is typically in a happy or at least neutral mood, making it hard sometimes to figure out if she is hungry, tired, wet, etc. You:

Faeza and you seem to be getting more and more in sync. Faeza is happier and more willing to try new things when you are around. You:

Faeza learned to walk early (9 months), and even knows how to climb. She is constantly into everything! When she does something dangerous, such as running into the street or climbing onto the back of the couch, you:

When Faeza was 15 months old...Faeza just turned 15 months of age, and you notice she often studies things in her environment and performs simple little "experiments" with them, almost like a little scientist. For example, she builds a little mound of dirt and then studies the effects of pouring water on it.

You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 00:35:17

When Faeza was 18 months old...

One of your favorite cousins, a cheerful and energetic 18 year old named Melody, is staying with you while she works to save money for college. She is sleeping in a bed that you have set up in Faeza's room, and the two are becoming fast friends. She is willing to babysit for you, so both you and your partner have felt less stressed. You have more time for yourself, your partner, and Faeza.

You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 00:37:34

Faeza likes to play make believe with cups, dolls, and toy telephones. She sometimes talks to herself or makes the dolls and toy figurines talk to each other.

Faeza is sometimes interested in dancing or singing along with music and sometimes doesn't seem to notice or care. You teach her some simple preschool songs and try to encourage her to respond to music.

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Faeza tends to be slow to warm up to new people, but is outgoing and friendly with familiar people.

You are showing Faeza how to take care of the growing number of plants you have on the sunny balcony of your apartment. Fortunately the balcony is child-safe, and there is no danger of Faeza falling.

Faeza sometimes takes on problems that are too difficult for her age level. She sometimes gets frustrated and gives up. When you see this happening, you:

Faeza has a tremendous drive to use her motor skills. You have to keep an eye on Faeza because she will quickly toddle off into the crowd at public places or even into the street!

Faeza sometimes likes to explore the different ways that toys and blocks can be stacked or manipulated, and sometimes just stacks them the same way over and over again.

Faeza has shown some interesting new behavior. She acts shy when looking in the mirror, uses the word "me" a lot, and wants to do things herself. You think the new behavior is a sign of self awareness, and you have to decide what the balance will be between allowing Faeza to be independent and teaching her to follow your rules.

Faeza has recently become resistant sometimes to your requests for cooperation. For example, she says "no," or refuses things that she accepted before such as food or bath time.

Faeza is usually calm and cheerful and seems to tolerate minor problems (hunger, fatigue, stress) easily.

Faeza is in a group day-care setting now. She settled in nicely, but in the past couple of weeks she has been hesitant to part with either you or your partner at daycare. She greets her main caregiver enthusiastically, but when you try to leave Faeza wants to leave with you. The caregiver keeps assuring you that Faeza calms down after you leave. What should you do?

You notice that Faeza is less clingy lately, and often wants to be put down to explore rather than to be held. Her favorite places to venture out are the park and the store.

Faeza sometimes prefers quiet activities in her room, and sometimes likes more active games or sports.

You know that by age two and a half Faeza needs to be toilet trained for daycare/preschool. You buy a potty chair, training pants, and a little storybook about a child learning to use the potty.

Faeza's language skills are developing rapidly, and she wants to talk to you almost all of the time. Faeza seems to know an unusual number of names for things. Sometimes you hear her talking to herself as she plays alone in her room.

When Faeza was 19 months old...

Faeza is able to imitate actions or words that she has seen or heard days before. This greatly expands her ability to learn new things. Faeza also seems to be aware of basic categories, such as big or little, and blue or red. You can tell because of the way she is sorting her toys.

You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 01:03:24

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The preschool that you are considering for Faeza offers low-priced developmental assessments. Faeza is able to enroll when she becomes reasonably well potty-trained. She is 19 months old now. Just to find out how Faeza's development compares to other children of her age at this point, you have an assessment done. The early childhood specialist observes Faeza in free play with other kids and does a little testing of cognitive skills. She reports the following:

Faeza was not very aggressive with the other kids, unless one of them tried to grab a toy from her and then she resisted. The examiner recommended that Faeza continue to go to toddler play groups/daycare to develop her skill in interacting with other children. At home, her general advice for the toddler negativism that was bound to happen at this age was to use clear and simple explanations for rules, warnings and time outs for misbehavior, and encouragements to "use your words" if Faeza wanted something.

The specialist thought that Faeza was securely attached, but that the communication system between parent and child could be improved. She recommended that both parents try to read Faeza's reactions more carefully and work on interpersonal communication.

The specialist thought that Faeza was slow to warm up to new situations with adults, but that if you gave her time, she usually came around.

Faeza was cheerful throughout the play sessions and the examination session and rarely became tense or emotional during the period of observation.

Faeza scored above average in all aspects of language development, and is ready to be read aloud to more frequently, as she can follow typical story lines. The examiner also noted that her memory was pretty good and recommended that you frequently ask Faeza to recount experiences as a way of encouraging more language growth.

Describe and give examples of changes in your child's exploratory or problem solving behavior from 8 through 18 months and categorize them according to Piagetian and information processing theories. Note that 8 months is included, so you'll need to use the time-line to look back at 8 months for examples

When Faeza was 2 years old...

The economy is in a down-turn, and unfortunately your partner has been laid off. There is no immediate prospect of a re-hire. Your Partner decides to go back to school for more advanced training. The family finances are taking a real hit and you have had to move into a two-bedroom apartment in a poorer section of town. You have taken on a bigger work-load to make up for the financial problems and you both are feeling stressed out.

You processed this event on: Friday, November 04, 2011 at 01:07:37

Faeza seems now to have a goal of becoming potty trained and makes it to the potty about 60% of the time. A couple of other parents you know were bragging that their 2 year old was already potty-trained.

A side benefit of your partner's layoff and enrollment in advanced schooling is that your partner has more time to hang out with Faeza. Money is tight, but your partner and Faeza have fun in inexpensive activities like going to the zoo, the petting farm, the children's museums and the park.

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You want Faeza to put on a jacket before going outside to play since the weather is cold. She says "NO!" and proceeds to throw a temper tantrum. How do you deal with this behavior?

Cousin Melody continues to live with you and has become one of Faeza's best buddies. Melody plays the guitar and is teaching Faeza to sing along. Faeza seems to be as comfortable with Melody as an attachment figure as you and your partner. You are pleased to have a built-in babysitter. Moreover, Melody is willing to do light housework for the opportunity to live with you while she goes to school.

Faeza's communication skills are growing by leaps and bounds. She is speaking mostly in three to four word sentences and her vocabulary is expanding greatly because of her intense desire to learn new words.

You notice that Faeza has some new emotions over the past few months. Some things you have noticed are shy smiles when asked to be in photographs, looking guilty when she breaks something, and embarrassment when she has a potty accident. You realize these new emotions are related to her developing self awareness.

Faeza's health has improved recently, but she had a couple of colds in the past few months.

Since Faeza is two, and the daycare group is only for infants, she has to make a change in daycare. You choose a day care center close to your home. Faeza is initially excited about the move, but within a week is clinging and crying more often and has difficulty cooperating with the daycare provider.

Faeza recently has become good at solving problems that she plans out in her head, such as how to get toys or other objects that are hidden or out of reach.

Faeza is getting much better lately at playing hide and seek and at searching for things around the house. You play lots of hide and seek games. Amusingly, when you find a good spot to hide yourself, Faeza uses that for herself the very next turn!

Faeza has a close relationship with you and your partner, and in new situations seems to need to check back with you regularly.

Faeza was having problems a few weeks ago with the transition from infant care to the toddler care group but now seems to be adapting pretty well to the toddler group. One of the issues was making a transition from a 3 to 1 child-adult ratio to a 5 to 1 ratio, but Faeza's new primary caregiver is highly skilled and Faeza is building a good relationship with her.

She doesn't seem to need a lot support and guidance to get basic things done, such as putting on her slippers.

Faeza is toilet trained now, and rarely has any accidents. She is communicating better, but has difficulty understanding other people's perspectives. Faeza knows her gender now, and has begun to categorize behavior and objects as suited to boys or girls. She prefers playing with girls, but gets along pretty well with boys. You figure she is ready for a more structured preschool experience.

You just found out you are pregnant! You are holding off on telling Faeza for a while until the pregnancy become more noticeable. But sooner or later you'll have to face the inevitable question of 3-year old inquiring minds: "how did the baby get in there?"

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Faeza can remember recent experiences and provide simple descriptions of what happens, such as a trip to the petting zoo or the amusement park. You are impressed that her memory is working so well, and you suspect that she has had the ability to remember these experiences for quite some time, but hasn't had the ability to express it until recently.

Faeza is going to be starting in a new preschool program soon, so you take advantage of the fact that a friend of yours is an early childhood development specialist. You ask her to evaluate Faeza, who is 2 1/2 years old. The specialist evaluates Faeza's language, motor and cognitive skills using some developmental scales, and observes Faeza interacting with other children in a toddler play group. This is her report:

Faeza was somewhat hesitant in the group of children and spent a few minutes watching them before joining in. After a while she latched on to a couple of the other children and had a good time. By the end of the session they were smiling and imitating each other.

Faeza was generally not very aggressive, but at one point became somewhat aggressive over a favorite toy, and had to be reminded by the group leader to share. The specialist advised you to seek out more group experiences for Faeza.

Faeza handled challenging tasks fairly well except for an occasional need for encouragement.

Faeza scored in the above average range on tests of language comprehension and production, and provided unusually complete and grammatically mature sentences in a conversation the examiner and she had about a picture. She recommended several appropriate activities that might interest Faeza such as going through a book without pictures and making up a story, or going to a children's museum and talking about the things that interested Faeza there.

Faeza is about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and grouping objects together in categories. The specialist recommended that you help Faeza "talk through" the steps in solving problems, and that you expose Faeza to more hands-on learning activities (e.g., at the children's science museum).

She is in the average range in copying shapes with a pencil, working with picture puzzles and constructing things out of blocks. The specialist recommended offering Faeza a range of these activities to choose from and to go with the ones that seemed of most interest to her.

Faeza was above average on nearly all gross motor skills, such as climbing, throwing and catching a ball, balancing, and skipping and enjoyed these activities quite a bit. The advice was to continue these activities, emphasizing Faeza's interests and focusing on having fun with them.

Faeza was able to focus on the tasks posed by the examiner, but her attention began to wander after about 20 minutes. The examiner said this was typical for the age, and took a short play break. She recommended that you involve Faeza in preparation for scripted activities such as bath and meal time to help enhance her ability to listen to and follow directions.

Have there been any environmental events in your child's first 2 1/2 years that you think might have influenced his or her behavior? On what do you base your hypotheses?

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Feedback9- Month Pediatricians Report

As Faeza turns 9 months, the pediatrician has the following to say after a routine physical exam, a few items administered from the Bayley Scales of Infant Intelligence, and some observations of Faeza in the playroom:

Faeza has been ill several times this season from colds or digestive upset. The doctor advises keeping her away from sick people, and checking out a new food for a few days to test for allergies.

Faeza is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people and to new and interesting activities and then begins to vocalize a lot and make eye contact.

Faeza had fairly mild to positive reactions to most of the situations and people in the pediatrician's office and the playroom. She cried when given the vaccination, but calmed down rather quickly. The only problem came with a brief separation from you, but that would be expected.

Faeza is advanced in her gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up to stand and manipulating objects.

Infant/Toddler Temperament (12 months)Virtual Child uses five dimensions of temperament to describe the child's behavior in the first 30 months. These dimensions are random at birth, are influenced by your questionnaire responses, and change gradually over time in response to events and parenting decisions. The five dimensions are activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control. There is behavior genetic and longitudinal evidence for varying numbers of temperamental traits and the five traits used in the program are on a lot of lists. Studies also show that temperament changes in response to strong environmental pressures.

ACTIVITY refers to the physical and mental energy level of the child. Highly active children may sleep less, be more restless, and engage in more physical activity. Less active children may sleep more, enjoy quiet pastimes, and show less interest in vigorous physical activity.

SOCIABILITY refers to the child's friendliness and desire for social interaction. Highly sociable children are sometimes given the label "extroverted" and less sociable children the label "introverted."

EMOTIONALITY refers to the intensity of emotion experienced by the child. Highly emotional children may show more of everything (anger, joy, sadness) and more fluctuation in moods. Less emotional children may show less extreme emotions and less fluctuation over periods of time.

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AGGRESSIVENESS VS. COOPERATIVENESS refers to the tendency of the child to be aggressive in social situations with the parent, day-care provider or other children. Highly aggressive children may be quite resistant to parental demands and throw tantrums or even lash out at the parent or other children. Less aggressive children tend to be more cooperative, or to whine and fuss rather than actively resist the parent. Research indicates that boys are somewhat more aggressive than girls, but there is a great deal of overlap between the sexes, and this is reflected in Virtual Child.

SELF CONTROL refers to the child's ability to control his or her behavior, delay gratification, plan out a course of action, or inhibit responses to a typical situations. This is not exactly the same thing as aggressiveness or emotionality. For example, a child with low self control might take a cookie when asked to wait, not out of a spirit of lack of cooperation, but just due to low impulse control. Children who are extreme on this dimension may fit typical criteria for attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. The Virtual Child has a 5% chance of having moderate to severe hyperactivity and a 5% chance of having mild hyperactivity.

GOODNESS OF FIT is a concept that is closely related to temperament. It refers to the tendency of the parent to adapt his/her behavior to the child's temperament. For example, suppose you have a very active child, and you are trying to promote exploration and learning. Rather than "going against the grain" and attempting to quiet the child down to look at a book about bugs, you might appeal to the child's active nature and choose to go on a walk and talk about the bugs you see. Goodness of fit also applies to developmental level. For example, at 6-8 months most infants are at least somewhat anxious around strangers, so you would want to introduce the child to a new person gradually rather than thrusting the child into the person's arms. Parents desiring to change their child's temperament, or help their child develop a particular skill, can benefit from the principle of goodness of fit, and the related concept of moderate novelty. Parents desiring to encourage growth in their child should introduce moderately novel activities and experiences, because children are more likely to pay attention to and profit from such experiences.

19-month Developmental TestingThe preschool that you are considering for Faeza offers low-priced developmental assessments. Faeza is able to enroll when she becomes reasonably well potty-trained. She is 19 months old now. Just to find out how Faeza's development compares to other children of her age at this point, you have an assessment done. The early childhood specialist observes Faeza in free play with other kids and does a little testing of cognitive skills. She reports the following:

Faeza was not very aggressive with the other kids, unless one of them tried to grab a toy from her and then she resisted. The examiner recommended that Faeza continue to go to toddler play groups/daycare to develop her skill in interacting with other children. At home, her general advice for the toddler negativism that was bound to happen at this age was to use clear and simple explanations for rules, warnings and time outs for misbehavior, and encouragements to "use your words" if Faeza wanted something.

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The specialist thought that Faeza was securely attached, but that the communication system between parent and child could be improved. She recommended that both parents try to read Faeza's reactions more carefully and work on interpersonal communication.

The specialist thought that Faeza was slow to warm up to new situations with adults, but that if you gave her time, she usually came around.

Faeza was cheerful throughout the play sessions and the examination session and rarely became tense or emotional during the period of observation.

Faeza scored above average in all aspects of language development, and is ready to be read aloud to more frequently, as she can follow typical story lines. The examiner also noted that her memory was pretty good and recommended that you frequently ask Faeza to recount experiences as a way of encouraging more language growth.

Faeza was age-appropriate on tasks such as building a block tower to model one made by the examiner and other spatial skills such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solving picture puzzles.

Faeza was advanced in her gross motor skills. The examiner recommended that you expose Faeza to a variety of indoor and outdoor activities and let her interests be the guide as to what to pursue.

The examiner commented that Faeza was able to concentrate on activities for 10-15 minutes, which was age-appropriate. Faeza was coming along fine, but she still recommended trying to engage Faeza's attention in something really interesting for longer and longer periods of time, to gradually build up her tolerance for preschool-type activities. She also recommended getting Faeza to follow simple directions at home, gradually increasing the complexity and length of the directions.

Age 2 1/2 Developmental TestingFaeza is going to be starting in a new preschool program soon, so you take advantage of the fact that a friend of yours is an early childhood development specialist. You ask her to evaluate Faeza, who is 2 1/2 years old. The specialist evaluates Faeza's language, motor and cognitive skills using some developmental scales, and observes Faeza interacting with other children in a toddler play group. This is her report:

Faeza was somewhat hesitant in the group of children and spent a few minutes watching them before joining in. After a while she latched on to a couple of the other children and had a good time. By the end of the session they were smiling and imitating each other.

Faeza was generally not very aggressive, but at one point became somewhat aggressive over a favorite toy, and had to be reminded by the group leader to share. The specialist advised you to seek out more group experiences for Faeza.

Faeza handled challenging tasks fairly well except for an occasional need for encouragement.

Faeza scored in the above average range on tests of language comprehension and production, and provided unusually complete and grammatically mature sentences in

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a conversation the examiner and she had about a picture. She recommended several appropriate activities that might interest Faeza such as going through a book without pictures and making up a story, or going to a children's museum and talking about the things that interested Faeza there.

Faeza is about average in solving problems with more than two steps, and grouping objects together in categories. The specialist recommended that you help Faeza "talk through" the steps in solving problems, and that you expose Faeza to more hands-on learning activities (e.g., at the children's science museum).

She is in the average range in copying shapes with a pencil, working with picture puzzles and constructing things out of blocks. The specialist recommended offering Faeza a range of these activities to choose from and to go with the ones that seemed of most interest to her.

Faeza was above average on nearly all gross motor skills, such as climbing, throwing and catching a ball, balancing, and skipping and enjoyed these activities quite a bit. The advice was to continue these activities, emphasizing Faeza's interests and focusing on having fun with them.

Faeza was able to focus on the tasks posed by the examiner, but her attention began to wander after about 20 minutes. The examiner said this was typical for the age, and took a short play break. She recommended that you involve Faeza in preparation for scripted activities such as bath and meal time to help enhance her ability to listen to and follow directions.

Personality TypesThere is evidence that there are three main personality types in childhood and the Virtual Child's behavior beginning at age 3 and 4 is designed to resemble one of these personality types. The personality types combine some of the temperamental traits with which you are already familiar. The overcontrolled category refers to a child who is cooperative, and follows the rules, but is shy in social situations and anxious and clingy under pressure. The undercontrolled category refers to a child who is uncooperative or even aggressive, does not follow the rules, is not particularly shy in social situations, and has a tendency to become distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under stress. The resilient category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, is friendly, non-aggressive and outgoing, is able to focus on tasks without being too distracted, has good regulation of his or her emotions, and is adaptable to new situations.

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