Running head: PEPSI SCREENING: ANALYSIS OF A YOUNGSTER 1

PEPSI Screening: Chase Williams

Kristina Ferguson

College of Southern Nevada

Author Note

This paper was prepared for EDU 220 Principles of Educational Psychology, taught by

Professor Dr. Rochelle Hooks

PEPSI SCREENING 2

Background

This PEPSI screening is about Chase Williams. Chase is 6 years old and beginning to find

his independence. Chase is a six-year-old kindergarten student. He is from a middle-class family

and his father is in the military. This is a PEPSI Screening of Chase.

Chase was born on February 27, 201, weighed 8 lbs. 13.5 oz. and was 21 inches long. He

is the oldest child in a family of two boys, his little brother is almost 3 years old. During his first

few years Chase was in the 90th percentile in growth for his age. At 2 years, old Chase loved to

do puzzles and could do twelve piece puzzles without assistance. At 3 years old, he could do fifty

piece puzzles in 5 minutes without assistance. Chase also could build Lego sets recommended

for older ages, just by looking at the picture. He attended a prekindergarten program for two

years before starting kindergarten. He enjoyed his time at prekindergarten and loved playing with

the other children in the program.

The biggest life change for Chase was the birth of his little brother. Chase was very

excited to be a big brother, however once the baby was home he began to get jealous. With the

birth of the baby, Chases parents had less time to spend with him. Chase began to feel left out

and to get in trouble for playing too loud or rough. When the baby started crawling, Chase would

secretly hold him down or take toys away from him. Once his parents realized he was having a

hard time adjusting to the new baby, they started giving Chase, important jobs which made him

feel important. Now he is very close to his brother and love teaching him new things.

Both Chases parents are highly motivated individuals, they are marathon runners and

also triathletes. His father is a Lieutenant Colonel in the military so the family moves every

three years. These frequent moves have not affected Chases development according to his

mother. They have a very structured routine and are very involved in Chases life. His parents are
PEPSI SCREENING 3

involved in a lot of military family gatherings so he gets to meet new children all the time. He is

involved in sports and plays at the park on weekends. The family has a network of people that

they interact with as well as Chases school friends.

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Physical Development

Chase is 39 tall and weighs 60 lbs. which puts him in the 50th percentile for height and

95th percentile for weight according to cdc.gov. According to the CDC Growth Website, the

average weight for a 6-year-old boy is 44 lbs. and the average height for the same age is 45

inches (Centers For Disease Control, 2017). Chase is above average in weight for his age group

and at average in height for his age group. He lost five teeth at the beginning of the school year

within a 4-week period. Chase can tie his own shoes and button his clothes. I asked Chase if he

dressed himself and he said yes, always. His mother later told me that he does get to pick out

some of his clothes for school days and on weekends, but sometimes needs help. He likes to

wear shorts but weather does not always permit it. Chase will put shorts on even when his mom

tells him he needs to wear pants. Some mornings are a challenge, according to mom, because

there is a battle over the shorts. Chase is dealing with an impediment to logical thinking, called

by Piaget, egocentrism (Snowman & McCown, 2015). It is important to Chase that he can dress

himself the way he wants to dress himself. He is unable to understand that there is another

opinion besides his.

Chase plays on a soccer team and basketball team. He scores points in both games and is

a team player. I observed a soccer game Chase played in. The children on the team ranged in age

from 6 to 7 years old. Chase keeps up with the other players on the team in speed, however I did

notice he falls back when older children are playing. When I asked Chase if he liked playing

soccer, he said he loved soccer but sometimes the older players do not let him have the ball. In

Psychology Applied to Teaching, Snowman & McCown discuss age level characteristics.

Kindergarten children are very active and have control over large muscle groups. Chase

exhibited that during his game (pg.85). He also exhibits confusion about the rules of the soccer
PEPSI SCREENING 5

game. Chase feels he should have the ball more frequently because his coach says everyone gets

to have a turn handling the ball. Piaget says, children at this age have a hard time understanding

how and why rules are not followed or change during activity. He goes on to say, it isnt until

children turn 7 or 8 that they understand how to cooperate socially in playing games (Wadsworth

1996, pg. 80). Chase, as well as the other children on his team, are still maturing in their social

characteristics. Through these activities, Chase will grow and develop his sense of self.
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Emotional Development
Chase is loving and kind child. He is helpful to his little brother, teaches him new things,

and reads to him. Chases mom and dad spend a lot of time with him, they are using an

authoritative approach to parenting (Snowman & McCown, 2015). While I was at Chases house,

he and his brother received water guns from their grandmother. After Chase finished his

homework he was allowed to go outside with his brother to play with the water guns. Chase

turned his gun over on accident and spilled out half of the water. He then let out a blood curdling

scream and started crying loudly. Once his mother determined he was not hurt, she asked him

why he was crying. Chase screamed back at her that he lost half his water. She told Chase this

was not an appropriate response to something so easy to fix. This seemed to escalate the

situation, clearly Chase was unable to reverse his reaction. Piaget called this stage of

development perceptual centration, the strong tendency to focus attention on only one

characteristic of a situation. (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg. 42). Even though the water gun

could have been refilled, Chase could not understand that this was a minor problem and easily

fixed.
Chase was sent to his room to think about his outburst. After about 30 minutes he came

out to the living room and told his mother he was sorry. She asked him what he thought he had

done to deserve having to go to his room. He told her he should not have yelled at her. In

Psychology of Teaching, Snowman & McCown reference Haim Ginotts suggestions on how to

help children develop awareness of their feelings. Ginott encourages parents and teachers to ask

children to analyze their own behavior (pg. 80) Chases mom did have him think about his

behavior in his room. He was sorry for screaming but never came to the conclusion that he could

have put more water in his toy.

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Philosophical Development

In Chases kindergarten class the children are on a behavior system that starts over every

day. They each have a clothes pin with their names written on the pin. Everyone starts at pink in

the morning. If students break classroom rules the teacher tells them to move their pin to the next

color. The color chart is: pink, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, and red. According to the

website kindergarten works, this is a very effective way of managing behavior for kindergarten

age students (2017, January 23).

Chase came home from school on Wednesday while I was there. His mom asked him how

school was and if he had gotten in trouble. He promptly told her he had no homework and did

not get in any trouble. One of his friends was waiting outside for him so he was allowed to go

outside and play. Chases mom opened his folder and he did indeed have homework and also had

a note from his teacher because he had reached yellow in class. Chase had to come back in

immediately from playing with his friends for lying. Chases mom asked him why he lied about

school and he shrugged his shoulders. When Chase couldnt answer his mom, he had to go to his

room and think about the situation for 30 minutes.

When Chase returned from his room, he explained he wanted to go outside and play. At

first, he said he forgot he had gotten a yellow mark, but with more questioning he said he wanted

to play. In book The Development of Preoperational Thought, Wadsworth explains Piagets

concept about children and lying. The egocentric child often alters the truth according to his or

her desire (Wadsworth 1996, pg. 85). Even though Chase admitted he was wrong and knew he

would get in trouble, he still wanted to play so badly he lied.

As Chase was doing his homework he asked his mom if he would be able to watch his

television show after dinner. She explained that he was in trouble and would not be watching
PEPSI SCREENING 8

television for three days. He then questioned her, why not I always do my homework, eat

dinner, and watch my show? Piaget says, schemes are cognitive but concrete, (Snowman &

McCown, 2015, pg. 38). In Chases mind, he follows the same routines every day, creating

schemes or patterns of behavior. Though he knows he is in trouble, he expects to still follow his

nightly routine. His mind is attempting to organize this situation he is currently in. (Snowman &

McCowan 2015, pg. 38).

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Social Development

Chase does well in school academically. I observed Chase doing math homework and

practicing writing his alphabet. He was excited for me to sit with him and observe his work. In

Eriksons theory on psychosocial development, he explains the stage Chase is in and calls it

Industry Versus Inferiority. Erikson says, He now learns to win recognition by producing

thingsHe develops a sense of industry (Snowman & McCown 2015, pg. 29). Chase receives

praise for his family for doing well in school and his teacher for getting his homework finished.
While Chases was practicing his handwriting, he did have some trouble tracing the lines. When

he wrote on his own he didnt experience these issues. He became very frustrated while trying to

do the tracing the letters, so his mom suggested he take a break from tracing and write the letters

first in the space provided and then go back to tracing later. This suggestion did not go over well,

Chase informed his mother that his teacher does not like them to do that and he had to follow her

directions. In Psychology Applied to Teaching, Snowman & McCown describe this behavior as

Morality of Constraint Versus Morality of Cooperation. Six-year-old children often believe rules

cannot be changed or broken (pg. 60). Chase is unable to understand that even if he does the

letters first and traces them second, his homework will look exactly the same. Piaget describes

this in stages of cognitive development, conservative problems-those that test their ability to

recognize that certain properties stay the same despite a change in appearance or position.

(Snowman & McCown 2015, pg. 41).

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Intellectual Development

Chase loves to read aloud to his brother or parents. While I was observing him, his

grandmother came over to visit. Chase was excited to sit down and read to her. He had some

trouble with a word in his library book and pronounced it as a different word. When his

grandmother tried to help him sound the word out, he became agitated. He was experiencing

egocentrism described by Piaget, (Snowman & McCown 2015, pg. 42). Piaget explained this

stage of development as a time when children may have a hard time with another persons

opinion. Chase had decided that the word was right and could not change his mind. When

Chases mother intervened, he became very angry and did not want to finish the book. He told

his grandmother he did not love her anymore. This was the first-time Chase had ever said

something like this in front of his mother. Snowman & McCown write, Students are sensitive to

criticism and ridicule and may have difficulty adjusting to failure (pg. 86). Children at this age

are sensitive to feeling inferior and may act out when they do. According to Erik Eriksons

Industry versus Inferiority, this stage of development explains that children between the ages of 6

and 7 develop a sense of industry. Childrens behavior at this age is focused on performance

(Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg. 29). It is important to Chase that he continue to feel like he is

good at reading.

Chase reads to his younger brother every day and enjoys this time with him. He likes to

pretend he is the teacher and his brother is the student. Piaget explains this as a part of

preoperational thought development (Wadsworth 1996, pg. 58). By doing this Chase is

reinforcing his skills of reading and introducing reading and school to his brother. The boys are

close and affectionate to each other most of the time.

PEPSI SCREENING 11

PEPSI: Chase Williams

2.3
2.2
2.1 2.1
2 2 2 2 2
1.9

Average 6 year old boy Chase

PEPSI SCREENING 12

Recommendations

Physical I would recommend that Chase continues to play both soccer and basketball. I

think the more involvement he has with children his age or older, will help him learn to be part

of a team. Chase is very athletic for his age and functioning in his age group according to Piaget.

He is physically bigger than other boys his age which may contribute to his success in athletics.

By continuing to play sports he is good at, Chase will develop socially as well as athletically.

Emotional Chase continues to struggle with emotional outbursts. He does have a 2-

year-old brother which may be the reason Chase throws fits. I would recommend that Chases

parents involve him in teaching his brother how to overcome his anger outbursts. Encouraging

Chase to help his brother has worked in the past, so it may work again.

Philosophical I think Chases parents are handling his problems in school very well.

Chase is learning to follow the direction of another adult and consequences when he does not.

Since he is developing social skills, he likes to talk and play with new friends even when he

knows he is in trouble. By being consistent, Chases parents will help him through this

challenging time.

Social Chase does well in school so he doesnt have many problems socially yet. He is

learning how to follow rules and that sometimes they change. He will continue to develop

socially and learn to be more flexible.

Intellectual I recommend that Chases parents continue to encourage him academically.

He does well in school, however is still developing fine motor skills so writing can be

challenging for him at this age. With continued practice, he will feel more confident in his

writing abilities.
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References
th
Ellsworth, J. (n.d.). 6 Year. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/
Erikson, J. (1997) The Life Cycle Completed. New York, NY. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
KindergartenWorks. (2017). 12 Tips to Start a Successful Kindergarten Year. Retrieved January

23, 2017, from http://www.kindergartenworks.com/classroom-management/12-tips-to-

start-successful/

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Stamford, CT:

Cengage Learning.

Stature for Age and Weight for Age Percentiles. (2016, December 7). Retrieved January 21,

2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41c021.pdf

Wadsworth, B. J. (1996). Piagets Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development: Foundations

Of Constructivism. White Plains, NY: Longman USA.