Part 1and 2 virtual child

Virtual Child Assignment Part 1

(Infants & Toddlers)

Student Name: Yuleisi Salina

Student Number: 300627348

Professor Name: Ms. Christine Cadieux

The Infant Years (0- 4months)

How does your baby‘s physical, social/ emotional and Intellectual domains compare to the developmental milestones patterns? Is it typical?

Physical Development:

At 4 months old my baby is doing fine; her development is quite typical compare with the milestone. Based on my virtual child report at 4 months Aurora is able to focus her eyes on me.

For example: She spends a lot of time studying my face and the faces of anyone who comes close to her.

My little princess has a typical development because according to the text book Ages and Stages by the age of 4 months babies usually are able to hold both eyes in a fixed position.

Social Emotional Development:

At 3 months my lovely baby Aurora is quite excellent but, she is just a little ahead compare to the Milestones Ages and Stages chart.

According to my baby reports, Aurora is showing more interest in her surroundings. She smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things (such as a little dog).

But based on the Age and Stages book infant`s usually starts to squeals, laughs, babbles, and smiles in response, at the age of 8 months.

Intellectual Development:

My baby Aurora seem to have a typical development compare to the developmental milestones. Based on my virtual child reports at 3 months Aurora can learn a thing or two.

According to the text book Chronological Approach (Chapter 6 p. 169) Infants are born with many abilities that allow them to learn from experience. This learning can take many forms, including habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and imitation.

For example:

Remember Louise, the newborn in the vignette, who initially jumped when trucks accelerated past her home? Her response was normal not only for infants but also for children and

adolescents. When presented with a strong or unfamiliar stimulus, and orienting response usually occurs. The orienting response and habituation are both useful to infants. Orienting makes the infant aware of potentially important or dangerous events in the environment. (Rovee- Collier, 1987).

The Infant Years (5- 8months)



At 8 months my baby Aurora seems quite typical and she is meeting her developmental milestones. According to my virtual child report Aurora has been in a very good health, and generally tolerates baby foods well. Aurora is beginning to be interested in trying new solid foods, even pizza crust!

According to the text book Ages and Stages is usually that by 8 months children demonstrated interest and enjoys some finely- chopped solid foods.

Introduction of only one food at a time is a good rule. 7- Months – old having cheese for the first time, for instance, should have no other new foods for a few days. In this way, allergies that might develop – skin rash or diarrhea – can be linked to a particular food, making it easier to prevent recurrences. Health Organization strongly advocates breast – feeding as the primary source of nutrition for infants and toddlers in developing nations. (Chronological Approach, p.121)


At 8 months, my baby intellectual development seems quite typical and she met her developmental milestones.

Based on my virtual child report when Aurora was eight months old I try the object permanence test. She 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. Aurora really likes this hidden place, Aurora has a strong tendency to look in the old hiding place, and 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.

Subsequent researchers have found other ways to explain children’s performance on Piagetian tasks. For example, Piaget thought that a fundamental task of infancy was mastering object permanence- understanding that objects exist independently of oneself and one’s actions. He claimed that 1- to 4- month- olds believe that objects no longer exist when they disappear from view- out of sight means out of mind. If you take a favourite toy from a 3- month- old and, in

plain view of the infant, hide under a cloth the infant will not look for it, even though the shape of the toy is clearly visible under the cloth and within reach!

At 8 months, infants search for objects, but their understanding of object permanent incomplete. If 8- to 10- month- olds see an object hidden under one container and then see it hidden under a second container, they routinely look for the toy under the first container. Piaget claimed that his behaviour showed only a fragmentary understanding of object because infants did not distinguish the object from the actions they used to locate it, such as lifting a particular container.

Social/ Emotional Development:

At 8 months my baby Aurora Social/ Emotional Development is very impressive. According to my virtual child report Aurora is Aurora is communicating much better nonverbally in the past two months, for example: she is making gestures to indicate what she wants.

According to Piaget infant’s perceptual and motor skills improve quickly throughout the first year. He propose that these rapidly changing skills in the first two years of life form a distinct phase in child development, the sensorimotor stage, because they primarily involve infant’s cognitive understanding of the world through simple and, later, complex motor schemas. Consisting of six stages, the sensorimotor stage extends from birth to approximately 2 years. During this time, the infant progresses from simple, reflex actions to symbolic processing in an orderly sequence.

After infancy, schemas become based primarily on functional or conceptual relationships, not sensorimotor actions. Children’s advancing awareness of speech sounds, coupled with their increased locomotion, enable them to access more parts of their world and them level those parts with particular words. These words and their associated meanings help children develop categories of information based on the appearance and function of objects. As they develop, children come to understand that words, numbers, and actions can symbolize aspects of their world. However, while still in infancy, they cannot rely on language, so they use the basic sensorimotor skills they have to explore their surroundings.

The Infant Years (9- 12 Months)

How does your baby’s physical, social/ emotional and intellectual domains compare to the developmental milestones patterns? Is it typical?


At 9 months my baby physical development is above the normal, especially in her gross motor skills. Based on my virtual child report at 9 months old my baby Aurora is able to walk and even know how to climb. For example: she is constantly into everything! Sometimes she does dangerous things, such as running into the street or climbing onto the back of the couch.

Based Ages and Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years. The average for a child to walk without help is at 2 years old.

Locomotion:

In a little more than a year, advances in posture and locomotion change the newborn from a person with limited movement into an upright, standing individual who walks through the environment. By about 4 months, most babies can sit upright with support. By 7 months, they can sit without support, and by 9 months, they can stand if they hold on to an object for support. A typical 14- months – old can stand alone briefly and walk with assistance. By 24 months, most children can walk without assistance, climb steps, walk backwards, and kick a ball.

In the case of walking not until 12 to 15 months of age has the child mastered the components skills so that they can be integrated to allow independent, unsupported walking. Researchers at the Universities of Manitoba (Campbell, Eaton, & McKeen, 2002) have found that, overtime, children ability to integrate behaviours into appropriate motor movements depends in part, on knowing when to inhibit movements that are not appropriate, as well.


At 12 months my baby is doing pretty well. Aurora is meeting the ages and stages milestones pattern. Base on my virtual child at twelve months old, Aurora now clearly understands a couple of dozen words. In fact, Aurora just recently pronounced her first clear word and pointed at the object in question....It was the name of my parent’s dog!

When the ability to produce sound is coupled with the 1- years olds advance ability to perceive speech sounds, the stage is set for the infant first true words. Soon after their first birthday, most infant begin to talk. Typically, their first world are an extension of advanced babbling, consisting of a consonant- vowel pair that is repeated. Other North American early vocabulary words often include animals, food and toys (Nelson, 1973).

Social/ Emotional Development:

At 9 months Aurora is seems perfect and her social/development is typical compare with the milestones. Base on my virtual child report. As Aurora turns 9 months, the paediatrician has the following to say after a routine physical exam.

Aurora has an obvious attachment to mom and prefers her over other people, but seems to have fun playing with dad. She was caution at first with the nurse and the doctor, a normal reaction to strangers at this age.

By approximately 6 or 7 months, most infants have singled out the primary attachment figure- usually the mother as a special individual. In Canada, attachment typically first develops between the infant and their mothers because mothers are usually the primary care giver of Canadians infants. Most babies soon became attached to their father. Fathers typically much more time playing with their babies than taking care of them. Physical play is the norm for fathers, whereas mothers spend more time reading and taking to babies, showing them toys, and playing games like patty cake. (Parke, 1990).

For Example:

Frequently Aurora becomes quite upset and clings to me while sobbing. This usually occurs whenever she is in a new situation, or meeting new people. She acts really shy wherever we have relatives or friends in our home.

Based on my age and stages textbook it`s OK that at the age of 12 months the infant`s express these fears or anxiety towards strangers and prefer their caregiver or parent to protect them from the unknown.

The Infant Years (2 Years)



At 24 months Aurora social/emotional development is typical compare to the developmental milestones. Based on my baby report I have notice that Aurora has some new emotions over the past few months. For instance:

Some things I have noticed are shy smiles when ask to be in photographs, looking guilty when she breaks something, and embarrassment when she has a potty accident. I realized these new emotions are related to her developing self- awareness.

What is the starting point for self- concept? Following the lead of the nineteenth- century philosopher and psychologist William James, modern research believe that the foundation of self- concept is the child`s awareness that he or her exists. At some point early in life, children must realized that they exist independently of other people and objects in the environment and that their existence continues over time (Frye & Zelano, 2003).

We don`t need to rely solely on the mirror task to know that self- awareness emerges between 18 and 24 months. During this same period, toddlers look more at photograph of themselves than at photos of others children. Like Meagan in the Vignette, they also refer to themselves by name or with a personal pronoun, such as “I” or “me” sometimes they know their age and their gender. These changes suggest that self- awareness is well established in most children by age 2 (Lewis, 1987).


At 2 years old my baby physical development is above the ages and stages chart. According to my virtual child report Aurora is very advanced in her gross motor skills. For example:

At the age of two years my baby is able to ride a tricycle. She is ahead of the game and that is perfectly fine because, like Piaget said, every child is unique individual and they grow at their own pace but, based on the Age and Stages text book, children are expected to pedals a tricycle by the age of 3 years old.


At the age of 2 years (24 months) Aurora is a little ahead the ages and stages chart. Based on my virtual child report Aurora'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.

But according to the Ages and Stages book; children uses 2 to 3 words sentences at the age of 2 years.

Sentence Cues. Children hear many unfamiliar words embedded in sentences containing words they already know. The other word and the overall sentence structure can be helpful clues to a word meaning.

For example, when a parent describes and event using familiar words but unfamiliar verb, children often infer that the verb refers to the action performed by the subject of the sentence (Fisher, 1996; Woodward & Markham, 1998).

The Infant Years (0 - 1 year)

Identify specific health and safety considerations that you will have to consider during the infant years. How will you address these issues?

Hand Washing

Proper hand washing is essential to keeping infants healthy as their immune system is low. Hand washing is the most important health practice that parent/ educators and children must implement to reduce the spread of infections. (Pimento, p. 129) This was seen when my baby had many colds and ear infections within the first year. Although it is common for infant to catch colds and infections, I need to use proper hand washing.

Breast Feeding

Breastfeeding is the best way to ensure that babies get the nourishments they need. Human milk contains the proper amounts of carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals for babies. (Statistics Canada, 2007). There are also benefits for the mother, breastfeeding promotes mother- baby attachment, which increases baby`s cognitive development. (Canadian Child Care Federation, 2001, p. 2). This was seen when my baby Aurora was suddenly been stricken with bouts of indigestion within the first year. Although it`s common on the first few months that the infant experience bouts of indigestion, I will continue to breastfeed because babies also are less likely to prone to diarrhea and constipation. And besides breastfeed babies typically make the transition to solid foods more easily, apparently because they are accustomed to changes in the taste of breast milk that reflects the mother’s diet. (Shelov, 1993; Sullivan & Birch, 1990).

Immunization

Immunizations are one of the most important ways of promoting the health of children. (National Advisory Committee on Immunization, 2006, p. 31)... The vaccination almost always results in lifelong immunity. There are other vaccinations that do required booster shot at regular intervals to maintain this immunity. (e.g., tetanus). I will make sure to keep up – to – day immunization schedules to keep my baby immune system strong.

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)

Babies must be put to sleep on their backs to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the leading cause of death in babies that are 1 to 12 months of age (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). Unless a doctor orders otherwise, babies should always be placed on their backs to sleep. Firm mattress and an uncluttered sleeping area (no soft beddings, bumper pads, and stuffed animals) are also important in decreasing suffocation risks. I will follow this safety rule to promote the health of my child and I will also develop an environment that is conducive to sleep.

Introducing new foods

Introduction of only one food at s time is a good rule. A-7 months- old having cheese for the first time, for instance, should have no other new foods for a few days. In this way, allergies that might develop- skin rash or diarrhea- can be linked to particular food, making it easier to prevent recurrences. I will gradually introduce my baby to new food and I will keep observing the reaction to the new food.

The Infant Years (1-2 year)

Supervision

We need to live in a home that provides us which the basic needs of clean water, sewage disposal, and confortable temperature, and we need warm clothes, coats, shoes, and boots in the winter. Because if we were always using our energy to keep warm in the winter, our body wouldn`t have any energy left for everything else we must do to keep healthy. (Illness Prevention, p. 115) Since my baby Aurora has started to go regularly to a "Mommy and me" toddler play-group at the community center I need to continue supervising my baby and her environment. Besides now that she is exposed to others children I will need to keep vaccinations, up to date. And keep teaching Aurora to be careful when playing with other so she don`t hurt others and vice- versa.

Cleaning and Sanitizing

You know that germs are everywhere. You know that germs can live on surfaces for hours, days, or even weeks. (Illness preventionp.139).

I will keep practice regular cleaning and sanitizing of the objects, surfaces, toys, and the areas where my baby Aurora likes to spend time the most. I will make sure my child environment is clean to continue promoting her healthy development.

Car Safety

Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of accidental death in infants and toddlers. Regrettably, many of these deaths could be prevented if the youngster were restrained properly in an approved infant car seat. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000) I will always make sure that my baby is well in a safety- approved car and booster seats that can protect her from serious injuries.

Pets

Diseases can be passed from the animal to us and can pose issues for children, parents with allergies or weakened immune systems. In Well Beings (2008b) Considering this pet`s will not be part of our house. Because my child is still young and developing, I will keep her environment free from anything that represents hazards for my baby well- being.

Nutrition

Nutrition is the third factor affecting physical growth. By 2 years, growth slows, so children need less to eat. This is also a time when many children became picky eaters. Toddlers and preschool children find food yucky that they once willingly. Although finickiest can be annoying, it can actually be adaptive for increasingly independent pre-schoolers. Because toddlers don`t know what is safe to eat and what isn`t, eating only familiar foods protects them from potential harm (Birch & Fisher, 1995) I will keep encouraging my child to develop a good eating habits to promote his physical growth development.

The Infant Years (1-2 years)

What might happen to my virtual child in the preschool and school – age years?

Physical Domain:

I predict that my child will be a very athletic child who will enjoys physical activities of any kind. I based all my premonitions in Aurora virtual child reports. For instance when Aurora was 19 months she had an assessment done, this is what the examiner have to say:

Aurora was advanced in her gross motor skills. The examiner recommended exposing Aurora to a variety of indoor and outdoor activities and letting her interests be the guide as to what to pursue.

Even do she is been avoided riding her tricycle lately because a scary accident in which she went off in the park and got scratched up. She is always open to try new things as well as I know that she will soon get over the accident with her tricycle and with my help and support will be willing to try again.

In regards to fine motors Aurora was above age – norms for building block tower to model one by the examiner and other spatial skills such as copying shapes, colouring within the lines and solving pictures puzzles.

My child is very determined and she likes to do things on her own. Based on the Ages and Stages at two years children usually insist on trying to do several tasks without help. That characteristic will give her confident and independence in her life. I really believe that one’s Aurora start the school that confidence will help her to do friends and to fit in.

Social/ Emotional Domain:

During her assessment Aurora was not very aggressive with others kids, unless one of them tried to grab a toy from her and them she resisted. The examiner recommended that Aurora continue to go to toddler play groups/ day cares to develop her skills in interacting with others children and to encouragements to use her words if she wanted something.

Based on the Ages and Stages a two years children usually are very possessive – offers toys to other children but then wants them back.

Aurora is a toddler and she is in that difficult stage where she thinks she knows everything and that everything belongs to her. But she is a good girl that has recently enrolled in a child care centre.

For example: In the child care center they have now a new leader and Aurora wasn`t very happy about it. But after few days interacting with the new ECE she is again herself happy and open to learn new things. That is an example that shows that Aurora can accept transitions and that is good because in the school she will be easy going and open to socially interactions. Because Aurora is stubborn at the school she will not give up until she gets to the root of task, conflicts, and school investigation work (assignment).

Cognitive Language Domain:

Aurora 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 I frequently ask Aurora to recount experiences as a way of encouraging more language growth.

Aurora loves books and she really enjoys history time. Therefore; I will keep helping my baby to continue see books as her friend and as information source. I predict that with my support and motivation her vocabulary will keep growing richer and stronger. Once Aurora start the school her grammar, vocabulary will be good and she will able to participate in class and be on top of her game achieving good qualifications.

References:

Children A Chronological Approach Robert V. Kail & Theresa Zolner

Original edition published by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.

Creating Environment for Learning by Julie Bullard

Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood Settings, Fourth Edition by Barbara Pimento & Deborah Kernested

Images: Personal USB

Virtual Child Assignment Part 2

(Preschool & School Age)

Student Name: Yuleisi Salina

Student Number: 300627348

Professor Name: Ms. Christine Cardieux

When Aurora was 3 years old...

How does your baby’s physical, social/emotional and intellectual domains compare to the

developmental milestones patterns? Is it typical?


At 3 years old my baby Aurora Physical Development is quite typical. Based on my virtual child

reports she is one of the most active children in her preschool class. For example: Aurora loves

to ride her bike around the block. She is also getting pretty good at playing catch, shooting mini-

basketballs and kicking the mini-soccer ball.

According to the Ages & Stages text book by the age of 3years old baby’s usually are able to

throws a ball overhead, kicks a ball forward and pedal a tricycle.


My baby Aurora seems to have a typical development. According to my virtual child reports

Aurora communicates very well now, relying primarily on complete sentences, and seems to

understand most of what you say. She enjoys watching children's TV and listening to books. For

instance: She occasionally makes charming errors such as "I beated you in the race."

Based on the text book Ages & Stages by the age of 3 year old children’s enjoy listening to

stories book and talks in complete sentences of 3-5 words.

Naming Errors: According to Naigles & Gelman, 19995. The rules of learning new words are

not perfect. A common mistake is under- extension, defining a word too narrowly. Using card to

refer only to the family car and ball only to refer to a favourite toy ball are examples of under-

extension. Between 1 and 3 years, children sometimes make the opposite error, overextension,

defining a word too broadly. Children might use toque to refer to ball- caps and helmets, or

doggie to refer to all four-legged animals.

The overextension error occurs more frequently when children are producing words that when

they are comprehending words. Two years old Jason might say “doggie” to refer to a goat but,

nevertheless, will correctly point to a picture of a goat when asked. Because overextension is

more common in word production, it might actually reflect another fast- mapping rule that

children follow: “If you can’t remember the name for an object, say the name of a related

object”. (Naigles & Gelman, 1995).


At the age of 3 years old my baby seems to be just a little ahead of chart regarding her Social

Emotional development. Based on my virtual child report my sneaky little baby has begun

occasionally lying to me about accidents or rule violations (such as sneaking a cookie before

dinner). The lies are pretty lame (e.g., there is a trail of cookie crumbs). You recognize this as a

sign of a theory of mind, but you wait until you catch her in the act, explain that lying is wrong,

and put her in time-out. For good measure, you also explain that being lied to makes people feel

bad.

According to the Ages & Stages text book at the age of 4 years old children start to lie sometimes

to protect self and friends, but doesn’t truly.

Learning about Moral Rules:

The foundation of moral thinking is set in the preschool years. During these years children begin

to understand that moral rules are special. Many rules are actually social conventions, arbitrary

standards of behaviours agreed to by a cultural group to facilitate interactions within the group.

Social conventions say that we can eat French fries but not green beans with our fingers and that

children can address peers but not teachers by their first names. In contrast, moral rules, such us

prohibitions against murder and rape, are designed to protect people and are not arbitrary. By

age of 3yrs, most children distinguish moral rules from social conventions. They judge hurting

other people and taking their possessions are more serious transgressions than eating ice cream

with one fingers or not paying to a story (Nucci & Weber, 1995; Smetana & Braeges, 1990).

“Moral reasoning emerges in the preschool years when children distinguish moral rules from

social conventions”.

When Aurora was 4 years old...




My beautiful Aurora Physical Development is fine and according the virtual child report she is

really interested in the train set you brought out of storage from your parents' house, building

and rebuilding it to get different arrangements. She also likes to build with the larger

interconnecting blocks and can work on these for long periods of time.

Based on the Ages & Stages text book children at the age of 4 years old are able to stacks 10 or

more blocks and has long attention span and finished activities.


My little Aurora Social/Emotional Development is typical and according with my virtual child

reports she was excited about the birth of her sister a year ago and participated in the baby's

care. But she occasionally shows signs of jealousy, such as taking her sister's toys. She is also

showing regressive behaviour (e.g. clinging, throwing temper tantrums and thumb sucking).

Based on the Ages & Stages text book children at the age of 4 years old are capable of feeling

jealous.

Qualities of Sibling Relationships:

From the very beginning, sibling relationships are complicated. On the other hand, most

expectant parents are excited by the prospect of another child, and their enthusiasm is

contagious: Their children, too, eagerly await the arrival of the newest family member. On the

other hand, the birth of a sibling is often distressing for older children, who may become

withdrawn or return to more childish behaviour because of the changes that occur in their life

lives, particularly the need to share parental attention and affection (Gottlieb & Mendelson,

1990).


Aurora Intellectual Development is typical and based on the virtual child report at 4 years old

she has already learned most of the letters and their sounds from watching educational TV, and

from games and songs at preschool, can write her own name, and read a few words. She is very

interested in listening to books.

Based on the Ages & Stages text book 4 years old children are capable to recognize some letters

if taught, and may be able to print their own name.

Greater fine – motor coordination also leads to improvements in preschool children’s printing

Part of this improvement comes because young children hold pens and pencils more efficiently

as they develop. By age 5, children are well on their way to gripping pens in the effective manner

that adults use. In contrast, 3 years old, who are trying to discover forms of writing that work

best for them, are still experimenting with different ways to hold a pen.

A better grip also improves pre-schoolers drawing. Given a crayon or marker, most preschool

children love to draw.

Progression in drawing ability reflects more than improvements in fine motors skills; it also

reflects cognitive growth that allows children to understand more of what they see about them.

When Aurora was 6-8 years old...




At 6 years old my baby Aurora is doing fine. I’m very happy because she is meeting the

developmental milestones. Based in my virtual child report Aurora's memory is getting better.

She can beat you on certain memory games such as Concentration because she remembers

where the cards are located. For instance: when Aurora tells people about things that happened

to her, she leaves a lot of details out and sometimes gets the order wrong.

Memory Skills: Children’s memory improves rapidly during middle childhood, primarily due to

two factors (Kail, 1990; Schneider & Bjorklund, 1998). First, as children grow, they use more

effective strategies for remembering. Second, children’s growing factual knowledge of the world

allows them to organize information more completely and, therefore, remember better.

Strategies to Remember: Every day, children encounter new situations and information that they

might or might not remember very well. One thing for certain, however – strategies aid memory.

Recall from earlier chapters that working memory is used for briefly storing a small amount of

information, such as the words in these sentences. However, as you read additional sentences,

they displace words read earlier from working memory. For you to learn what you are reading,

the content must be transferred to long- term memory. Anything not transferred from working

memory to long- term memory is lost.

Though knowledge can improve memory, it can also distort memory. If a specific experience

does not correspond to children’s knowledge, the experience is likely to be forgotten or distorted

so that it conforms to the child’s knowledge. For example, when told a story about a female

helicopter pilot, many youngsters will remember the pilot as a man because their network

specifies that pilots are men (Levy & Boston, 1994). In addition, exposure to information that

conflicts with a child’s experience of an event can confused the child and “distort recollection”

of the source for the information the child remembers (Roberts & Powell, 2001).


My baby Aurora Physical Development meets the Developmental Milestones. But unfortunately

she is been having a new round of colds and stomach aches, and has had to miss several days of

school this fall.

Threats to Children’s Development:

If you ask a group of parents about their preschool children’s health – related problems, you are

likely to get a long list. Some items on the list, like colds and coughs, are mainly annoying. Many

parents would claim that a runny nose is a permanent state in their preschool children! Other

problems on the list are much more serious, sometimes requiring hospitalization.

Minor Illness: Most preschoolers are all too familiar with coughs and sniffles. The average

preschool children are particularly vulnerable to respiratory illness because their lungs are still

developing. Fortunately, most children are ill for only a few days. While nobody likes to be sick,

minor illness helps a child’s body develop immunity to more serious diseases. Also, by being ill

and recovering, young children begin to learn about the way that their bodies work and can

become prepared to deal with future, more serious illness (Parmalee, 1986).

Social Emotional:

Aurora is been perfectly fine and meeting the Developmental Milestones. According to my virtual

child report my little Mss. Aurora has been imitating what Mom does more and more, even down

to gestures and turns of phrase. For instances she wants to hang around whenever Mom is doing

anything interesting, such as fixing the computer printer or making a cake.

Learning by Observing:

Children learn a great deal from parents simply by watching them. The parent’s modelling and

the youngster’s observational learning thus lead to imitation, so children’s behaviour resembles

the behaviour they observe.

When Aurora was 9-11 years old...



Physical Developmental:

My daughter Aurora Physical Development is absolutely typical and she meets the Milestones.

Based on my virtual child reports she is really advancing in dance and the dance studio director

recommends that Aurora join the Dance Competition team.

Motor skills improve remarkably over the elementary school years. Elementary school children’s

greater size and strength contributes to improved motor skills. During these years, children

steadily run faster and jump farther. Girls also excel in gross – motor skills requiring flexibility

and balance, such us tumbling.


My baby girl Intellectual Development seems quite typical and based on the virtual child reports

Aurora is very verbally adept and witty, and enjoys jokes, stories and riddles. She is continuing

to be a strong reader, and always seems to have a fiction book she is reading. She also has been

writing some stories at home with your help and at school and they are pretty good!

Verbal Ability:

Janet Hyde and Marcia Linn (1988) summarized research on gender differences in verbal ability

in 75 percent of the 165 studies that they analyzed. Usually the difference was small. But it was

larger for general measures of verbal ability, unscrambling scrambled words, and quality of

speech production. Girls also read, write, and spell better than boys (Feingold, 19993; Hedges

& Nowell, 1995), and more boys have reading and other language – related problems such as

stuttering (Halpern, 1986).

Why are girls more talented than boys? Part of the explanation may lie in biology. The left

hemisphere of the brain, which is central to language, may mature more rapidly in girls than in

boys (Diamond et al., 1983). But experience also contributes. Reading, for instance, is often

stereotype as for girls (Huston, 1983). Consequently, girls are more willing than boys to invest

time and effort in mastering verbal skills like reading.


Now my beautiful Aurora is 11years old and she presented a typical Physical Development.

According to the virtual child report Aurora has become more interested in her appearance as a

result of some compliments from a guy in her grade (relayed through another guy, of course!).

Measuring Self – Esteem

Preschool children’s self – esteem is typically measured by showing pictures and asking

youngsters to judge which of two hypothetical children they resemble (e.g., a child who makes

friend easily, or a child who does not make friends easily). With older children (and

adolescents), self – esteem is often measured with questionnaires in which children read

comparison statements about two different individual.

The most widely used self - esteem questionnaires of this sort is the Self – Perception Profile for

Children (SPPC for short) devised by Susan Harter (1985, 1988), who has made a pioneering

effort in self – esteem research. The SPPC is designed to evaluate self – worth in children age 8

and older across five domains (Harter, 1988, p. 62):

Scholastic competence: How competent or smart the child feels in doing schoolwork.

Athletic competence: How competent the child feels at sports and games requiring

physical skill or athletic abilities.

Social acceptance: How popular or accepted the child feels in social interaction with

peers.

Behavioural conduct: How adequate the child feels about behaving the way one is

supposed to.

Physical Appearance: How good – looking the child feels and how much the child likes

his or her physical characteristics, such as height, weight, face, and hair.

The Preschool years (2 – 5 years)

Identify specific health & safety considerations that you will have to consider during the

preschool years. How will you address these issues?

Enough Sleep:

Sleep is an important element in children grow because, most growth hormones (GH) is secreted

when children are sleeping. (Lozoff, Wolf, & Davis, 1985).

Therefore now that I know the benefits that sleep have in the children’s I will established

sleeping routines to positively improve my daughter Physical Grow development.

Nutrition:

Because preschoolers grow more slowly than infants and toddlers, they need to eat less per

kilogram than before. Preschoolers should consume about 90 calories per kilogram of body

weight, which works out to be roughly 1500 to 1700 calories daily for many preschool children.

(Canadian Paediatric Society, 2004).

I will teach my child the important of living healthy through a daily healthy nutrition and

physical activities.

Hands Washing:

Proper hands’ washing is essential to keep children’s healthy. Hand washing is the most

important health practice that parents, educators and children must implement to reduce the

spread of infections. (Pimento, p. 129) Although it’s common for preschoolers to catch colds and

infections, I need to use proper hand washing as well as modeling and explaining my child

Aurora the importance of a proper and daily hand washing.

Immunization:

Immunizations are one of the most important ways of promoting the health of children. (National

Advisory Committee on Immunization, 2006, p. 31)… The vaccination almost always results in

lifelong immunity. There are other vaccinations that do required booster shot at regular

intervals to maintain this immunity. (e.g., Tetanus). I will make sure to keep up – to – day

immunization schedules to keep my princess immune system strong and developing.

Minor Illness:

Most preschoolers are all too familiar with coughs and sniffles. The average preschool child has

seven or eight colds a year. Preschool children are particularly vulnerable to respiratory health

– related problems, because their lungs are still developing. While nobody likes to be sick, minor

illness helps a child’s body to develop immunity to more serious diseases. Also, by being ill and

recovering, young children begin to learn about the way that their bodies work and become

prepared to deal with future, more serious illness (Parmalee, 1986).

I will keep providing a clean and healthy environment with daily hand washing routines, healthy

food and immunizations up to days in order to promote the physical, Social/ Emotional and

Cognitive Development of my child Aurora.

Accidents:

Preschool children are often eager to explore the unknown but often lack the cognitive skills to

determine whether they are endangering themselves. As a consequence, many preschoolers are

hurt in accidents. Many childhood accidents are falls that result in bruising, some bleeding, and

a few tears but no lasting harm. However some are more serious. In fact, accidents are the

leading cause of death in preschool children. Thousands of young children die every year in auto

accidents, drowning, and fires (Heath Canada, 1998). Farm – related accidents are one cause of

childhood injury and death that persists across the age range from birth to age 19 (Health

Canada, 1998).

As a mother I will be 100% supervising my daughter Aurora, by making sure her environment

allows her to explore and be safe. I also will teach her to play with careful to avoid hurting

herself of others.

The Middle Childhood (7- 12 years)

Identify specific health & safety considerations that you will have to consider during Middle

Childhood years. How will you address these issues?

Obesity:

Obesity occurs when a child’s body weight is at least 20 percent over the ideal body weight for

the child’s age and height. Overweight youngsters often are unpopular and have low self –

esteem (Braet, Mervielde, & Vandereycken, 1997). Furthermore, they are at risk for many

medical problems, including high blood pressure and diabetes, throughout life because the vast

majority of overweight children and adolescents become overweight adults (Serdula et al.,

1993).

I will protect my child from obesity by providing a healthy and well balanced diet. I also will

encourage and support Aurora involvement in any sports or any other physical activities of her

choice to strengthen her physical development as well as her self – esteem.

Tooth Development:

The health of baby teeth can affect the permanent teeth coming in after them. Severe tooth decay

in baby teeth can work its way down far enough to affect the health of permanent teeth coming in

afterwards. Therefore, care is important for both baby and permanent teeth. Food that is not

removed from the teeth combines with bacteria in the mouth to produce acid that eats through

the tooth’s enamel surface, creating a cavity. Regular brushing and flossing can prevent tooth

decay. Care of children primary teeth is particularly important, as disease in primary teeth can

affect development of the permanent that are forming and emerging from below them. (Canadian

Dental Association, 2003).

I will protect the health of my child teeth by providing healthy food, fewer sweets and adequate

teeth brushing routines. I will also educate my daughter to learn the importance and the benefits,

of teeth brushing, fluoride treatment, and regular check-ups, to prevent teeth decay.

Vision and Hearing:

For the most part, children’s sensory systems mature early in infancy and change little after the

first two years. However, some physical changes continue to occur in children’s sensory systems

during the elementary school years, such as those we observe with the auditory system. The

Eustachian tube, which links the inner ear to the upper part of the throat, becomes longer and

more curvy, helping to reduce the incidence of otitis media (ear infection), which causes

temporary hearing loss and permanent loss if left uncorrected.

A common sensory disorder that can have psychosocial implications for children in these years

involves vision (Rogow, 1999). In myopia, (near-sightedness) the lens projects images of distant

objects in front of the retina instead of on it, which means they look fuzzy instead of sharp.

To prevent, recognized and treat any of this sign in my daughter I will have her regularly check

by the doctor. I will also observe to recognize any sign as well as carefully listen to my child

Aurora.

Physical Fitness:

Being active physically has many benefits for children: It helps promote growth of muscle and

bone, promotes cardiovascular heath (National High Blood Pressure Education Program

Working Group, 1996), and can help establish a lifelong pattern of exercise.

I will keep encouraging my child Aurora to keep practicing sports. I will also explain the benefits

of doing exercises to improve her gross motors skills and her confident.

Accidents:

While children often are eager to participate in physical activities, during middle childhood,

improved motor skills and greater independence place them at a greater risk for injury. For

example, children may walk to school unsupervised and need to cross busy streets, or ride a bike

on the road alongside much larger and faster vehicles.

I will be always vigilant in requiring my daughter to wear helmets on bicycles or similar

equipment (e.g. skateboard, scooters) and to wear seat belts in cars even when the trip is short

or seems safe.

I will be aware and realistic in assessing my child owns skills and I would not overestimate her

abilities, or her cognitive skills.

What might happen to my virtual child in the adolescents age years?

Physical Domain:

I predict that my child will continue to be very physically active even know at the age of 10 years

old my daughter Aurora fell off a skateboard onto a retaining wall and hit her head pretty

hard. The neurologist said that Aurora had sustained a closed head injury to the left hemisphere

and it was expected to have some significant learning and concentration difficulties for at least a

while.

Based on my virtual child reports my princess had overcome the accident and had been

surprising me with her new skills and talents. For instance:

Aurora have been able to continue with her usual routines and have learned to be more aware of

how to avoid danger situations by wearing her helmet while she rides her bike or skateboard.

She also is so advanced in her dance classes that the Dance studio director recommends her to

joining the Dance Competition team.

My sweet Aurora doesn’t stop surprise me. Her determination and passion will help her to

accomplish everything she set her mind to do in her adolescent years and the years to come.

Social/Emotional Domain:

I predict that Aurora will be fine in her adolescent’s years even know based on my virtual child

reports Aurora still a little child around strangers. But since Aurora have been writing different

really nice and funny histories that with my encouragement Aurora has been able to read in front

of relatives and family friends.

I have learned that Aurora is started to be less shy and more willing to show her voluntary

participation in taking roles and responsibilities either at home or at the school. And that have

given me confidence because Aurora is not afraid to be herself. Therefore I’m 100% sure that my

beautiful butterfly will continue to rise during and after her adolescent years. I feel that she also

will make friends with whom she will develop long term relationships based on respect and

considerations.

Cognitive Language Domain:

I predict that my daughter Aurora will continue to grow successfully during and after her

Adolescent years. Because she is very passionate and motivated about everything she does. Also

I will continue giving her support and encouragement to help Aurora continue to develop in all

her Cognitive Language Domains areas.

I also based all my predictions based on Aurora virtual child reports: For Example here are

some highlights of the 5th grade report card (the one that is being sent on to middle school with

Aurora's portfolio of writing samples, and standardized test scores) were as follows:

Usually works cooperatively in groups, usually respects rights and property of others, and

usually demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction.

"Demonstrates strength" in all areas of reading, and in spelling and "appropriate for grade

level" in writing.

"Demonstrates strength" in the areas of speaking and listening and in content knowledge of

social studies and science.

"Appropriate for grade level" in the areas of mathematical problem solving, understanding of

data, number concepts, graphical applications, and arithmetic computation.

"Demonstrates strength" in the area of art.

"Demonstrates strength" in the area of music.

Consistently works independently, listens attentively, and follows directions and classroom rules.

Write one page paper outlining how your child might have develop differently if he or

she were raised in a different type of household.

Social Support Networks:

Support from families, friends, and communities is associated with better heath. Such us social

networks could be very important in helping people solve problems and deal with adversity, as

well as in maintaining a sense of mastery and control over life circumstances. The caring and

respect that occur in social relationships, and the resulting sense of satisfaction and well-being,

seem to act as a buffer against health problems.

Based on my virtual child reports my daughter Aurora has been quite shy around strange people

since she was little. But my first step to support my child to become more open was through

encouragements and positive criticism.

For instance: Because Aurora enjoys to read and write so much, in many occasions I encourage

her to share her little histories to our relatives and close friends where ever we were gather at

home. The positive response of everyone was something that positively was improving Aurora

confident.

Bibliography:

Children A Chronological Approach Second Canadian Edition.

Robert V. Kail & Theresa Zolner

Original edition published by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Copyright 2005 Pearson Education, Inc.

Healthy Foundations in Early Childhood Settings, Fourth Edition by Barbara Pimento & Deborah Kernested

Ages & Stages: A Brief Overview Birth to 12 Years

Images: Personal USB

Documents

Part 1and 2 virtual child