FHS 2400

Emily Randall
Observation 3
Background Information
Name: Jamie
Age: 8
Location: Public restaurant and childs residence
Other children around: Her siblings ages 9, 11, and 12.
Physical Development
During this middle childhood phase, a lot changes in a child. This includes physical,
cognitive, emotional, and social changes. Within the physical development category, there are
even more changes. These changes include, weight, height, muscles, skin, hair, nutrition, and a
child's idea of their own body (Berger, pg. 326). I was able to notice some of these changes in
Jamie.
I took Jamie and her siblings out to a restaurant and let each of them choose what they
wanted to eat. Jamie ordered a kids meal while her oldest sister only ordered a drink and french
fries. This is consistent with what the textbook says about teenagers having a less balanced diet
that they did when they were 10 (Berger, pg. 327). I was able to see the change in nutrition and
dieting even from age 8 to age 12.
Although the child's perception of their body cant really be observed, I was given the
impression that Jamie didnt even think about how others would view her. She just put on
whatever clothes she liked and felt comfortable in. She didnt hesitate to eat what she wanted
unlike children who are more concerned with what they look like.
If I were to observe a child I didnt know at all I might not notice the growth spurt during
this period (Berger, pg. 326). Jamie is my neighbor so I see her at church every week. I have
noticed that she has all of a sudden gotten so big! Her legs are long but her torso is short. She
is looking more and more like a teenager instead of a child every day.

Cognitive Development
As we were sitting at the restaurant, Jamie reminded me that I owed her gum. I had no
recollection of this promise. All of her siblings quickly agreed telling me of how I said I would
give them gum at church several years ago. It began to sound familiar. I had no idea that an 8
year old could have such a great long-term memory. The capacity of a childs brain to hold
memories amazes me (Berger, pg. 258).
When we were about to leave the restaurant, some of the kids didnt want to. They
vocalized this complaint but when I said it was time to go, there were no tantrums. Just a few
years ago if a similar situation happened with this same family, the kids would throw a fit. They
would be crying and screaming. Because they didnt cry and scream, I could see the
development of the control processes specifically with emotional regulation (Berger, pg. 258).
The textbook describes selective attention as the ability to concentrate on some stimuli
while ignoring others (Berger, pg. 256). Working with kids as much as I have, I have noticed

childrens talent with this. This wasnt any different with Jamie. Driving her and her siblings
home I talked about chores that needed to get done at home. None of the kids were listening.
But, as soon as I mentioned ice cream, everyone all of a sudden noticed that I was talking. I
thought it was pretty funny.
Social/ Emotional Development
Through observation and interaction, I was able to determine that Jamie is still in the
preconventional moral reasoning state of Kohlbergs Levels of Moral Thought (Berger, pg 309).
If Jamie was told or asked to do something she would immediately question as to why she had
to do that thing. When we were in the car driving back to their home, I told the kids to be a bit
quieter because they were talking too loud. They didnt really listen until I said if they were quiet
we could go get ice cream. Jamie listened because of the reward she would receive.
Being with the whole family during observation was great because I was able to observe
their family function, which is how they cared for each other (Berger, pg.292). The children are
all very close in age and teased each other a lot. The only boy with us at the restaurant was
their brother, the 9 year old. The relationship between Jamie and him and Jamie and her sisters
was different even though he is the closest to her in age. Jamie seemed to mostly play with her
sisters. Even with all the teasing, I could tell that the siblings cared for each other a lot. This is
important in a family.
With Jamie being around her siblings, I also noticed the use of child culture (Berger, pg.
304). When one of her older siblings would do something, such as burp, and the other kids
would laugh, she would then burp in hopes for the same reaction. Jamie would observe the
rules and behaviors of the other kids and would mimic them. This also included fashion. Before
leaving the house, Jamie asked her older sisters if what she was wearing looked okay. She also
put on heels to go to McDonalds because she wanted to wear shoes like the older girls.
Although one of my points of being with these children this day was to observe them, I
also did it to make sure they were ok. Their oldest brother was put in a psychiatric hospital
earlier that day and I was worried how the kids might take this news. The kids didnt know the
entire situation that was going on with their brother, so I was very sensitive as to what I would
say. The children were visibly worried about the health of their brother, but their resilience
surprised me (Berger, pg. 287). This was especially noticeable in Jamie. Even once their mother
called and told them that their brother was in the hospital because there was a problem with his
mind, they seemed calm. Jamie was able to handle the stress of her brother being in the
hospital and her mother being gone all day and night really well for her young age.

Works Cited

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.