Chasity Judkins

12/02/2014
Child Development 201
Child Case Study Report
Standard 3
John Smith is a 3 year old African American little boy who is growing up on the
south side of Chicago in the Englewood Area. John is the younger of his two older
brothers which are 6, and 8 years old. John has dark skin; he weighs about 32
pounds, nice bright teeth, and grey eyes which really makes him unique in his own
way. John is a preschooler at a private school called C.S Academy. Ms. Martinez is
the preschool teacher at C.S Academy, and she is very loving towards John and his
peers. The classroom is really nice, however I feel like there could be a little bit
more space in the classroom because the children are going to need more space to
do different activities in the classroom. I liked how the classroom is really colorful,
and how the teacher is really excited about literacy because everything is labeled,
and children need to know which things belong in which areas because it helps
then to become more organized. There are six learning centers in the classroom;
there is a Reading center, Art center, Dramatic Play area, Math center, Writing
Center, and a Block area as well. All of the centers have laminated posters hanging
from the ceilings so that the child will know what area they have to go to.
Every day at 9:00 in the morning, all of the students sit on the magic carpet for
story time. Ms. Martinez beginned to read a book called This Much by Trish
Cooke. Throughout reading the story the teacher would ask the students questions
about whats going in the book. For instance, Ms. Martinez asked the children

what color was the different objects in the book, or she would ask which relative
was related to who in the book. John would shout out some of the colors really
loud, and he even knew who every relative was in the book. For an hour and
twenty minutes, the children will get a chance to go to one of the learning centers
that they choose. The first area that John went to was the dramatic play area. John
put on a fireman jacket, and hat, he pretended to be a fireman. John would make
noises with the red fire truck. Vroom, vroom, vroom, I can drive this truck really
fast. Said John. I can really tell that John was using his imagination really well,
and he was really enjoying himself. As John continued to play, two more little
boys came along and asked John can they play fireman with him. Can we play
with you too? Said the litle boy. NOOOO John shouted out. I want to play by
myself. The little boy beginned to look really sad, and one of the boys pushed
John. John got really angry, so he hit the little boy really hard in the back with the
fire truck. The boy started crying and John tried to hit the little boy again, and Ms.
Martinez walked up to John and the boy to see what was going on. Are you guys
alright, what seems to be the problem? Said Ms. Martinez Ryan pushed me and I
hit him Said John. Its not good to hit each other guys because someone can get
really hurt in the process. But John wouldnt let me play with him. Said Ryan.
I think it would be really nice John if you let Ryan play with you too. Said Ms.
Martinez. NOOO, he cant play with me, John started to fall all out over the
place. John was screaming and crying, and throwing a temper tantrum. The teacher
picked John up and she started to rub his back softly, and she was telling him to
relax, and that everything would be okay. John continued to cry but then he started
to calm down. I was really surprised by how John acted because at first he was
really happy playing with the fire truck. Then when the other children wanted to
play with him, he turned really aggressive with one of the boys, and he yelled out
no.

Then John went to the art center and he started to paint a picture. I like red. Said
John. As John continued to paint, he painted a boy with a happy face. There was a
little girl that sat right by him, and she was using the colors pink, red, and orange
to paint her picture. Instead of John asking the little girl could he use the paint
brush, he just snatched the brush from the little girl. Give it back to me. Said the
little girl. No its all mines Said John. The little girl started to cry and John stuck
his tongue out at the girl, teasing her because she was crying. The little girl walked
off and she never came back. Johns social development skills are not very strong
because he does not like to share toys or other things with his peers. John thinks
that it is okay to just take things away from the other children whenever he feels
like it. John doesnt really know how to express himself when it comes down to
him playing with other children, so he lashes out and becomes really angry towards
them.
During recess time, the children all got a chance to go outside to play in the
playground. John climbed up the stairs so that he can go to the monkey bars. There
were five monkey bars going straight across, and John climbed his way through all
of the monkey bars. I was really amazed because John was only 3 years old,
however he used his upper body strength. Next John got a basketball, and he would
try his best throw the ball into the basketball rim. John kept trying, and trying but
he still didnt make his shot. I can tell that John was starting to get frustrated
because he started yelling, then he kicked the ball. When John walked away from
playing basketball, he noticed that the other children were riding around on the
bicycles. John, come ride with us. Said the little boy. John sat on one of the
bicycles and he rode around by himself in another direction. I noticed that John
likes to do things but he likes to do things by himself. John doesnt like to play or
work with other children. It is really important for John to learn how to be sociable

because when children play and share different materials together, they learn how
to listen to others, learn how to cooperate, and they can share their ideas with each
other. I had seen some of the other children in the dramatic play area and they were
discussing which roles that they each would play. I noticed that John doesnt like
even talking to the other children which is not good because children should talk to
one another so they can know whats going on. When children play, they develop
their ability to form relationships with other children and also with teachers.
The next thing that the children got to do was play a sorting game. John was given
different colors of blocks and I watched as he put the red blocks in the red box, the
blue blocks in the blue box, and the yellow blocks in the yellow box. Then the
teacher gave John different shapes that he had to match in the correct shape hole.
John also put every shape in the right place, which was really good because this
shows me that his cognitive skills are really good. I can see that John was
determined to put the shapes where they needed to be, and I was happy for him
because he wasnt angry and he enjoyed the activities. When it came down to
Johns emotional development, I can tell that it was really low, which is not good at
all because it can really mess up his self-esteem. I remember when John was
playing with the basketball at the basketball court, and when he kept missing his
shots, he would get really frustrated and he just kept saying that he cant do it. I
believe that self-esteem is all about self-worth and how much you really value
yourself as a person. When John was practicing how to write his first and last
name, he could spell his first name right. John was having problems trying to spell
his last name, and he would throw the paper down and say that he wasnt going to
write anymore. John is a really smart and bright little boy and I know that he can
do anything that he can put his mind to. I just want him to think more highly of
himself, and not to beat himself up when he makes a mistake or get something

wrong because if he continues down this path with his emotions then its only
going to hurt him in the long run. As a future teacher, my job is to help young
children understand that their social behavior is going to help them have good
relationships with their peers. If I was Johns teacher, I would set good examples
for him because if he sees me doing something positive then John is going to want
to do the same thing. For instance, I know that John has a hard time sharing with
others, so one day I would bring fruit for the class, and I would split an apple in
half and I would say to John Here, lets share this apple! I have a piece for you,
and Ill have a piece for me. I believe that it is also good to praise a child when
they are doing something good because when you let them know that their doing a
wonderful job then it can boost up a childs self-esteem, and theyll continue to
show good behavior.
John Smith has a hard time socializing with the other children; I created a game
called Catching the Confidence! The game is going to help John communicate
more with his classmates, and the game will also help John with his confidence.
The goal is going to be for each child to say a word that describes another child.
John is going to stand in a circle with the other children, and when they pass the
ball to one another a positive word is going to be on the ball, and once the child
gets the word they have to spell and act out the word. This is a really good game
for John developmental benefits because children are learning new words, and its
going to help a childs literacy skills as well.
The next game that John is going to be able to play is called the Treasure word
hunt. I am going to put different words inside of a little

treasure box and hide them in different places outside in

the playground, then have the children search

everywhere to see if they can find the words. Once the

children have found the words then I can be able to make
the words more advanced for the children. John also had
a problem with trying to write his last name so the
teacher can write out Johns name and he can practice
tracing his name so that he can get better with knowing
his last name. I had a pleasure observing John, and he
was a really unique individual, I feel like when I work with
him on his social skills then hell be just fine.
I chose my case study report for Standard 3 because I
really got the chance to observe John, to see how he
reacted to different situations, and how he learned
certain things. I got the chance to see Johns
social/emotional skills, large motor skills, small motor
skills, his language skills, and his art work. It was
important for me to observe John, and to take notes on
John because it really did help me get to know John as a
person, and I also got to see how his behavior was inside
of the classroom.