Case Study Paper

Write an in-depth case study of one of the children you know/observed in real life OR from a TV
show/movie. The age of the child has to be between birth-8 years old.
Abstract:
This case is about a young girl called Sidra Alharratani or SA. The school observed him in a
classroom at Advanced Generation International Schools. She is eight years old, has a young
sister and lives wither her mother while her father works in abroad. The paper is focused
primarily on the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development of SA. It intends to study
how SA is developing typically for her age.
Background of the Child: This case study is about a young girl named SA, who was observed
at Advanced Generations Schools for children, an indoor environment. The eight-year-old SA
lives in a house with her mother and her younger sister. She is the elder of the two siblings. Her
father works as a lecturer in one of the famous universities in Jeddah, while a Saudi mom is a
plain housewife. Their house is located in Tahlia Street near Safari Mall. She likes browsing the
internet during her spare time. She likes basketball and martial arts. She likes the subjects Math,
Arts, & Music. She is fond of horror and mystery movies. One of her favourite moves is
Annabelle. She is amused by painting and loves painting. She likes to research on different
topics which her Teacher posts in online learning sessions and always willing to take
participation in class discussion. She wants to upload the pictures of everyday lessons and feels
confident when she relates her research to a real-life situation. She enjoys eating sushi, pasta,
baking dishes and hates vegetables cooked in tomatoes. Colours red, green, and blue are her
favourites. She dislikes the chaotic classmates but loves to spend time with her friends.SA is
currently in Grade 4 from 3G4 Bumblebees.
Physical Development: SA likes outdoor activities and playing sports. She is a normal, growing
tall girl, already experiencing some changes in her body. She already lost deciduous teeth.
Middle childhood is the stage where the girls should be sharing the growth in height. "Girls and
boys grow about 2 to 3 inches and again about 7 pounds per year until puberty."(2013, Cliff
Notes). Middle childhood is also the stage where minor illness lessens in frequency. According
to him "….improved resistance to common illness is probably due to a combination of increased
immunity from previous hygiene and nutritional practices."
Cognitive Development: During this period, SA's thought is more confident, engaged,
responsible and reflective than it was during her early childhood. According to Piaget's Theory,
SA is in the concrete operational stage. The concrete active step is from ages 7 to 11, where SA
falls in this category. Similarly, SA has a normal cognitive development as evidenced by the
parameters of typical mental signs for a ten-year-old child.
An example scenario is when SA attentively listens to Teacher discussing a certain number on
their past quiz. When the Teacher states the problem. SA immediately raises her hand to
volunteer and to answer on the board. Afterwards, Teacher evaluates the outcomes and restates
the result in terms of the original problem statement in the end. SA can solve the problem on the
board.
Also, when they have seat work to do, SA works diligently and asks for assistance when needed
and completes it without getting distracted. SA pays attention when the Teacher explains
something in the class and follows what the Teacher tells them to do so. SA is capable of paying
attention to more than one thing at a time, and thinking becomes much more quickly. SA likes
deciding on her own. She quietly enjoys learning and loves joining school activities.
She doesn't get frustrated quickly when things don't go well, and she doesn't like things to be
perfect at all times.
Yet, SA's language development learning is outstanding. She speaks fluent English, and she
knows how to talk to the French language, including playing the guitar.
Emotional Development: As an energetic and playful eight years old girl, SA can exercise her
self-determination and develop her emotional maturity. But for some reasons, she still needs to
have an assurance from her parents depending on her attitude. She gradually develops social
skills and increasing ability to relate to the outside world at school and with her friends. In that,
she shows an interest in playing and spend hours with his chosen activities. For example, she
excels in basketball and also being part of the student council. SA also has a desire to fit in and
be accepted by her peer groups. Before that, this factor is essential to enhance self-esteem. She
always wanted to be a part of the student government and engage in leading the group. She
interacts with people and can relate to both same-gender and opposite-gender peers. She is quick
to show observes her happiness, sadness, confusions, or frightfulness.
Although she can handle conflicts and problems, she lacks the sense of the sensitivity of other
people. She is not sensitive to situations. For instance, she bullies her classmates and cracks
jokes that may hurt the person. She also lacks a sense of respect when it comes to orders and
instructions. Teachers and staff were able to observe SA's insensitivity and lack of concern.
Another noticeable observation of SA is her urge to do something. In that, they are trying to help
understand SA by following what she wants. For example, the Teacher allows SA to become the
president of their class. The Teacher's strategy is making SA so she can be the role model of the
study. By that, the Teacher must still help and guide SA. In terms of her academics, teachers are
concern about her grades.SA is getting a hard time to understand the lessons, especially in
Mathematics. She is also impatient in reading too many pages of books.
And also she forgets to make the homework and requirements. This is because of her laziness
and lack of motivation to focus on her studies. However, it is likely to improve her skills by
giving her the right incentive to focus on her academics. Other noticeable development of SA Is
the ability to influence the people around her. For an instant, her classmates will always follow
her whenever what she does or what she commands. This concept may either give a positive or
negative result depending on her situation.
Social Development: According to Kendra Cherry (2014)” the child has become quite adept at
doing things independently and is probably quite proud of such accomplishments." It is the stage
wherein the child becomes more competent and confident. SA, from what we have observed, is a
friendly girl. She talks to everyone, and she doesn't choose the person she wants to mingle with.
She speaks to whoever is beside her. She also mentioned that she likes sports –playing music and
playing with a Barbie doll which is close to all girls. In these kinds of activities, the child will
develop discipline and will also be able to interact with other children, in states that the child
gains mastery of many necessary skills. It is a mean in developing a sense of self-esteem.
Friendship is essential in this stage because it's where the children become more interested in
building relationships and maintaining them.
Conclusion: To sum it up, SA’s development is on the right track. She shows the characteristics
in the physical development of a middle school child. As soon observed by the group, SA's has
the right height for her age. Though her physique is slim, she is active and energetic, showing a
healthy built. The diligence and attention span of SA on academic matters exhibit concrete
operational stage cognitively. It is evident active participation in class and the results she gets
form quizzes. At the age of 8, SA has shown both strong and some points when she does the
things she loves the most. However, she is also emotionally weak at moments when she is not
motivated. Thus, with the right motivation and guidance, SA will be able to surpass her
emotional difficulties.
As a friendly girl, SA strongly shows her social development. She has high self-esteem that
builds good relationships with others.
Recommendations: Following Piaget's theory, where SA falls under the concrete stage, we
recommend that children under this stage be appropriately guided and motivated to develop their
cognitive development further. Children under this stage can easily be influenced by society and
the environment. The school and home play an essential role in a child's development. Thus, a
healthy environment will develop a healthy mind and emotion of a child. On the contrary, a
hostile environment can significantly affect the children extracurricular activities other than
academics like sport enhances their social maturity and critical thinking of children under this
stage. With the right exposure, the child will be ready to face the other challenges of life, will
develop the sense of making the right decisions and be prepared in solving problems that may
arise in the future.
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Ford. Jesus for a New Generation
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Olson, G. Counselling Teenagers. 1984: Group
Papilla and Olds. Human Development and Learning. 1992: McGraw-Hill Inc Pipher, M.
Reviving Ophelia. 1996: Doubleday
Sparkman, T. and Boling, D. (eds.) Knowing and Helping Youth. 1977: Broadman
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