Child's Development Level Observation Case Study

How the Child Interact with Me and Others

At first, the child held back, and he was afraid to interact with me. He felt withdrawn and constantly looking at his parents before answering any of my questions. After he got assurance from his parents that I was a good person, he began to interact with me freely. He was open to me to the extent that he revealed everything I asked about him. However, when his parents left him with me, his behavior changed. He was partially disconnected, and I could observe a change in his mood. Noteworthy, he expressed his thoughts and gave answers to my questions albeit with feelings of mistrust. Nevertheless, as we continued conversing, he felt safe and comfortable and he expressed his views meticulously without withholding anything from me.

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The Child's Development Level

The child under study was a six-year-old who was proud of his abilities and accomplishments. He, therefore, belongs to Erikson's Stage 4 (Industry versus Inferiority) of psychosocial development (Svetina, 2014). I noted through social interactions with him that he was industrious and always boasted of his prowess in writing, reading, and solving mathematical problems. The child revealed to me that his parents and teachers encouraged him a lot and gave him gifts whenever he solved a mathematical problem or drew a figure excellently. Admittedly, the child was competent and showed no signs of inferiority.

The Mood of the Child

In general, the child had a positive mood in his social interactions with teachers, his parents, and peers. He is a cheerful person and energetic in his life endeavors. Notably, he is the darling of his peers and usually draws a large playing crowd. In most cases, he directs and control play and thereby asserting his power among his peers. The implication for this is that he is capable of leading others. Therefore, he has the willingness and initiative to work with his peers to achieve their goal. Despite his positivity in his undertakings and interactions, there are some instances that he was frustrated. He felt upset or annoyed for being unable to achieve ultimate control over his peers. Additionally, he felt easily vexed when he failed to achieve a particular task. It is worthy to pinpoint that he could pick a fight with his peers in a bid to cool his anger.

The Feeling with the Child

The feeling with the child was delightful and great. He was easy to interact with and answered my questions with calmness and ease. He was outstanding in his relationship with his peers and even offered assistance to them whenever they needed help. He was an industrious kid who believed that he could achieve whatever he wanted in life. Therefore, I felt connected as well as had great admiration for his abilities and spirit.

The Child's Attachment Degree

The child has a secure attachment degree based on his social interactions with his teachers, parents, and peers. It is prudent to elucidate that in my first interaction with him, the child was upset when his parents left him with me and even felt uncomfortable with me. However, after he got assurance from me that I was a good person worth his trust, he began sharing his thoughts with me. According to Roque, Verissimo, Fernandes, and Rebelo (2013), this is a clear indication that the child is secure and receives good care and treatment from his caregivers who are his parents.

Family and Client History

The family comprises of four members who live together in their own apartment in a rural setting. The first member of the family is the father who is the head of the family and a teller in a nearby bank. The second member of the family is the mother who works as a nurse in a nearby healthcare facility. The next family member is a daughter who is 13 years old and the 8th grade in a local school district. The last member of the family is the child under study, a son aged five years old, and who studies at a local preschool. The parents of this child explain that before their son was mature enough to start schooling, they sought the services of a caregiver to help them when they were out working during the day. They assert that he caregiver offered the best services to the child and helped him to grow into a cheerful and industrious kid.

It is therefore vital to note that the child occupies both the second and the last position in the family as a child as far as birth order is concerned. His family position tries to explain his energetic and reckless behavior in doing things or interacting with his peers. As stated earlier, he took pride in his accomplishments and even tried to wedge a war if his demands and ideas were not embraced among his peers.

Specific Developmental Stages and Behaviors of the Child

Based on the observations made, the child belongs to both third and fourth developmental stages of "Initiative versus Guilt" and "Industry versus Inferiority" respectively. According to Karkouti (2014), the third developmental stage of the Erikson's theory is a time in which the child is aggressive in his or her behavior. Additionally, this stage entails regular interaction of a child with his peers in school and at home. It is also paramount to highlight that a child in this stage asks many questions in a bid to understand things in his environment. The child normally feels guilty is his or her parents consider his or her questions as a nuisance. For the child under study, he was so aggressive in his interactions with his peers and often wanted to be the ultimate leader when they were out playing. These observations pinpoint to him being in the third stage of psychosocial development.

Also, the child exhibited some behaviors that associate him with the fourth psychosocial developmental stage. The client was proud of his accomplishments in solving mathematical problems, writing, and drawing. His teachers and parents were the main cornerstone to his achievements. It is worthy to note that he constantly acknowledged their efforts in motivating him. Carruth and Wallen (2014) explain that children at Erikson's fourth developmental stage begin to learn how to read and write and do simple mathematical problems. Additionally, it is at this stage that they develop competence in their activities. It is also notable that children who receive little motivation from their peers, teachers, or parents will doubt their capabilities and begin feeling inferior. Based on the client's case, it is applausive that his teachers and parents did a commendable job in making him industrious and confident in this stage of development.

How it was Like to Engage with the Child

The student was so lively and inquisitive during my interactions with him. I found it easy to talk to him on a range of topics and issues related to his age. Despite his early resistance to talk to me, the child became very comfortable talking to me as our conversations progressed. I his articulation of accomplishments regarding solving mathematical problems amazed me the most. Imperatively, he was interesting to talk to and also a joy to watch while he was playing with his peers.

My Strengths in Handling the Child

I am a flexible person who knows how to handle children from different background and situations. This particular strength was useful during my interaction with the client as it enabled me to gather his views regarding various issues in his developmental stage. It also enabled me to establish a positive relationship with him that enhanced our conversation. Another strength that I possess is patience, and it helped me while talking to the client. It is essential to note that young children are very inquisitive people who ask lots of questions and expect answers. My patience enabled me to stay calm despite the child's bothersome questions. Other than that, I am also a good listener who understands the dynamics of a child's development. I, therefore, listened to the child's many stories and bothersome questions as long as the conversation lasted. The ramification for this is that the child felt appreciated and valued, which helped to create a strong relationship with him.

My Hindrances

I easily get annoyed when a child is indiscipline or misbehaves. However, I was lucky that the child under study was a well-mannered kid. Communication barrier was also a major hindrance that almost stalled our conversation. I would ask certain questions that the child could not easily comprehend and therefore he ended up giving wrong or unsatisfying answers. Another hindrance was time constraint as it cut short our conversation. Additionally, the child had a short concentration span which implied that we only talked for a short duration. Imperatively, the child would switch off completely during our conversation as he demanded to have playing time with his peers. Overall, these hindrances had a toll on my communication with the child, and they almost ruined my conversation with him.

Fun Parts

The fun part was how the child interacted with his peers. He was at the center-stage of everything that he did with his colleagues. He wanted to lead them in every time of play that they took part. Nevertheless, when his peers refused to grant him his will, he immediately withdrew from play. His behavior was fun because it pinpointed his industrious character and his belief that everything is achievable if a person has a strong will. Another fun part was when I held a conversation with him. He occasionally boasted of his accomplishments in the drawing, writing, and solving basic mathematical problems. I was amazed by how he was particularly good at drawing. At his tender age, he would draw common objects such as a bus so perfectly that you would think he is a pro in the drawing art. That notwithstanding, the most interesting bit was when he proudly acknowledged the contribution of his parents and teachers towards his accomplishments. It is worthy to explain that his ability to acknowledgment his motivators were the most spectacular thing to hear from him as it showed his intrinsic appreciation for good deeds.

Difficult Parts

The child had difficulty talking to strangers, particularly those people he sees for the first time. As earlier stated, the child tended to withhold his thoughts from me when I first started the conversation with him. It took concerted efforts of his parents to convince him to talk to me. Also, the child frequently requested me to allow him to play with his peers. Essentially, the child kept on withdrawing from conversation during my interactions with him.

Attempts to Establish Connection with the Child

I made several successful attempts in establishing connections with the child. I enticed the child with mints and promised to give him more at the end of our conversation. It is paramount to assert that this method helped me to get the attention of the child. Another strategy that was instrumental in establishing a connection with the child was to engage him in playing activities. We played football together, and I could occasionally allow him to score. By so doing, I establish the best relationship with him that helped me to extract information from him. The last method was acknowledging and praising him for his accomplishments. This strategy made him feel appreciated and valued, which made him like me.

Treatment Plan

As earlier noted, the child had a weakness of picking fights with his peers whenever his plan to control them never worked. Therefore, I will develop a treatment plan to enable the child to improve this negative attribute. The plan will entail setting treatment goal and objectives. After that, it will encompass the application of various interventions and following the child's progress. Overall, the plan will be as follows:

Goal: The child should be tolerant to his peers and avoid picking unnecessary fights with them.

Objectives:

To make t...