Participation and Completion of Virtual Child - Assignment Example

My Vritual Child at 8 months Question 1 The eating, sleeping and motor development, are comparable tote typical developmental patterns. For instance, infants usuallysleep16-17hours daily and Rex sleeps as much. Rex’s eating habits are also normal and this is reflected in his normal weight gain. Additionally, Rex can crawl, sit and stand even without support (McLeod, 2007). Question 2 Rex was a baby. This is because he could laugh and smile and basically he seems to be very interested with surroundings. Question 3 Rex is more attached to me than my partner and thus shows more preference to me than my partner. As mother, my interactions with Rex are more profound and the bond between us is extremely strong. However, Rex also interacts positively with his dad. According to Bowlby there are many social deprivation issues that result from poor interactions with the children but in our case, Rex has no social deprivation issues and as his parents we major in creating a strong secure base for him to explore according to Ainsworth (McLeod, 2007). My Virtual Child at 19 months Question 1 At 8months Rex could crawl actively and he would discover hidden items (object permanence). However, if the object was hidden at a different location, other than the one he was used to, he would get confused. At 1year Rex could imitate new words and actions and his object permanence test had greatly improved. At 14 months, Rex could perform experiments using objects within his reach and this is tertiary reaction which occurs between 12-18months. At 18 months, Rex could at times tackle problems that were too hard for his age which would frustrate him at times, and I encouraged him through participating within the activity and showing and explaining to him about such complicated activities. Question 2 Rex was very active and used his motor skills tremendously. At this age he would crawl actively, would sleep very late and wake up early. His temperament was fair where he would shy off of on seeing new people but was extremely active while at home. Sociability, Rex was an extrovert because he would readily socialize with new people and would easily adjust to new situations. Rex’s emotionality reduced from 9-18months. When younger his moods would change drastically even without any provocation. However, this drastically changed with age and at 18months he was more confident and less irritable. In regard to aggressiveness v. cooperativeness, Rex was rather an aggressive baby. For instance, he would attempt to snatch toys from other babies and if another child tried to snatch his toy he would resist. On the other hand he was a cooperative child because he would always listen to whatever he is being told. For self control, Rex never had any serious issues with self control (Monetti, 2010). Question 3 Rex’s developmental assessment was extremely remarkable though not surprising. Rex always demonstrated above average capabilities in his motor skills, block building and toy manipulation activities. The developmental examiner made normal recommendations for Rex’s standoffishness around unfamiliar individuals. As a result, I will ensure that Rex gets involved in children playgroups to enhance his experience with other children (Monetti, 2010). My Virtual Child at 2 years and 6 months Question 1 Rex was doing great at this age though his temper at his age would seem exasperated. There were times he would throw tantrums and refuse to calm down completely. In my opinion, the source of the problem was because he never got time outs anytime he misbehaved. Question 2 Rex requires to be constantly reminded regarding household rules. For instance, there was a time he fell down and hurt himself because of not following rules. Rex gets along well with other children. Question 3 In my opinion, I follow Vygostky because I am extremely vocal with Rex. We talk a lot and always interact verbally with each other. Additionally, I ensure we play games together and talk always to strengthen our bond. However, piaget cognitive processing indicates how children construct knowledge during object manipulation. Rex is good with objects and constantly takes things apart to figure them out. I am learning to understand her more and being patient with his temperament which is greatly helping Rex in his development. In addition, I believe in John Bowlby's theories on the infant-caregiver relationship. My opinion is that it's very essential for Rex and me to share contact and interact to nurture our bond and give him a sense of security and belonging (Monetti, 2010). My Virtual Child at 3 years and 11 months Question 1 Rex has so much interest in both outdoor and indoor activities. Rex is good in baseballs and watching educational television programs. I feel it’s extremely vital for Rex to get at least 1hour in physical activities daily because it is healthy. We constantly accompany Rex in outdoor activities and also encourage him to watch educational TV programs by watching the programs with him (Rutter, 2008). Question 2 Rex scores highly in his language skills and responds well with verbal instructions which make his learning fast and can speak in full sentences. As a result we are able to communicate because he uses the words and sentences to say what he requires, for instance if he needs food I will understand him with ease. Rex’s cognitive skills are remarkable as he can copy designs and build blocks with ease. I plan to involve Rex in more cognitive thinking activities to promote his capabilities and assist Rex in interacting with us better (Traill, 2008). Question 3 Rex is adapting well in social situations. He has no problems with new faces and interacts well with children in the neighbourhood and at school. At home Rex can get moody and I think this is due to arrival of baby Alora who Rex thinks is getting all the attention. As parents, we will support Rex through this phase because it will pass with time (Rutter, 2008). My Virtual Child at 4 years Question 1 My parenting style is interactive and behaviour based. Rex is good with learning academic skills and thus my concentration is on physical development which includes motor skills and cognitive capability personality and self-discipline development. We normally involve Rex in children activities such as zoo. Basically, we concentrate on positive reinforcement and passive punishment, for instance timeouts and this parenting style has been influenced by the way I was brought up because my parents’ parenting style was interactive and behaviour based (Davies, 2010). Question 2 Rex can solve number conservation tasks for small numbers and he seems to well comprehend games of strategy and his efficiency in games involving numbers has greatly improved. Question 3 Rex is a normal, healthy 4year old human. Rex is normally in good moods, cooperates with us, friends but sometimes has problems in cooperating with his caregiver. At times Rex gets sad by demanding situations but recovers fast. Rex tries new things readily and works independently though at times he needs some guidance or support for sustenance. At times Rex is impulsive and tends to have attention spans (Davies, 2010). My Virtual Child at 8 years and 11 months Question 1 From the psychologist, Rex scores were above average in vocabulary, comprehension, math, design copying, and spatial rotation as well. Rex didn’t show any symptoms of ADD/ADHD (Gordon, 2009). Rex is excellent in science and reading as well and loves reading and watching educational programs a lot. Rex was not good with instruments and music when he was younger but now he tends to show great interest in music and instruments as well. We chose flute for his musical instrument. Rex is good in communication skills and since he really loves reading this has greatly contributed in his communication skills. Question 2 Rex actively plays with other boys while at school and at home. Rex actively plays sports with boys and girls and loves building blocks. This is good because it is recommendable for Rex to experience things that girls do. My view is that this will make Rex more understanding in future when it comes to opposite sex. American attitude towards this is 50/50 since American society doesn’t support men being too girly or being too feminine as this can be associated with being weak and being a homosexual too. Therefore, I will ensure that Rex has boundaries, for instance I will stop him from dressing like a girl as this might confuse him (Robert, 2008). Question 3 There would be so many differences. Rex’s memory could be much better if he lived within a non-western culture. Berk suggests that Australian and Guatemalan children have better memory than American children because these children utilize their memory skills than Americans since Americans utilize strategies (Robert, 2008). My Virtual Child at 10 years and 11 months Question 1 Rex works cooperatively in groups and normally respects other people as well as indicates suitable peer social interaction. Rex is good in reading and spelling and writing as well. He is so good in science and in math and word problems as well. I normally help Rex when he is unable to solve a certain problem but I ensure that he comes to his own conclusion. Question 2 Rex tends to be moody at times. For instance, he fought with his best friend recently and this seems to be really disturbing him. Rex’s teacher sometimes complains that Rex’s behaviour is problematic and also gets moody quickly. These problems can be attributed to hormonal changes taking place in his body at his age. Question 3 There are no changes in my parenting style although I am stricter with Rex than before. My Virtual Child at 12 years and 11 months Question 1 Rex is beginning to notice girls and he seems to be more moody. Likewise, Rex has developed a sense of morality and seems to have a lot of interest in current events. He’s started showing signs of incipient puberty for instance, his face seems to be developing pimples. Finally, Rex seems to be becoming more independent and has developed a sense of identity (Rathus, 2006). Question 1 Rex is extremely resilient and has a good level of control. He is not showing any aggressive behaviour though at times he seems to be rebellious. His friends like him and he has no discipline cases at school. My opinion is that as Rex develops and puberty sets in, it will be much more difficult to maintain his self-control but since Rex seems to be flexible, he will be okay (Rathus, 2006). Question 3 Rex is very good in science, math and language as well. This has been consistent ever since he was a child. I encourage his science skills by taking him on exploratory adventures and zoos and encourage his reading through reading and ensuring that he watches educational programs. Nonetheless, Rex is not very cooperative as before whenever I try to help him and seems bored and upset. To motivate him to improve his grades more, I promise him gifts whenever he gets excellent grades. My Virtual Child at 15 years Question 1 Rex has been interested and plays baseball ever since he was a small boy and he likes baseball more as he grows. He is in his high school baseball team and is very active and this has played a big role in his physical fitness, wellbeing and his sport skills have improved greatly. Question 2 Rex is more argumentative and at times gets upset. I relate to him through sharing my teenage experiences and advising him. He is also not cooperative as before which is normal at his age. To ensure he is more cooperative, I remind Rex of rules and discuss morality issues and treat more like a grown up and respect and support his decisions (Rathus, 2006). Question 3 Rex seems to be experiencing the psychological conflict of identity versus role confusion. He is independent and is easily motivated and he is doing great in his academics. Rex seems to be in the stage of identity moratorium and I normally help him through giving him examples of various beliefs and various individuals. He is developing well morally and actively searches for identity which is demonstrated by him actively conversing with individuals who have different beliefs (Rathus, 2006). My Virtual Child at 16 years and 11 months Question 1 Rex has problems regarding time management. I try helping him improve in time management through emphasizing how personal responsibility is crucial and discussing various ways to improve his time management skills. He does well in science though he has dropped slightly in math. His teachers’ opinions are that he can do much better in math. He is also very good in social interaction and reasoning and this are his key strengths. Consequently, I think Rex can do well in a science career or social occupation since these are his major strengths. Question 2 Rex is excellent social-wise. He socializes with his peers very well. His relationship with his friends is contributing to his poor time-management skills because he seems to spend a lot of time with his friends. However, his relationships with his friends are important to him in his social development as well as his emotional well-being (Robert, 2008). Question 3 Rex is a responsible and a cautious driver. He seems to be interested in girls and has developed a lot of interest in opposite sex lately. He came from a party smelling marijuana and even though he denied having smoked; I took that moment to educate him regarding negative effects of marijuana and advised him to keep away from friends who do drugs. There is also a night that he took alcohol and instead of driving himself home while drunk he called me to pick him up. Even though I was upset with him being drunk, I was glad that he didn’t attempt to drive while drunk which indicates responsibility. These examples indicate that Rex has no serious issues with when it comes to risk-taking behaviours (Robert, 2008). My Virtual Child at 18 years and 1 month Question 1 Physically, Rex’s decision concerning his health has been excellent and this is indicated by his active participation in playing sports. Sport is an important physical activity that improves physical health. For cognitive development, Rex has improved in his cognitive capabilities. Rex chose psychology in his senior year and this might be a good career path for him since he performs excellently. Initially I never thought Rex would be so good in psychology since science and math have always been his strong points. Social-wise, Rex socializes and interacts with his peers well and is able to handle social situations very well. I expected Rex to have excellent social skills since my parenting style always emphasized on improving his social skills. Emotionally, Rex handles this aspect well even though he sometimes gets emotional and anxious. I would have predicted this because when Rex was young sometimes it would be so difficult to control his emotions. For moral, Rex has a refined sense of morality. This was also predictable because when he was young I always taught him morality issues (Perry, 2007). Question 2 My parenting style was both interactive and at times authoritative and this gave Rex a good foundation to acquire morals and find his identity. Reading together with Rex and introducing him to sports made him develop interest in those aspects. Similarly, introducing Rex to new surroundings and new people when he was young has greatly improved his social skills (Perry, 2007). Question 3 Rex’s development has been greatly influenced by genetics. For instance, I was good in science and Rex seems to be taking cue. Environment has also influenced Rex greatly. We were never good in music but Rex seems to be so good in music. This has been contributed by the environment which provides most people in the society with an opportunity to excel in music. Again, the fact that Rex grew up within contemporary middle-class America generally means that he would develop interest in sports (Perry, 2007). Bibliography Davies, P, 2010, Clinical longitudinal standards for height and height velocity for North American children, The Journal of pediatrics, Vol. 107 (3): 317–29. Gordon, M, 2009, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Handbook: A Physician's Guide to ADHD, New York: Springer. McLeod, S, 2007, John Bowlby | Maternal Deprivation Theory - Simply Psychology, Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html Monetti, M, 2010, Educational Psychology, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Perry, N, 2007, Elementary School Journal, Vol.108 (1), 63-79. Rathus, A, 2006, Childhood: voyages in development, Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Robert, L, 2008, Male puberty and its disorders.. Pediatric Endocrinology. Philadelphia: Saunders. Rutter, M, 2008, Clinical Implications of Attachment Concepts: Retrospect and Prospect, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 36 (4): 549–571. Traill, R, 2008, Thinking by Molecule, Synapse, or both? From Piaget’s Schema, to the Selecting/Editing of ncRNA, Melbourne: Ondwelle. Read More