EDUC 121-Child and Adolescent Development

My Virtual Child Report

Name: Brianna Volz

Date: October 18, 2014

My Virtual Child Report 2 Early Childhood (Age 3-4)

1. What activities and experiences have you and your child engaged in that might be
promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest in physical activity? Refer
to the book and lecture where needed. (2 points)
When a child is the ages of 3 and 4, it is a key time for them to learn. Such activities that
deal with colors, shapes, numbers, letters, good and bad behaviors, and so forth. My
Virtual Child has some interest in physical activity. From what My Virtual Child says,
we have gone to the park and on walks. Usually when weve gone to the park she is shy
and it takes her a little while to get comfortable with other kids, but once she starts
playing and forgets that I am present, she seems to do fine and enjoy herself.
2. Describe the development of your childs language and cognitive skills and discuss
ow these might be affecting his or her interactions with you & your responses. Refer
to the text or lecture for descriptions and explanations of each area of skill. (2
points)
The ages of 3 and 4 is a key part in the development of my childs language and cognitive
skills. Based on My Virtual Child, at the age of 3, Josephine scored average on her
language skills. For example, when she saw a picture from a book she could tell some
details within the picture but not really what was going on. I was told to increase my
communication with her and that would help her pick up on those things. At the age of 4,
her language skills were considered to be about average again and the teacher
recommended continuing in communication with stories and so forth. At the age of 3 and
4, Josephines cognitive skills were also pretty average. She seems to be doing well
when interacting with others and had no problem adapting to what they do in her
Kindergarten class as well.
3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the
home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point?
Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about
them? Refer to the text or lecture as needed. (2 points)
Based on My Virtual Child as well, Josephine at the ages of 3 and 4 seems to be having
no problem adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home. When
interacting with other kids she seems to jump right in with what they are doing and
participate. The only emotional problem she seems to be having at this point is mild
stress. She doesnt seem to get too upset or anything like that, but the teacher said she
gets frazzled when told to hurry up so she recommended Josephine be given more timed
tasks and things like that at home.

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My Virtual Child Report

4. How would you characterize your parenting style (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian,
permissive, or variations or combinations of these styles)? Refer to the book or
lecture descriptions to justify your classification. How have your specific parenting
techniques changes since infancy? (2 points)
I would say that my parenting style is a combination of these. I have tried to be strict and
show authority with Josephine, but sometimes I give in or try to help her instead of
letting her figure everything out on her own. I think that I would be considered to be a
mixture of all these styles as a parent because I tend to adjust to situations that come
about. I am strict but also tend to be there to guide Josephine along when she needs me
to be, but I also let her kind of do her owe thing to figure things out.
5. Describe three specific examples of change in your childs behavior at age 4 that
seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of
infancy (e.g., improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the
world, theory of mind). Refer to the book or lecture. (4 points)
Three specific examples of change in Josephines behavior at the age of 4 that seem to
stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy would be:
1.) The ability to adapt to her surroundings. When she was younger she was very clingy
and not very social with other children her age, but now based on what her teacher says
she is very cooperative and works well with others. 2.) The ability to focus. Also based
on what her teacher says and from cognitive development Josephine has the ability to
stay focused without easily getting distracted and staying on task. 3.) Her test scores in
her vocabulary have improved and were about average for her age. As she has gotten
older, her language skills have improved with the learning of new words, phrases, and so
on.
6. How would you characterize your childs personality? Would you say that your
child is primarily over controlled, under controlled, or resilient? Support your
argument. Recall that the Virtual Childs behavior at age 3 and 4 is designed to
resemble one of three personality types. The personality types combine some of the
temperamental traits with which you are already familiar. The over controlled
category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, but is shy in
social situations and anxious and clingy under pressure. The under controlled
category refers to a child is uncooperative or even aggressive, does not follow the
rules, may or may not be shy in social situations, and has a tendency to become
distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under stress. The resilient
category refers to a child who is cooperative and follows the rules, is friendly, nonaggressive and outgoing, able to focus on tasks without being too distracted, has
good regulation of his or her emotions, and is adaptable to new situations. Refer to
the course reader and lecture. (2 points)

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My Virtual Child Report

I would say that based on what I have read in the overviews on My Virtual Child that my
child seems to get along with other kids. Based on what I read above, she seems to be
over controlled. I say this because she doesnt seem to act out much and does what she is
told most of the time and stays on task and most of the time she gets along and jumps
right into things, but occasionally she is socially shy.
7. Look for evidence of continually as well as discontinuity in your childs behavior
from infancy through early childhood. Give an example of an aspect of ability or
personality that has remained fairly stable. Give an example of an aspect of ability
or personality that has been unstable. Why do you think change occurred in one
area and not the other? Refer to the book or lecture with regard to reason for
continuity or discontinuity. (4 points)
I would say that an aspect of ability that has been pretty stable is my childs motor skills.
She has never seemed to have any problems or lacking in this area. She has been able to
be physically activity and cooperatively likes to join in with other students with fun game
and activities. She tends to have no problem with this at all. An aspect of ability that I
would say that has been slightly unstable would be her language skills. She has been
average according to most assessments, but still needs work on some aspects of language.
She seems to be somewhat socially awkward, and I think would prefer to play alone, etc.
rather than join in socially with other kids.
8. Your Virtual Child is growing up basically in an average American cultural setting.
Based on what you have learned from the course, how specifically might your childs
behavior be different if she was raised in a different culture? Alternatively, if you
are familiar with different cultures (e.g., you or your parents were raised in a
country outside of America with a very different culture), you can describe how
your parenting, or your childs behavior might be different within that cultural
setting. As a third option, describe and give examples of how your parenting style,
or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your own cultural
background or other experiences. Describe the rationale for your claim, and the
source of your information (book or lecture, or your own experience growing up at
least partially within a particular culture). (4 points)
If My Virtual Child were raised in a different culture setting, she may definitely have
different behaviors, trends, ways of doing things, and so forth. Some may be stricter and
in others may have hardly any contact or learning with a parent, but I am not really sure
because I dont really have another background or culture to compare to besides mine
here in America. My life as a child was pretty average. My mom is a teacher and my dad
works at a local business in our small town. Id say with 6 kids life was pretty middle
class. We never really had the best of everything, but we had what we needed and
learned to appreciate things more by growing up this way. I worked hard to get where I
wouldnt really prefer to have it any other. I think that I have this same attitude towards

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My Virtual Child Report

My Virtual Child. I think it is good to help Josephine, but I dont think I need to hold her
hand through everything and she needs to just kind of learn things out for herself. She
must realize that everything does not come easily to her, and she is going to have to work
hard and interact with others to get where she wants to be because I am not going to be
there 24/7 to help her with every little detail she needs help with especially in school. I
have made it my goal to make sure she knows that I am there when she needs me. No
doubt about it. I would say my attitude towards this is pretty common to how I was
raised.