Child development case study: Nina's physical, emotional, and social growth

Narrative

Nina is an eight-year-old girl who lives in my neighborhood. She is a good friend of mine daughter, who I have known since birth. She is the first of two children and was born premature at six months. She is now about four and a half feet tall and very thin, she weighs about seventy pounds. She lives with her mother who is 39 years old and her father who is 40 years old. Her mother graduated high school and father has an Associate's degree. Her mother is a stay at home mom and father works in the mortgage industry. The family lives in an urban community, where they own their own home. Nina is musically talented and plays the piano well.

Physical Information

Nina was very tiny when she was younger. She was a premature baby and it took her a while to catch up with her peers. She is very thin and tall, she is now taller than some of her peers. She is very active and physically competent. She is a yellow belt karate student and very excited about earning her next belt. On Saturdays Nina is usually at the park with her brother, parents and friends climbing the bars and running through the jungle gym.

Emotional Development

Since Nina has grown out of the tantrum three's I have not really seen her angry or out of control. I think she is very sensitive, she gets her feelings hurt easily. If someone says something the wrong way, she may get her feelings hurt and cry. I think she has fair self-esteem, she thinks she is beautiful and knows that she is smart. She is a well behaved child and has a great disposition. She is always smiling and laughing. She loves to play with her little brother and friends.

Social Development

Nina plays well with the children in the neighborhood and has friends from school as well. Nina gets along with her peers and her parents are very happy they never get any complaints from her teachers. I have had the pleasure of babysitter her a few times and she is a pleasure to be with. She is respectful and loves other children. She is very caring and nurturing with her little brother. She gets along with those she knows as well as those that are new to her.

Language Development

Nina speaks English well and writes well. She reads a lot and gets tutored by her mother, which are the biggest reasons I think her language development is better than her peers. Nina can have an intelligent conversation with adults and transition well to having a simple conversation with her peers.

Moral Development

I believe Nina is in the moral realism stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. She obeys the rules because they are set for her; she does not really question the rules. She knows the difference between right and wrong and understands that she should obey her parents.

General Assessment

I have the pleasure of knowing Nina since birth and I think she is an exceptional child. She is very loving, and kind. Nina was given a big disadvantage at birth; she was very premature and had to struggle for survival. In the last few years this young lady has matured and grown up so much. Nina has worked really hard to catch up with her peers intellectually and cognitively. In some areas she is even ahead of her peers. She is an exceptional piano player and great student of music. In most ways she is an average child, according to Piaget's theory of cognitive development she is in the moral realism stage which is where she should be. Nina is thinking logically, she no longer dreams of fairy tales. According to Piaget's she is now in the concrete operational stage of development. Nina is very aware of herself, how she looks, what she says and how she is perceived. She tries very hard to be responsible and a good girl, which is exactly what children in the competence stage of Erickson's development. I believe Nina is in stage two of Kohlberg's pre-conventional reasoning. Nina is very caring and nurturing to her brother, mainly because she gets rewards from her parents. Overall Nina is a wonderful child and I think she is average with her peers. She has exceptional musical abilities and her parents are getting her the right teachers to help her build this talent.