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PEPSI Screening

Junilda Antoniou

College of Southern Nevada

Edu 220 - Principles of Educational Psychology

Dr. Vincent Richardson

October 16, 2021

PEPSI Screening

The individual I observed is a 9-year-old boy who is in the 3rd grade. He comes from a

family consisting of his father, mother, and older brother. His family emigrated to the United

States fifteen years ago. His mother has a BA in business management, his father does not have

any college education. His mother works as an internal auditor in a big corporation. His father

works as a busser in a restaurant. He is a very friendly boy. He is doing great at school. He is

identified as a gifted student and participates in gifted program classes twice a week. He likes to

spend time with his older brother who is also a bright student and plays taekwondo and

basketball. English is a second language for his parents. They do not speak much English at

home. He finds his father’s English funny. He always speaks English with his brother. He can

understand his parent's first language, but he prefers replying in English. Even though he grew

up in a home where English was not spoken much, he was able to read in English before starting

Kindergarten.

Physical Development

The individual is a nine-year-old boy weighing 70lbs and measures 54 inches in height.

The average height and weight of a 9-year-old boy in the United States are 52.5 inches and 63

pounds, which indicates he is above average in his physical development compared to an average

nine-year-old boy (Disabled World, 2017). He is the tallest student in his class. This may be

attributed to the fact that his fifth birthday, October 15th, occurs after the kindergarten entry date

of August 13th. He turned six years old only two months after he started Kindergarten, while

most of his classmates turned six later throughout the school year.
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According to Snowman & McCown (2015),

Obesity can become a problem for some children of this age group. Because nine- and ten-

year-old children have more control over their eating habits than younger children do, there is

a greater tendency for them to overeat, particularly junk food”. (pg.88)

In this individual’s case, gaining control over his eating habits has resulted in a tendency

to not eat his meals regularly. He does not have much appetite. His parents are concerned about

his eating habits. They worry about him being very skinny.

Nine-year-old children have stronger and smoother muscle control, which allows them to

expand their physical limits and interests (Morin, 2020). Quite some time has passed since he

started playing basketball with his brother in their backyard. Now he is joining his brother to

play basketball with his high school-age friends. He gets tired more easily than the other players

who are much older than him, however, he can play basketball with them for short periods of

time.

Emotional Development

According to an article by Centervention, between 3rd and 5th grade, social and

emotional learning grows rapidly, and peer interactions become notably more important and

influential. At the same time, the social influence of parents starts to decrease. Parents become

less involved in their children’s daily activities, and less involved in their children’s daily social

interactions (Centervention, 2021). The individual is influenced by his peers to believe that milk

makes him grow taller. He drinks plenty of milk which makes him full, and he has no appetite to
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eat afterwards. His parents struggle to have him eat his meals and sometimes he will only agree

to eat if they feed him with a spoon.

Ellsworth noted that “students who are unusually bright, advanced in cognitive and

moral reasoning ability, frequently show social and emotional delays.” (Ellsworth, 1998).

The individual is a very bright student. Observing him, I noticed that he does not control his

anger when dealing with his parents and becomes aggressive. He spends a lot of time in his

room playing computer games online with his friends. His parents ask him to spend less time on

his computer, but he becomes agitated when asked to do so. According to Snowman and

McCown (2015), primary grade students are becoming more emotionally sensitive. As a result,

they are more easily hurt by criticism which in this individual's case makes him nervous and he

responds aggressively, screaming at his parents whenever he is blamed (pg.111). However, he

has self-control and is polite when dealing with his peers and his teachers. Ellsworth noted that at

the age of nine adults are seen as people for the first time in the sense of having emotions and

needs. But that is not the case for the parents (Ellsworth, 1999).

Philosophical Development

According to Ellsworth "the child usually has a fair understanding of right and wrong by

now. S/he tends to tell the truth unless a lie will help to escape punishment -- and when lying,

there is a true awareness” (Ellesworth, 1999). This is very noticeable in the individual. There are

times when his mother has asked him to tell lies, like for example to tell his teacher that he could

not go to school for a reason which was not true. He always refuses to tell lies and reasons that

telling lies is wrong.

According to an article by Ask Dr. Sears, children ages from seven to ten years old begin

to believe that children have opinions too, and they begin to sort out which values benefit them

most (Dr. Sears, 2020). The individual is very enthusiastic about expressing his opinions. He

demands his mother to support her statements with arguments and evidence. His mother finds it

difficult to make her point when they have conflicting opinions. He is able to give convincing

arguments when something is in his interest.

He manifests a desire to impress others. He takes pride in his academic accomplishment

in school and his popularity. He seems to have entered the moral development stage of

conventional morality (Snowman & McCown, 2015).

Social Development

As far as his social development is concerned, he seems to be developing well. He is right

where he needs to be in his social development, despite the possibility of having social delays

when being bright. He is very social and has a lot of friends in school. He adapts easily and fits

in with many groups. He enjoys the time spent at school. His mother once asked him not to go to

school for some reason and he replied, “But mum, if I don’t go to school, all my friends are

going to miss me.” According to Snowman & McCown (2015), "children who are accepted by a

peer group and have friends within that group are more likely than rejected and friendless

children to have higher levels of motivation, grades, and test scores (pg. 90). This has proven

true in this student's case, who is a straight-A student. Snowman & McCown (2015), also stated

that:
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During the early school years, parents and teachers set standards of conduct, and most

children try to live up to them. But by grades 4 and 5, children are more interested in

getting along with one another without adult supervision. Consequently, children come to

realize that the rules for behavior within the peer group are not quite the same as the rules

for behavior within the family or the classroom. (pg.90)

The above is reflected in the behavior the individual has towards his parents, which differs from

the one he has towards his classmates.

It is during this age that friendships become more selective, and gender based. Most

children choose a best friend, usually of the same gender, and this individual has already become

closer with a male friend with whom he has common ideas and considers him to be his best

friend (Snowman & McCown, 2015).

Intellectual Development

The elementary grade child can think logically, although such thinking is constrained and

inconsistent. Snowman & McCown (2015), stated that:

In terms of Piaget’s stages, upper elementary grade children are concrete operational

stage thinkers. Most will have attained enough mastery of logical schemes that they can

understand and solve tasks that involve such processes as class inclusion (understanding

the superordinate-subordinate relationships that make up hierarchies), seriation,

conservation, and symbolic representation (reading maps, for example), provided that the

content of the task refers to real, tangible ideas that the child has either experienced or

can imagine. But general and abstract ideas often escape the elementary-age child. For
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example, sarcasm, metaphor, and allegory are usually lost on concrete-stage thinkers.

(pg.92)

The individual I observed masters the use of logic in discussions with his parents. He not

only uses logic to solve problems related to his experience, but he is able to use conductive

reasoning for hypothetical problems. His reasoning skills seem quite advanced. Snowman &

McCown (2015), also noted that:

Children understand that there are different ways to know things and that some ways are

better than others. When an observation can be explained with either a possible (that is, a

theoretical) explanation or an evidence-based explanation, preschoolers fail to see one as

more compelling than the other, but primary grade children usually prefer the explanation

based on evidence. This is the beginning of scientific thinking. (pg.87)

During my observation, I noticed that his scientific thinking is very advanced. He always asks

his mother to explain things, by giving evidence.

He is a very bright student. He is identified as a gifted student. Students who are gifted

and talented excel in performing tasks that require intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership

ability (Snowman & McCown, 2015). He has performed well in several tests used to measure

intelligence and academic achievement and attends gifted program classes twice a week. His

reading, writing and math skills are very advanced for his age.

PEPSI Chart
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Recommendations

Physical Development

• Try to limit his time playing video games and have him spend more time outdoors.

• Have him exercise 60 minutes daily.

• Make sure he participates fully in P.E. class.

• Make sure he gets the recommended amount of sleep each night.

• Put him in a sports team with kids of similar age

Emotional Development
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• Show your affection.

• Let him know you are pleased with his accomplishments.

• Acknowledge his feelings. Help him talk about how he feels.

• Spend quality time with him.

• Give your child opportunities to spend more time with children of the same age.

Philosophical Development

• Encourage him to make his own decisions and not make decisions based on anyone.

• Teach values by modeling.

• Give him more responsibilities.

• Hold him responsible for his actions.

• Make sure he knows what he stands for.

Social Development

• Model kind and generous behaviors when interacting with others.

• Help him have healthy relationships in his life.

• Talk to him about respecting others.

• Teach him what to do when others are not respectful or kind.

• Encourage him not to give into peer pressure when it comes to things that are not good.

Intellectual Development

• Learn how gifted students think in order to offer proper support to him.

• Take him to the library often.

• Encourage his imagination.

• Keep high expectations about his academic achievement.

• Introduce him to new ideas and new ways of thinking.

References

Centervention. (2021). Developmental Milestones for Social and Emotional Skills.

https://www.centervention.com/developmental-milestones-for-social-and-emotional-

skills/

Disabled World. (2017). Average Height to Weight Chart: Babies to Teenagers.

https://www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/height-weight-teens.php

Ask Dr. Sears (2020). 5 Stages of Moral Growth of Children.

https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/discipline-behavior/morals-manners/5-

stages-moral-growth-children/

Ellsworth J. (1999). Ninth Year, Teaching and Learning Fairness. ESE 504.

https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year9.html

Ellsworth J. (1998). P.E.P.S.I Reading. ESE 504.

https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/essentials/reading1-1-1.html

Morin, A. (2020, June 10) 9-Year-Old Child Development Milestones. Very well Family

https://www.reference.com/world-view/average-height-weight-9-year-old-boy-

78c08ad41e05d120

Snowman J., & Mccown R. (2014). Psychology Applied to Teaching. [VitalSource Bookshelf].

Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781305176881/